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Common names
Acacia (Tag.)
Akasya (Tag., Ilk.)
Rain tree
Saman tree
Monkey pod
Zamang

Botany
· Large umbraculiform tree growing over 20 meters high, providing shade and also lending to popularity for use in carving, wood basins and bowls.
· Bark is rough and furrowed.
· Branches, widespread.
· Leaves, bipinnate and hairy underneath.
· Flowers, borne in peduncles, clusters of axillary, pink-green.
· Fruits: pods are dark, fleshy , 15-20 cm long, 2 cm wide, with a pulpy sweet mesocarp.

Constituents
· Saponin-lik e alkaloid pithecolobin has been isolated from the bark and the seed.
· Alkaloids are said to be abundant in the bark, stems, leaves, and seeds.
· Leaves and stems have saponin and tannin; gum from the trunk.

Distribution
Throughout the Philippines in waste places along roads and trails in fallow, rice paddies, etc.

Parts utilized:
· Entire plant.
· Collect from May to October.
· Rinse and sun-dry.

Properties
Slightly acidic tasting, cooling.
Antipyretic, stomachic, astringent and antidermatoses.

Folkloric uses
· Acute bacillary dysentery, enteritis, diarrhea: use 15 to 30 gms dried material in decoction.
· Also for colds, sore throat, headache.
· A decoction of the inner bark or fresh cambium and leaves is used to treat diarrhea.
· Anaphylactic dermatitis, eczema, skin pruritus: use decoction of fresh material and apply as external wash.
· Latex used as gum arabic for gluing.
· Other uses / studies
· Seasonally copious pods with sweet pulp that can be grounded and converted to fodder and alcohol as an energy source. It is also an important honey plant like most mimosaceous trees.
· Studies have suggested antimycobacterial antimicrobial activity in the crude extracts of acacia

Other names
Abgau (P. Bis.)
Adgau (P. Bid,. Bik.)
Adiiyo (Tag.)
Agbau (C. Bis)|
Agdau (Pang.)
Anobran (Hk.)
Argau (P. Bis.)
Atiñgi (Gad.)
Duragau (Sub.)
Guachal (Ig.)
Lagau (MAg)
Lassi (Ibn.)
Pumuhat tangli (Pang.)
Tibangñgen (Bon.)

Parts utilized
· Leaves and flowering tops, fresh or dried.

Constituents
Tannins; saponins; alkaloids; glucosides; volatile oil, 0.02%; oleoresin.

Folkloric uses
· Cough: Drink decoction of leaves as tea.
· Flatulence (gas pains):
     Adults: decoction of leaves as tea.
     Children: Crush leaves, mix with a little coconut or cooking oil and apply on abdomen.
· Headache: Crush leaves and apply on forehead and temples.
- Tea decoction of the leaf has been used for tuberculosis.
Culinary
Young leaves used in the cooking of "paksiw" and "bopis."
New
Decoction of leaves and flowering tops used as vaginal wash or douche; antiseptic properties make it useful for cleansing and incorporation with bath-care products.

Availability
Wild-crafted.

Common names
Balimbing (C. Bis., Bik., Sul., Tag.)
Balingbing (Bik.)
Daligan (Ilk.)
Galangan (P. Bis.)
Galuran (Ibn.)
Garahan (Bis.)
Garulan (Ibn.)
Malimbin (L.Bis.)
Sirinate (Ting.)

Medical properties
Vermifuge, laxative, refrigerant, antiscorbutic, febrifuge, sialogogue, antiphlogistic, stimulant, emmenagogue, anodyne, emetic.

Distribution
Planted in cultivated and semi-cultivated areas.

Parts used
Leaves, flowers, seeds, fruit.
.
Uses:
Nutritional
Edible fruit is a source of iron (low in calcium) and vitamins B and C, oxalate and potassium.
Folkloric
Tea of boiled leaves used for aphthous stomatitis.
Crushed shoots or leaves used externally for headaches and ringworm.
Boiled flowers used to expel worms: 50 gms to a pint of boiling water; drunk in normal doses.
Fruit is laxative.
Decoction of fruit, 50 gms to a pint of boiling water, 4-5 glasses a day for bleeding piles.
Juice of fresh fruit for affections of the eyes.
Seed is used for asthma and colic: Powdered seeds, 10 gms to a cup of warm water, drunk 4 times daily.

Availability
Wild-crafted.
Limited backyard cultivation.

Botany
Somewhat hairy young branches are 4-angled with opposite leaves. Flowers with in-curved petals, cottony white, coming out in two's or three's in the leaf axils. Numerous stamens form the attractive part of the flower. Inferior ovaries develop into roundish green fruits that turn yellow on ripening and have edible, aromatic, seedy pulp.

Distribution
Widely distributed in the Philippines. Common in backyards. Well-known because of its edible fruit. Propagation by seeds, budding, grafting, and marcotting. Root cuttings have been tried with success.

Parts utilized
Leaves

Constituents
Fixed oil, 6%; volatile (essential) oil, 0.365%; eugenol; tannin 8-15%; saponins; amydalin; phenolic acids; malic acid; ash, aldehydes.

Uses
Folkloric
Astringent, antispasmodic, anthelminthic and antiseptic properties.
Leaves used for wounds and toothache must always be fresh.
Decoction or infusion of fresh leaves used for wound cleaning to prevent infection and to facilitate healing.
Aromatic bath: Use warm decoction of leaves.
Diarrhea: Boil for 15 minutes 4 to 6 tablespoons of chopped leaves in 18 ounces of water. Strain and cool. Drink 1/4 of the decoction every 3 - 4 hours.
Toothache: Chew 2-3 young leaves and put into the tooth cavity;
Gum swelling: Chewed leaves; or use the leaf decoction as mouthwash 3 times daily; chewed leaves.
Toothache: Chew but do not swallow fresh leaves.
Skin ulcers, wounds, pruritic or infected: Apply decoction of leaves or unripe fruit as wash or the leaf poultice on the wound or use the decoction for wound cleansing. It is also popularly used for the wound healing of circumcision wounds.
Nosebleeds: Densely roll the bayabas leaves and place into the nostril cavity.
Vaginal wash: Because of antiseptic properties, warm decoction of leaves as vaginal wash (after childbirth) or douche.
Cosmetic
Leaf extract used in skin whitening products.
Dental
Toothbrush au-natural: Bayabas twigs, chewed at the ends until frayed, used as alternative for toothbrushing with whitening effect.

Availability:
Wild-crafted.

Other scientific names
Amomum zingiber
Z. blancoi

Common names
Agat (Pampango, Pangasinan)
Baseng (Ilk.)
Gengibre (Spanish)
Laial (Sambali)
Laiya (Ifugao)
Laya (Iloko, Bontok, Ibanag, Itogon)
Luy-a (Bisaya)
Ginger (English)

Botany
Erect, smooth plant with thickened and aromatic rootstocks. Leafy stems are 0.4 to 1 meter high. Leaves are distichous, lanceolate to linear-lanceolate, 15-25 cm long, and 2 cm wide or less. Scape from rootstock is erect, 15-25 cm high, covered with imbricate bracts. Calyx is 1 cm long. Corolla is greenish-yellow with a tube less than 2 cm long.

Distribution
Widely cultivated in the Philippines

Parts utilized
Tops, leaves and edible roots.

Constituents and properties
Pungent principles, mainly zingerone and shogaol, provides the characteristic taste.
Volatile oil, 1.23 to 3% - gingerol, zingerone, zingiberene, cineol, borneol, phellandrene, citral, zingiberene, linalool, geraniol, chavicol, vanillyl alcohol, camphene; resin.

Uses
Nutritional
Flavoring for ginger ale, ginger beer, and other beverages.
Salabat, a native beverage, is prepared from the rhizomes.
A prominent condiment in Filipino cuisine.
Taken with rocksalt before meals is cleansing to the tongue and throat and increases the appetite.
Folkloric
Antiseptic: Prepare tincture of dried rhizome with 70% alcohol (not rubbing alchol) and apply on superficial cuts and wounds or use juice from fresh rhizome.
As digestive aid and for flatulence and tympanism: Take decoction of the rhizome as tea.
Rheumatism: Pound roasted rhizome, mix with oil and apply locally.
Sore throat and hoarseness : Take warm decoction of the rhizome as ginger tea (salabat) or chew a small piece of rhizome.
Cough remedy and carminative.
Diuretic.
Hangovers.
Headaches: Ginger plaster (bruised ginger in water to the consistency of poultice) applied to the forehead. Same preparation may be helpful for toothaches and facial pain.


Ginger tea preparation, the Chinese way : Bring one cup of water to boil. Add one teaspoon of the roasted (parched and browned) rice and a small piece of ginger root. Boil for one minute. Let stand to cool for drinking. (Preparation of dried rice: Pour enough water to cover 1/2 cup white rice in a flat dish; and let stand overnight. In the morning, drain off the excess water. Roast the rice in a dry pan, stirring constantly until parched and brown. Store in a glass jar for future use, tightly covered to keep moisture out.)

New uses
May have antiemetic properties. Used for Nausea, motion sickenss (1 gm taken 1/2 hour before the voyage). Stimulates digestion. Possibly antiinflammatory.
Side effects:
No known side effects or drug interactions. The German Commission E recommends that it be avoided during pregnancy due to possible inhibition of testosterone binding in the fetus. The use in pregnancy for hyperemesis gravidarum is controversial. Use for nausea during pregnancy is not recommended. Should not be used by pregnant women with a history of bleeding disorders and miscarriages.
Anticogulang precaution:
Decreased platelet adhesiveness; therefore, should be used with caution by patients on anticoagulant therapy.

Availability
Wild-crafted.
Popular condiment and perennial market produce.
Candied ginger and lozenges.
Tablets and capsules.
Dried powdered gingeroot.

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