Rose apple

Other Names : Syzygium jambos

Special Precautions of Rose apple

You need to be careful in using rose apple preparations due to toxicity risk, advise the experts at Purdue. The rose apple's seeds are poisonous, as are its roots. There's an unknown amount of hydrocyanic acid, also called prussic acid or cyanide, in the plant's stems, roots and leaves. Hydrocyanic acid poisoning can be fatal.

Health Benefits and uses of Rose apple

• The high tannin content of rose apple bark extract gives it antibiotic properties that may be useful for fighting staph infections --- at least in lab tests, according to Djippa.
• skin diseases : J.R. Kuiate, lead author for a study published in "Phytotherapy Research," found in lab studies that the plant's stem bark may be useful for fighting some skin diseases. The bark's active compounds, betulinic acid and friedelolactone, are active against fungal infections on the skin that are common in Camaroon, Kuiate notes.
• The alkaloid called jambosine, found in the tree trunk and root bark, is theorized to lower blood-glucose levels, which may be helpful with diabetes. Jambosine stops the conversion of starch into sugar. However, a 12-day study on jaman fruit extract, which also contains this alkaloid, found insignificant effects, says Mahpara Safdar, lead author for a study published in the "Pakistan Journal of Nutrition." Safdar notes the results are inconclusive, however, due to the short time frame of the study as well as the preservatives used in the extract.
• People in sub-Saharan Africa use the rose apple bark to treat infectious diseases, says C.D. Djippa, lead author for a study published in the "Journal of Ethnopharmacology."
• A rose apple fruit infusion may work as a diuretic, according to Purdue University.
• Rose apple seeds also are used to halt diarrhea, according to P. K. Warrier, lead author for "Indian Medicinal Plants."
• In India, the fruit is used as a liver tonic and a brain tonic.
• Preparations of the flowers also are used as fever-reducers.
• In Cuba, people believe the rose apple root is an epilepsy remedy.
• In Nicaragua, infusions of roasted and powdered seeds are used to benefit diabetics.
• In Ayurvedic medicine, a dried mixture of rose apple vinegar and iron dust is used as a general tonic, a liver tonic and a blood tonic, according to the "Handbook on Ayurvedic Medicines," by H. Panda.
• source of Oleanolic Acid