Eremophila alternifolia

[clare_b74]

Hi,

Does anyone have some info about the medicinal properties of Eremophila alternifolia (narrow-leafed eremophila)? My copy of Low's Bush Medicine merely concurs with an Amata woman I've recently chatted with: "it cures _everything_!"

Ta,
Clare

[JumpedAngel]

Bush Food - Jennifer Isaacs -> E.alternifolia

..."One of the few plant medicines stored for later use rather than used fresh, branches and leaves dried in the sun for a few days, then crumbled into water and heated. Steam can be inhaled or liquid used as a wash or in small amounts as a drink for general illness"...

Watch out for E.maculata -> poisonous

E.longifolia seems the most usefull but many have antiseptic properties.

Wajarri Wisdom - Estelle Leyland -> E.longifolia

one of the best smoke medicines for rheumatism, arthritis + other muscular pains
a decotion applied to sores or drunk in small quantities to relieve a cold
a paultice of crushed leaves and water applied to stomach to relieve menstrual pain
squeezed juice of fruit to relieve earache
a decotion of leaves is used for sore eyes, boils, headache, insomnia and to wash hair.
also used in many sacred rituals

[Cherikoff]

The plant has some interesting properties and is well worth cultivating. I am looking for commercial supplies of the leaves (dried in the dark, preferably).

Can anyone help?

Cheers,
Vic

[clare_b74]

Belated thanks for that info JA

Vic - I don't know what scale of production the Amata mob have at the moment, or even if it's "production" rather than piecemeal wild harvest, but here's their website:

http://www.bushrub.com/about.php

C

[roughbarked]

As for Eremophila. It is antibiotic as well as antiseptic and is currently being touted as the answer to much of the staph problems in hospitals and specifically in preventing infection in transplanted devices such as knees and hips. http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/ ... pic=latest

Have grown some 70 Eremophila species myself and produced thousands of plants.

[eataust]

Wow. And here was I getting addicted to Eremophilia purely (and unusually for me) for its hardy growth, pretty fuzzy silvery foliage, and lovely violet flowers. I got two (and can I remember the particular species?? Nope ... common name "Emu Bush" tho') at a local nursery because they said "It'll grow in bad soil and high winds", which pretty much describes my yard.

They're right, too. I dump some water on them sporadically to help them get established, but otherwise they are doing amazingly well. I'm enchanted by them and am planning lots more, planted all together.

And they've got medicinal properties? BONUS!!

[roughbarked]

Nods.. Yes they are addictive. I've been hooked on them for years.

There are probably no better bird attracting plants. I plant them among vegetable beds to attract birds into the vege patch.

[Ian]

Eremophilia are perhaps one of the most promising Australian native plants in terms of the potential for therapeutic usage. Aborigines had a variety of medicinal uses for plants of this genus including but not limited to using them as antiseptic agents to treat cuts, open sores, sore throats and ear infections as well as using them as linaments. Sctientific studies have demonstrated the antisceptic properties of several species thus validating their traditional medicinal use. Some recent studies have also demonstrated cardioactive properties (increased heart rate and contractive force) of extracts from Eremophilia. So this is one promising group of plants with a lot of potential medicinally. For this reason, the Eremophilias justifiably attract more scientific attention than most other Aussie plants.

[EDMUND GOODEN]

Is it safe to use eremophila alternafolia (irmangka irmangka) during pregnancy? Have there been any scientific studies done on this? Lucinda Gooden

[roughbarked]

Listeria monocytogenes is a foodborne pathogen responsible for the disease listeriosis. Ethanolic extracts from two native Australian traditional medicinal plants, Eremophila alternifolia and Eremophila duttonii, have been found to inhibit the growth of L. monocytogenes. These plants were investigated for their ability to control the growth of L. monocytogenes in full cream milk and skim milk and in diluted homogenates of salami, pâté and brie cheese. Time-kill experiments indicated that the extracts were able to inhibit the growth of L. monocytogenes in food at 4 °C and 37 °C. However, components in the food appeared to inhibit the anti-listerial activity of the extracts, necessitating higher concentrations to control microbial growth relative to those used in laboratory media. Preliminary investigations suggested that the active components responsible for the antimicrobial activity of each extract are most likely to be terpenes or sterols. Our study suggests that natural products derived from medicinal plants have the potential to be used as food preservatives.

This .pdf will inform that Listeria monocytogenes is particularly dangerous during pregnancy and that E. alternifolia may be used to thwart that.
http://www.aseanbiodiversity.info/Abstract/51006387.pdf

[Cherikoff]

Herbal-Active (http://tinyurl.com/Herbal-Active) is a natural antimicrobial made from blended essential oils. It's not from native plants as they have too much flavour but conventional culinary herbs which also makes it easier to sell. I did look at Australian plants with several scientific studies but not all the really good antimicrobial components have GRAS status.

Eremophila is probably more interesting from its specific bioactives and Listeria is probably better handled by Herbal-Active than growth inhibitors.