ABSTRACT
Reported to be antipyretic, antiseptic, aphrodisiac, astringent, cholagogue, demulcent, digestive, diuretic, emollient, laxative, resolvent, sedative, stomachic, and tonic. The flowers contain gossypetin, anthocyanin, and glucoside hibiscin, which may have diuretic and choleretic effects, decreasing the viscosity of the blood, reducing blood pressure, and stimulating intestinal peristalsis. A drink, made by placing the calyx in water, is even a folk remedy for cancer. Medicinally, leaves are emollient and are much used in Guinea as a antipyretic, diuretic, and sedative. Fruits are antiscorbutic. Leaves, seeds, and ripe calyces are diuretic and antiscorbutic, and the succulent calyx, boiled in water, is used as a drink in bilious attacks. In Burma, the seed are used for debility, the leaves as emollient. Angolans use the mucilaginous leaves as an emollient and as a soothing cough remedy. Central Africans poultice the leaves on abscesses. Taiwanese regard the seed as diuretic, laxative, and tonic. Philippines use the bitter root as an aperitif and tonic. Alcoholics might consider one item: simulated ingestion of the plant extract decreased the rate of absorption of alcohol, lessening the intensity of alcohol effects in chickens (DAD).
