Ayapana triplinervis (aya-pana, water hemp) is a tropical American shrub in the family Asteraceae. This plant has long slender leaves which are often used to make a stimulating medicine.[1] It contains Herniarin, a methoxy analog of umbelliferone, while its essential oil contains thymohydroquinone dimethyl ether.

The herb is stimulant, tonic in small doses and laxative when taken in quantity. A hot infusion is emetic and diaphoretic. Decoction of the leaves is antiseptic and haemostatic; useful against various kinds of haemorrhage and to clean foul ulcers. An aqueous extract of the dried leaves is a cardiac stimulant.

The plant smells strongly of coumarin, especially when crushed, and has a taste which is both bitter and aromatic. The leaves are antidote, febrifuge, haemostatic, stimulant, sudorific and tonic. They are laxative when taken in quantity. The leaves are widely used as a tea in the whole of the plant’s distribution area, as a treatment against chronic diarrhoea, lung diseases, influenza, chest colds, pneumonia and constipation, and also as an antidote for snake bites.  Because of its haemostatic properties the tea is used to regulate menstruation problems. It is also used as a cardiac stimulant, increasing the force of the heart beat but diminishing its frequency
Externally, the leaves are used to treat badly infected wounds. A gargle prepared from the leaves is used to relieve thrush, scurvy and angina. The red-flowered variety of Ayapana triplinervis is medicinally most active. The leaves contain ayapanine (7-methoxycoumarin) which has a distinct coumarin-like odour, and ayapine (6,7-methylenedioxycoumarin). Both compounds have excellent haemostatic properties, applied locally, as a tea or subcutaneously. Ayapanine and ayapine are generally non-toxic when administered locally or taken orally; moreover, they have no effect on respiration or on blood pressure. Further known constituents of the leaves include the terpenes phellandrene, borneol, ‘BETA’-selinene, the quinones thymoquinone and thymoquinone-dimethylether, carotene and vitamin C (0.025%).The essential oil isolated from the plant has been shown to inhibit the growth of certain fungi (Curvularia spp., Rhizopus spp., Aspergillus spp. And Penicillium spp.), but not that of Aspergillus fumigatus and Penicillium decumbens. Furthermore, the essential oil showed high activity against the bacteria Escherichia coli and Proteus vulgaris, and moderate activity against Bacillus anthracis, Staphylococcus aureus and some Salmonella spp

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