Edible ornamental plant have long been known among rural communities in Indonesia. In fact, Many local ornamental plants are actually edible. Also, It has been used for a long time for daily needs. In general, people recognize and use plants for vegetables and medicinal purposes. However, today some of these local edible ornamental plants are becoming increasingly unpopular.
Berlangkas (Polyscias fruticosa) is a dicotyl that grows as a shrub with slow growth. Branched and tightly leafed, with shiny textured leaves, tripinnate, and split. Accordingly, these are maybe the reason why this plant is known as a hedge plant.
Polyscias fruticosa has a fresh taste. Besides being famous as a vegetable, people also use this plant as a medicinal plant for several diseases. Several countries, such as India and Vietnam have also conducted research to study the potential of this plant for medicinal purposes.
Utilization Of Berlangkas As Edible Ornamental Plant
Vegetables
People generally use the leaves of Berlangkas (Polyscias fruticosa) as vegetables. What is the unique thing about this plant is that the pungent aroma. People ate raw or fresh as Lalab or used in a vegetable mix in Pecel recipe. But Berlangkas also famous for Urab recipes. However, other sources also mention that we can eat young roots and use them as a flavoring in vegetables.
Medicinal
Of course, This plant has long been used as traditional medicine. It contains compounds that have a function as an analgesic, anti-inflammatory, antitoxin, and antibacterial. Some people also make ointments from the leaves as antibacterial and antifungal.
The root extract functions as a diuretic have been studied in some research. There are also those who use it as a medicine for dysentery and rheumatism. From other studies, there are results that say that root extract can also improve brain and sexual performance and prolong cell life.
Hedge Plant
For a long time ago, this plant has been known as a hedge plant in Indonesia, especially in the lowlands. Plants as land fences generally have slow growth, as well as many and dense branches and leaves. This plant meets all these requirements. Moreover, this plant also has several benefits as mentioned above.
Classification
- Kingdom: Plantae
- Subkingdom: Tracheobionta
- Superdivision: Spermatophyta
- Division: Magnoliophyta
- Class: Magnoliopsida
- Subclass: Rosidae
- Order: Apiales
- Family: Araliaceae
- Genus: Polyscias
- Species: Polyscias fruticosa
Some local names
Pudding (Malay), Kadondong Laut, Kadondong Cina (Sunda), Kedondong Laut (Javanese), Kadundung Patedhan (Madura), Keudem Rintèk (Minahasa) Gurabati, Tampusong (Ternate), Dewu (Papua), Papeda Papua (Ambon),
Distribution
The distribution of this species covers the lowlands in the tropics in Asia. Some sources say that this plant comes from India. However, other sources say that it came from the Pacific region. In Indonesia, besides as edible ornamental plant, its plants is also found in backyards, land borders with roads or another land, and fences in the yard of the house.
References:
- Asumeng Koffuor et., al., 2015. Anti-asthmatic property and possible mode of activity of an ethanol leaf extract of Polyscias fruticosa. Pharmaceutical Biology. DOI: 10.3109/13880209.2015.1077465
- Bui Dinh Thach. 2016. Protocol Establishment For Multiplication And Regeneration Of Polyscias Fruticosa L. Harms. An Important Medicinal Plant In Vietnamese. European Journal of Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering Vol. 3 No. 1, 2016 : Page 31
always love to learn from nature. Passionate on studying plants in some aspects: the DNA, Identification, propagation, and their uses
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