The Wonders of Philippine Narra Tree

Narra bark Tea and capsules are available commercially, It is good in lowering blood sugar levels by enhancing glycolysis, perfect for those with diabetes, losing weight and immune system booster and for certain types of cancers, sounds great huh?

I have tried it and  really good for losing weight, hypertension, cholesterol problem, uric acid and so on. My friend, a doctor introduced me to this local herb and I am so happy that there are commercially available preparation and that studies were being done, He told me it is also used and exported to Africa to treat HIV patients (clinical trials).

So, why not try our local herbs, aren't we blessed if all the hundreds of claims are true? I hope more clinical studies are being done to this wonderful tree of ours, as for me it is truly effective supplements and I recommend it to my family and friends and I would like to say that this is our answer to La Pacho of South America. - RCB

Get to know more our Narra tree: 

Narra is the Philippine National Tree, a majestic reddish hardwood tree, growing to 33 meters high and 2 meters in diameter with an irregular fluted trunk. Leaves are compound, pinnate 15 to 30 centimeters long, with 7 to 11 leaflets which ovate to oblong-ovate, and 5 to 10 centimeters long. Flowers are numerous, yellow, fragrant, and about 1.5 centimeters long, on branched, axillary panicles. Pods are disc-shaped, flat, with winged margins, hairy when young but smooth or nearly so when mature, more or less reticulate and undulate, and very shortly beaked, orbicular to obovate, including the wing 4 to 5.5 centimeters long, and the wing 1 to 1.5 centimeters wide.

Botany

Distribution

• In primary, and in some regions, secondary forests at low and medium altitudes throughout the Philippines.
• Grown from seeds and cuttings.
• Found in calcareous soil. Grows well in bottom lands.
• Occurs in Guangdong, Taiwan, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Papua New Guinea, Thailand and Vietnam.

Parts utilized: Leaves, roots, bark

Constituents

• Yields "kino," containing kinotannic acid.
• Wood yields red coloring constituents: narrin, santalin and angolensin.
• Narrin is a dark red amorphous powder which yields phloroglucinol and resorcinol on fusion with alkali.
• Study yielded pterocarpin and pterostilben homopterocarpin, prunetin (prunusetin), formonoetin, isoliquiritigenin, p-hydroxyhydratopic acid, perofuran, pterocarpol, and b-eudesmol.

Properties

• Noted for its hardiness and rapid growth. Grows well in bottom lands, wind-firm and less susceptible to disease and pests.
• Nitrogen-fixing.
• Considered antibacterial, anti-bilous, emetic.

Uses:

• Edibility Young leaves and flowers are reportedly edible; the flowers, a source of honey. Folkloric
• Infusion of the leaf used as shampoo.
• Used for bladder ailments, diarrhea, headache, stones, sores and dropsy.
• The young leaves applied to boils, prickly heat and ulcers.
• Decoction used as a gargle for sore throats; as an astringent; as a mouthwash for toothaches.
• Decoction of wood used for dropsy and to dissolve bladder stones. 
• The resin "kino" has similar actions as tannin and catechu. It is taken for its astringent effect in chronic diarrhea, leucorrhea, blenorrhea and hemorrhages. Used as a solution for enemas for prolapse of the rectum and anal fissure. 
• Red latex used in folk medicine for tumors, cancers and warts. 
• Juice of root applied to syphilitic sores. 
• In Java, decoction of the bark or kino used for thrush; kino used to arrest diarrhea. 
• Malays used the resin for buccal sores. Plant used as folk remedy for bladder ailments, diarrhea, dropsy, headache, stones, thrust, and tumors of the abdomen. 

Others

• Timber: Old Narra is a much sought-after wood for its durability and use in floorings, cabinetry, construction, furniture making, decorative carvings, and muscial instruments.
• Dye: A source of red dye, narrin.
• Wood is also a source of kino, a gum used as astringent and for tanning. 

Studies 

• Immune Enhancing / Anti-Asthma:Composition and method for the prevention and treatment of asthma: The root, bark and wood of Pterocarpus indicus (Philippine Narra tree) is a component in a pharmaceutical formulation touted to be immune enhancing and purpurted use for the prevention and treatment of asthma. 

•  Polyphenolic Antiplasmin Constituent / Anti-Cancer: A Bioactive Polyphenolic Constituent in the Bark of Pterocarpus indicus, Willd. I. Isolation and Characterization: A polyphenolic substance with antiplasmin activity was isolated from the bark of P indicus. The substance showed carcinostatic effect on ascitic mice with Erlich carcinoma. 
• In vitro anthelmintic, antibacterial and cytotoxic effects of extracts from plants used in South African ethnoveterinary medicine. Antibacterial activity of Pterocarpus indicus, Fitoterapia 74 (2003), pp. 603–605. 
• Antifungal Sesquiterpene: Study isolated an antifungal compound in the methanolic extract of amboyna wood. It was identified as a B-eudesmol, a sesquiterpene alcohol and showed dose-dependent antifungal activity against P pulmonarius. 
• Anticancer: 1970 study on leaves showed significant inhibition of growth of Ehrlich ascites carcinoma in mice. 
• Anti-Termite: Study evaluated the use of wood extractives as preservative treatment for wood to inhibit subterranean termite activity. Results showed the n-hexane extract from P. indicus and ethyl ether extract from P. gutta showed more active inhibition effect on the activities of C. curnignatizus Holmgren.

A lecture on Ecarma, commercially available Narra Tea/Capsule:

*I would like to emphasize that I am not working or in any way connected with the makers of Ecarma tea and capsules directly or indirectly, unlike my friend who prescribe it to his patients, we both believed that we should support local herb producers and wish that our government support our local herb producers/ industry and more studies, clinical trials done to prove the effectivity of our herbs.