Malaria and Wali kambing

The wali kambing (Sarcolobus spanoghei) is a twining shrub that is native to tropical regions of Asia, including India, China, Thailand, Malaysia, Burma, the Philippines and Indonesia. In India the plant is found in the mangrove forests and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands that are situated in the Indian Ocean.

The plant is a twining shrub with stout glabrous branches. It has rather simple ovate or oblong leaves. The flowers are small, starry and purplish. The wali kambing produces many poisonous seeds.

The wali kambing is listed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as a poisonous plant. The seeds are known to be highly toxic to mammals. Native people of Asia widely use it to kill stray dogs, pigs and wild animals. It was demonstrated that it effectively killed cats.

The local traditional name, wali kambing, can be reconstructed into English as 'guardian of the goats'.

The plant extract causes inhibition of the neuro-muscular system. The poison acts as a barrier to muscles and nerves which makes a person unable to control coordination. Other symptoms are not able to move, shivering, enlarged pupils, rapid pulse, convulsions and coma.

The symptoms of poisoning in animals include blood urine and nephrosis. An old Indonesian remedy, if used quickly enough, included leaves of the Tembelèkan, followed by leaves of the Selegeren, It arrests the intoxication and the animal will awake[1]. I'm not entirely sure if the nephrosis or acute kidney disease will can be reversed, because that is usually not the case.

The leaves and the rhizomes of the plant have been used as an herbal medicine for treatment of rheumatism, dengue and fever. The genus is known to contain barbigerone which is known to be highly effective against the malarial parasite Plasmodium falciparum[2].

[1] Het Javaansch receptenboek afkomstig van Soerakarta - 1930
[2] Yenesew et al: Anti-plasmodial activities and X-ray crystal structures of rotenoids from Millettia usaramensis subspecies usaramensis in Phytochemistry – 2003