PAPUA ANTS NEST PLANT

Papua Anthill medicine

Introduction

Papua is one of the regions in Indonesia which is rich in biodiversity, including medicinal plants. Some medicinal plants of Papua has been absorbing a lot of circles, both conventional medical circles and among the complementary and alternative medicine, including the popular gods crown at the beginning of 2000,the red fruit 2004 and keben 2005. ant nest has been used by the public and the news discussed in asia and europe.

in early 2006 we have introduced one another herb from Papua who got tremendous applause from the public, both conventional medical circles, among complementary and alternative medicine, the ant plant.
approximately 3 years now a lot of people busy discussing about the ant nest because it has many uses to cure various diseases, ranging from mild, such as headaches side, rheumatism, nosebleeds, ulcers, gout and hemorrhoids to severe diseases such as tumors, cancer, liver, lung tuberculosis, kidney disorders, prostate, and coronary heart disease. In addition, these plants can enhance and accelerate the production of breast milk (breast milk) and restore the health of women after childbirth, increasing stamina and as an aphrodisiac (increases sexual desire) even say that the content of flavonoids may control the development of herpes virus and HIV-AIDS virus.

Know Plants Ants Nest

Ant nests have been known by the public is in the form of an ant nest holes in the ground, buildings, or the leaves on the trees made by certain ant colony, could be fire ants, Rangkang, black ants, or white ants. However, there is not such an ant nest, but the plant epiphytes attached to the large trees that bubbled underneath the rod contains cavities that are provided as a certain type of ant nests.

The ant nest is PLANT NAME, not a nest of ants
Ant nests are plants from Hydnophytinae (Rubiaceae) are associated with ants. These plants are epiphytes, meaning attached to other plants, not a parasite living on the host but merely use it to stick. Examples of other epiphytes commonly found living in trees is moss crust, moss, algae, vines and orchids. Actually there are 5 ant genus in the family Rubiaceae, but only the genus and Myrmecodia Hydnophytum the closest association with ants. Ant genus is divided into several species on the structure of the tuber. Hydnophytum consists of 45 species and 26 species Myrmecodia so there are 71 species of ant nests. All species of this plant has a hollow stem bubble-like fruit cavity generally inhabited by ants.

Endemic & Ecology

The spread of the ant nest from Peninsular Malaysia to the Philippines, Thailand, vietnam, Cambodia, Sumatra, Kalimantan, Java, Papua, Papua New Guinea, Cape York to Solomon Islands, in China reported to have consumed ant nest & ants as medicine since 3000 years ago.
The province of Papua, ant plants are found in mountainous areas, namely in the jungles of Jayawijaya District, Tolikara Regency, Puncak Jaya District, The Star Mountains District and Paniai District. The greatest diversity of ant nests are found in Papua, where the highland species are locally specific.

In ecology, ant nest spread of mangrove forest and the trees on the beach to a height of 2400 m. ant nest most often found in grasslands and is rarely found in lowland tropical forests, but more often found in forests and open agricultural areas with an altitude of about 600 m.
ant nests were found attached to some trees, usually eucalyptus tree (Melaleuca), mountain pine (casuarina), kaha (Castanopsis) and beech trees (Nothofagus), but rarely on trees with smooth trunks and brittle like Eucalyptus.

Ant nests also lived in the plains without a tree with low nutrients and at the height of the tree. In the wild habitat of the ant nests are inhabited by different types of ants and often by three species of the genus Iridomyrmex. Identify what we do to pendens Myrmecodia anthill indicates that this plant is inhabited by a colony of ants from the species Ochetellus sp.

Ants Nest Traditional Knowledge

From the literature there are recorded only 1 species and 1 species Myrmecodia Hydnophytum used as a medicine by the local population in certain regions of Southeast Asia, namely Hydnophytum Formicarum Jack and Myrmecodia Tuberosa Jack. In Indonesia, H. formicarum and M. Tuberosa called the house ants used to treat swelling, headaches and rheumatism. Meanwhile, boil the water used to treat hernias and gastritis. In the Philippines, the boiled water is used to treat liver and digestive problems. In Thailand, powders used for antelmintik (de-worming), cardiac tonic, bone diseases, skin diseases, lung diseases, pain in joints and as an ingredient for the drug antidiabetes mixture. In Malaysia, the boiled water used to treat cancer. In Vietnam, this plant is used to treat hepatitis, rheumatism and diarrhea.

Ingredients Active Compounds

Chemical analysis of the ant nest showed that this plant mainly contains chemical compounds from the class of flavonoids and tannins. Flavonoids are a class of compounds of natural ingredients that many phenolic compounds are plant pigments. Currently more than 6000 different compounds into the class of flavonoids. Flavonoids are an important part of our diet because many health benefits. Most flavonoids function in our body is as an antioxidant.

The benefits of flavonoids among others is to protect the cell structure, has a synergistic relationship with vitamin C (increase the effectiveness of vitamin C), anti-inflammatory, prevents bone loss and as an antibiotic. In many cases, flavonoids can act directly as an antibiotic to disrupt the function of microorganisms such as bacteria or viruses.

• Flavonoids function as an antiviral has been published, including for the HIV virus (AIDS) and herpes viruses. In addition, flavonoids are also reported to play a role in the prevention and treatment of several other diseases such as asthma, kataraks, diabetes, rheumatism / arthritis, migraines, hemorrhoids, and periodontitis (inflammation of the connective tissue supporting the roots of teeth). Ant’s ability to treat various types of cancer / tumor, tuberculosis, and arthritis / rheumatism is closely related to the content flavonoid.

Recent studies have revealed other functions of flavonoids, not only for prevention, but also for the treatment of cancer. Many of the working mechanisms of flavonoids that have been revealed,