Jalape – ingredients, effects and application

Jalapeña is a species of the genus Ipomoea, which plays a role in folk medicine and religion in the indigenous cultures of Mexico. It is a traditional laxative, but within its family it belongs to the species that have a highly toxic effect and are therefore dangerous in its pure form.

Characteristics

• Scientific name: Ipomoea purga
• Common Names: Mexican Purgier Bindweed
• Family: Windengewächse (Convolvulaceae)
• Distribution: Mexico, grown in South America, Panama, Jamaica, Indonesia and India
• Plant parts used: rhizome, resin, the dried latex from the root tuber. The plant is poisonous and is only less risky in ready-made preparations.
• Ingredients: Convolvulin, jalapine, phytosterols (plant hormones), glycoretins, volatile acids, coumarins, mannitol
• Areas of application: constipation

Jalape – An Overview

• In the early modern period, extreme purging was considered a kind of panacea for various illnesses. That’s why plants like jalapa were very popular as medicine, despite bad additional effects.
• The resin from the rhizome is used in folk medicine in Mexico.
• The plant was named after the city of Jalapa (Xalapa) in Mexico, in whose region it grows.
• Today, jalapeña is still used in herbal medicines in Mexico.
• Biochemicals in jalapeña may have potential to be used medicinally in isolated form for applications for which they have not previously been used. However, this requires more in-depth studies.
• There are up to 600 species of Ipomoea plants in the global tropics and subtropics, and some of these play an important role in ritual, medicine, religion or as ornamentation in indigenous cultures.
• The great need for jalapeña as a laxative led to commercial cultivation after natural stocks were exhausted.

Ingredients of Jalape

A Brazilian review noted in 2012: An anatomical peculiarity of the Convolvulaceae family are cells that secrete resin glycosides into the roots / rhizomes of plants. These resin glycosides are a chemotaxonomic characteristic of the morning glories.

Jalape mainly contains jalapin and convolvulin. Also glycoretins, coumarins, phytosterols and mannitol.

The main component is convolvulin. According to a 2006 study from Mexico City, Ipomoea purga contains two newly discovered hexasaccharides (sugars) combined with convolvulic and jalapinolic acids.

In 2011, the discovery of three new glycosides in jalapeña was published in a study. The new substances are purginoside I and II as well as purgin.

Jalape has a strong laxative effect, but is also toxic and very irritating to the intestinal mucosa, which is why its extracts should only be taken after consulting a doctor. (Image: marina-yalanska/unsplash/own editing heilpraxis.de)

How does jalapeus work?

Different species of the genus Ipomoea are used against various diseases in their countries of origin. These include constipation, diabetes, fatigue, arthritis, rheumatism, dropsy, meningitis, kidney disease and inflammation.

Some species show significant effects against worms, bacteria, pain and inflammation. Alkaloids, phenolic compounds and glycolipids are among the typical bioactive substances of the genus.

What exactly does it look like with Ipomoea purga? Jalaperhizoma resin is one of the few laxatives that act on the small intestine.

Otherwise, this particularly applies to castor oil, which is the best-known laxative. Taking jalapeña severely irritates the intestinal mucosa, and this irritation triggers gushing diarrhea.

This one is watery. If further irritation occurs, blood from the intestinal mucosa mixes in.

The substances convolvulin and jalapin are responsible for the laxative effect. It is rare for laxatives to have an effect on the small intestine.

For constipation, consuming jalapeña laxatives promotes bowel movement. Water increasingly enters the interior of the intestine.

This effect is very strong and risky because taking jalapeña leads to a high loss of water and the tissues are extremely irritated. Diarrhea caused by jalapeña is a reaction of the intestines to a stimulus and is accompanied by cramping abdominal pain.

Ingesting jalapeña can lead to inflammation of the intestines (gastroenteritis). If left untreated, such an inflammation can be life-threatening.

Special risks

The poisonous plant jalape is dangerous for all consumers. But some people should be particularly careful.

Pregnant and breastfeeding women should under no circumstances consume jalape. If jalapeña is consumed during pregnancy, it can trigger contractions in the lower abdomen that induce miscarriage.

There is a great danger for people who suffer from diseases of the digestive tract such as Crohn’s disease and other chronic intestinal inflammations. Jalape further irritates the already damaged gastrointestinal tract.

Taking it worsens the symptoms of the disease and, in exceptional cases, can even lead to death. If the appendix of the appendix is ​​inflamed, a stimulating substance such as jalapeña extract will make the condition worse.

Folk medicine and medical history

Jalape has been used as a medicinal plant in indigenous cultures of Mexico for centuries and has magically charged significance. She is a symbol of success in love and wealth.

The strong laxative effect was (and is sometimes still considered today) a removal of disease-causing forces from the body and an act of physical and spiritual cleansing. Jalape has also been used against rheumatism and gout.

The Aztecs prepared an extract for internal cleansing of the body, the main ingredient of which was jalape, but also contained tubers of six other species of the genus Ipomoea. This medicine, called Tlanquilinoni, served as a laxative and emetic.

It was supposed to be effective against epilepsy and fever, against meningitis, syphilis and against tumors. Aztec medicine believed that purging and vomiting could remove illnesses and their underlying harmful influences from the body.

This indigenous idea in Mexico overlapped with the humoral theory of Galen, known in Europe, which also wanted to drive out “bad humors” in order to cure illnesses. As early as 1565, the Spanish doctor Nicolás Monardes brought jalape from Mexico and introduced it to Europe.

Since jalape is a particularly strong laxative, it even replaced established European remedies for the same purpose. In early modern Europe, jalapeña was considered a means of drawing out “bad juices” from the body.

The extreme co-effects are not side effects, but part of the same process in which the intestines react to the strong stimulus. There is even a tradition of using jalapeña against bacterial intestinal inflammation and other intestinal diseases.

Here, the stimulus of jalape actually increases the disease instead of curing it. The idea of ​​fighting “fire with fire” probably played a role here, i.e. the idea that the violent reactions triggered a healing process.

The laxative effect of jalape is effective against infestation with stomach and intestinal worms. Because these are flushed out of the body with diarrhea.

Extracts with jalapeña in combined form are still used today against worms. Modern medicine does not use pure jalape extracts because of their dangerous effects.

What alternatives are there?

Jalape is no longer recommended as a laxative today because of its toxic effects. Especially since there are other effective remedies for constipation that do not have these dangerous effects.

If you are constipated, warm, moist compresses soaked in chamomile and yarrow can be placed around the lower abdomen. Oils that contain caraway, lemon balm, lavender and passionflower also help against constipation and intestinal cramps and are much better tolerated.

A powder made from the bark of the buckthorn tree provides anthranoids. These soften the stool.

What characterizes jalape?

Jalape (jalape root, Mexican morning glory) grows as a herb and as a climbing plant. It is perennial.

The twisting climbing shoots are anchored in the ground by a creeping rhizome. The leaves are thin and appear almost transparent.

Their color is an intense green. They are egg-shaped, tapering with a smooth edge. The flowers are single or in pairs and are reddish-purple to whitish-purple.

The petals have the shape of a funnel and are up to eight centimeters long. Its edge is typically in the shape of a bell.

Flowering begins in December. At the end of the flowering period, seeds enclosed in capsules form.

What characterizes jalaperhizoma?

The resin used in medicine is found in the rhizome, the rootstock of the plant. This is strong and creeping in Jalape.

These tubers contain a white milk with no smell. If they are dried, they first develop an unpleasant aroma, which later disappears.

Where does jalape grow?

Jalape grows in Mexico on the eastern slopes of the Sierra Madre Oriental, at an altitude of between 1,500 and 2,400 meters. Especially in the Chiconquiaco region on the eastern side of the Cofre de Perote in the state of Veracruz.

Veracruz was settled early on by Spaniards because Hernando Cortez landed here when he invaded Mexico. That’s why Europeans probably knew the plant as early as the 16th century and described it in the 17th century.

It was scientifically examined in 1829 by Dr. JR Coxe of Philadelphia. From the mid-19th century, jalapeña was widely grown in Mexico and also cultivated in other regions of the world, such as tropical South America, India and Indonesia.

It was also bred in Europe. However, at that time it was hardly used as a medicinal plant, but rather as an ornament in greenhouses and tropical gardens. (Dr Utz Anhalt)