About Ziziphus oenopolia (L.) Mill.
Ziziphus oenopolia (L.) Mill. is a spreading, sometimes climbing thorny shrub that reaches 1.5 m in height. Its leaves are simple, alternate, ovate-lanceolate, acute, and oblique; they measure 4-6.5 cm long and 2–3 cm wide. The plant produces green flowers arranged in subsessile axillary cymes. When ripe, its fruit is a globose drupe that is black and shiny, and contains a single seed. This species ranges from the Indian subcontinent through southern China and Southeast Asia to northern Australia. It grows in roadside forests and thickets, with a flowering and fruiting season from June to February. Its edible berries can be eaten, and its bark is used for tanning. The plant produces a range of active phytochemicals, including phenolics, alkaloids, terpenoids, flavonoids, tannins, carbohydrates, and a class of cyclopeptide alkaloids called ziziphines. Different parts of the plant—stem, bark, leaves, fruit, and roots—are used in Ayurveda to treat multiple conditions, including ulcers, stomach aches, obesity, and asthma. Stem bark of Ziziphus oenopolia has antioxidant properties, and bark and roots are used for anti-diabetic treatments. The Konkani people of Maharashtra use chewed leaves from this plant as a wound dressing. In Burma, the stem bark is used as a mouthwash for sore throats, and is also used to treat dysentery and uterine inflammation. Research conducted in Thailand found that ziziphine extracts from this species show in vitro antiplasmodial activity against the malarial parasite Plasmodium falciparum.
