Malaysian Ginseng General Information

Scientific name: Eurycoma longifolia

Local name: Tongkat Ali, Pasak Bumi, Malaysian Ginseng

Family: Simaroubaceae

Introduction:

Tongkat Ali, also known as “Malaysian Ginseng” is considered the most popular medicinal plant in Malaysia and is gaining recognition. It is also locally known as Tongkat Baginda, Payung Ali, Pasak Bumi (Indonesia), Piaak or Tung Saw (Thailand) and Cay Ba Binh (Vietnam).

Habitat:

Malaysian Ginseng is native to Southeast Asia and grows in the under storey of lowland forest. It is found in Malaysia, Myanmar, Indonesia, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam and the Philippines. Under cultivation, Malaysian Ginseng can be grown under minimal shade or exposed condition.

Tongkat Ali has monopodial growth habit and has no branches or minimised to one or two branches.

Malaysian Ginseng Description

Plant: Malaysian Ginseng is a treelet, growing up to a height of 15 m when matured.

Leaves: The leaves are odd-pinnate and compound in nature and can grow to a length of 1 m long. The leaflets are arranged in almost opposite pairs. They are dark green in color, oblong-lanceolate in shape, entire with a mucronate apices and oblique base. The leaflets are sessile. The compound leaf is with a petiole that is dark brown in color and measures about 20 -25 cm in length. Leaves are usually crowded at the tip of the branch.

Stem: There is minimal branching in Malaysian Ginseng, mostly are without branches and a few with one or two branches. The tip of the main stem is often orange or light green in color.

Inflorescence/Flower: Flowers are arranged densely on branched panicles, which arise from leaf axils. The panicles are about 60-70 cm in length and hairy. The calyx is green in color and the lobes ovate in shape. There are 5 corolla lobes, which are ovate-lanceolate in shape and red in color. The fruit, a drupe is yellowish brown to blackish-red when ripe.

Malaysian Ginseng plants are dioecious, bearing either male or female flowers. Flowers are arranged densely on branched panicles.

Plant parts used:

Roots

Chemical constituents:

The important chemical compounds in Malaysian Ginseng are;

• Eurycomanone
• Eurycomanol
• Eurycomalactone

Malaysian Ginseng Uses

The bark of the root is widely used in traditional medicine. It is boiled in water and taken as a health tonic after childbirth, as an aphrodisiac, to relieve fever, against intestinal worms, dysentery, diarrhoea, indigestion, ulcers, jaundice and other ailments. A decoction of the leaves is drank and used externally to treat fever and itchiness. The paste of the plant leaves is also used to relieve stomachache, headache and pain in the bones.

There are more than 200 Malaysian Ginseng products in the market, mostly emphasizing on aphrodisiac properties, used as antioxidant, energy and stamina booster and for improving blood circulation.