Agave sisalana

Agave sisalana Perr. ex Engelm

(Agave sisalana Perr. ex Engelm; Photo mybageecha.com)

Latin Name: Agave sisalana Perr. ex Engelm

Family: Agavaceae; Genus Agave

Synonym Name: Agave amaniensis Trel. & Nowell ; Agave rigida var. sisalana (Perrine) Engelm.; Agave segurae D.Guillot & P.Van der Meerl; Agave sisalana var. armata Trel.       

Agave sisalana f. armata (Trel.) Trel.

English Name: Sisal Hemp-plant

Dominican Republic Name: cabuya ceniza; henequén; pita sisal Fiji: dali; natali

Germany Name: Sisal- Agave; Sisalhanf

Mexico Name: yucatán

Netherlands Name: sisal

USA/Hawaii Name: malina

Vietnamese Name: Dứa sợi cu ba; Agao sợi; thùa sợi, Dứa sợi không gai

Chinese name:  剑麻 jian ma

Description: Stems short, thick. Leaves usually 200--250, in a basal rosette before inflorescence develops, glaucous when young, later dark blue-green, ensiform, straight, usually 1--1.5 m × 10--15 cm, fleshy, adaxially concave, abaxially convex, margin not spiny or rarely spiny, apex straight and tipped with a red-brown spine 2--3 cm. Panicle to 6 m, stout, usually bearing bulblets after anthesis. Flowers with a strong smell; pedicel 5--10 mm. Perianth yellowish green; tube 1.5--2.5 cm; lobes obovate-oblanceolate, 1.2--2 × 0.6--0.8 cm. Stamens inserted at base of perianth lobes; filament yellow, 6--8 cm; anther ca. 2.5 cm. Ovary oblong, ca. 3 cm. Style slender, 6--7 cm; stigma slightly capitate. Capsule oblong, ca. 6 × 2--2.5 cm.

Distribution: Growing on slopes, forest margins and roadsides. Distributed in South and Southwest China. Widely cultivated.

Part Used: Medical part: leaves. Chinese name: Jianma.

Harvest & Processing: Harvested when leaves grow to over 100cm, and about 50 pieces after field planting. Harvested when leaves grow to over 100cm, and about 50 pieces after field planting. Washed clear, used fresh or sun-dried.

Chemistry: Leaves contain neotigogenone, neotigogenin, tigogenin, sisalagenin, crude protein 5%-9%: albumin, glutelin and methionine; polysaccharide: arabinogalactan, xylan and xyloglucan. Squeezed juice of fresh leaves contain: Chlorogenin, rockogenin and sisalanin A, B, C, D, E, F, G. Pectin, mannitol, succinic acid, kaempferol.

- The chemical composition of lipophilic extractives from sisal (Agave sisalana) are fatty acids (30% of total lipids) including α- and ω-hydroxyfatty acids, fatty alcohols (20%), free sterols (11%), alkanes (11%) and a series of ferulic acid esters of long chain alcohols and ω-hydroxyfatty acids (10%). Additionally, steroid hydrocarbons and ketones, monoglycerides, aldehydes, waxes, and sterol glycosides, minor amounts of diglycerides, and sterol esters.

Pharmacology: Nerves-muscle-retardating, antiparasitic action.

Properties & Actions  Sweet, pungent, cool. Cooling and arresting blood and reducing swelling and detoxifying.

Indications & Usage: Tuberculous empsyxis, non-traumatic hemorrhage, hemafecia, dysentery, anthracia and swelling toxicity, hemorrhoids. Oral administration: decocting, 9-15g. External application: appropriate amount, fresh products applied in smashed pattern.

References

- libproject.hkbu.edu.hk

- efloras.org

- theplantlist

- Jener David Gonçalves Santos, Ivo Jose Curcino Vieira, Raimundo Braz-Filho, and Alexsandro Branco, James H.; Chemicals from Agave sisalana Biomass: Isolation and Identification; Int J Mol Sci. 2015 Apr; 16(4): 8761–8771.

- Ana Gutiérrez Isabel, M. Rodríguez José, C.del Río; Chemical composition of lipophilic extractives from sisal (Agave sisalana) fibers;; Industrial Crops and Products; Volume 28, Issue 1, July 2008, Pages 81-87

- Silveira RX, Chagas AC, Botura MB, et al. Action of sisal (Agave sisalana, Perrine) extract in the in vitro development of sheep and goat gastrointestinal nematodes. Exp Parasitol. 2012;131(2):162–168. doi:10.1016/j.exppara.2012.03.018