This post will provide information on "What are the health benefits of gasso nut (Manniophyton fulvum)?" as well as provide answers to questions like: What is Manniophyton fulvum? where did it come from? what are the health benefits of gasso nut? what are the side effects of Manniophyton fulvum?
Gasso nut is a straggling shrub or vigorous climbing plant that can produce stems 30 metres or more long and up to 12cm thick. A multi-purpose plant that is very important to the local economy, providing food, medicines and commodities. The seeds of the gasso nut are often harvested from the wild by local people, and are often also sold, usually already cooked, in local markets. The sale of seeds can provide substantial income for local communities. The plant also has a range of medicinal uses and is the source of a good quality fibre. Closed-forest or mixed deciduous evergreen forest. Forests, in both primary and secondary formations, becoming invasive in forest openings and in riparian forest. It is also found in roadsides, abandoned areas, fallow areas and plantations. The seed is a rich source of a drying oil, and could be used in making paints. Oil-content of Central African material has been recorded as about 50%. The oil is yellow and tasteless, thickening on exposure in thin films, suggesting a possible use in paint manufacture, but having an iodine value of only 101. Good quality drying oil has an iodine value of 125 to over 200.
- A decoction of young shoots and roots is considered a sovereign remedy for cough and bronchitis
- A leaf, stem and root-decoction is drunk as a treatment for stomach-ache
- The seeds are used as a treatment for haemorrhoids and blood disorders
- The husk of the nut is chewed as a treatment for cough
- The sap is made into a cough linctus
- The red stem-sap is used topically on herpes and other dermal infections, and is also applied to carious teeth
- The leaf-sap, combined with sugar-cane sap and other drug-plants, is sometimes used as a treatment for insanity
- The leaf-sap is used topically on herpes and on other dermal infections and sores, including leprosy
- It is applied as drops to treat ear problems
- Young leaves, combined with kola nut (Cola spp.) and the seeds of maleguetta pepper, are used to treat tachycardia
- The powdered dried leaves are sprinkled on sores
- The root-bark, dried and powdered, is poisonous
- The plant Piliostigma thonningii is used as an antidote
- Skin contact with the plant can cause itching and may result in sores