''Otostegia integrifolia'', more commonly known as Abyssinian rose, a plant belonging to the family
Lamiaceae
The Lamiaceae ( )
or Labiatae are a family (biology), family of flowering plants commonly known as the mint, deadnettle, or sage family. Many of the plants are aromatic in all parts and include widely used culinary herbs like basil (herb), ba ...
, is
endemic
Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...
to
Ethiopia
Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the east, Ken ...
, in the dry evergreen woodlands of the
Bale Mountains
The Bale Mountains (also known as the Urgoma Mountains) are mountain ranges in the Oromia Region of southeast Ethiopia, south of the Awash River, part of the Ethiopian Highlands. They include Mount Tullu Demtu, Tullu Demtu, the fourth-highest mou ...
,
Tigray
The Tigray Region (or simply Tigray; officially the Tigray National Regional State) is the northernmost Regions of Ethiopia, regional state in Ethiopia. The Tigray Region is the homeland of the Tigrayan, Irob people, Irob and Kunama people. I ...
,
Gondar
Gondar, also spelled Gonder (Amharic: ጎንደር, ''Gonder'' or ''Gondär''; formerly , ''Gʷandar'' or ''Gʷender''), is a city and woreda in Ethiopia. Located in the North Gondar Zone of the Amhara Region, Gondar is north of Lake Tana on ...
,
Wollo
Wollo (Amharic: ወሎ) was a historical province of northern Ethiopia. During the Middle Ages this province name was Bete Amhara and it was the centre of the Solomonic emperors. Bete Amhara had an illustrious place in Ethiopian political and ...
and
Gojjam
Gojjam ( ''gōjjām'', originally ጐዛም ''gʷazzam'', later ጐዣም ''gʷažžām'', ጎዣም ''gōžžām'') is a historical provincial kingdom in northwestern Ethiopia, with its capital city at Debre Markos.
During the 18th century, G ...
regions, North
Shewa
Shewa (; ; Somali: Shawa; , ), formerly romanized as Shua, Shoa, Showa, Shuwa, is a historical region of Ethiopia which was formerly an autonomous kingdom within the Ethiopian Empire. The modern Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa is located at it ...
,
Kaffa and
Hararghe
Hararghe ( ''Harärge''; Harari language, Harari: ሀረርጌ፞ይ, هَرَرْݘٛىيْ,''Harargêy'', Oromo language, Oromo: Harargee, ) was a provinces of Ethiopia, province of eastern Ethiopia with its capital in Harar.
Etymology
Harargh ...
regions, as well as in the dry and moist agroclimatic zones of the district known as
Dega, at altitudes of 1,300—2,800 m. above sea-level. It also grows in Yemen, northwest of
Mukalla
Mukalla, officially the Mukalla City District, is a seaport and the capital city district of Yemen's largest governorate, Hadhramaut Governorate, Hadhramaut. The city is in the South Arabia, southern part of the Arabian Peninsula on the Gulf of A ...
. In Ethiopia, ''O. integrifolia'' is commonly known by its
Amharic
Amharic is an Ethio-Semitic language, which is a subgrouping within the Semitic branch of the Afroasiatic languages. It is spoken as a first language by the Amhara people, and also serves as a lingua franca for all other metropolitan populati ...
vernacular of ''tinjute'' = ጥንጁት (alt. sp. ''Tindjut'').
Description
A much-branched shrub, growing to a height of 4 m; the stem angled and older stems ash grey and flaking, often bearing paired spines at the nodes. Leaves are simple, nearly
sessile,
ob-lanceolate to
lanceolate
The following terms are used to describe leaf plant morphology, morphology in the description and taxonomy (biology), taxonomy of plants. Leaves may be simple (that is, the leaf blade or 'lamina' is undivided) or compound (that is, the leaf blade ...
, 2–9 cm long,
cuneate at the base, clothed on both sides with white
tomentum; aromatic, the edge double toothed or round toothed.
Flowers
Flowers, also known as blooms and blossoms, are the reproductive structures of flowering plants ( angiosperms). Typically, they are structured in four circular levels, called whorls, around the end of a stalk. These whorls include: calyx, m ...
are two-lipped with yellow or yellow-orange lower
petal
Petals are modified leaves that form an inner whorl surrounding the reproductive parts of flowers. They are often brightly coloured or unusually shaped to attract pollinators. All of the petals of a flower are collectively known as the ''corol ...
and white or cream-colored upper petal, the orange anthers held inside the upper petal.
Whorls
A whorl ( or ) is an individual circle, oval, volution or equivalent in a whorled pattern, which consists of a spiral or multiple concentric objects (including circles, ovals and arcs).
In nature
File:Photograph and axial plane floral diagram ...
few or many, 5–6-flowered; bracts rigid,
tricuspidate. Calyx sessile; tube 1/4 in. long, densely pubescent, with 10 raised ribs; upper lip small, oblong, pointed, entire; lower orbicular-cuneate, 3/4 in. broad, faintly
crenate
A leaf (: leaves) is a principal appendage of the stem of a vascular plant, usually borne laterally above ground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", while the leaves, stem, fl ...
.
Chemistry and pharmacology
By using analytical and preparative gas chromatography (GC),
terpene
Terpenes () are a class of natural products consisting of compounds with the formula (C5H8)n for n ≥ 2. Terpenes are major biosynthetic building blocks. Comprising more than 30,000 compounds, these unsaturated hydrocarbons are produced predomi ...
s have been extracted from air-dried Abyssinian rose (Otostegia integrifolia) leaves. A total of 40 constituents including
monoterpenes
Monoterpenes are a class of terpenes that consist of two isoprene units and have the molecular formula C10H16. Monoterpenes may be linear (acyclic) or contain rings (monocyclic and bicyclic). Modified terpenes, such as those containing oxygen funct ...
,
sesquiterpenes
Sesquiterpenes are a class of terpenes that consist of three isoprene units and often have the molecular formula C15H24. Like monoterpenes, sesquiterpenes may be cyclic or contain rings, including many combinations. Biochemical modifications s ...
,
diterpenes
Diterpenes are a class of terpenes composed of four isoprene units, often with the molecular formula C20H32. They are biosynthesized by plants, animals and fungi via the HMG-CoA reductase pathway, with geranylgeranyl pyrophosphate being a prima ...
and their derivatives were identified.
Scientific and medicinal uses
The species of
Otostegia have traditionally been used in folklore medicines, for treatment of
ophthalmia
Ophthalmia (; also called ophthalmitis, and archaically obtalmy) is inflammation of the eye. It results in congestion of the eyeball, often eye-watering, redness and swelling, itching and burning, and a general feeling of irritation under the ey ...
, as an
anti-microbial
An antimicrobial is an agent that kills microorganisms (microbicide) or stops their growth (bacteriostatic agent). Antimicrobial medicines can be grouped according to the microorganisms they are used to treat. For example, antibiotics are used aga ...
,
antihyperglyceamic, and for its anti-oxidant properties used in preventing different kinds of sickness and disorders, of which five species have been reported in the flora of
Ethiopia
Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the east, Ken ...
. Several studies suggest that ''O. integrifolia'' is a good natural anti-oxidant that can be used as health-promoting agent for various disorders including
diabetes mellitus
Diabetes mellitus, commonly known as diabetes, is a group of common endocrine diseases characterized by sustained hyperglycemia, high blood sugar levels. Diabetes is due to either the pancreas not producing enough of the hormone insulin, or th ...
. The species ''O. integrifolia'' is well known for its pleasant odor, omnipotent medicinal values, and when its wood is
fumigated has proven insecticidal properties (mosquito repellent).
Other traditional uses
The wood of the Abyssinian rose (''O. integrifolia'') has insecticidal properties and is often gathered and burnt to fumigate homes, the aroma from the smoke being similar to perfume. Some upturn earthenware brewing jars directly over the smoke emitted from the burning wood, in order to absorb its flavor and to impart the same to an
alcoholic beverage
Drinks containing alcohol (drug), alcohol are typically divided into three classes—beers, wines, and Distilled beverage, spirits—with alcohol content typically between 3% and 50%. Drinks with less than 0.5% are sometimes considered Non-al ...
to be stored in the jars. The beverage, known locally as ''
tella
''Tella'' or ''talla'' (Amharic ጠላ; , ) is a traditional beer from Ethiopia. It is brewed from various grains, which can change depending on location. These typically include barley or teff. Depending on region, wheat, sorghum, or corn may be ...
'', is made from a bath of
malted barley
Malt is any cereal grain that has been made to germinate by soaking in water and then stopped from germinating further by drying with hot air, a process known as " malting".
Malted grain is used to make beer, whisky, malted milk, malt vinegar ...
to which a batch of
hops
Hops are the flowers (also called seed cones or strobiles) of the hop plant ''Humulus lupulus'', a member of the Cannabaceae family of flowering plants. They are used primarily as a bittering, flavouring, and stability agent in beer, to whic ...
is later added, derived from the ground leaves of ''
gesho
''Rhamnus prinoides'', the shiny-leaf buckthorn, is an African shrub or small tree in the family Rhamnaceae. Commonly referred to as "gesho" it was first scientifically described by French botanist Charles Louis L'Héritier de Brutelle in 1789.
...
'' for
fermenting
Fermentation is a type of anaerobic metabolism which harnesses the redox potential of the reactants to make adenosine triphosphate (ATP) and organic end products. Organic molecules, such as glucose or other sugars, are catabolized and reduced ...
, being a species of buckthorn (''
Rhamnus prinoides
''Rhamnus prinoides'', the shiny-leaf buckthorn, is an African shrub or small tree in the family Rhamnaceae. Commonly referred to as "gesho" it was first scientifically described by French botanist Charles Louis L'Héritier de Brutelle in 1789 ...
''). A smoldering coal from either olive wood or the Abyssinian rose wood is also put within ceramic jars used to contain milk, so as to impart its flavor to the milk. Some say that the smoke is used in this case as a disinfectant and to extend the shelf-life of the product. The wood is often collected as firewood, and used for scenting cloth material.
In Ethiopia, mothers after childbirth are smoked with ''tinjute'' on the tenth day after giving birth (
postpartum
The postpartum (or postnatal) period begins after childbirth and is typically considered to last for six to eight weeks. There are three distinct phases of the postnatal period; the acute phase, lasting for six to twelve hours after birth; the ...
). This was believed to “cleanse” the birthing mother so that she could leave her confinement and again resume a normal daily life.
[Wilson, R.T. & Mariam, W.G ., ''Medicine and Magic in Central Tigre: A Contribution to the Ethnobotany of the Ethiopian Plateau'', Economic Botany (33) 1979, pp. 29–34.]
Another plant bearing the name ''tinjute'' in Ethiopia is ''
Combretum collinum
''Combretum'', the bushwillows or combretums, make up the type genus of the family Combretaceae. The genus comprises about 272 species of trees and shrubs, most of which are native to Tropics, tropical and southern Africa, about 5 to Madagascar ...
'', although it is unrelated to Abyssinian rose (''O. integrifolia'').
References
External links
Tinjute (Otostegia integrifolia): A versatile Ethiopian ethnomedicinal plantMedicine and Magic in Central Tigre: A Contribution to the Ethnobotany of the Ethiopian Plateau JSTOR
Flora entry for Otostegia integrifolia JSTOR
{{Taxonbar, from=Q22285085
Lamiaceae
Flora of Ethiopia
Medicinal plants
Flora of Yemen
Garden plants of Africa