''Persicaria minor'' is species of herb in the family

Polygonaceae The Polygonaceae are a Family (biology), family of flowering plants known Common name, informally as the knotweed family or smartweed—buckwheat family in the United States. The Botanical name, name is Basionym, based on the genus ''Polygonum'', ...

. Common names include pygmy smartweed, small water pepper and swamp willow weed. This herb is native to Asia, but distributed widely in Europe and Australia. It is used in

South East Asia Southeast Asia is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, southeastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of China, east of the Indian subcontinent, and northwest of the Mainland Au ...

n cooking.

Description

''Persicaria minor'' is native to South East Asia, including Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam and Indonesia. It grows wild in cooler highlands, but is also found in wet lowland areas near rivers, ditches, and canals. It is a creeping plant with slender stems, and grows upright to a height of 1 to 1.5 meters. The creeping stem is green with reddish tinge, is cylindrical in shape, and has short nodes about 9 mm apart. Its leaves are long and narrowly-tapering, alternately arranged, and green with short, reddish petioles. Its flowers are minute, pale violet, and are 12 to 15 cm long.

Uses

''Persicaria minor'' is an edible, aromatic herb. In Malaysia and Indonesia it has the common name "kesum", and its shoots and young leaves are eaten raw as part of salad ( ulam); used as an aroma spice additive in peppery dishes such as

laksa Laksa ( Jawi: ; Chinese: 叻沙) is a spicy noodle dish popular in Southeast Asia. Laksa consists of various types of noodles, most commonly thick rice noodles, with toppings such as chicken, prawns or fish. Most variations of laksa are prepar ...

, nasi kerabu,

asam pedas Asam pedas ( Malay for "sour spicy"; ) is a traditional sour and spicy '' gulai'' commonly found in Southeast Asia, particularly in Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore. The dish is typically associated with Malay, Minangkabau, Acehnese and Per ...

and tom yam; used as tea leaves; and used for topical applications in traditional medicine. Its oil has been used for aromatherapy and in treatments for dandruff. In Malaysian traditional medicine, ''P. minor'' has been used in post-natal tonics and for treatment of digestion. Pharmacological studies on ''P. minor'' have indicated anti-oxidant, LDL oxidation, anti-inflammatory and anti-microbial activities, digestive enhancing and anti-ulcer activities, cognitive enhancing activities, immuno-modulating activities, acetylcholinesterase-inhibiting activity and as a microbial inhibitor to prevent food spoilage. Comparative studies have been carried out to analyse the metabolites not only in the plant's leaves, but also in its stem and roots. Clinical studies have been carried out on this plant, looking at reported abilities to improve cognition, mood and stress, and memory. Compared with other four Malaysian herbs ('' Cosmos caudatus'', '' Piper sarmentosum'', ''

Centella asiatica ''Centella asiatica'', commonly known as Indian pennywort, Asiatic pennywort, spadeleaf, coinwort or gotu kola, is a herbaceous, perennial plant in the flowering plant family Apiaceae. It is native to tropical regions of Africa, Asia, Australia, ...

'', '' Syzygium polyanthum''), the ''Persicaria minor'' showed the highest concentration of phenols and the highest antioxidant activity. It has been used as a bioactive component for packaging film for edible foods, based on a semi-refined carrageenan and

glycerol Glycerol () is a simple triol compound. It is a colorless, odorless, sweet-tasting, viscous liquid. The glycerol backbone is found in lipids known as glycerides. It is also widely used as a sweetener in the food industry and as a humectant in pha ...

as plasticizers.

Composition

''P. minor'' has high content of dietary fiber, thiamine, carbohydrate, protein and minerals. It is also rich in calcium, potassium, vitamin A and vitamin C, which reportedly gives it a high level of antioxidant properties. Other constituents include quercetin, quercetin-3-glucuronide, myricetin, apigetrin, hyperoside and astragalin.

References

External links

Polygonum minus, Plants for a Future
{{Taxonbar, from=Q1717986

minor Minor may refer to: Common meanings * Minor (law), a person not under the age of certain legal activities. * Academic minor, a secondary field of study in undergraduate education Mathematics * Minor (graph theory), a relation of one graph to an ...

Flora of Europe Flora of temperate Asia Herbs Medicinal plants