''Phytolacca dodecandra'', commonly known as endod, gopo berry, or African soapberry, is a trailing shrub or climber native to

Tropical Africa The Afrotropical realm is one of the Earth's eight biogeographic realms. It includes Sub-Saharan Africa, the southern Arabian Peninsula, the island of Madagascar, and the islands of the western Indian Ocean. It was formerly known as the Ethiopi ...

Southern Africa Southern Africa is the southernmost region of Africa. No definition is agreed upon, but some groupings include the United Nations geoscheme for Africa, United Nations geoscheme, the intergovernmental Southern African Development Community, and ...

, and

Madagascar Madagascar, officially the Republic of Madagascar, is an island country that includes the island of Madagascar and numerous smaller peripheral islands. Lying off the southeastern coast of Africa, it is the world's List of islands by area, f ...

. It is

dioecious Dioecy ( ; ; adj. dioecious, ) is a characteristic of certain species that have distinct unisexual individuals, each producing either male or female gametes, either directly (in animals) or indirectly (in seed plants). Dioecious reproduction is ...

, with male and female flowers on separate plants. Morphologically, it is highly variable. ''Endod'' (as it is known in

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 ...

or ''shibti'' in Tigrigna ) has been selected and cultivated by Africans for centuries, particularly in

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 ...

and

Eritrea Eritrea, officially the State of Eritrea, is a country in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa, with its capital and largest city being Asmara. It is bordered by Ethiopia in the Eritrea–Ethiopia border, south, Sudan in the west, and Dj ...

. It is used as a soap and shampoo as well as a poison to stun fish. ''Endod'' is lethal to snails - a fact discovered by Ethiopian scientists - and may be effective controlling

schistosomiasis Schistosomiasis, also known as snail fever, bilharzia, and Katayama fever is a neglected tropical helminthiasis, disease caused by parasitism, parasitic Schistosoma, flatworms called schistosomes. It affects both humans and animals. It affects ...

. After

Aklilu Lemma Aklilu Lemma (; 18 September 19355 April 1997) was an Ethiopian pathologist. In 1989, he was awarded the Right Livelihood Award "for discovering and campaigning relentlessly for an affordable preventative against bilharzia." He made his most imp ...

, an Ethiopian scientist, demonstrated endod's potency to American scientists, they took out a patent, hoping to sell endod as a biological control for the

Zebra mussel The zebra mussel (''Dreissena polymorpha'') is a small freshwater mussel, an Aquatic animal, aquatic bivalve mollusk in the family Dreissenidae. The species originates from the lakes of southern Russia and Ukraine, but has been accidentally Intro ...

, a pest in the Great Lakes of the US and Canada. In Ethiopia, two types of "endod" (''Phytolacca dodecandra'') are known to grow and, while the tree's bark and roots are very poisonous if eaten, the leaves and berries of the tree have been traditionally used by villagers in laundering clothes. The two principal varieties are the ''Arabe'' variety, with pinkish to red berries; and the ''Ahiyo'' variety, with yellow-green to green berries. The ''Arabe'' type has a higher

saponin Saponins (Latin ''sapon'', 'soap' + ''-in'', 'one of') are bitter-tasting, usually toxic plant-derived secondary metabolites. They are organic chemicals that become foamy when agitated in water and have high molecular weight. They are present ...

content and better molluscicidal activity than the ''Ahiyo'' type (Lugt, 1977). Five species of "endod" are endemic to Ethiopia, but the efficacy of the saponins found in the berries of four of the trees are best when used in their fresh state. One tree produces berries that are efficacious in either their fresh or dry state and are sold in the local marketplaces. The leaves and berries of the ''endod'' were first crushed to a powder before being applied to laundry. When mixed with water, they produce a rich lather. Clothes washed in the solution are made supple and scented by its fragrance.

References

Bibliography

* Lugt (1977), "De zeepbesplant als onderdrukker van bilharzia" ("The soap berry plant as a suppressor of

bilharzia Schistosomiasis, also known as snail fever, bilharzia, and Katayama fever is a neglected tropical disease caused by parasitic flatworms called schistosomes. It affects both humans and animals. It affects the urinary tract or the intestines ...

"), in: ''Landbk''. Tijdschr. 89 (6), pp. 165–169

External links

Prelude Medicinal Plants Database
* {{Taxonbar, from=Q3295085 dodecandra Flora of Africa Saponaceous plants Flora of Ethiopia Dioecious plants