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Paliasa: A herbal remedy for liver trouble
Natural wonder: The Paliasa leaf, found in South Sulawesi and other parts of Indonesia, is used as a herbal remedy for liver disorders
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span class="inline inline-left">Natural wonder: The Paliasa leaf, found in South Sulawesi and other parts of Indonesia, is used as a herbal remedy for liver disorders. JP/Andi HajramurniThe people of South Sulawesi are fond of paliasa, popularly known as the guest tree.
For generations, they have used paliasa, an evergreen also known as Kleinhovia hospital, to cure liver disorders such as hepatitis, by boiling its leaves and drinking the herbal water regularly.
They also believe it is an effective herbal remedy for typhoid and high blood pressure.
Traditionally known as an Indonesian medicinal plant, the evergreen grows in several regions and is called different names.
The Bugis refer to paliasa as palili, the Javanese as katimaha and the Sundanese as tangkele.
Today, paliasa can be consumed in capsules and drink sachets. You can also drink paliasa tea, paliasa soybean milk, paliasa goat milk and paliasa blueberry juice. These drinks contain extracts of paliasa used as a health supplement.
The commercialization of paliasa is the result of a cooperation between Hasanuddin University in Makassar and Technology Park Malaysia (TPM) Biotech, an agency of the Malaysian Research and Technology Ministry, which started in 2009.
These paliasa products, now manufactured in large quantities, were launched in April on the campus of Hasanuddin University. They will be globally marketed beyond Malaysia and Indonesia, particularly as a traditional drug highly effective to cure liver trouble.
The head of Hasanuddin University’s paliasa research team, Gemini Alam, said recently that scientists had studied paliasa’s use as a herbal medicine to treat liver diseases since 1990. They found effective compounds in its leaves, which didn’t cause health hazards when consumed.
“We have discovered two important compounds in paliasa leaves, which are flavonoids, generally serving as an antioxidant or anti-inflammatory remedy, and cycloartane triterpenoids, normalizing
the liver function in vitro,” explained Alam.
According to the head of the university’s pharmacognosy/phytochemistry laboratory, paliasa is rarely found in urban areas where most people choose drugs that are more practical for consumption.
Therefore, the idea of packaging paliasa into capsules arose, to make it easily available in urban areas, and preserve the quality of its medicinal properties. Alam assured that the quality of paliasa capsules was higher than that of its leaves boiled in water, because of the process used to extract its concentrate.
Before paliasa capsules and supplement drinks were manufactured, tests were repeatedly conducted on animals without causing any side effects, proving the herb was safe for consumption.
Several people with liver complaints acknowledged the effect paliasa capsules after taking them.
“My SGPT [serum glumat pyruvic transaminase] and SGOT [serum glumat oxaloacetic transaminase] once rose to 60. With paliasa capsules, it took only two days to restore my liver function to normal,” added Alam.
Paliasa is believed to lower hypertension and normalize hypotension, while maintaining a person’s health.
The team of researchers involved in the paliasa project cooperated with the Food and Drug Control Agency (BPOM) of Makassar to make sure the herbal medicine complied with standards for Indonesian herb extracts.
Hasanuddin University and TPM Biotech started cooperating when Malaysian Prime Minister Tun
Najib Abdul Razak visited the campus in 2009. At that time, the pharmacy lab for the research had just been razed by fire, destroying much of the equipment.
Hasanuddin University Rector Idrus Paturusi told Najib about the research undertaken by the campus, particularly on traditional drugs.
A memorandum of understanding between the university and the Malaysian Ministry of Research and Technology was signed the same year.
The Malaysian ministry appointed TPM Biotech as an executing agency for the cooperation.
TPM agreed to manufacture paliasa products while a 10-member team of the university would determine the dosage for capsules and other products.
“For a year, we coordinated with TPM to implement this project. We visited Malaysia to observe the manufacturing plant and adjust the amounts of compounds to be packed,” said Alam.
Hasanuddin University is the patent owner while TPM is the producer.
Both sides have the right to market the traditional medicine on a profit sharing basis. Malaysian health certificates are used for global sales while in Indonesia BPOM papers apply.
According to Alam, the university had previously offered its research results to a pharmaceutical company, Kalbe Farma, which declined the offer to commercialize paliasa.
“It turns out Malaysia took a liking to the project so it was carried out without delay,” he said smilingly.
At present, the Hasanuddin University campus has one hectare of paliasa bushes in its educational forest zone in Maros regency, South Sulawesi.
“If larger quantities are needed, we can also cooperate with locals because paliasa grows in many places in South Sulawesi,” he said.
Paliasa plantations are located in the regencies of Maros, Bone, Pangkajene, Pangkep, Barru and Takalar, South Sulawesi.
Three types of paliasa are found in the province but only Kleinhovia hospita Linn is used because of its quality and medicinal compounds.
Alam hopes paliasa will one day be prescribed by physicians at hospitals to cure liver disorders. But before this can happen, the medicine must undergo clinical tests for about a year, which will cost hundreds of millions of rupiah.
“Let’s hope we can conduct clinical tests so that paliasa can become a patent drug,” he said.
