After a series of articles about the situation on the use of products derived from Royal Virgin plant, we received a lot of feedback from readers who want to be instructed to identify Royal Virgin plant to make medicine.
Phamarcist - Dr. Nguyen Thi Ngoc Tram, Director of Thien Duoc Co., Ltd (who spent many years researching this plant) said, ‘Royal Virgin plant whose scientific name is Crinum latifolium L. is a wild plant, common in some provinces such as Ba Ria - Vung Tau, Dong Nai, Quang Nam, Thua Thien - Hue and some others in the South of Vietnam. India, Thailand, Cambodia and China also have some Crinum plants which look like Vietnamese Crinum latifolium L. and also have Crinum latifolium L. as their scientific name but don’t have any bioactive substances which can cure uterine fibroids and benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH).
Vietnamese Crinum latifolium L. with therapeutic properties is an herbaceous plant, nearly like white- flower Crinum plant. Here are some morphological features: the body is bulb-like, the leaves are thin, greenish-yellow, 80-100 cm long, and 3-9 cm wide. The leaves’ sheaths face each other forming pseudo-body. Two leaf’s margins are wavy with parallel veins. The leaf’s upper surface is concave into groove. The leaf’s lower face has a very clear mid rib. The leaf’s sheaths near the ground are violet. The peduncle is 10 - 20 cm long, carrying over 6 flowers (sometimes 9, 10, 12) arranging in an umbel on a pair of leaves. The flower petal is thin, wide, pinkish-white and 10 - 20cm long. The unopened bud is big and short. The anther is white. The filament is thin beyond the anther. The peduncle is round and short. The sepal is slightly curved and about 7cm long. Both sepal and peduncle are green. When the flower totally blooms, its petals arrange closely together to form a tube. The flowers are less fragrant. The stems are usually purple and short. The body grows many little bulbs those can be separated easily to grow.
In Vietnam, there are 12 plants of the Crinum genus looking like Crinum latifolium L. In this genus, white Crinum plant is strongly poisonous so that if misused, it will do harm to users’ liver and kidneys. If those plants are not checked by DNA and chromosomes test or haven’t bloomed yet, they are very difficult to be distinguished with Crinum latifolium L. by the naked eyes.
In Crinum genus, only Crinum latifolium L. has treatment effect for uterine fibroids and BPH. Currently, many people confusing Crinum latifolium L. with some other Crinum plants or Crinoideae arbitrarily boiled their leaves to drink to cure diseases. Consequently, they were poisoned and vomited. People are confused Crinum latifolium L. with even some Crinum plants imported from other Asian countries that are currently being studied and can lead to infertility if being drunk.
According to Dr. Tram, to distinguish Crinum latifolium L. with Crinoideae or white Crinum plant, it is a must to use scientific analysis methods in laboratory. This is not easy. Therefore, it is the best patients should not use fresh leaves if they are not sure whether it is Crinum latifolium L. leaf or not. They should buy the products that have been recognized as drugs to treat diseases by the Ministry of Health. Patients need to consider carefully when choosing Crinum latifolium L. leaf, as well as Crinum latifolium L. products on the market to get effective treatment with reasonable price.
Readers who need any advice on Crinum latifolium L. and products extracted and manufactured based on the research of Dr. Tram and her colleagues can contact us at this telephone number: (08) 54045327.
Reported by DONG HUONG