Troublesome Weed MIMOSA PUDICA wins Fight Against the Naja COBRA

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@keban writes

Having found the progressive impact of knowledge the education communities onboard are making, I have decided to dedicate a little of my time to talk about an aspect of life that most people overlook, the qualities of the origin of man’s habitat, which are plants. I will like to talk about one plant each week or so.

Today I will be talking about THE SENSITIVE PLANT (Mimosa pudica)

Image Credit: WIKI

Nature has given to mankind a vast wealth in it but it takes the right knowledge to harness these riches the right way.

If we do not know what to do with umbrellas, we would hold it as walking sticks in the rain

So let’s plug in and see the amazing beauty these plants can magic out for us.

MIMOSA PUDICA

Image Credit: PIXABAY

It is locally known in my area here in Nigeria as touch and die because of its quick response to touch and other stimulations by folding of the leaves inwardly and droop, a way to defend itself from herbivores as insects may be scared off by its fast movement, the sudden movement can throw off insects that are harmful to it and after a few minutes they reopen. This plant is commonly called the SENSITIVE PLANT.

DISTRIBUTION

Mimosa pudica is native to South America, North America and Central America according to Wikipedia.

This weed is seen naturalized mostly in Tropical Regions and can be found Naturalized in warm areas.

The plant is a subshrub that is spiny with compound leaves and small globular pink or mauve flower puffs (by Britannica)

Pollination of this weed is by wind and insects, the seeds are hard coated and this inhibits germination. Carbon disulfide is produced in the root which prevents harmful fungi from growing within the plants rhizosphere. This also allows nodules that contains endosymbiotic diazotrophs to form on the roots, that undergoes the fixation of atmospheric Nitrogen and converts it to a plant usable form.

PLANT MOVEMENT

The plant undergoes two major type of movements which are Seismonastic movements and Nyctinastic movement. The Seismonastic movements has to do with the leaflets droop when stimulated by touching, warming, shaking or blowing. The Nyctinastic movements deals with the response of the plant to day and night, it folds in darkness and opens in light.

It has a primitive nervous system of electrical impulses that trigger changes in cell water pressure at the base of the leaflets which is the brain behind the rapid movements of the plant. (by Edenproject)

This movements of drooping interferes with the process of photosynthesis because it is energy costly, the often stimulation of the sensitive plant also weakens it.

IMPACTS ON AGRICULTURE
The sensitive plant is said to be a troublesome weed in tropic plants because it is invasive and can change the physio-chemical composition of the invaded soil like increasing the total Nitrogen and Potassium in the soil it invades.
It can also be seen as a forage plant but a variety have been noticed to be toxic to livestock so it is adviced to keep pets, livestock and children away from it.

NITROGEN FIXATION
The roots of mimosa pudica are able to form Nodules of root that becomes a habitable place for nitrogen-fixing bacteria which do convert atmospheric nitrogen unusable by plants into the form that plants can use. Nitrogen which is a component of the chlorophyll is essential for photosynthesis and also vital for the growth, development and reproduction of plants. Nitrogen is contributed to the soil surrounding the root of the plant and the plant itself by nitrogen-fixation.

CHEMICAL COMPONENTS

Mimosa pudica contains the toxic alkaloid mimosine, which has been found to also have antiproliferative and apoptotic effects. The extracts of Mimosa pudica immobilize the filariform larvae of Strongyloides stercoralis in less than one hour. Aqueous extracts of the roots of the plant have shown significant neutralizing effects in the lethality of the venom of the monocled cobra (Naja kaouthia). It appears to inhibit the myotoxicity and enzyme activity of cobra venom (Britannica)

The plant mimosa pudica has been seen to exhibit antibacterial and antioxidant characteristics, in brine shrimp lethality test mimosa pudica has been shown to be non-toxic suggesting that it has low level of toxicity. Chemical analysis of mimosa pudica has shown that it contains fatty acids, sterols, alkaloid, tannins, terenoids and flavonoid C-glucosides. Apart from the fact that mimosa pudica can give pleasure in leisure, it also holds a vital key role in the medical field, producing tannins that have the power to neutralize the effects in the lethality of the venom of naja cobra. What a wonderful creation anybody would have overlooked, this shows the abundant wealth of plants around us that have the abilities to be great solutions in our communities.

A Journal of Venomous Animals and Toxins including Tropical Diseases published in 2011 with the content of the result of experiment carried out by Sai FY and Ambu S (from the International Medical University, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia), Vejayan J (from the School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Monash University, Bandar Sunway, Selangor, Malaysia), and Jamuna A ( from the Institute of Biological Sciences, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia). These four researching on the

Efficacy of tannins from Mimosa pudica and tannic acid in neutralizing cobra (Naja kaouthia) venom

They compared the extract of tannin from the mimosa pudica with the commercially derived tannins in neutralizing the lethality of the venom of the naja cobra. They found the extracts from the mimosa plant more effective in neutralizing the cobra venom effect, the mice used showed surprisingly 100% survival, the results from their experiments showed that the tannins extracts from the mimosa pudica are better than the tannic acids in neutralizing the lethality of the venom of N kaouthia.

Mimosa pudica researched by many other people have shown great medicinal importance and use, a post by Ramya Venkateshwaran outlining and explaining 10 uses of the plant

.Mimosa Pudica Wound Healing Activity
. Mimosa Pudica Anti Venom Activity
. Mimosa Pudica For Piles
. Mimosa Pudica For Ulcers
. Mimosa Pudica For Diarrhea
. Mimosa Pudica Anti inflammatory Properties
. Mimosa Pudica Anti Diabetic Activity
. Liver Protecting Activity of Mimosa Pudica
. Anti microbial, Anti Fungal & Anti Viral Properties Of Mimosa Pudica
. Anti fertility Activity of Mimosa Pudica (by Ramya Venkateshwaran)

You can get the full post BY Ramya Venkateshwaran HERE

The plant Mimosa pudica is truly a blessing to humanity and has been proven to have great medicinal value and is highly importance to the human health and treatment but before use in or for any medical application please consult a qualified medical practitioner, for futher studies you can check out
. NCBI
. EASYAYUVERDA
. MAVCURE
. HERBPATHY

REFERENCES 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10

Thanks for reading
I remain @keban
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