Contrayerva, or contrajerva, is the medicinal

rhizome In botany and dendrology, a rhizome (; , ) is a modified subterranean plant stem that sends out roots and shoots from its nodes. Rhizomes are also called creeping rootstalks or just rootstalks. Rhizomes develop from axillary buds and grow hori ...

of various tropical Central American and South American species of ''

Dorstenia ''Dorstenia'' is a genus within the mulberry family, Moraceae. Depending on the author, there are said to be 100 to 170 species within this genus, second only in number to the genus ''Ficus'' within Moraceae. ''Dorstenia'' species are mainly kno ...

'' in the family

Moraceae The Moraceae — often called the mulberry family or fig family — are a family of flowering plants comprising about 38 genera and over 1100 species. Most are widespread in tropical and subtropical regions, less so in temperate climates; however ...

, mainly ''

Dorstenia contrajerva ''Dorstenia contrajerva'' is a plant species in the family Moraceae. It is native to Northern South America and Central America, and is cultivated elsewhere. The species name "contrajerva" is the Latinized form of the plant's Spanish name, "con ...

'' and the closely related '' Dorstenia drakena'' but also ''

Dorstenia brasiliensis ''Dorstenia brasiliensis'' is a species of herbaceous plant in the family Moraceae of the order Rosales. Distribution The plant is native to northeastern and central South America, across most of Brazil, The word ''contrayerva'' means “counter herb” in Spanish. It was given this name since a 16th-century description (see below) claimed that the leaves of a herb (''yerva'' = ''hierba'') were used by South American Indians to counter the deadly poisonous effect of the same herb (“contra yerva”) when used as an arrow poison. Seventeenth century herbalists and botanists identified this herb as the aromatic root that had been brought from Peru to England by

Francis Drake Sir Francis Drake ( – 28 January 1596) was an English explorer, sea captain, privateer, slave trader, naval officer, and politician. Drake is best known for his circumnavigation of the world in a single expedition, from 1577 to 1580 (t ...

, and claimed that it was an antidote against all kinds of poison. By the late 18th century contrayerva had lost its reputation as an antidote, but it continued to be listed in European and American pharmacopoeias and herbals until the 1920s as a gentle

stimulant Stimulants (also often referred to as psychostimulants or colloquially as uppers) is an overarching term that covers many drugs including those that increase activity of the central nervous system and the body, drugs that are pleasurable and inv ...

, tonic and

diaphoretic Perspiration, also known as sweating, is the production of fluids secreted by the sweat glands in the skin of mammals. Two types of sweat glands can be found in humans: eccrine glands and apocrine glands. The eccrine sweat glands are distri ...

.Grieve, M. “Contrayerva”,
A Modern Herbal
'. Retrieved on 14.10.2017.Tropical Plant Database. �

��. Retrieved 15.10.2017.Remington, Joseph P.; Wood, Horatio C.; and others.

', Twentieth Edition, Philadelphia 1918. It is still used in folk medicine in Central and South America.

Description of the contrayerva root

In the entry "Contra-yerva" in Chambers’ '' Cyclopedia'' of 1728, it is said that the root is smaller than that of the

iris Iris most often refers to: *Iris (anatomy), part of the eye *Iris (mythology), a Greek goddess * ''Iris'' (plant), a genus of flowering plants *Iris (color), an ambiguous color term Iris or IRIS may also refer to: Arts and media Fictional enti ...

, reddish outside and white inside, knotty, and fibrous. To be of use, it must be new, heavy, and of a dusky red color. Its odor resembles that of

fig The fig is the edible fruit of ''Ficus carica'', a species of small tree in the flowering plant family Moraceae. Native to the Mediterranean and western Asia, it has been cultivated since ancient times and is now widely grown throughout the world ...

leaves. Its taste is aromatic, accompanied with some acrimony.Chambers, Ephraim. ''Cyclopaedia: or, An Universal Dictionary of Arts and Sciences'', Vol. 1, London 1728
319
/ref> Dorstenia drakena Sessé & Mociño

William Woodville William Woodville (1752 – 26 March 1805) was an English physician and botanist. Convinced by the work of Edward Jenner, he was among the first to promote vaccination. His four volume book on medical botany published between 1790 and 1794 with ...

wrote in ''Medical Botany'': "The root of Contrayerva has a peculiar kind of aromatic smell, and a light astringent warm bitterish taste, and on being long chewed it discovers somewhat of a sweetish sharpness. According to Lewis, 'Contrayerva root gives out its virtue, by the assistance of heat, both to water and rectified spirit, and tinges the former of a dark brownish red, the latter of a brighter reddish colour: the watery decoction is very mucilaginous, so as not to pass through a filter.' ewis ''Mat. Med.''Woodville, William. "Dorstenia contrayerva. Contrayerva" in ''Medical Botany'', 179
1794
Second edition, 1810, Vol. I, p. 485. ''The Dispensatory of the United States of America'' (1918) describes the root, as found in commerce, as oblong, long, of varying thickness, very hard, rough, and solid, of a reddish-brown color externally, and pale within; and has numerous, long, slender, yellowish rootlets attached to its inferior part. The odor is aromatic; the taste warm, slightly bitter, and pungent. The sensible properties are extracted by alcohol and boiling water. The decoction is highly mucilaginous. The tincture reddens infusion of litmus, and precipitates on the addition of water.

Origin of the contrayerva root

The official contrayerva root or ''radix contrayervae'' in 18th century English medical literature was ''Dorstenia contrajerva'', but the roots of other ''Dorstenia'' species such as the closely related ''Dorstenia drakena''and ''Dorstenia brasiliensis'' were also often collected and sold. The 18th century physician and botanist

wrote: “upon the faith of Dr. Houston, who examined the Contrayerva plants in their native soil, we should otherwise have had no doubt in referring the official radix contrayervae to the species (i.e. ''Dorstenia contrajerva'') he has described, as has been done by Bergius and Murray. But as Houston has observed, that the roots of different species of Dorstenia are promiscuously gathered and exported for those of the Contrayerva; and as all the species bear a great resemblance to each other, we conceive the further discussion of this subject to be of no material consequence.” The 19th century English pharmacologist

Jonathan Pereira Jonathan Pereira FRS (22 May 1804, in London – 20 January 1853) was a pharmacologist, author of the ''Elements of Materia Medica'', a standard work. He was examiner on the subject in the University of London. Life Pereira graduated as apotheca ...

wrote in his ''Elements of Materia Medica'' that the Contrayerva root “usually met in the shops” is not ''Dorstenia contrajerva'' but ''Dorstenia brasiliensis''—“A native of Jamaica, Brazil, and Trinidad.”Pereira, Jonathan. ''The Elements of Materia Medica and Therapeutics'', Vol. II, Part I, London 1855
381
/ref> The first mention of contrayerva is found in

Nicolás Monardes Nicolás Bautista Monardes (1493 – 10 October 1588) was a Spanish physician and botanist. Monardes published several books of varying importance. In ''Diálogo llamado pharmacodilosis'' (1536), he examines humanism and suggests studying s ...

Historia medicinal de las cosas que se traen de nuestras Indias Occidentales ''Historia medicinal de las cosas que se traen de nuestras Indias Occidentales'' ("Medical study of the products imported from our West Indian possessions") is the standard title for a survey by Nicolás Monardes (1493–1588), Spanish physician ...

'', 1580. In this work Monardes reproduced a letter by an informant in Peru, the Spaniard Pedro de Osma y de Xara y Zejo, who writes that he has been informed by his soldier cousin that the leaves of a herb (“yerua” = yerva = hierba) with broad leaves resembling those of the plantain are used as by the native Indians as a counter herb (“contra yerua”) against injuries caused by arrows poisoned with the deadly poison made from this same poisonous herb (“una yerua, que es contra yerua”). There is no mention of the root in the letter and book nor any recipes. A report recorded by

Hans Sloane Sir Hans Sloane, 1st Baronet (16 April 1660 – 11 January 1753), was an Irish physician, naturalist, and collector, with a collection of 71,000 items which he bequeathed to the British nation, thus providing the foundation of the British Mu ...

in the early 18th century describes the manner the Spanish in America are said to have discovered the use of the contrayerva: When a Spaniard was injured by a

poison arrow "Poison Arrow" is a song by English new wave band ABC, released as the second single from their debut studio album, ''The Lexicon of Love'' (1982). The single was released in the United Kingdom on 15 February 1982 on 7" and 12", with the sam ...

shot by an Indian, the Spaniards threatened to injure one of their Indian prisoners with a poisoned arrow unless he revealed the cure. Thereupon the “Indian immediately chaw'd some of this Contra Yerva, and put it into the wound, and it healed.”

Carolus Clusius Charles de l'Écluse, L'Escluse, or Carolus Clusius (19 February 1526 – 4 April 1609), seigneur de Watènes, was an Artois doctor and pioneering botanist, perhaps the most influential of all 16th-century scientific horticulturists. Life Clu ...

described the root twice in his ''

Exoticorum libri decem ''Exoticorum libri decem'' ("Ten books of exotic life forms") is an illustrated zoological and botanical compendium in Latin, published at Leiden in 1605 by Charles de l'Écluse. On the title page the author's name appears in its well-known Lat ...

'' (1605), without making a link between the two. First he describes it as the ''Drakena radix'' and later on, in a translation from a Spanish work by Monardus or

, as contrayerva,Clusius, Carolus. ''Exoticorum libri decem'', 1605
311
The English herbalist Thomas Johnson linked the two roots (1633): ''Contra-yerva'' ''Clusius'' ''Drakena radix'' ''Clusius'' ''Monardus'' ''Contra-yerva''. ''Historia Lugdunensis'' ''Clusius'' Drakena radix by Clusius from Exoticorum libri decem 1605 p 311

Drakena radix by Clusius from Exoticorum libri decem 1605 p 311

Johnson continues by giving translations from Clusius' ''

'': “... ''Monardus'' ''Clusius''. ''Monard.'') ''Contra-yerva'', ''Monardus''.”Appendix by Thomas Johnson, in Gerard, John. ''The Herball Or Generall Historie of Plantes: Very Much Enlarged and Amended by Thomas Johnson Citizen and Apothecarye of London'', Volume 2, 1636
1621
��1622. Seventeenth century medical and botanical writers were confused about the identity of the root, with

Gaspard Bauhin Gaspard Bauhin or Caspar Bauhin ( la, Casparus Bauhinus; 17 January 1560 – 5 December 1624), was a Swiss botanist whose ''Pinax theatri botanici'' (1623) described thousands of plants and classified them in a manner that draws comparisons to t ...

or Bauhinus misidentifying the Contrayerva and Radix Drakena as the root of a ''

Cyperus ''Cyperus'' is a large genus of about 700 species of sedges, distributed throughout all continents in both tropical and temperate regions. Description They are annual or perennial plants, mostly aquatic and growing in still or slow-moving w ...

'' sedge, and others misidentifying it with the Mexican ''Coanenepilli'', a

Passionflower ''Passiflora'', known also as the passion flowers or passion vines, is a genus of about 550 species of flowering plants, the type genus of the family Passifloraceae. They are mostly tendril-bearing vines, with some being shrubs or trees. They ...

vine, described by the Spanish naturalist and physician

Francisco Hernández de Toledo Francisco Hernández de Toledo (1514 in La Puebla de Montalbán, Toledo – 28 January 1587 in Madrid) was a naturalist and court physician to the King of Spain. Hernández was among the first wave of Spanish Renaissance physicians practicing acco ...

Chemical constituents

The ''United States Pharmacopoeia and the National Formulary'' (1927) says that the root of ''Dorstenia contrajerva'' contains contrayerbine, cajapine, volatile oil, resin, a bitter principle, and starch.Culbreth, David M.
A Manual of Materia Medica and Pharmacology
', 7th edition, Philadelphia, 1927. A 2016 study isolated the following 11 compounds from ''Dorstenia contrajerva'': dorsjervin A, dorsjervin B,

psoralen Psoralen (also called psoralene) is the parent compound in a family of naturally occurring organic compounds known as the linear furanocoumarins. It is structurally related to coumarin by the addition of a fused furan ring, and may be considered a ...

, dorstenin,

squalene Squalene is an organic compound. It is a triterpenoid with the formula C30H50. It is a colourless oil, although impure samples appear yellow. It was originally obtained from shark liver oil (hence its name, as ''Squalus'' is a genus of sharks). A ...

, γ-sitosterol, cycloartocarpesin, 1-O-linolenoyl-2-O-stearoyl-3-O-β-D-galactopyranosyl glycerol,

bergapten Bergapten (5-methoxypsoralen) is a naturally-occurring organic chemical compound produced by numerous plant species, especially from the carrot family Apiaceae and the citrus family Rutaceae. For example, bergapten has been extracted from 24 ...

, dorsteniol, and xanthoarnol. The

cardenolide A cardenolide is a type of steroid. Many plants contain derivatives, collectively known as cardenolides, including many in the form of cardenolide glycosides (cardenolides that contain structural groups derived from sugars). Cardenolide glycoside ...

syriogenin has also been isolated in the root of '' D. contrajerva''. In roots of ''Dorstenia'' species that are used in Brazilian folk medicine,

furocoumarins The furanocoumarins, or furocoumarins, are a class of organic chemical compounds produced by a variety of plants. Most of the plant species found to contain furanocoumarins belong to a handful of plant families. The families Apiaceae and Rutacea ...

were identified as the most abundant compounds.

Medicinal uses

In folk medicine in Honduras the boiled root of ''Dorstenia contrajerva'' is used to cure diarrhea, dysentery, and stomach ache. The slightly roasted and ground root is used to treat intestinal worms and parasites. The crushed root is mixed with water to treat the bites of snakes. In Nicaragua the boiled root is used to prevent diarrhea; minced raw rhizomes are used to treat diarrhea, sickness, stomach upset, indigestion, and worms. In El Salvador it is used for stomachache and to prevent vomiting. In Costa Rica the boiled root is used in curing diarrhea, and an infusion to lower fever. It is considered useful in curing persistent diarrhea as well as an emmenagogue. In Mexico the latex is used to heal wounds and the inflorescences are given to teething children. In the Amazon region of Peru it is used as a tonic, against gangrene, and as an antidote for bee and wasp stings. In Argentina, the whole plant is used to treat snakebite. In Venezuela it is used as a sudorific and as a cure for dysentery. ''Duke's Handbook of Medicinal Plants of Latin America'' lists the following medicinal activities of ''Dorstenia contrajerva'': alexiteric, anti-HIV, diaphoretic, diuretic, emmenaggogue, febrifuge, leihmanicide, orexigenic, stimulant, tonic. ''The Dispensatory of the United States'' of 1918 and ''United States Pharmacopoeia and the National Formulary'' of 1927 says that contrayerva has been used for low fevers, typhoid, diarrhea, dysentery, and other diseases that require stimulation; in the form of a decoction or tincture.

Maud Grieve Maud Grieve in 1928 Sophie Emma Magdalene Grieve (née Law; 4 May 1858 – 21 December 1941) also known as Maud, Margaret, Maude or Mrs. Grieve, was the principal and founder of The Whins Medicinal and Commercial Herb School and Farm at Chalf ...

said in her ''Modern Herbal'' (1931) that Contrayerva given as a powder or decoction is a

, tonic, and

” The traditional topical utilization of ''Dorstenia'' rhizome preparations in the treatment of skin diseases is supported by the identification of

Furocoumarins The furanocoumarins, or furocoumarins, are a class of organic chemical compounds produced by a variety of plants. Most of the plant species found to contain furanocoumarins belong to a handful of plant families. The families Apiaceae and Rutacea ...

as the most abundant compounds in the roots of orsteniaspecies used in Brazilian folk medicine. In Brazil, Ccontrayerva is used as an antiseptic, diuretic, diaphoretic, emetic, emmenagogue, purgative, stimulant, stomachic, and tonic for a wide range of ailments including diarrhea, dysentery, ear infections, fever, gastritis, leucorrhea, malaria, rheumatism, skin disorders, snakebite, and typhoid. In Mexico it has been used as a diaphoretic, stimulant, tonic against fever, inflammation, snake bite, toothache, and tumors. The first description of the plant, root and its medical usage in Mexico is said to have been made by the Spanish naturalist and physician

in the 16th century: “The herb called Tozpàtli has a round root about the size of a hazelnut, with thin fibrous roots, and of an azure color, from which are born delicate petioles, on which are curved leaves, almost similar to those of the

Polypodium ''Polypodium'' is a genus of ferns in the family Polypodiaceae, subfamily Polypodioideae, according to the Pteridophyte Phylogeny Group classification of 2016 (PPG I). The genus is widely distributed throughout the world, with the highest ...

, but smaller and more green. It is said that it carries no flower at all. It grows in high and flat, but hot places. The root is sharp and fragrant to taste, hot and dry almost in the fourth degree, and of subtle parts. This herb cures rashes/eruptions (), boils, whitlow, and also the so-called French illness (''mal frances'' = syphilis), and clears up tumors and abscesses. The root applied externally or taken by the mouth alleviates many diseases that can be easily understood using the Method ... considering the qualities and properties described (above). Finally, this is an important and noteworthy plant, without which our apothecaries cannot do without, and so those who spend in them.” .

describes it as an antidote, emetic, expectorant, anti-philtre, and vermicide: “the pouder of them taken in white wine is a most present remedie against all poison of what kinde soever it be (only sublimate excepted, whose malignity is only extinguished by the drinking of milk) it causes them to be cast up by vomit or evacuated by sweat. They also say that Philtres or amorous potions are cast forth by drinking this pouder. It also killeth wormes in the belly.” The entry Contra-yerva in Chambers’ '' Cyclopedia'' of 1728, states that the root “brought from Peru” is “esteem'd an Alexiterial, and a sovereign Antidote against Poison.”Chambers, Ephraim. ''Cyclopaedia: or, An Universal Dictionary of Arts and Sciences'', Vol. 1, London 1728
318
It also says that the root and the recipe Lapis Contrayerva (see below) are of great efficacy in smallpox, measles, fevers and in “all Cases where either a Diaphoresis or Perspiration is required.” This ''Cyclopedia'' emphasizes its use as an anti-epidemic: “It is agreed on, by the generality of Writers, that the Contra-yerva Root is one of the best Anti-epidemics yet known. Dr. Hodges, in his treatise of laft London-Plague (=

Great Plague of London The Great Plague of London, lasting from 1665 to 1666, was the last major epidemic of the bubonic plague to occur in England. It happened within the centuries-long Second Pandemic, a period of intermittent bubonic plague epidemics that origi ...

), has a Receipt (= recipe) which he said was attended with great success, and of which this Root was one of the chief ingredients.” The recipe of Dr. Hodges is called Lapis Contrayerva and is given in his treatise ''

Loimologia ''Loimologia, or, an historical Account of the Plague in London in 1665, With precautionary Directions against the like Contagion'' is a treatise by Dr. Nathaniel Hodges (1629–1688), originally published in London in Latin (''Loimologia, s ...

'' of 1672. By the late 18th century contrayerva has lost its reputation as an antidote in the UK. The 18th century physician and botanist

wrote: “The antipoisonous virtues formerly attributed to this root, have been long very justly exploded as entirely chimerical, so that it is now merely employed as a diaphoretic of a moderately stimulant kind, being possessed of less pungency than any other of those medicines usually denominated alexipharmic. Putrid and nervous fevers are the diseases in which Contrayerva is chiefly used ...” Rees's ''Cyclopedia'' of 1819 gives a recipe: “Powder of Contrayerva, Compound, is prepared by mixing five ounces of contrayerva root powdered with a pound and a half of prepared shells. This powder is stimulant and sudorific; and is given with advantage in typhoid fevers, the malignant exanthemata, the sinking stage of dysentery; and in atonic gout. The dose is from grs. x to grs. xl, given either diffused in simple water, or rubbed up with mucilage and mint water.”Rees, Abraham. ''The Cyclopædia: Or, Universal Dictionary of Arts, Sciences, and Literature'', Volume XXVIII. Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme & Brown
1819
The 18th–19th century Spanish Mexican physician and botanist

Vicente Cervantes Vicente (Vincente) de Cervantes (Ledrada, Salamanca España; 1755 - México; 1829) was a notable Spanish and Mexican physician and botanist. Background Don Vicente Cervantes was a contemporary of Martín Sessé y Lacasta and corresponded with J ...

describes ''Dorstenia contrayerva'' as: "a plant with an aromatic smell, an acrid taste, somewhat bitter and persistent. Its virtue is stimulating, tonic and diaphoretic, it is recommended in putrid or adynamic fevers."

Substitutes

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

the word contrayerva refers to the roots of species of Birthwort or Dutchman's Pipe (''

Aristolochia ''Aristolochia'' () is a large plant genus with over 500 species that is the type genus of the family Aristolochiaceae. Its members are commonly known as birthwort, pipevine or Dutchman's pipe and are widespread and occur in the most diverse clima ...

'') that are considered to have antidotal and other properties similar to ''Dorstenia''. “Spanish Contrayerva” instead is the name given to the roots of ''Dorstenia''. Chambers’ ''Cyclopedia'' mentions another kind of contrayerva brought from Virginia called “Viperìne”, with the same success against poisons and venoms as the “Contaryerva of Peru”. This refers to ''Viperina virginiana'' or ''Contrayerva virginiana'', which are old names for '' Asarum virginicum'' or Virginia wild ginger.Nucleus Totius Medicinae Quinque Partitus oder der vollkommene und allezeit fertige Apotheker; Meyer, 1770: 1243�
1244
In the entry Contrayerva in Rees's ''Cyclopedia'' of 1819 this Contrayerva is said to be more ordinarily called Serpentaria and to be an excellent substitute for contrayerva.

References

{{reflist Moraceae Medicinal plants of South America Herbal and fungal stimulants