IporuruAlchornea castaneifolia

Did you know?

• Iporuru's first scientific name was coined by two famous naturalist-explorers, Alexander von Humboldt and the French botanist Aimé Bonpland^{[1, 2, 6]}.

• In 1824 the plant was moved into the genus Alchornea, the name it still carries today^{[1, 2]}.

• Iporuru is a riverbank pioneer: in the central Amazon it settles where floods leave fresh sediment, and it tolerates seasonal flooding^{[3, 4]}.

• It belongs to the spurge family, which also gives us cassava and the poinsettia^{[1, 5]}.

• Its range spans seven South American countries, from Venezuela in the north to Argentina in the south^[1].

• In Brazil it is known as oeirana; in Peru, iporuru or ipururo^{[2, 7, 8]}.

Origins and history

Iporuru is a shrub or small tree of wet tropical lowlands, up to about 6 meters (20 feet) tall^{[1, 8]}. It is a plant of the water's edge. In the central Amazon it grows in young pioneer forest on sites where rivers deposit heavy loads of sediment^[3], and herbarium collectors have found it in periodically flooded forest and riverside vegetation from Colombia to Brazil^[4]. Because it can stand in floodwater for part of the year, it thrives where many trees cannot^[4]. Away from the Amazon, it also reaches the cerrado savanna of Brazil, where it is part of local plant traditions too^{[3, 4]}.

The plant has a long scientific history. The explorers Alexander von Humboldt and Aimé Bonpland gave it its first name, Hermesia castaneifolia, which was published in 1806^{[1, 2, 6]}. In 1824 it was moved into Alchornea, a genus of the spurge family, as part of a study of that family's genera^{[1, 2]}. The spurge family is a large one that also includes cassava and the poinsettia^[5].

Its common names change from country to country. In Peru it is iporuru, the name Raintree uses, or ipururo, and in Brazil it is oeirana^{[2, 7, 8]}. In both countries iporuru belongs to local plant traditions: traditional practitioners in the Peruvian Amazon, among them the Shipibo-Conibo, and in Brazil's cerrado prepare it as a decoction, simmered in water^[3].

Traditional uses

Clinical studies of iporuru in people are still few, but its traditional use is well established in the Peruvian Amazon and in Brazil.

• A simple decoction

  Iporuru is traditionally simmered in water and taken as a decoction.^[3]

• A healthy inflammatory response

  Shipibo-Conibo practitioners in Peru and traditional practitioners in Brazil's cerrado prepare the decoction for this purpose. Iporuru supports a healthy inflammatory response.*^[3]

• Joint and muscle comfort

  Plants of the Alchornea genus are traditional choices for the joints and muscles across the tropics^[3]. Iporuru supports joint and muscle comfort.*

Plant compounds

Iporuru contains flavonoids, including quercetin and several of its glycosides (such as isoquercitrin), a myricetin glycoside and amentoflavone^[3]. It also contains phenolic compounds such as gallic acid, methyl gallate and catechin^[3]. Screening studies report tannins, saponins, steroids and triterpenoids as well^[3].