Ipil-ipil – Scientific name: Leucaena glauca L.

English: Lead Tree
Tagalog: Ipil-ipil

Small plant up to 8 m high; leaves alternate, twice compound, 15-25 cm, base of petiole enlarged; leaflets 9 to 18 pairs, 7 to 12 mm long, linear-oblong, unequilateral; flowering stalks axillary, 3.5 to 5 cm long; flowers in dense globule heads 2 to 3 cm in diameter, white; fruit a pod, strap-shaped, flattened, 12 to 18 cm long, 1 to 2 cm wide, papery, green turning brown and splits open along two edges when mature, several fruits develop from each flower head; seeds obovate, 5 to 8 mm long, 3 to 5 mm wide, shiny, brown.

Constituents:
Fat, 8.68%; crude fiber, 22.59%; nitrogen-free material other than fiber, 9.78%; nitrogen, 6.42%; sucrose; water, 14.8%; ash, 4.2%.

Medicinal Uses:

Intestinal parasitism: ascaris and trichinosis.
Adults: 1 teaspoon of powdered dried seeds, alone or mixed with condensed milk and followed by half a glass of water, taken as a single dose 2 hours after a meal; repeated after one week as needed.
Children: 7-8 years old: 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon; 9-12 years old: 1/2 to 2/3 teaspoon.
Adverse effects: Abdominal pain, diarrhea.

Recent Studies and Uses
R&D on seed gum for a pharmaceutical substitute for the imported guar gum used as a binder in tablet formulation. In 1996, ipil-ipil was found to be an excellent liquid excipient as a suspending and thickening agent.

17 thoughts on “Ipil-ipil – Scientific name: Leucaena glauca L.

  1. mizmaya

    could you put how the ipil ipil leaves become a mosquito coil and its process,its what i’m searching for.thank you

  2. Frances Ragasa

    mmm..i just like to ask,what are the components of the seeds that are able to get rid of ascaris.??

  3. mizmaya

    your site might be very useful, i like every of its component, well i must thank for this site because, because of this, i lessen my hardship in finding such a information. i guess you should put all the details and all the pieces of matter related onto it.

  4. mnaecel

    we are doing our feasibility study and we are trying to research the viability of ipil ipil into coffee..do you have studies about this?

  5. tine

    we are doing an investigatory project about the effectivity of ipil ipil as intestinal parasitism cleansing agent, is this really an effective herbal medicine for this sickness?

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