Sensitive-plant
StarMimosa pudica
Synonyms: Eburnax pudica
Traditionally used for
- Urinary & fluids
- Sleep
Cautions & contraindications
- Pregnancy
Western Herbalism Properties
Gallery
Botanical Description
Mimosa pudica is a sprawling, short-lived perennial herb or subshrub of the Fabaceae family, typically 15 to 80 centimetres tall, with slender, prostrate to ascending stems armed with sparse, recurved prickles and sparsely covered in bristly hairs. The bipinnate leaves, 4 to 10 centimetres long, bear one or two pairs of pinnae digitately arranged at the petiole tip, each pinna carrying 10 to 26 pairs of small, oblong leaflets 6 to 15 millimetres long; the leaflets fold rapidly together and the entire leaf droops within seconds when touched, shaken or warmed, recovering after several minutes. Globose to ovoid flower heads about 8 to 12 millimetres in diameter, with numerous pale pink to lilac-pink filamentous stamens giving a fluffy appearance, arise singly or in small groups on slender axillary peduncles. The fruit is a flat, slightly curved, bristly-margined legume pod 1 to 2 centimetres long, breaking transversely at maturity into single-seeded segments. Native to tropical America and now a widespread pantropical weed of disturbed ground, lawns and pastures.
Active Constituents
L-Mimosine
Non-protein amino acid (3-hydroxy-4-oxopyridinyl alanine)Concentration: Reported as a constituent but not quantified in the Chinese or Nepalese analyses consulted; far below the percent-of-dry-weight levels found in Leucaena leucocephala
The compound is named for this genus and is the toxicologically interesting constituent of the plant. It chelates iron and zinc, and through that chelation it stalls DNA replication and arrests dividing cells in late G1, which is why it is used as a laboratory cell-cycle synchronising agent. The same activity underlies the hair loss and antimitotic effects seen when animals are fed mimosine-rich legumes. Mimosine is the constituent usually invoked for the slightly toxic grading this drug carries in Chinese provincial standards, although the actual content in Mimosa pudica appears to be much lower than in Leucaena and no dose-toxicity relationship has been established for this species.
5,7,3',4'-Tetrahydroxy-6-C-[beta-D-apiose-(1-4)]-beta-D-glucopyranosyl flavone
C-glycosyl flavone (apiosyl)Concentration: Isolated from whole plants of southern Chinese origin
The most active antioxidant isolated from the plant, with a DPPH IC50 of 0.07 mg/mL and a ferric-reducing capacity slightly exceeding Trolox. It is the compound that carries most of the free-radical scavenging attributed to the herb.
Isoorientin
C-glycosyl flavoneConcentration: Isolated from whole plants of southern Chinese origin, alongside orientin
One of the four common C-glycosyl flavones that make up the flavonoid fraction of the herb. Total flavonoid content is low and strongly part-dependent, measured at 0.81 mg/g in leaf against 0.34 mg/g in stem.
Orientin
C-glycosyl flavoneConcentration: Isolated from whole plants of southern Chinese origin
A luteolin C-glucoside reported from the aerial parts. It contributes to the antioxidant activity of the leaf fraction, which is the most phenolic-rich part at 9.87 mg/g total phenolics against 2.3 to 2.6 mg/g in seed, stem and whole plant.
Vitexin
C-glycosyl flavoneConcentration: Isolated from whole plants of southern Chinese origin, alongside isovitexin
An apigenin C-glucoside, reported together with its isomer isovitexin. These are widespread flavones rather than markers specific to this species.
Condensed tannins
Proanthocyanidin (polyphenol) fractionConcentration: Whole-plant tannin fraction; not standardised
The tannin fraction rather than any single isolated compound carries the cobra-venom-neutralising activity attributed to the plant, and tannic acid reproduces much of the effect. Tannins precipitate proteins non-specifically, which is the likely mechanism and also the reason the effect does not transfer reliably from the test tube to a bitten patient.
⚠ Drug Interactions
Antivenom (snakebite immunotherapy)
This is a treatment-substitution hazard rather than a pharmacokinetic interaction, and it is the single most important safety point about this herb. The plant has a wide folk reputation as a snakebite and scorpion-sting antidote, and there is real preclinical support: aqueous root extract inhibited the lethality, myotoxicity and toxic enzyme activities of Naja kaouthia venom in mice, and the tannin fraction and tannic acid reproduced part of that effect in vitro. None of that work involves a human patient, none establishes a dose or a route that could be given after a bite, and the probable mechanism, non-specific protein precipitation by tannins, is not one that would neutralise venom already in the circulation. A patient who takes this herb instead of presenting for antivenom may die of an entirely treatable envenomation.
Clinical note: Never use this herb as a treatment for snakebite, and never allow its use to delay transfer to a facility that can give antivenom. If a patient reports using it for a bite, treat the bite conventionally and do not adjust antivenom dosing on account of the herb.
Fertility treatment, conception and pregnancy
The root has consistent antifertility activity in two independent rodent studies. Root powder at 150 mg/kg intragastrically in rats altered the oestrous cycle pattern, reduced the number of normal ova and significantly increased degenerated ova. Root extract at 300 mg/kg per day in mice prolonged the cycle by lengthening dioestrus, lowered FSH in pro-oestrus and oestrus, and reduced litter size; uterine wet weight and deciduoma counts were unchanged, so the effect is a suppression of gonadotrophin-driven ovulation rather than an oestrogenic or progestational one. The effect reversed once dosing stopped. The evidence is rodent-only and concerns the root specifically, not the aerial parts.
Clinical note: Do not give root preparations to a woman trying to conceive or undergoing fertility treatment, and avoid the root in pregnancy. The finding does not make the herb a contraceptive and it should never be relied on as one.
Iron and zinc supplements
Mimosine is a divalent and trivalent metal chelator, and iron and zinc chelation is the accepted mechanism of its cell-cycle and depilatory effects. The plant is also tannin-rich, and tannins independently reduce non-haem iron absorption. Neither observation has been tested for this herb in a person, and the mimosine content of Mimosa pudica appears to be low.
Clinical note: If a patient is being repleted for iron-deficiency anaemia, separate the herb from the supplement by two hours, as one would for any tannin-rich decoction.
Evidence Tier
Moderate evidence · 5 studiesRecorded studies by study design, strongest design at the top. This is a study-design tier only, not a GRADE rating: it does not weigh risk of bias, consistency or precision.
Systematic review / meta-analysis
0
Randomized controlled trial
0
Other clinical trial
0
Observational / case report
0
In vitro / animal
5
3 verified · 2 unverified
Show 5 studies
- Neutralisation of lethality, myotoxicity and toxic enzymes of Naja kaouthia venom by Mimosa pudica root extracts
- Efficacy of tannins from Mimosa pudica and tannic acid in neutralizing cobra (Naja kaouthia) venom
- Effect of Mimosa pudica root extract on vaginal estrous and serum hormones for screening of antifertility activity in albino mice
- Effect of Mimosa pudica root powder on oestrous cycle and ovulation in cycling female albino rat, Rattus norvegicus
- Mimosa pudica L. extract ameliorates pulmonary fibrosis via modulation of MAPK signaling pathways and FOXO3 stabilization
Other / unclassified
0
Verified: design read from PubMed for a DOI that resolves to the cited paper Unverified: taken from the study's recorded description
Clinical Studies
Neutralisation of lethality, myotoxicity and toxic enzymes of Naja kaouthia venom by Mimosa pudica root extracts
Aqueous and alcoholic extracts of dried root were tested against monocled cobra venom. The plain water extract significantly inhibited the lethality and myotoxicity of the venom in mice and reduced its enzyme activities, outperforming the alcoholic extracts. This is the primary experimental basis for the plant's folk reputation as a snakebite antidote. It remains a rodent and enzyme-assay study with no human data, and it does not license substituting the herb for antivenom.
Efficacy of tannins from Mimosa pudica and tannic acid in neutralizing cobra (Naja kaouthia) venom
Follow-up work identifying the tannin fraction, rather than any single isolated compound, as the venom-neutralising principle, with tannic acid reproducing much of the effect. This points to non-specific protein precipitation as the mechanism, which is a reason for caution rather than confidence about clinical translation.
Effect of Mimosa pudica root extract on vaginal estrous and serum hormones for screening of antifertility activity in albino mice
Oral root extract at 300 mg/kg per day in albino mice prolonged the oestrous cycle by significantly extending dioestrus, lowered FSH in the pro-oestrous and oestrous phases, and reduced litter numbers, with fertility recovering after treatment stopped. Uterine wet weight and deciduoma counts were unaffected, indicating no oestrogenic or progestational action. This is the strongest of the antifertility reports and the basis for avoiding the root in pregnancy and in women seeking conception.
Effect of Mimosa pudica root powder on oestrous cycle and ovulation in cycling female albino rat, Rattus norvegicus
Intragastric root powder at 150 mg/kg in cycling rats altered the oestrous cycle pattern, reduced the number of normal ova recovered and significantly increased degenerated ova. It is the independent replication that makes the rodent antifertility signal for the root worth acting on clinically, despite the absence of any human data.
Mimosa pudica L. extract ameliorates pulmonary fibrosis via modulation of MAPK signaling pathways and FOXO3 stabilization
An ethanol extract of the above-ground parts reduced TNF-alpha-driven inflammatory signalling in human lung fibroblasts and A549 cells, partially reversed TGF-beta-induced epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition, and suppressed collagen I, fibronectin and alpha-SMA expression, the effect being mediated by FOXO3 stabilisation downstream of reduced ERK1/2 phosphorylation. The extract also protected mice against bleomycin-induced pulmonary fibrosis. This is the best-conducted pharmacology paper on the species and supports the Vietnamese respiratory use mechanistically, but it is preclinical and concerns the aerial parts, not the root.
Historical Texts
Ling Nan Cai Yao Lu (Record of Medicine Gathering in Lingnan)
Republican China, 1932Sheng Cao Yao Xing Bei Yao (Essentials of the Properties of Fresh Medicinal Herbs), under the name pa xiu cao
Qing dynasty, 1711Bhavaprakasha Nighantu and Dhanvantari Nighantu, under the names lajjalu and namaskari
Ayurvedic nighantu literature, roughly 13th to 16th century CEReferences
- Adurosakin OE, Iweala EJ, Otike JO, Dike ED, Uche ME, Owanta JI, Ugbogu OC, Chinedu SN, Ugbogu EA. Ethnomedicinal uses, phytochemistry, pharmacological activities and toxicological effects of Mimosa pudica- A review . Pharmacological Research - Modern Chinese Medicine (2023) [DOI]
- Yuan K, Zhou WL, Zhou J, Yang P, Zhang J. Studies on the active components and antioxidant activities of the extracts of Mimosa pudica Linn. from southern China . Pharmacognosy Magazine (2011) [DOI]
This information is for educational purposes only and is not intended to replace professional medical advice. Always consult a qualified healthcare provider before using any herbal remedy, especially if you are pregnant, nursing, or taking medications.
📝 Notes
Public notes from the community and your own private notes on Sensitive-plant.
No notes yet.