Mock orange
StarMurraya paniculata
Synonyms: Connarus santaloides, Murraya japonensis, Murraya exotica var. buxifolia, Murraya amoena, Limonia malliculensis, Chalcas exotica, Murraya scandens, Camunium exoticum, Murraya paniculata var. buxifolia, Chalcas japanensis, Murraya exotica var. paniculata, Chalcas paniculata, Marsana buxifolia, Murraya paniculata var. exotica, Connarus foetens
Traditionally used for
- Teeth & mouth
- Digestion
- Bowel health
- Pain & joints
- Skin
Cautions & contraindications
- Pregnancy
- Bleeding disorders
Western Herbalism Properties
Traditional Uses
In South and Southeast Asian folk medicine, orange jasmine (Murraya paniculata) leaves are boiled as a gargle for toothache and oral complaints and the twigs used to clean the teeth, while in Chinese medicine leaf decoctions are taken for dysentery, stomach ache, swellings and skin irritations (Indian, Malaysian and Chinese ethnomedicine records).
Gallery
Botanical Description
Murraya paniculata, commonly called orange jasmine or mock orange, is an evergreen shrub or small tree in the citrus family (Rutaceae), usually growing 2-7 m tall with smooth, pale grey bark and a dense, rounded crown. The glossy dark green leaves are pinnately compound, up to about 17 cm long, with as many as seven alternate, ovate to elliptic leaflets that are smooth and aromatic when crushed. The plant is prized for its intensely fragrant flowers, which are white or cream-coloured with five petals 13-18 mm long, borne in loose terminal or axillary clusters and strongly scented of orange blossom. The fruit is an ovoid, smooth, orange-red berry 12-14 mm long containing one or two densely hairy seeds. Native to South and Southeast Asia, southern China and northern Australia, it is widely cultivated throughout the tropics and subtropics as an ornamental hedge and specimen plant valued for its perfume and ornamental fruit.
Active Constituents
Polymethoxylated flavones of the leaf and twig (exoticin, nobiletin, sinensetin, gardenin A, gardenin C, gardenin E)
PolymethoxyflavoneConcentration: Flavonoids are the dominant class in this species specifically: of 93 flavonoids catalogued across the drug, 90 were reported from Murraya paniculata as against a much smaller share in the co-official Murraya exotica
These highly methylated flavones are the chemical signature that separates Murraya paniculata from Murraya exotica, the other species the Chinese Pharmacopoeia admits for this drug. Polymethoxyflavones of the nobiletin and sinensetin type are lipophilic, reasonably well absorbed, and account for much of the anti-inflammatory activity attributed to the leaf. Because they concentrate in the leaf, they are constituents of the official drug rather than of the root.
Total flavonoids of Murraya paniculata leaf
Flavonoid fractionConcentration: The standardised leaf fraction used in the rodent pharmacology, dosed at 35-70 mg/kg in the diabetic nephropathy work
In streptozotocin-diabetic rats this fraction lowered blood urea nitrogen, serum creatinine, urinary albumin and fasting glucose, raised superoxide dismutase and glutathione peroxidase, and reduced renal TGF-beta1 and CTGF expression. A separate 2025 study reports it protecting mice against acetaminophen liver injury through Keap1/Nrf2 and PI3K/AKT/mTOR signalling. Both are rodent studies; neither has a human counterpart.
Coumarins of the leaf and twig (scopoletin, umbelliferone, osthole, meranzin, murracarpin, murrayatin, paniculatin)
Simple and prenylated coumarinConcentration: 170 coumarins have been catalogued across the drug, but they are the dominant class in Murraya exotica (130 of the 170) rather than in Murraya paniculata
Simple and prenylated coumarins of this type are not vitamin K antagonists and do not have the anticoagulant action of 4-hydroxycoumarin drugs such as warfarin; the shared word coumarin is the source of a persistent and incorrect interaction claim. Their documented activities here are anti-inflammatory, antispasmodic and antimicrobial. Their relative scarcity in this species compared with Murraya exotica is one reason the two official source plants are not chemically interchangeable.
Yuehchukene
Dimeric indole alkaloidConcentration: A root constituent, not a leaf or twig constituent; alkaloids in this genus concentrate in the root and appear only rarely in leaves and twigs
The single most safety-relevant compound in this plant. Yuehchukene has potent anti-implantation activity in rodents at a few mg/kg given in the first days of gestation, and also has clear oestrogenic activity, raising uterine weight in immature mice. It was isolated from the root of Murraya paniculata and was developed as a fertility-control lead. Because the pharmacopoeial drug is leaf and leafy twig rather than root, a correctly identified sample of the official drug should carry little or none of it, which is exactly why root-containing or whole-plant material must be distinguished from the official article.
Paniculidines A to F
Indole alkaloidConcentration: Reported from the plant; alkaloids of this genus are concentrated in the root
A series of indole alkaloids named for this species. Like yuehchukene they belong to the root chemistry rather than the leaf chemistry, and they are not the constituents the leaf-and-twig drug is used for.
Carbazole alkaloids (mahanimbine, girinimbine, koenimbine)
Carbazole alkaloidConcentration: Catalogued within the genus, concentrated in root material rather than leaves and twigs
These are the alkaloids most closely associated with Murraya koenigii, the curry leaf tree, and their presence in genus-level compilations is a frequent source of cross-attribution: activity demonstrated for curry leaf carbazoles is regularly transferred to Murraya paniculata in secondary sources without evidence that the official leaf-and-twig drug contains them in any quantity.
Volatile oil (beta-caryophyllene, spathulenol, alpha-zingiberene and related sesquiterpenes)
Sesquiterpene-rich essential oilConcentration: 404 volatile constituents have been catalogued across the drug, sesquiterpene-dominated
The oil is responsible for the intense fragrance that gives the drug its Chinese name, meaning the scent carries nine li. Sesquiterpene-dominated oils of this type contribute anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial activity and are the part of the drug most easily lost to poor drying and long storage.
⚠ Drug Interactions
Pregnancy and any fertility treatment or attempt to conceive
Yuehchukene, a dimeric indole alkaloid isolated from the root of this species, blocks blastocyst implantation in rodents given orally or subcutaneously on the first days of gestation, and separately shows oestrogenic activity by raising uterine weight in immature mice. It was investigated deliberately as a fertility-control agent. Two qualifications matter and neither cancels the caution. First, the effect is documented in rodents, not in women. Second, yuehchukene is a root alkaloid and the pharmacopoeial drug is leaf and leafy twig, in which the genus's alkaloids are reported to be scarce, so a correctly sourced leaf-and-twig sample is a much smaller concern than root or whole-plant material. Independently of yuehchukene, the Chinese Pharmacopoeia classes this drug as slightly toxic (you xiao du) and its recorded action is to move qi and break blood stasis, which is itself a conventional reason to withhold a herb in pregnancy.
Clinical note: Do not prescribe in pregnancy, in women trying to conceive, or through a cycle of assisted reproduction. If a patient has taken it while pregnant, this is a reason to review rather than to alarm: the anti-implantation data are rodent data on a root alkaloid, and the implantation window has usually long passed by the time a pregnancy is known.
Murraya exotica supplied against the same drug name
The Chinese Pharmacopoeia admits two source species for Murrayae Folium et Cacumen: Murraya exotica L., which carries the Chinese plant name jiu li xiang, and Murraya paniculata (L.) Jack, which carries the Chinese plant name qian li xiang. Both are dispensed under the single drug name jiu li xiang, so the drug name does not tell a practitioner which species is in the packet. A 2024 quantitative LC-MS comparison identified 209 compounds in Murraya exotica and 212 in Murraya paniculata with only 103 in common, and a review of the whole drug found flavonoids overwhelmingly concentrated in Murraya paniculata (90 of 93) while coumarins concentrated in Murraya exotica (130 of 170). Less than half the chemistry is shared.
Clinical note: If the record or the research being relied on names one species specifically, require the certificate of analysis to name it too. For general clinical use under the pharmacopoeial indication either species is official, but do not read a Murraya paniculata study as evidence for a Murraya exotica sample or the reverse.
Warfarin and other vitamin K antagonists
This herb is coumarin-rich, and secondary sources routinely turn that into a warfarin interaction warning. The inference is wrong as stated. Anticoagulant activity belongs to 4-hydroxycoumarins such as dicoumarol and warfarin itself, not to the simple and prenylated coumarins of the Rutaceae such as scopoletin, umbelliferone and osthole, which lack the 4-hydroxy substitution needed to inhibit vitamin K epoxide reductase. No case report, no pharmacokinetic study and no coagulation study links this herb to bleeding. What is not excluded is a cytochrome P450 effect: furanocoumarins in this family inhibit CYP3A4, and no interaction study of this herb with any drug has been done.
Clinical note: Do not refuse the herb on the strength of the word coumarin. If a patient on warfarin uses it, check the INR at the next scheduled visit rather than adding an extra one, and record that the interaction is unstudied rather than established.
Insulin, sulfonylureas and other glucose-lowering drugs
The leaf total flavonoid fraction lowered fasting blood glucose, triglycerides and LDL cholesterol in streptozotocin-diabetic rats over 13 weeks alongside its renal effects. That is a rodent finding for a concentrated fraction, not for a 6 to 12 g decoction of the leaf-and-twig drug, and no glucose measurement in humans taking this herb has been published.
Clinical note: No change to diabetes therapy is warranted on this evidence. If a concentrated leaf flavonoid product is used by a patient on insulin or a sulfonylurea, ask them to monitor capillary glucose for the first two weeks.
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Evidence Tier
Moderate evidence · 4 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
4
2 verified · 2 unverified
Show 4 studies
- A quantitative chemomics strategy for the comprehensive comparison of Murraya paniculata and M. exotica using liquid chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry
- Protective effect of total flavonoids extracted from the leaves of Murraya paniculata (L.) Jack on diabetic nephropathy in rats
- Total flavonoids extracted from the leaves of Murraya paniculata (L.) Jack prevents acetaminophen-induced liver injury by activating Keap1/Nrf2 and PI3K/AKT/mTOR signaling pathway
- Yuehchukene, a Novel Anti-implantation Indole Alkaloid from Murraya paniculata
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
A quantitative chemomics strategy for the comprehensive comparison of Murraya paniculata and M. exotica using liquid chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry
An analytical, not clinical, study, and the best evidence available on whether the two official source species of this drug are interchangeable. Using Q-TOF-MS, Qtrap-MS and a scheduled multiple-reaction-monitoring quantitation of 76 markers, the authors identified 209 compounds in Murraya exotica and 212 in Murraya paniculata, of which only 103 were common to both. It establishes that a drug dispensed under one pharmacopoeial name can have substantially different chemistry depending on which admitted species was collected.
Protective effect of total flavonoids extracted from the leaves of Murraya paniculata (L.) Jack on diabetic nephropathy in rats
High-fat-diet and streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats given 35 or 70 mg/kg of the leaf total flavonoid fraction for 13 weeks had lower blood urea nitrogen, serum creatinine, urinary albumin, 24 hour albumin excretion and fasting glucose than untreated diabetic controls, with restored superoxide dismutase and glutathione peroxidase, lower malondialdehyde, and reduced renal TGF-beta1 and CTGF expression and glomerular morphological change. Rats only; there is no human study of this herb in diabetic kidney disease.
Total flavonoids extracted from the leaves of Murraya paniculata (L.) Jack prevents acetaminophen-induced liver injury by activating Keap1/Nrf2 and PI3K/AKT/mTOR signaling pathway
Reports that the leaf total flavonoid fraction protects against acetaminophen-induced hepatic injury in a rodent model through Keap1/Nrf2 antioxidant response and PI3K/AKT/mTOR signalling. The design is prophylactic and preclinical; nothing here supports using the herb to treat paracetamol overdose, for which acetylcysteine remains the only established antidote.
Yuehchukene, a Novel Anti-implantation Indole Alkaloid from Murraya paniculata
The isolation and rodent characterisation of yuehchukene from the root of Murraya paniculata, reporting potent anti-implantation activity at low milligram-per-kilogram oral doses given in the first days of gestation. This is the origin of every pregnancy caution attached to this plant, and its plant part is the root, not the leaf and twig that make up the pharmacopoeial drug.
Historical Texts
Sheng Cao Yao Xing Bei Yao (Essentials of the Natures of Fresh Medicinal Herbs), He Kejian
Qing dynasty, 1711Ling Nan Cai Yao Lu (Record of Medicinal Herbs Collected in Lingnan), Xiao Budan
Republican China, 1932Guangxi Zhong Yao Zhi (Guangxi Chinese Medicine Gazetteer)
Modern Chinese provincial materia medica, mid-20th centuryPharmacopoeia of the People's Republic of China, Murrayae Folium et Cacumen (Jiu Li Xiang)
Current national standard, 2015 and 2020 editionsReferences
- Qi Y, Wang L, Wang N, Wang S, Zhu X, Zhao T, Jiang Q. A comprehensive review of the botany, phytochemistry, pharmacology, and toxicology of Murrayae Folium et Cacumen . Frontiers in Pharmacology (2024) [DOI]
- Liang H, Yuan S, Ma X, Song Q, Song Y, Tu P, Jiang Y. A quantitative chemomics strategy for the comprehensive comparison of Murraya paniculata and M. exotica using liquid chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry . Journal of Chromatography A (2024) [DOI]
- Kong YC, Ng KH, Wat KH, Wong A, Saxena IF, Cheng KF, But PP, Chang HT. Yuehchukene, a Novel Anti-implantation Indole Alkaloid from Murraya paniculata . Planta Medica (1985) [DOI]
- Kong YC, Cheng KF, Cambie RC, Waterman PG. Yuehchukene: a novel indole alkaloid with anti-implantation activity . Journal of the Chemical Society, Chemical Communications (1985) [DOI]
- Zou J, Yu X, Qu S, Li X, Jin Y, Sui D. Protective effect of total flavonoids extracted from the leaves of Murraya paniculata (L.) Jack on diabetic nephropathy in rats . Food and Chemical Toxicology (2014) [DOI]
- Guo M, Fu W, Zhang X, Li T, Ma W, Wang H, Wang X, Feng S, Sun H, Zhang Z, Zuo S, Wang Z. Total flavonoids extracted from the leaves of Murraya paniculata (L.) Jack prevents acetaminophen-induced liver injury by activating Keap1/Nrf2 and PI3K/AKT/mTOR signaling pathway . Journal of Ethnopharmacology (2025) [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.
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