Ye Mu Dan
StarMelastoma malabathricum L.
Traditionally used for
- Teeth & mouth
- Digestion
- Bowel health
- Skin
☯ TCM Properties
Invigorates the Blood, removes toxic Heat, resolves toxicity, reduces swelling; Digests Food Stagnation; Astringes, stops bleeding
Traditional Chinese Uses
Ye Mu Dan (Herba Melastomae) is derived from Melastoma malabathricum, a heat-clearing herb that is sour and cool. Rich in tannins, it both cools and astringes: it clears and resolves toxic Heat, reduces swelling, and stops bleeding, while its astringency checks discharge. It is used in folk practice for damp-heat dysentery and diarrhea, bleeding from the gums, nose, or wounds, and for sores, abscesses, and traumatic injury.
It also invigorates the Blood to disperse stasis and helps digest food stagnation. Leaves and roots are commonly pounded fresh and applied topically to cuts and wounds to arrest bleeding and promote healing, or decocted internally. The powdered seeds featured in traditional anti-diarrheal pills.
Western Herbalism Properties
Relationships
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Botanical Description
Ye Mu Dan, the wild peony, is the aerial parts and root of Melastoma candidum D.Don (syn. M. malabathricum auct., Melastomataceae), an evergreen shrub 0.5 to 1.5 m tall common on acidic hillsides and forest margins across southern China, Taiwan, and Southeast Asia, with no botanical relation to true peony (Paeonia) despite the shared common name. Stems are densely covered in appressed scales; the opposite ovate-lanceolate leaves bear three to five prominent parallel veins characteristic of the family and are rough-hairy above. Showy rose-purple five-petaled flowers about 5 cm across cluster at branch tips and produce fleshy purple-black urceolate berries with red pulp. In traditional Chinese folk medicine the herb is sweet, slightly astringent, and neutral, entering the Lung, Liver, and Spleen channels; it dispels wind-damp, harmonizes the blood, stops bleeding, and resolves toxicity, used for dysentery, hematochezia, hematuria, irregular menstruation, traumatic injury, and snakebite.
Active Constituents
Malabathrins B, C and D
Dimeric hydrolysable tannins (ellagitannin oligomers)Isolated by Yoshida and colleagues from a 70 percent acetone extract of the leaves, and named for the species. They are the chemical signature of this drug and account for much of its astringency and radical-scavenging capacity in vitro.
Nobotanins B, G, H and J
Oligomeric hydrolysable tannins (dimers and a trimer)Oligomeric ellagitannins characteristic of the Melastomataceae, recovered from the leaves alongside the malabathrins. Oligomeric ellagitannins of this class bind protein strongly, which is the plausible basis of the traditional haemostatic and astringent use.
Casuarictin, pedunculagin and strictinin
Monomeric hydrolysable tannins (ellagitannins)Monomeric ellagitannins reported from the leaves together with 1,4,6-tri-O-galloyl-beta-D-glucose and 1,2,4,6-tetra-O-galloyl-beta-D-glucose. They hydrolyse to gallic and ellagic acid and contribute the bulk of the extract's antioxidant activity in cell-free assays.
Isoquercitrin 6''-O-gallate
Galloylated flavonol glycosideA quercetin glycoside bearing a galloyl group, isolated from the leaves in the same study that yielded the malabathrins. Flavonoid glycosides of this type are among the compounds credited with the gastroprotective effect seen in the rat studies of the ethyl acetate leaf fraction.
Quercetin and kaempferol (and their glycosides)
FlavonolsRecurrent aglycones across leaf, flower and stem extracts of the species. They are the compounds usually invoked for the anti-inflammatory and wound-healing activity, though no study has attributed the whole-extract effect to either alone.
Beta-sitosterol
PhytosterolA common plant sterol reported from the lipophilic fractions. It is present in the petroleum ether fraction that carries antinociceptive activity in rodents, but has not been shown to be the active constituent.
⚠ Drug Interactions
Oral iron salts (ferrous sulfate, ferrous fumarate) and other cation-dependent oral drugs
The leaf is dominated by hydrolysable tannins, including galloylglucoses and ellagitannin oligomers. Tannins of this class chelate iron and other polyvalent cations and precipitate them in the gut lumen. This has not been tested for Melastoma specifically; the inference is from its measured tannin load.
Clinical note: Separate a tannin-rich decoction from iron and from cation-sensitive oral drugs by two hours or more.
Metformin, sulfonylureas and insulin
Antidiabetic and antihyperlipidaemic activity is repeatedly reported for leaf extracts of this species in rodent models. No human pharmacokinetic or pharmacodynamic study exists, and no glucose-lowering effect has been demonstrated in people, so this is an extrapolation from animal data only.
Clinical note: If a diabetic patient takes it long-term, ask them to monitor capillary glucose during the first two weeks rather than assuming no effect.
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
3 verified · 1 unverified
Show 4 studies
- Antiulcer Activity of Methanol Extract of Melastoma malabathricum Leaves in Rats
- Methanol extract of Melastoma malabathricum leaves exerted antioxidant and liver protective activity in rats
- Antinociception of petroleum ether fraction derived from crude methanol extract of Melastoma malabathricum leaves and its possible mechanisms of action in animal models
- Possible mechanisms of antinociception of methanol extract of Melastoma malabathricum leaves
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
Antiulcer Activity of Methanol Extract of Melastoma malabathricum Leaves in Rats
Methanol extract of M. malabathricum leaves reduced gastric lesion formation in rat models of ulceration. The authors attributed the effect to the extract's antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activity rather than to acid suppression.
Methanol extract of Melastoma malabathricum leaves exerted antioxidant and liver protective activity in rats
The methanol leaf extract reduced markers of hepatic injury in chemically induced liver damage in rats and showed antioxidant activity in parallel assays. This is a rodent study; no human hepatoprotective data exist for the species.
Antinociception of petroleum ether fraction derived from crude methanol extract of Melastoma malabathricum leaves and its possible mechanisms of action in animal models
The petroleum ether fraction of the methanol leaf extract produced dose-dependent antinociception in standard rodent pain models, and the authors probed opioid and non-opioid mechanisms pharmacologically. The activity tracked with the lipophilic fraction rather than the tannin-rich one.
Possible mechanisms of antinociception of methanol extract of Melastoma malabathricum leaves
A mechanistic follow-up in rat models examining which receptor systems mediate the antinociceptive effect of the crude methanol leaf extract. It supports the analgesic claim at the rodent level but does not establish an effective human dose.
References
- Takashi Yoshida, Fumihisa Nakata, Kumi Hosotani, Aya Nitta, Takuo Okuda. Tannins and Related Polyphenols of Melastomataceous Plants. V. Three New Complex Tannins from Melastoma malabathricum L. . Chemical and Pharmaceutical Bulletin (1992) [DOI]
- Wen-Jun Zheng, Ying-Shan Ren, Miao-Li Wu, Ya-Ling Yang, Yi Fan, Xiu-Hong Piao, Yue-Wei Ge, Shu-Mei Wang. A review of the traditional uses, phytochemistry and biological activities of the Melastoma genus . Journal of Ethnopharmacology (2021) [DOI]
- S. Mohd. Joffry, N. J. Yob, M. S. Rofiee, M. M. R. Meor Mohd. Affandi, Z. Suhaili, F. Othman, A. Md. Akim, M. N. M. Desa, Z. A. Zakaria. Melastoma malabathricum(L.) Smith Ethnomedicinal Uses, Chemical Constituents, and Pharmacological Properties: A Review . Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine (2012) [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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