HERBS"ALL ABOUT "CATUABA "

CATUABA
HERBAL PROPERTIES AND ACTIONS
Main Actions	Other Actions	Standard Dosage
increases libido	relieves pain	Bark
calms nerves	kills bacteria	Infusion: 1 cup 1-3 times daily
reduces anxiety	kills viruses	Tincture: 2-3 ml twice daily
	dilates blood vessels
	relaxes blood vessels

Erythroxylum catuaba is a vigorous-growing, small tree that produces yellow and orange flowers and small, dark yellow, oval-shaped, inedible fruit. It grows in the northern part of Brazil in Amazonas, Para, Pernambuco, Bahia, Maranhao, and Alagoas.

TRIBAL & HERBAL MEDICINE USES

Catuaba has a long history of use in herbal medicine as an aphrodisiac.

In Brazilian herbal medicine today, catuaba is considered a central nervous system stimulant with aphrodisiac properties. A bark decoction is commonly used for sexual impotency, agitation, nervousness, nerve pain and weakness, poor memory or forgetfulness, and sexual weakness.

it is employed for many types of nervous conditions including insomnia, hypochondria, and pain related to the central nervous system (such as sciatica and neuralgia).

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BIOLOGICAL ACTIVITIES & CLINICAL RESEARCH

Clinical studies on catuaba also have shown results related to its antibacterial and antiviral properties. A 1992 study indicated that an extract of catuaba (Erythoxlyum catuaba) was effective in protecting mice from lethal infections of Escherichia coli and Staphlococcus aureus, in addition to inhibiting HIV significantly. The study found that the pathway of catuaba's anti-HIV activity stemmed (at least partially) from the inhibition of HIV absorption into cells, and suggested that catuaba had potential against opportunistic infections in HIV patients. A U.S. patent was granted (in 2002) to a group of Brazilian researchers for a catuaba bark extract (Trichilia catigua). Its patent refers to animal studies it conducted that reported that it relieved pain and relaxed and dilated blood vessels in rats, rabbits and guinea pigs. A study published in 1997 reported that catuaba bark had significant pain relieving activity in vivo.