THE BENEFITS OF CAT WHISKERS FOR HEALTH

Orthosiphon aristatus

Orthosiphon aristatus or known by the namecat's whiskers,including plants from the family Lamiaceae/ Labiatae. This plant is one of Indonesia's native medicinal plants which has quite a lot of benefits and uses in overcoming various diseases. 

The cat's whiskers are medicinal plants in the form of plants with upright wet stems. This plant is known by various terms such as: kidney tea plants / java tea (UK), giri-giri Angry (Sumatra), remujung (Central Java and East Java) and songot koneng (Madura). The cat's whiskers plant originated from tropical Africa, then spread to Asia and Australia.

Cat's whiskers including Terna upright, at the bottom of the stems at the books and up to 2 meters.Rod -sided four- bit grooved short hairy or bald.Leaf blade is round or lojong, lanceolate, ovoid or rhombus starting from the base,leaf size 1 - 10 cm long and 7.5 mm - 1.5 cm wide. leaf veins along the edge of thin hair or bald, where both surfaces are mottled because of the large number of glands, petiole length 7 - 29 cm. The characteristics of the plant are in the glandular flower petals, the veins and the base of the hair are short and sparse, while the upper part is bald. Lip flower, a terminal crown that is in the form of bunches that come out of the ends of branches with a length of 7-29 cm, with a length of 13-27mm, at the top covered by short purple hairs and then turn white, tube length 10 - 18mm, lip length 4.5 - 10mm, flower blade blunt, round. The stamens are longer than the flower tube and exceed the upper lip of the flower. Geluk fruit dark brown, 1.75 - 2mm long. 2.3. hilt short and sparse, 1 mm to 6 mm long.

Empirical use 

Wet and dry cat whiskers leaves are used to treat various diseases. In Indonesia, dry leaves are used (simplicia) as a medicine that expedites urine output (diuretic) while in India it is used to treat rheumatism. People use cat whiskers as traditional medicine as an effort to cure gouty coughs, colds and constipation. Besides, the leaves of this plant are also useful for the treatment of inflammation of the kidneys, kidney stones, diabetes, albuminuria and syphilis, rheumatism and lowering blood glucose levels.As well as being a diuretic, cat whiskers are also used as an antibacterial.

Pest

So far, there are no pests or diseases that have really damaged the cat's whiskers. Pests that are often found are aphids and leafworms.

Disease

The disease that attacks is caused by the fungus upas (Upsia salmonicolor or Corticium salmonicolor). This fungus attacks woody plant stems or branches. Control is carried out by improving water systems, improving garden cleanliness, cutting diseased parts, rotating crops and spraying selective pesticides.

Weeds   

The weeds that are widely grown in the cat's whiskers field are quite varied and are mostly from garden weeds such as nut grass, grass, ageratum, alang-alang, and other grasses.

Organic pest / disease control

Just like in other medicinal plants, organic pest / disease control in cat whiskers cultivation is more endeavored by IPM (integrated pest control). Including the intercropping cultivation system will be able to inhibit pest / disease attacks. For weed control, it should be done manually by weeding as described above. However, if necessary, spraying with insecticides or vegetable pesticides can be applied. Some plants that can be used as vegetable pesticides and used in pest control include:

• Tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum) which contains nicotine as a contact insecticide as a fumigant or stomach poison. Applications for small insects eg Aphids.

• Pyrethrum (Chrysanthemum cinerariaefolium) which contains pyrethrin which can be used as a systemic insecticide that attacks the central nervous system using a spray application. Application to insects such as house flies, mosquitoes, fleas, warehouse pests, and fruit flies.

• Tuba (Derris elliptica and Derris malaccensis) which contains rotenone for contact insecticide which is formulated in the form of blow and spray.

• Neem tree or neem (Azadirachta indica) which contains azadirachtin which works quite selectively. The application of this poison is mainly to sucking insects such as leafhoppers and chewing insects such as leaf rolling pests (Cnaphalocrocis medinalis). This material is also effective against the attack of the RSV, GSV and Tungro viruses.

• Jicama (Pachyrrhizus erosus) whose seeds contain rotenoids, namely pakhirizida which can be used as an insecticide and larvicide.

• Jeringau (Acorus calamus) whose rhizome contains the main component of asaron and is usually used for insect venom and fungal killers, as well as Callosobrocus warehouse pests.

NAMA : NUR DEVI APRILIANA

KELAS : X PB 1