Dysphania ambrosioides

Dysphania ambrosioides, formerly Chenopodium ambrosioides, known as epazote, Jesuit's tea, Mexican tea or wormseed, is an annual or short-lived perennial herb native to the Americas.

Description

An annual or perennial herb or small shrub. It grows up to 1 m high and spreads to 50 cm across. The stem is erect and strongly branched from the base. It has angular ribs towards the tip. It has attractive, toothed leaves. They are oblong and yellowish green. They can be red-green. The undersides of the leaves are marked with small resin particles. The leaves are 1.5-10 cm long by 0.5-3.5 cm wide. The leaves have a bad smell. The flowers are green, and occur as many together, in spikes. The fruit are small green bladder shaped structures with shiny brown black seeds.

Edible Uses

Ideally collected before going to seed, D. ambrosioides is used as a leaf vegetable, herb, and herbal tea, for its strong aroma and flavor. The fragrance of D. ambrosioides is strong and unique. Raw, it has a resinous, medicinal aroma, similar to oregano, anise, fennel, or even tarragon, but stronger. A common analogy is to turpentine or creosote. It has also been compared to citrus, savory, and mint. Although it is traditionally used with black beans for flavor and its antiflatulent properties, it is also sometimes used to flavor other traditional Mexican dishes: it can be used to season quesadillas and sopes (especially those containing huitlacoche), soups, mole de olla, tamales with cheese and chili peppers, chilaquiles, eggs and potatoes, esquites, and enchiladas. It is often cooked into fried white rice, and it is an important ingredient for making the green salsa for chilaquiles. In the Philippines, where it is called pasotes or pasyotes, it is a characteristic herb of Vigan pipian, a chicken porridge distinct from the namesake Mexican pipian. It is also used in the longganisa of Sampaloc, Quezon, and as a stuffing for lechon in Carcar, Cebu.

Traditional Uses

CAUTION: It is probably best not to eat this plant in large quantities. The leaves have been used as a substitute for tea. The leaves are added to beans, and to season soups and other dishes. Leaves can be dried and they retain their flavour. The fresh leaves can be stored for 2-3 days. The seeds can be ground into black flour and mixed with water and eaten. They are also roasted and added to alcoholic drinks. Caution: Alcohol is a cause of cancer.

Medicinal Uses

Mexican tea is a Central American herb that has been used for centuries to expel parasitic worms from the body. The seed, or the essential oil obtained from the seed and flowering stem is used for this, though all parts of the plant are used medicinally. The plant, especially the essential oil, is toxic in larger doses and so should be used with care and preferably under the direction of a skilled practitioner. This remedy should not be prescribed for pregnant women. See also the notes above on toxicity. Until fairly recently, this was one of the most commonly used vermifuges, though it has now been largely replaced by synthetic drugs. The seed, or the essential oil, was used. It is very effective against most parasites, including the amoeba that causes dysentery, but is less effective against tapeworm. Fasting should not precede its use and there have occasionally been cases of poisoning caused by this treatment. The essential oil is used externally to treat athlete's foot and insect bites. This is at its highest concentration in the flowering stems before seed is set, these contain around 0.7% essential oil of which almost 50% is the active vermifuge ascaridol. The essential oil is of similar quality from plants cultivated in warm climates and those in cool climates. The whole plant is analgesic, antiasthmatic, carminative, febrifuge, stomachic and vermifuge. An infusion can be used as a digestive remedy, being taken to settle a wide range of problems such colic, diarrhoea and stomach pains; it is also used to treat conditions such as coughs, fevers and internal haemorrhages. The leaves are added in small quantities as a flavouring for various cooked bean dishes because their carminative activity can reduce flatulence. Externally, it has been used as a wash for haemorrhoids, as a poultice to detoxify snake bites and other poisons and is thought to have wound-healing properties. The macerated leaves and flowers are mixed with a pinch of salt, and used as a poultice for treating persistent sores. The essential oil is high in ascaridol, a nematocidal terpene peroxide which is active against ascaris, worms and ankylostomes.

Known Hazards

Humans have died from overdoses of D. ambrosioides essential oils (attributed to the ascaridole content). Symptoms include severe gastroenteritis with pain, vomiting, and diarrhea, dizziness, headache, temporary deafness, kidney and liver damage, convulsions, paralysis, death.

Distribution

A tropical plant. It will grow under a range of soil and climate conditions. It is drought and frost resistant. It grows in tropical places but also in temperate places. In Papua New Guinea it grows from sea level to 2,000 m altitude. In Nepal it grows between 500 and 3000 m altitude. In Zimbabwe it grows between 1,100-1,600 m above sea level. In Argentina it grows from sea level to 2,000 m above sea level

Where It Grows

Afghanistan, Africa, Albania, Algeria, Amazon, Angola, Argentina, Aruba, Asia, Australia, Austria, Bahamas, Bangladesh, Belgium, Belize, Benin, Bermuda, Bolivia, Botswana, Brazil, Bulgaria, Burundi, Cameroon, Canary Is., Central Africa, Central African Republic, CAR, Central America, Chile, China, Congo DR, Congo R, Costa Rica, Crete, Cuba, Czech Republic, Denmark, Djibouti, Dominican Republic, East Africa, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Eritrea, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Europe, Fiji, Finland, France, Gabon, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Guatemala, French, Guiana, Guianas, Guyana, Haiti, Hawaii, Himalayas, Honduras, Hungary, India, Indochina, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Italy, Ivory Coast, Jamaica, Japan, Kenya, Korea, Laos, Lebanon, Lesotho, Lesser Antilles, Liberia, Libya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mediterranean, Mexico*, Morocco, Mozambique, Myanmar, Namibia, Nepal, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, Norfolk Island, North Africa, North America, Northeastern India, Pacific, Pakistan, Palestine, Panama, Papua New Guinea, PNG, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Reunion, Romania, Rwanda, Sahel, Sao Tome and Principe, Saudi Arabia, SE Asia, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Sinai, South Africa, Southern Africa, South America, Spain, Sri Lanka, St Helena, Suriname, Swaziland, Sweden, Syria, Taiwan, Tanzania, Tasmania, Thailand, Tibet, Togo, Trinidad-Tobago, Tunisia, Turkey, Türkiye, Uganda, Ukraine, Uruguay, USA, Venezuela, Vietnam, West Africa, West Indies, Yemen, Yugoslavia, Zambia, Zimbabwe,

Cultivation

Plants are grown from seed.

Propagation

Seed - whilst it can be sown in situ, if seed is scarce then we have had better results by sowing the seed in pots. Put a few seeds in each pot, germination should only take a few days and most seed should germinate. Thin to the best plants as soon as they are large enough to handle and plant out when around 15cm tall.

Other Uses

The plant is used as a fumigant against mosquitoes and is also added to fertilizers to inhibit insect larvae. Gold/green dyes can be obtained from the whole plant.

Other Information

It is not known if it is used in Papua New Guinea. It is popular in cooking in the Yucatan peninsula in Mexico. It is a cultivated food plant. It is sold in local markets.

Notes

It contains poisonous substances once used to treat worms. It reduces the gases produced from eating beans. The plant is used for medicine. There are about 100-150-250 Chenopodium species. They are mostly in temperate regions. Also put in the family Chenopodiaceae.

Synonyms

Also Known As

Akatasavola, American epazote, American Wormseed, Amush, Babre nagdi, Bathoo, Bathu, Bathwa, Caa re, Care, Dau giun, Desi bathoo, Epasote, Epazote, Fragrant Tiger Bones, Goosefoot, Huauzontle, Ihkgna, Jangli battoon, Jerusalem-tea, Jilmil sak, Kanyuku, Katu ayamoddakam, Kwinifi, Mbosia, Mbozya, Nkhinza, Munhuhwenhuhwe, Nkasa kindongo, Paico, Paico macho, Paicu, Paiku, Pasare bethe, Payco, Payqu, Pazote, Rato latte, Say-myu, Tetrolokoloko, Teya, Tho kinggioi, Tu jing jie, Wormseed

References (104)

• Altschul, S.V.R., 1973, Drugs and Foods from Little-known Plants. Notes in Harvard University Herbaria. Harvard Univ. Press. Massachusetts. no. 871 (As Chenopodium ambrosioides)
• Ambasta, S.P. (Ed.), 2000, The Useful Plants of India. CSIR India. p 119 (As Chenopodium ambrosioides)
• Arellanes, Y., et al, 2013, Influence of traditional markets on plant management in the Tehuacan Valley. Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine 9:38 (As Chenopodium ambrosioides)
• Astrada, E., et al, 2007, Ethnobotany in the Cumbres de Monterrey National Park, Nuevo Leon, Mexico. Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine 3:8 (As Teloxys ambrosioides)
• Baro, D., Baruah, S. and Borthukar, S. K. 2015, Documentation on wild vegetables of Baksa district, BTAD (Assam). Scholars Research Library. Archives of Applied Science Research, 2015, 7 (9):19-27 (As Chenopodium ambrosioides)

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