Young leaves are eaten as vegetable[317 ]. The very young leaf tips, harvested before the leaves have expanded, are eaten as a salad[582 ].

Plants For A Future can not take any responsibility for any adverse effects from the use of plants. Always seek advice from a professional before using a plant medicinally.


A decoction of the aerial rootlets is used as a vulnerary[582 ]. The latex has been successfully used to treat five cases of trichuriasis[582 ].

A latex is obtained from the bark of the stem and larger branches[310 , 451 ]. This can be used for all applications of natural rubber, such as tyres, rubber components for cars and machines and consumer products such as footwear, sport goods, toys and gloves[310 ]. Traditionally, the latex is used to line baskets of split rattan, to make them watertight[310 ], and has sundry other applications[451 ]. The rubber made from this plant contains 4 - 20% resin, which hardens over time and decreases the rubber's elasticity[310 ]. The rubber has relatively short chains of polyisoprenes of low molecular weight: 78 000. It is soluble in cajeput oil (Melaleuca cajuputi Powell). The rubber is hypoallergenic to individuals allergic to the proteins found in Hevea brasiliensis rubber products[310 ]. The latex of wild as well as planted trees can be collected by tapping the bark, generally only of the stem and larger branches, though root bark may also be tapped. It is best to harvest when the air humidity is high, as drier conditions cause the latex to coagulate too fast and rain reduces the rubber content of the exudate. Traditionally the bark was cut with a knife or small axe, later incisions were made with a gouge to better control the depth of cutting and to limit the wounding of the cambium. In the bark the laticifers are found closest to the cambium in a fibrous tissue which is difficult to cut. If the incision is not deep enough, the tissue containing most laticifers is not tapped and yield is low. A deep incision damages the cambium and hence influences the vitality of the tree. A V-shaped gouge can also be used to make horizontal incisions up to 5 cm wide and some 20 cm long, the length never exceeding half the circumference of the tree. These cuts are about 40 cm apart and on opposite sides of the tree. A herringbone system has also been applied, in which a central vertical channel transports the latex from grooves made at an angle of 45? with the vertical to a container driven into the bark of the tree. Inside the inclined grooves the fibres are punctured or cut at intervals of 2- 3 cm, to tap the laticifers closest to the cambium. This, however, also punctures or cuts the cambium layer. An advantage of the herringbone system is that the latex is collected as a fluid and is of better quality than the 'scrap' collected from the horizontal incisions or from underneath the tree. The latex drips from the horizontal incisions for about 2 - 3 minutes and is collected on a mat or on leaves placed underneath the tree. The coagulated latex is collected 2 - 3 days later; when stripped off the incision a milky residue oozes from the wound, but this liquid contains no rubber. A well-developed planted tree can be tapped after 6 - 7 years, but with increasing age (and circumference of the tree) when the first tapping is done, both yield as well as rubber content of the latex increase. There has been much debate and experimenting on the frequency of tapping. In this respect it is important that the latex extracted is not replaced and that there is no anastomosis between the laticifers, so only the latex from the immediate vicinity of the tapping wound exudes. This is why consecutive tappings, whether every day or once a year for three years, have shown a marked decrease in yield. Yields in g/tree from a tapping trial with 55 trees in Bogor for four harvests at intervals of 2, 3 , and 4 years were 238 g, 67 g, 70 g and 320 g. This suggests that it takes four years before the laticifers are reconstituted. Provided the tree will survive, it is therefore more rational to extract the maximum amount of latex at once, rather than tapping trees several times over a period of few years[310 ] The 'scrap' from Ficus elastica is sorted by hand and cleaned. The latex is difficult to coagulate: neither heating nor adding organic or mineral acids, even concentrated sulphuric acid, or alkali, will cause it to coagulate. Instead, it must be beaten and kneaded, and alcohol must be added. This yields a superior product which does not become sticky with time. Ammonia and tannin have been used as coagulants in Peninsular Malaysia. The 'scrap' and the coagulated latex are pressed into blocks, cakes or sheets before being traded[310 ]. The latex showed toxicity to the juveniles of the nematode Meloidogyne javanica[310 ]. The fibrous bark has been used for the manufacture of clothes and ropes[310 ]. The wood is of poor quality, but is occasionally applied for boards, posts, boats and fuel[310 ].

Special Uses