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Schwabe News Volume 4 | Issue 8 | August 2013

Muira puama

Dulacia inopiflora syn. Liriosma ovata and Ptychopetalum olacoides Benth, family Olacacea is commonly known as Muira Puama or Potency wood.  Tender tree 10-15 m with a spread of 3-5m with grey fissured trunk, oblong rather leathery dark-brown leaves, tiny white flowers, followed by orange-yellow fruits, it is found in Amazonian rain forests.¹ It is native to Brazilian rain forests specially the Rio Negro and Amazonas regions.  It has long been used by the indigenous Amazonians as tonic and aphrodisiac.  It is still considered a valuable remedy for impotence.² Homoeopathic tincture is made from the root bark and the wood.³  It is official in the German Homoeopathic Pharmacopoeia and muira puama mother tincture uses are mentioned in the book “Rare Homoeopathic Mother Tinctures”.⁴  It has coverage in the Synthesis Repertory by Dr. Federick Schroyens.  The aphrodisiac drug comes from its stem, bark and wood and the alcoholic extract is orally effective.⁵  It is used for tonifying the nervous system, gastrointestinal and reproductive disorders, neurosexual stimulation, enhances libido, has been used for treating stress and trauma.  It has anti-rheumatic properties as well.  It is listed in the British Herbal Pharmacopoeia.  It has long history in herbal medicines as: an aphrodisiac and tonic for the nervous system.²

A study conducted in Paris, France on 260 male patients experiencing lack of sexual desire and the inability to attain or maintain the erection, 62% of the patients with loss of libido reported that Muira puama “had a dynamic effect” and 51% of the patients with erectile dysfunction felt that Muira puama “was beneficial”.⁶

The homoeopathic mother tincture contains 86% alcohol. The drug’s folk and herbal use are well documented but which ingredient is responsible for the improved localized circulation in the sexual sphere or the CNS centers is yet not clear.

Dose of Muira Puama Q: 10-20 drops 2-3 times a day.

References:

1. Encyclopaedia of Herbs, Deni Brown, Dorling Kindersley (DK).

1. Andrew Chevallier, The Encyclopedia of Medicinal Plants, 1st Edition, 1996, Dorling Kindersley, London.

3. P. N. Varma, Indu Vaid, Encyclopaedia of Homoeopathic Pharmacopoeia, Updated edition 2007, B. Jain Publishers, New Delhi.
4. Dr. P. N. Varma, et al., A Compendium of Rare and Clinically Established Mother Tinctures, 4^th Edition, Dr. Willmar Schwabe India Pvt. Ltd., A-36, Sector 60, Noida.
5. CRC Handbook of Medicinal Herbs, James A. Duke (CRC Press, Florida).
6. Waynsberg J Aphrodisiacs: Contribution to the clinical validation of the traditional use of Ptychopetalum guyanna. Presented at the First International Congress on Ethnopharmacology, Strasbourg, France, June 5-9, 1990.