Actinidia polygama (Actinidia polygama); actinidia polygamous
A perennial plant of the Actinidia family. A twisted bush-liana of small or medium size. The leaves are alternate, entire, toothed, at the base — from blunt to pointed. The flowers are regular, 5-petalled, single, rarely 2-3, in the axils of the middle leaves of young shoots, about 2.5 cm in diameter. The fruit is a berry with a conical sharp nose. Blooms in July.
Spread. It grows wild in the Far East on the territory of the former USSR.
Raw. Fruits, aerial part and roots are used. The fruits are inedible, because they are bitter, burning in taste and cause a slight burn of the mucous membrane of the oral cavity.
Chemical composition. Fresh fruits contain 1000-1500 mg% (according to other sources – 100 mg%) of ascorbic acid, 8.3 mg% of carotene, 130 mg% of vitamin P, alkaloids (in unripe fruits). The leaves contain coumarins, monoterpenes actinidin and metabilactone. The seeds contain fatty oil (6.9%), which includes palmitic, stearic, arachidonic, butyric, linoleic and linolenic acids.
Using. In the scientific medicine of Japan, an extract of fruits and roots called polygamol is used. This extract has a tonic and diuretic effect and is used in the form of injections of a 0.3% solution to increase cardiac activity. Actinidia polygamous is also used in folk medicine: in Japan, an infusion of fruits or dry shoots is used for dizziness, lumbago, rheumatism, paralysis and gonorrhea; fresh fruits are eaten to quench thirst, and leaves are eaten together with soy sauce; in China, fruit powder together with root distillation products are used as a pain reliever for colic, stomach and lower back pain; in China and Japan, fruit and gall baths are used as a remedy for constipation and to warm the body in case of chills and colds.