Chapter 2 Research Alagaw Soap

CHAPTER 2
RELATED LITERATURE AND STUDIES
This chapter presents the related literature and studies that has relevance to this study.
This will focus on making of seasoning mix made of Alagaw Leaves. The related studies will
provide further information about research which will give light to the researchers on their
investigation.
Alagaw (Premna odorata Blanco)
Fig. 1 Alagaw (Premna odorata Blanco) Tree
Alagaw is a plant that grows in the Philippines all year round. It can be found anywhere
in the in the country. Its leaves are composed of vitamins and minerals which when consumed
properly can be a lot of help in dealing health problems. Most people didnt know anything about
it because they thought its just a grass and useless.
Philippines are known to be blessed with a rich source of herbal wonders found
proliferating in its thick forests and vast fields. A lot of researches have been done to study
various plants to provide evidence-based supports to these plants therapeutic claims. Because of
this, people are provided with technology-appropriate alternatives when it comes to managing
their uncomplicated health problems.
One herbal plant that has been a subject of a lot of study is Alagaw (Premna odorata
Blanco). It is called Abgau or Adgau in Bisaya and Fragrant premna in English. Alagaws use and
health benefits include culinary uses, antiseptic, douches, antibiotic properties, and even anti-
parasitic usage. Advanced studies were conducted too which gave way to an even wider range of
benefits alagaw has.
Alagaw is a tree that can grow from 3 to 8 meters and is native to forests of Bataan,
Northern Luzon, and even most parts of Mindanao. Its leaves are described to be with a heart-
shaped bases and pointed tips. Its trunk has short hairs. Its flowers are either white or greenish-
white and its fruit is a round shade of dark purple. Alagaw can also be found in some parts of
Asia like Myanmar, China, Thailand, and Japan.
Currently, it is most known for its ability to be a saudorific (sweat-inducing) drug and its
ability to prevent gas formation in the intestines. Its leaves and flowers are boiled and the
decoction is consumed. In children, leaves are crushed and are applied in the abdomen. Another
way to benefit from its anti-gas formation property is to infuse the leaves.
Alagaw Benefits related alternative medicine supplements and vitamins. Also explore
information on treatment, health benefits & side effects with Alagaw Benefits. Many of the
sources come from our Encyclopedia of Natural Health and include relevant health topics. Uses
vary, but may include, Improving Skin Tone, and Promoting Healing and are non-FDA reviewed
or approved, natural alternatives, to use for, Heart Disease, and Dry Skin.
A study conducted in Malaysia found out that Alagaw can be used against the virus that
causes stomatitis (Ali, et.al., 1996) Adding to the amazing wonders Alagaw is capable of is its
ability to promote a healthy liver by 50% more than the drug Silymarin can (R. Vadivu, 2009).
The extract of its bark is also effective against Escherichia coli, a normal part of humans
intestines but is the leading cause of urinary tract infections. However, according to this study
conducted by Malecdan, et.al. Its anti-E.coli property is way lesser than what ciprofloxacin can
do. Lastly, according to the study conducted by Desrivot, et. al. on 2007 in New Caledonia,
Alagaw is one of the plants that has the most active anti-parasitic action against Leishmania
donovani, a protozoa which is a causative agent for Leishamaniasis, a disease of the various
layers of skin that presents with different levels of ulceration and is carried by sandflies.
Alagaw presents very high potential for managing a lot of health conditions that are
usually alleviated only by high-potent drugs or by maintenance drugs. These health conditions
would need a lot of financial backup but with studies to establish Alagaw s use and health
benefits, a lot of people, especially those without immediate access to health care, would be
spared from unnecessary spending, time, and are made proactive when it comes to their health.
Alagaw (Premna odorata Blanco) Leaves

Fig. 2 Alagaw (Premna odorata Blanco) Leaves
Alagaw leaves are composed of vitamins and minerals which when consumed
properly can be a lot of help in dealing health problems. Other alagaw use and health benefits
include incorporating its leaves when cooking Filipino dishes such as paksiw and bopis,
sweetened leaf decoction added with calamansi to loosen phlegm, crushed leaves applied to
forehead for headaches, roots that people with heart problems can chew, applying leaves over the
bladder to facilitate urination, and boiled shoot decoction for eliminating parasites. Also, leaf
extracts are used to clean wounds and to eliminate ticks and fleas. The most recent discovery is
the use of alagaws leaf decoction as vaginal wash and douche. It is also used by other people as
bath to infants, also used as treatment for beriberi.
Soap
People have used soap for centuries and it continues to be widely used as a
cleansing agent, mild antiseptic and ingestible antidote to some forms of poisoning. Soap can be
produced by a simple process called saponification that takes place when a fatty acid comes in
contact with an alkali. When fats or oils, which contain fatty acids, are combined with a strong
alkali, the alkali first splits the fats or oils into fatty acids and glycerin. After that, the sodium or
potassium part of the alkali joins with the fatty acid part of the fat or oils. This mixture is called
soap or the potassium or sodium salt of the fatty acid. So, soap is a cleansing agent created by the
combination of fats and oils with an alkaline base.
The first recorded evidence of the manufacturing of soap, like materials dates
back to around 2800 BC in Ancient Babylon.
The Ebers papyrus (Egypt, 1550BC) reveal that ancient Egyptians bathed
regularly and used the combination of animal and plant oils with alkaline salt to produce a soap-
like substance.
Phoenicians combined goat's tallow and wood ash to make soap. Celts also
produced soap. Soap was popular widely throughout the Roman Empire, and was used primarily
as medicine for skin diseases. The purpose of soap as a cleanser appeared in the second century
AD. By the eight century, soap was common in France, Italy, and Spain, but the rest of Europe
rarely used it until the 17th century.
Soap production began in England around the end of the 12th century. Soap-
manufacturers had to pay a heavy tax on all the soap they made. Because of the heavy tax, soap
was very expensive, and it came into common use in England after the tax was repealed in 1853.
In the 19th century, soap was available and popular throughout Europe.
Early soap makers simply boiled a mixture of wood ash and animal fat. A foam
substance that formed at the top of the pot, when cooled, it hardened into soap. Around 1790,
French chemist Nicolas Leblanc patented a method of making lye from an ordinary salt,
replacing the wood ash as an element of soap. Another French chemist Eugene-Michel Chevreul
the chemistry behind the relationship of glycerin and fatty acids and put the soap-forming
process (called in English saponification) into concrete chemical terms in 1823.
Soap was manufactured with industrial processes by the end of the 19th century,
though people in rural areas continued to produce soap at home. By 1890 many different types of
soap were offered, with the five major companies being, Colgate, Morse Taylor, Albert, Pears,
and Bailey. In 1933 the first household synthetic detergent was introduced by Procter and
Gamble, and the first non-soap heavy-duty laundry product was invented in 1947 by Tide. Now
in the 21st century, most soap bars found in the grocery store are actually synthetic detergents.
Fortunately, there has been a revival of soap making by the old fashioned process.
END NOTES
http://www.gobeyondtravelandtour.com/greenprescription/wp-
content/cache/tmpWpfc/1427278259/natural-treatments/alagaw-use-and-health-benefits/
http://plantfruitstreesmedicineherbal.blogspot.com/2012/09/alagaw-alternative-medicine-
supplements.html?m=1
http://www.soaphistory.net/soap-facts/soap-information/

Chapter 2 Research Alagaw Soap

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CHAPTER 2

RELATED LITERATURE AND STUDIES

Alagaw (Premna odorata Blanco)

Fig. 1 Alagaw (Premna odorata Blanco) Tree

Alagaw (Premna odorata Blanco) Leaves

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