JAMBOLAN: Overview, Uses, Side Effects, Precautions, Interactions, Dosing and Reviews

Overview

Jambolan is a tree. The seed, leaf, bark, and fruit are used to make medicine.

Jambolan is widely used in folk medicine for diabetes.

It is also used by mouth for gas (flatulence), swelling (inflammation) of the stomach (gastritis), constipation, diarrhea, and other conditions.

Jambolan is sometimes used for sore throat, and applied directly to the skin for skin ulcers.

How does it work ?

Jambolan seed and bark contains chemicals that might lower blood sugar, but extracts from jambolan leaf and fruit don't seem to affect blood sugar. Jambolan also contains chemicals that might protect against oxidation damage, as well as chemicals that reduce swelling.

Uses & Effectiveness ?

Insufficient Evidence for

Diabetes. Limited research in people with type 2 diabetes suggests that drinking jambolana tea prepared from 2 grams of jambolana leaves per liter of water does not improve fasting blood sugar levels.
Asthma.
Constipation.
Diarrhea.
Gas (flatulence).
Skin ulcers, when applied to the skin.
Sore mouth and throat, when used as a gargle.
Swelling (inflammation) of the main airways in the lung (bronchitis).
Swelling (inflammation) of the pancreas (pancreatitis).
Swelling (inflammation) of the stomach (gastritis).
Other conditions.

More evidence is needed to rate the effectiveness of jambolan for these uses.

Side Effects

When taken by mouth: Jambolan is POSSIBLY SAFE for most people when taken by mouth, short-term. Jambolan tea prepared from 2 grams of jambolan leaves per liter of water seems to be safe.

Special Precautions and Warnings

When taken by mouth: Jambolan is POSSIBLY SAFE for most people when taken by mouth, short-term. Jambolan tea prepared from 2 grams of jambolan leaves per liter of water seems to be safe.

Pregnancy and breast-feeding: There isn't enough reliable information to know if jambolan is safe to use when pregnant or breast-feeding. Stay on the safe side and avoid use.

Diabetes: Jambolan seed and bark extracts might lower blood sugar levels. Monitor blood sugar levels closely if you have diabetes and take jambolan.

Surgery: Jambolan might lower blood sugar levels. There is some concern that it might interfere with blood sugar control during and after surgery. Stop using jambolan at least 2 weeks before a scheduled surgery.

Interactions ?

Moderate Interaction

Be cautious with this combination

Medications for diabetes (Antidiabetes drugs) interacts with JAMBOLAN
Jambolan seed and bark extracts might decrease blood sugar levels. Diabetes medications are also used to lower blood sugar. Taking jambolan seed or bark along with diabetes medications might cause your blood sugar to be too low. Monitor your blood sugar closely. The dose of your diabetes medication might need to be changed.

Some medications used for diabetes include glimepiride (Amaryl), glyburide (DiaBeta, Glynase PresTab, Micronase), insulin, pioglitazone (Actos), rosiglitazone (Avandia), chlorpropamide (Diabinese), glipizide (Glucotrol), tolbutamide (Orinase), and others.
Medications changed by the liver (Cytochrome P450 2C9 (CYP2C9) substrates) interacts with JAMBOLAN
Some medications are changed and broken down by the liver. Jambolan might decrease how quickly the liver breaks down some medications. Taking jambolan along with some medications that are broken down by the liver might increase the effects and side effects of some medications. Before taking jambolan, talk to your healthcare provider if you take any medications that are changed by the liver.
Some medications that are changed by the liver include amitriptyline (Elavil), diazepam (Valium), zileuton (Zyflo), celecoxib (Celebrex), diclofenac (Voltaren), fluvastatin (Lescol), glipizide (Glucotrol), ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin), irbesartan (Avapro), losartan (Cozaar), phenytoin (Dilantin), piroxicam (Feldene), tamoxifen (Nolvadex), tolbutamide (Tolinase), torsemide (Demadex), warfarin (Coumadin), and others.

Minor Interaction

Be watchful with this combination

Sitagliptin (Januvia) interacts with JAMBOLAN
Jambolan seed extract might lower blood levels of the medication sitagliptin. Sitagliptin helps the body lower blood sugar to normal levels in patients with diabetes. Taking jambolan seed along with sitagliptin might cause changes in your blood sugar. Monitor your blood sugar closely. The dose of sitagliptin might need to be changed.

Dosing

The appropriate dose of jambolan depends on several factors such as the user's age, health, and several other conditions. At this time there is not enough scientific information to determine an appropriate range of doses for jambolan. Keep in mind that natural products are not always necessarily safe and dosages can be important. Be sure to follow relevant directions on product labels and consult your pharmacist or physician or other healthcare professional before using.

View References

REFERENCES:

Chandrasekaran M, Venkatesalu V. Antibacterial and antifungal activity of Syzygium jambolanum seeds. J Ethnopharmacol 2004;91:105-8. View abstract.

Chinni S, Dubala A, Kosaraju J, et al. Effect of crude extract of Eugenia jambolana Lam. on human cytochrome P450 enzymes. Phytother Res 2014;28(11):1731-4. doi: 10.1002/ptr.5137. View abstract.

Jagetia GC, Baliga MS, Venkatesh P. Influence of seed extract of Syzygium Cumini (Jamun) on mice exposed to different doses of gamma-radiation. J Radiat Res (Tokyo) 2005;46:59-65. View abstract.

Muruganandan S, Srinivasan K, Chandra S, et al. Anti-inflammatory activity of Syzygium cumini bark. Fitoterapia 2001;72:369-75. View abstract.

Oliveira AC, Endringer DC, Amorim LA, et al. Effect of the extracts and fractions of Baccharis trimera and Syzygium cumini on glycaemia of diabetic and non-diabetic mice. J Ethnopharmacol 2005;102:465-9. View abstract.

Pepato MT, Mori DM, Baviera AM, et al. Fruit of the jambolan tree (Eugenia jambolana Lam.) and experimental diabetes. J Ethnopharmacol 2005;96:43-8. View abstract.

Ramirez RO, Roa CC Jr. The gastroprotective effect of tannins extracted from duhat (Syzygium cumini Skeels) bark on HCl/ethanol induced gastric mucosal injury in Sprague-Dawley rats. Clin Hemorheol Microcirc 2003;29:253-61. View abstract.

Ravi K, Rajasekaran S, Subramanian S. Antihyperlipidemic effect of Eugenia jambolana seed kernel on streptozotocin-induced diabetes in rats. Food Chem Toxicol 2005;43:1433-9. View abstract.

Ravi K, Ramachandran B, Subramanian S. Effect of Eugenia Jambolana seed kernel on antioxidant defense system in streptozotocin-induced diabetes in rats. Life Sci 2004;75:2717-31. View abstract.

Shafi PM, Rosamma MK, Jamil K, Reddy PS. Antibacterial activity of Syzygium cumini and Syzygium travancoricum leaf essential oils. Fitoterapia 2002;73:414-6. View abstract.

Sharma SB, Nasir A, Prabhu KM, et al. Hypoglycaemic and hypolipidemic effect of ethanolic extract of seeds of Eugenia jambolana in alloxan-induced diabetic rabbits. J Ethnopharmacol 2003;85:201-6. View abstract.

Sood R, Swarup D, Bhatia S, et al. Antiviral activity of crude extracts of Eugenia jambolana Lam. against highly pathogenic avian influenza (H5N1) virus. Indian J Exp Biol 2012;50(3):179-86. View abstract.

Sridhar SB, Sheetal UD, Pai MR, Shastri MS. Preclinical evaluation of the antidiabetic effect of Eugenia jambolana seed powder in streptozotocin-diabetic rats. Braz J Med Biol Res 2005;38:463-8. View abstract.

Stanely Mainzen Prince P, Kamalakkannan N, Menon VP. Syzigium cumini seed extracts reduce tissue damage in diabetic rat brain. J Ethnopharmacol 2003;84:205-9. View abstract.

Teixeira CC, Pinto LP, Kessler FH, et al. The effect of Syzygium cumini (L.) skeels on post-prandial blood glucose levels in non-diabetic rats and rats with streptozotocin-induced diabetes mellitus. J Ethnopharmacol 1997;56:209-13. View abstract.

Teixeira CC, Rava CA, Mallman da Silva P, et al. Absence of antihyperglycemic effect of jambolan in experimental and clinical models. J Ethnopharmacol 2000;71:343-7. View abstract.

Teixeira CC, Weinert LS, Barbosa DC, et al. Syzygium cumini (L.) Skeels in the treatment of type 2 diabetes. Diabetes Care 2004;27:3019-20. View abstract.

Ulla A, Alam MA, Sikder B, et al. Supplementation of Syzygium cumini seed powder prevented obesity, glucose intolerance, hyperlipidemia and oxidative stress in high carbohydrate high fat diet induced obese rats. BMC Complement Altern Med 2017;17(1):289. doi: 10.1186/s12906-017-1799-8. View abstract.

Villasenor IM, Lamadrid MR. Comparative anti-hyperglycemic potentials of medicinal plants. J Ethnopharmacol 2006;104:129-31. View abstract.

Vora A, Varghese A, Kachwala Y, et al. Eugenia jambolana extract reduces the systemic exposure of Sitagliptin and improves conditions associated with diabetes: A pharmacokinetic and a pharmacodynamic herb-drug interaction study. J Tradit Complement Med. 2018;9(4):364-371. View abstract.

Xu J, Liu T, Li Y, et al. Hypoglycemic and hypolipidemic effects of triterpenoid-enriched Jamun (Eugenia jambolana Lam.) fruit extract in streptozotocin-induced type 1 diabetic mice. Food Funct 2018;9(6):3330-7. doi: 10.1039/c8fo00095f. View abstract.

Aqil F, Gupta A, Munagala R, et al. Antioxidant and antiproliferative activities of anthocyanin/ellagitannin-enriched extracts from Syzygium cumini L. (Jamun, the Indian Blackberry). Nutr Cancer 2012;64(3):428-38. doi: 10.1080/01635581.2012.657766. View abstract.

Bajpai M, Pande A, Tewari SK, Prakash D. Phenolic contents and antioxidant activity of some food and medicinal plants. Int J Food Sci Nutr 2005;56:287-91. View abstract.

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CONDITIONS OF USE AND IMPORTANT INFORMATION: This information is meant to supplement, not replace advice from your doctor or healthcare provider and is not meant to cover all possible uses, precautions, interactions or adverse effects. This information may not fit your specific health circumstances. Never delay or disregard seeking professional medical advice from your doctor or other qualified health care provider because of something you have read on WebMD. You should always speak with your doctor or health care professional before you start, stop, or change any prescribed part of your health care plan or treatment and to determine what course of therapy is right for you.

This copyrighted material is provided by Natural Medicines Comprehensive Database Consumer Version. Information from this source is evidence-based and objective, and without commercial influence. For professional medical information on natural medicines, see Natural Medicines Comprehensive Database Professional Version.
© Therapeutic Research Faculty 2020.

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JAMBOLAN - Uses, Side Effects, and More