Sauropus androgynus - Cekur Manis

Synonyms : S. albicans, S. sumatranus, Clutia androgyna.

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Order : Magnoliopsida

Family : Phyllanthaceae

Tribe : Phyllantheae

Surtribe : Flueggeinae

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The genus Sauropus comprises about 40 species.

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Commonly known as star gooseberry, sweet leave, cekur manis (Malay), katuk (Indonesia), Pak wanban (Thai), rau ngót (Vietnamese), 树仔菜, 板面菜 and 马尼菜.

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It’s a perennial herb capable to reach 3 m in height. Stems are multiple, semi-woody, upright, green in colour, about 0.5 cm in diameter. Older stem may become somewhat woody and have slight brownish colour. Leaves are pinnately altenate, ovate. The mature leaves dark green with 5 – 6 cm long, younger shoots tends to be lighter green. Flowers underside of leaves’ petiole, small, 0.5 mm diameter, white to pinkish. Fruits are capsules, white to reddish, with 3 black seeds.

Propagation is by cuttings. Easily propagated and heavy yielding.

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The leaves and shoots are consumed as leafy vegetable.

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Studies shows that the leaf contains 88.32% water, 4.84% protein, 0.19% lipid, 5.36% carbohydrate, and 1.11 fiber ². The leaf also contains b-carotene, vitamin C, calcium, potassium, iron and magnesium. It’s among only a few floral containing vitamin K.

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However, studies have suggested that its consumption can cause lung damage, due to its high concentration of papaverine ( 580mg/100g fresh leaf ¹).

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1.P.Padmavathi & M.Prabhakara Rao, 1990, Nutritive Value of Sauropus androgynus Leaves, Plant Food for Human Nutrition 40:107-113.

2. Naruman Benjapak et al, 2008, Determination of Antioxidant Capacity and Nutritive Values of Pak-Wanban, KKU Sci. J. 36(4) 279-289 (2008)