For those who do not read Chinese, the writingbottom right of the picture says “Happy Lantern Festival” to mark Yuanxiao Jie that celebrates the first full moon of the Chinese year.
The “Chinese lantern” plant shown is Alkekengi officinarum (Solanaceae, nightshades family). Though now assigned its owngenus, it is still often called Physalis alkekengi, placing it in the same genus as the so-called “Cape gooseberry”. The latter is named for its caped fruit, and has nothing to do with South Africa’s Cape Province thoughwell-known there; it is also unrelated to the common gooseberry.
The Alkekengi (锦灯笼, Jindenglong in Chinese) fruit grows inside an impressive calyx (the cape) that eventually skeletonizes to reveal the caged, cherry-like fruit inside. The fruits are edible, thoughlike other nightshade relatives, they contain poisonous alkaloids.
Alkakengi has been used medicinally for at least 2000 years. It appears in the Chinese Pharmacopoeia for treatment of hoarseness, sore throat, eczema, and aspergillosis (fungal infection of the lungs).
A recent review (Liu et al, 2023), cites dozens of pharmacological effects and molecular targets but without detailed activities of the specific Phyto actives responsible, though the review does list over 500 different molecules found in the plant. The list is topped by 39different Physalins, a class of steroidal molecule that features in dozens of scieitific articles over the last few years, well beyond the scope of this blog.
One noteworthy bioactivity of physalins is against Leishmania, a parasitic protozoan carried by sandflies whose bites cause nasty skin sores. The infection can also spread to internal organs with serious consequences. Early treatment of the skin infection is often effective. Bano et al (2022) have researched the activity of physalins against the Leishmaniaparasite, finding them effective against parasite isolates resistant to the drug Miltesofine that is often used to treat Leishmaniasis.
We must be thankful that Chinese Lanterns provide both beauty and medical enlightenment.
References
🏮Liu Y et al (2023). Research progress on the chemicalcomponents and pharmacological effects of Physalis alkekengi L. var. franchetii (Mast.) Makino. Heliyon, 9(12),e20030. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e20030
🏮Bano S et al (2022). Anti-leishmanial physalins-Phytochemical investigation, in vitro evaluation against clinical and MIL-resistant L.tropica strains and in silico studies. PloS one, 17(11),e0274543. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0274543
