Uncaria gambir, the gambier or gambir, is a species of plant in the genus Uncaria found in Southeast Asia, mainly Malaysia and Indonesia.

Uncaria gambir
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Gentianales
Family: Rubiaceae
Genus: Uncaria
Species:
U. gambir
Binomial name
Uncaria gambir
Synonyms[1]
  • Nauclea gambir Hunter
  • Ourouparia gambir (Hunter) Baill.
  • Uruparia gambir (Hunter) Kuntze

Extract

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Gambier extract is used or has been used as a catechu for chewing with areca and betel, for tanning and dyeing, and as herbal medicine. Gambier extract was also used by native people as a medical treatment or prevention of diseases that were believed to be spread by the now obsolete medical theory of miasma.

The Indians invented paan, a gambir paste, that was believed to help prevent miasma; it was considered as the first antimiasmatic application. The gambir tree is found in Southern India and Sri Lanka.[2]

References

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  1. ^ "The Plant List: A Working List of All Plant Species". Retrieved May 16, 2014.
  2. ^ "Miasma Analysis" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 June 2017. Retrieved 15 January 2018.