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Clausena anisata is a deciduous shrub or small tree, belonging to the Rutaceae (citrus) family, and widespread in the Sub-Saharan Africa, but absent from drier regions. It is also found in tropical and South-East Asia, India and Sri Lanka. It is cultivated in Malaysia and Indonesia. As with other plants useful to mankind its large range of medicinal properties has led to a global distribution and its growth wherever the climate is suitable. It grows in higher-rainfall regions in savanna, thickets, riverine forest, disturbed areas and secondary forest, up to an altitude of 3000 m. The leaves, which are foetid when bruised, give rise to the common name horsewood or the more descriptive Afrikaans common name perdepis, meaning 'horse urine'.
This species is one of 25 in the genus Clausena, first described in 1768 by the Dutch botanist Nicolaas Laurens Burman, and named for the Norwegian clergyman, Peder Claussøn Friis (1545–1614), the translator of the Icelandic historian and poet, Snorri Sturluson. (2012). 9781420080445, CRC Press. ISBN 9781420080445
Analysis shows the presence of estragole, anethole, foeniculin, β-pinene, sabinene, ocimene, germacrene B, ocimene and terpinen-4-ol, tagetenone, tagetenone, nerolidol, germacrene D, methyl chavicol, myrcene, limonene, β-caryophyllene, 3-carene, β-humulene, of the furanocoumarin type - imperatorin, isoimperatorin, oxypeucedanine, bergaptene, xanthotoxin, xanthotoxol and chalepin, geranylcoumarin (anisocoumarin A–I), furanocoumarin-lactone type (indicolactone, anisolactone), the tetranortriterpenoids limonin, zapoterin, clausenolide, carbazole alkaloids furanoclausamine A and B, clausamine B, clausamine C, clausamine D and clausamine E, mukonal, glycosinine, mukonidine and clausine F, and the pyranocarbazole alkaloid mupamine.
Five major essential oils from the leaf - β-pinene, sabinene, germacrene-D, estragole and linalool - are efficacious control agents of the larvae of Culex quinquefasciatus, Aedes aegypti and Anopheles stephensi. They are also effective insecticides and deterrents when used in stored foods. Tenebrio molitor, Rhyzopertha dominica, Sitophilus zeamais and other species suffer almost complete mortality. The oils also block the reproduction of Tribolium castaneum when used as a fumigant, or added to wheat flour at a concentration of 0.2% by weight. These essential oils are generally considered harmless to human beings and are routinely used in flavouring, perfumes, confectionery and pharmaceuticals.
An extract of the twigs shows activity against Plasmodium falciparum. The oils also affect Salmonella typhimurium, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Alcaligenes faecalis, Bacillus subtilis, Enterococcus faecalis, Flavobacterium suaveolens, Leuconostoc mesenteroides ssp. cremoris and Serratia marcescens. Clausenol is active against a number of Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria and fungi, such as Alternaria alternata, Aspergillus parasiticus, Geotrichum candidum, Phytophthora palmivora and Penicillium citrinum. Leaf extracts strongly affect the fungi causing oral candidiasis and skin infections - Candida albicans, Candida glabrata, Candida tropicalis, Candida parapsilosis, Candida krusei and Cryptococcus neoformans. A extract from the roots shows molluscicidal results in Bulinus globosus, the intermediate host in schistosomiasis. The coumarins heliettin and imperatorin are toxic to snails - imperatorin also shows anticonvulsant activity. Essential oils from the leaves also show moderate antioxidant activity in vitro, while root extracts show hypoglycaemic activity. Chalepin exhibits anticoagulant activity and when administered intraperitoneally causes the death of 40% of treated rats within 48 hours. Clausamines D–G inhibit early antigen activation of the Epstein–Barr virus. Leaf extracts have a mild effect on HIV-1 and HIV-2 strains, and HIV-1 reverse transcriptase. Clausamine E is cytotoxic to the human leukemia cell line HL60.
In 2016, a study by Williams, Soelberg and Jäger showed than ethanolic extracts of Clausena anisata have in vitro anthelmintic properties against the nematode Ascaris suum, a swine parasitism that is closely related to the human parasite A. lumbricoides. The half maximal effective concentration (EC50) value was 74 μg/mL. The authors concluded that these results encourage further investigation of the use of this plant as complementary treatment options for ascariasis.
Crushed leaves are used as an antiseptic and analgesic, and are applied to open wounds, mouth infections, otitis and abscesses, also burns, haemorrhoids, rheumatism and general body pains. Crushed leaves are also used to treat wounds in domestic animals, and as a snake-bite antidote. Dried leaves are widely used as an arthropod repellent, such as a filling material for mattresses and pillows against fleas, lice and bedbugs. The fruits are sweet and readily eaten by people and other animals. Stem bark is pounded and used as rope.
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