Indonesian bay-leaf (Syzygium polyanthum)

Indonesian bay-leaf or laurel (in Indonesia language known as Salam) is the name of the plant producing leaves of herbs used in cooking indonesia. This plant scientific name is Syzygium polyanthum. This plant is found in Burma to the south to Indonesia, grew at a height of 5 m to 1,000 m above sea level. Bay-leaf tree can grow in the lowlands to the mountains with an altitude of 1800 m; a lot of growing in the forest or jungle.

This medium-sized shrub, reaching a height of 30 m. Bark is brown-gray, breaking or scaly. Single leaf located opposite crossed the horizontal branch as if arranged in 2 rows on a field. Most no leverage with leaf stalk up to 12 mm. Leaf blade elliptic-oval shaped, narrow elliptic or lanceolate, 5-16 x 2.5-7 cm, bald, with a 6-11 secondary leaf veins, and leaf veins inline intramarginal apparent near the edge of the strand, spotted the ethereal oil glands.

Wreath form panicles with many flowers, 2-8 cm, appear under the leaves or sometimes in the armpit. Flowers small, sitting, smelling fragrant. Flowers mostly hermaphrodite, petals and crowns, each consisting of 4-5 leaves and petals of the same number of leaf crown, sometimes attached to each other. Stamens many, sometimes valvate dealing with the leaves of the crown. Having a brightly colored stamen stalk, which sometimes become part of interest.

Most interestingly, the fruit will sink, have a pistil stalk, has a space of 1 to many, with a 1-8 ovule in each chamber. Seeds with little or no endosperm, the agency straight, curved or circular.

Bay-leaf plants commonly used by people of Indonesia as a complementary herbs also have efficacy as a drug. In the treatment, bay-leaf is used to treat high cholesterol, diabetes mellitus, high blood pressure (hypertension), gastritis, diarrhea and suspected levels of the chemical as a drug has activity uric acid. Chemical constituents contained in a bay-leaf plants, these include the saponins, triterpenoids, flavonoids, polyphenols, alkaloids, tannins and volatile oil consisting of sesquiterpen, lactone and phenol.