Some pharmacological actions of the essential oil of Blumea membranacea.

The essential oil obtained from the plant Blumea membranacea produced a marked and long lasting fall in blood pressure in anaesthetized dogs. The oil exerted a direct depressant action on frog heart and spasmolytic effect on rabbit ileum. It also depressed the conditioned avoidance response, adversely affected rotarod performance and potentiated the pentobarbitone induced hypnosis in rats.