Pinky Periwinkle

1. Apa bedanya vinca, periwinkle n catharantus ???

Setelah tanya PakDhe Google, ternyata begini ceritanya…

Dulu kala…….
Periwinkle ini dikenal sebagai Vinca roseus, tapi setelah diteliti dan ditimbang-timbang lebih lanjut, ternyata Vinca roseus ini beda sama sodara-sodaranya yaitu Vinca major dan Vinca minor, tapi ntahlah bedanya dimana.. (selain warna pusat kembangnya, urusan ahli botany itu mah… ). Jadi akirnya si periwinkle ini di”jenang-abang”i lagi, dikasih nama baru yaitu Catharanthus roseus. Walopun begitu, si vinca dan periwinkle ini masih tetap didalam satu genus apocynaceae, yaitu tumbuhan yang kalo dicuklek batang atau daun atau bunganya akan mengeluarkan getah putih, trus bunganya terdiri dari 5 helaian daun bunga dengan pusat berbentuk tabung atau menyatu.

Kata Pak Tukang Kebun Tom : “Vinca is not to be confused with the annual periwinkle Catharanthus; native to Europe; names from the Latin vincio meaning to bind, and later Middle English per wynke meaning same, refering to use in making wreaths which in Middle Ages were placed on heads of criminals on their way to execution; in Italy it was known as Fiore de morte being placed on bodies of dead infants; later and still occasionally today it is known as “Joy of the Ground” ”

Woahhh … kembang yang sangar ya, namanya Fiore de Morte, flower of death hiiiiy

Walaupun namanya sangar begitu, Periwinkle ini merupakan produsen 2 alkaloid yang sangat terkenal, Vinblastine dan Vincristine, anti cancer microtubular inhibitor … (haah paan tuh ?? :-o)
Kata biotech.bla.bla :
“They (vinblastine and vincristine) and vindesine and vinorelbine, semisynthetic derivatives of vinblastine, all work by inhibiting mitosis (cell division) in metaphase. These alkaloids bind to tubulin, thus preventing the cell from making the spindles it needs to be able to move its chromosomes around as it divides (this is similar to the action of colchicine, but is different from the action of paclitaxel, which interferes with cell division by keeping the spindles from being broken down). These alkaloids also seem to interfere with cells’ ability to synthesize DNA and RNA. They are all administered intravenously in their sulfate form once a week; these solutions are fatal if they’re administered any other way, and can cause a lot of tissue irritation if they leak out of the vein. Although these three compounds are very similar in structure and have the same basic action, they have distinctly different effects on the body.

Vinblastine is mainly useful for treating Hodgkin’s disease, lymphocytic lymphoma, histiocytic lymphoma, advanced testicular cancer, advanced breast cancer, Kaposi’s sarcoma, and Letterer-Siwe disease. It also seems to fight cancer by interfering with glutamic acid metabolism (specifically, the pathways leading from glutamic acid to the Krebs cycle and to urea formation).”

…artinya ????? ….
pokoknya anti kanker lahhh… heheheheh 😛

Di Indonesia sendiri kembang ini dikenal sebagai tapakdara (tapak = telapak, jejak ; dara = gadis ?? kalo boso jowo dara (read : doro) = merpati, nah loo hubungannya apa coba??? :P). Dia sering tumbuh liar dikebon-kebon dan dipinggir jalan, sehingga banyak orang yang memandangnya sebelah mata, bunga di tepi jalan gitu lohhhh …..

Padahal dia kembang yang sakti kan ???
Jadi nanti kalo saya punya kebon sendiri, periwinkle a.k.a tapakdara ini pasti masuk “the must have item”

Nah oke sodara-sodara….
Saya tak ngitung jumlah mercaptan dalam crude lagi ya

Over n out