Ethnobotany of utilization, role, and

philosopical meaning of parijoto (Medinilla,

spp) on Mount Muria in Kudus Regency,
Central Java
Cite as: AIP Conference Proceedings 1868, 090018 (2017); https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4995210
Published Online: 04 August 2017

Alima Saida Hanum, Erma Prihastanti, and Jumari

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AIP Conference Proceedings 1868, 090018 (2017); https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4995210 1868, 090018

© 2017 Author(s).
 Ethnobotany of Utilization, Role, and Philosopical
Meaning of Parijoto (Medinilla, spp) on Mount Muria in
Kudus Regency , Central Java

Alima Saida Hanum1,a) Erma Prihastanti2,b), and Jumari3,c)

1
Alima Saida Hanum, Departement of Biology Faculty of Science and Mathematics Diponegoro University(a)
2
Erma Prihastanti, Departement of Biology Faculty of Science and Mathematics Diponegoro University (b)
3
Jumari, Departement of Biology Faculty of Science and Mathematics Diponegoro University (c)

a)
Corresponding author: alimasaida18@gmail.com
b)
eprihast@yahoo.co.id
c)
jumariundip@gmail.com

Abstract. One of Indonesian plant species which has not been fully explored in terms of pharmacology is
parijoto plant (Medinilla,spp). Medinilla,spp can be found on Mount Muria in Kudus regency, Central Java. This
plant can be used as a traditional medicine which is derived from plants as a manifestation of active community
participation in solving the healthy problems. Medinilla,spp is closely associated with the ethnic-majority area of
mount Muria. Its utilization is still limited as the fruit to be consumed by pregnant women . It is necessary to do
in-depth research as part of an effort in the utilization and conservation for the future. The purposes of this study
were to determine the utilization, role, and philosophical meaning of Medinilla,spp. This research took place in
three villages, they were Japan, Colo, and Pandak. Questionnaire and semi-structured interviews with community
and key informants were used in this research. It was found out that Medinilla, spp majority were utilized as the
fruit to be consumed by pregnant women and also used as medicine for diarrhea, mouth sores, anti inflammatory,
anti-cancer, and anti-bacterial. The preparations process of traditional medical plants were by boiling (70%), way
of brewing (15%), and consuming it freshly (15%). The composition of the ingredients were 90% used single
material in the form of Medinilla,spp and 10% used addition ingredients such as ginger and turmeric.The
philosophical meaning of Medinilla,spp for the people in Mount Muria region was that Medinilla, spp was not
merely the fruit to be consumed by pregnant women, but Medinilla, spp was also considered as the fruit to heal
various diseases. It referred to a belief that after salah prayer before hand by Sunan Muria, all diseases can be
cured.

INTRODUCTION

Ethnobotany is the study of the interaction between plants and people, with a particular emphasis on
traditional tribal cultures. According to the World Health Organization (WHO) about 65-80% of the world’s
population in developing countries essentially depends on plants for their primary healthcare due to poverty
and lack of access to modern medicine [1]. Traditional knowledge of medicine in the present is not only
useful for conservation of cultural tradition and biodiversity but also for health care community and drugs
development in the local people. The indigenous knowledge on medicinal plants appears when human started
and learned how to use the traditional knowledge on medicinal plants [4].
Parijoto is an endemic plant of Asian mainland with its central distribution in Malaysia, Indonesia and
Philippines [5,6]. Parijoto in Indonesia, especially in Central Java,grows in Mount Muria area at a height of
1602 meters above sea level. Actually there are 10 types of parijoto in Java but only two types of Parijoto
that are often cultivated by the residents in the surrounding area of Mount Muria. They are Medinilla
javanensis and Medinilla verrucosa. Both types are variations of a gene that are difficult to distinguish by
morphological characters. Two of these species often cause confusion in carrying out identification process
[8,2].
The 4th International Conference on Research, Implementation, and Education of Mathematics and Science (4th ICRIEMS)
AIP Conf. Proc. 1868, 090018-1–090018-6; doi: 10.1063/1.4995210
Published by AIP Publishing. 978-0-7354-1548-5/$30.00

090018-1
 The utilization of parijoto by the local people of Mount Muria is very diverse. Parijoto is widely used by
the local community of Mount Muria for treating various diseases. Especially, the majority of people assumes
that consuming parijoto when pregnancy is believed to bring handsome or beautiful babies. This myth started
when Sunan Muria's wife was pregnant and then she consumed parijoto fruit given by his husband that was
found in the deep forest and their baby was born healthy with a clean skin [13]. After that, this myth grew
and has been used up to the present days. The other utilization of parijoto for the local community is used as
the symbol of ritual and ornamental plants.
Parijoto contains phytochemicals such as flavonoids, saponins and tannins [3]. Flavonoids serve the
ability as antioxidant. Flavonoids contained in parijoto are detected to show four rings that indicate four
components of flavonoids, it shows the effect of parijoto to inhibit the growth of cancer cells [12]. The
contents of saponin in parijoto have various activities of cytotoxic anti-tumor mechanism depends on its
kind. Saponins can activate apoptosis pathways intrinsically or extrinsically, arrest the cell cycle, trigger
autophagy, inhibit angiogenesis, disintegrate cytoskeleton and inhibit metastatic [7].While the contents of
tannin in parijoto have antimicrobial effects by inhibiting an enzyme and form complexes with metal ions,
but it also can reduce the lipid profile and significant increase of antioxidant activity [11].
The current trend of plant use shows that the environment is facing problem of resource depletion and
loss of indigenous knowledge like any other area in the country. Therefore, ethnobotanical research plays an
important role for conservation and sustainable utilization of these medicinal plants.

METHODS

The research was carried out in Japan village, Colo village, and Pandak village, all located in the Mount
Muria in Kudus Regency Central Java (Figure 1). Ethnobotanical information on the utilization of parijoto
by the people of Mount Muria was obtained through interviews conducted within the study area. Such
interviews were conducted with the local community, herbalists, aged couples, and other individuals who
have a deep knowledge about the use of plants around them or inherited the knowledge from their forefathers.
Generally, respondents were randomly selected from the three villages based on their knowledge about the
subject matter and its traditional management systems that have been found to be effective. Some of the
interviewees are particularherbalists and herb sellers. Some of the topics covered in the administered
questionnaire include what part of parijotois used for traditional medicine and howto administer the herbal
recipes. A total of 19 questions were asked to gather enough information regarding the subject matter.
With the help of a professional plant taxonomist, living specimens of the plants obtained from the
interviews were collected from the wild, together with its floral/fruiting parts when available for herbarium
specimens. The specimens were taken to the Biosystematics Laboratory of Diponegoro University for
confirmation of identification and documentation. While the information about the role and philosophical
meaning of parijotois conducted by interviews with key informants such as aged couples of Mount Muria
region. All of the data were analyzed with descriptive statistics.

Pandak Colo

Japan

FIGURE 1. Location of The Research (Japan Village, Colo Village, and Pandak Village)

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Morphological Diversity of Medinilla,spp

Some previous researches have found two different variations of parijoto in the area of Mount Muria,
they are Medinilla javanensis and Medinilla verrucosa [9]. However, the result of exploration on this
research by the researchers shows that there are three different variations of parijoto in the area of Mount

090018-2
Muriaseen from the morphological characters of leaves, flowers, stems, and fruit. The three types are
Medinilla speciosa, Medinilla javanensis and Medinilla verrucosa. The difference of the three types of
Medinilla was apparent from their distinct morphology of leaves, stems, flowers and fruit (Table 1).

(a) (b) (c)

FIGURE 2. (a) Medinilla speciosa; (b) Medinilla javanensis; (c) Medinilla verrucosa

The Utilization of Medinilla,spp

In general, parijoto is still utilized for the consumption of pregnant women, and some other uses
Medinilla to cure various diseases such as diarrhea, mouth sores, anti-inflammatory, anticancer, and anti-
bacterial. The preparations process of traditional medical plants are by boiling (70%), way of brewing
(15%), and consuming it freshly (15%).

Preparation Method of
Traditional Medicine
Sales, 15%
boiling

15% brewing
70%

fresh
condition

FIGURE 3. Preparation method of traditional medicine

Composition of ingredients

10%
single
ingredients
addition
90%
ingredients

FIGURE 4. Composition of ingredients

The composition of the ingredients are 90% using a single ingredients in the form of Medinilla fruit, 10%
using addition ingredients such as ginger and turmeric (figure 4). The details regarding the ingredients, what
part of Medinilla used, and how to prepare the traditional medicine can be seen in Table 2.

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 TABLE 1. Medinilla Morphology Differences from three study location
CHARATERISTIC
A1 A2 A3 B1 B2 B3 C1 C2 C3
FEATURE
Leaf Morphology
The number of leaves 3 2 3 2 3 2 5 5 5
per node (pieces)
Bone leaves (pieces) 6 6 6 5 5 5 3 3 3
The tip of the leaf taper taper Taper Taper taper taper taper Taper Taper
Leaf base rounded rounded rounded Taper taper taper taper Taper Taper
Leaf length (cm) 27 27 26,7 23 22,6 20 12 12 11,8
Leaf width (cm) 15 14,8 14,5 12,3 11,8 12 4,9 5,8 5,5
Upper leaf surface glossy glossy glossy Glossy glossy glossy glossy glossy glossy
Upper leaf surface Dark Dark Dark Dark Dark Dark Dark Dark Dark
color green green green green green green green green green
Lower leaf surface glossy glossy glossy Glossy glossy glossy glossy glossy glossy
Lower leaf surface Whitish Whitish Whitish Whitish Whitish Whitish Light Light Light
color light light light light light light green green green
green green green green green green whitis whitis whitis
h h h
Stem Morphology
Stem height (m) 3,5 3,4 3,5 3 2,8 3 1,2 1,2 1
Stem diameter (cm) 24 24 23,8 18,2 19,1 18,7 6,4 6,6 6,5
Number of branches 3 3 3 2 2 2 2 2 2
(pieces)
Stem shape rounded rounded rounded quadrangu quadrangu quadrangu rounde rounde rounde
lar lar lar d d d

Stem texture Rough Rough Rough Soft soft soft rough rough rough
and and and
cracked cracked cracked
Stem color Grayish Grayish Grayish Brownish Brownish Brownish Light Light Light
brown brown brown light light light brown brown brown
green green green greish greish greish
Flower Morphology
flower type Unlimite Unlimite Unlimite Unlimited Unlimited Unlimited Unlim Unlim Unlim
d d d compound compound compound ited ited ited
The length of th compoun compoun compoun compo compo compo
d d d und und und
Total crown 5 5 5 4 4 4 4 4 4
Crown length (cm) 3 3 3 2,8 2,8 2,8 1,7 1,7 1,7
Crown width (cm) 3 3 3 2,8 2,8 2,8 1,7 1,7 1,7
Crown color Red Red Red White white white white white white
orange orange orange
The number of 8 8 8 10 10 10 10 10 10
stamens (pieces)
Stamens length(cm) 0,7 0,7 0,7 3 3 3 1,2 1,2 1,2
Stamens color purple purple purple Purple purple purple purple purple purple
The number of 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4
pistillum (pieces)
Pistillum length( cm) 0,2 0,2 0,2 0,5 0,5 0,5 0,3 0,3 0,3
Pistillum color yellow yellow Yellow Yellow yellow yellow yellow yellow yellow
Fruit Morphology
Fruit diameter (cm) 0,7 0,8 0,8 0,7 0,7 0,5 0,3 0,5 0,3
Fruit fresh weight
Color of unripe fruit pink pink Pink Pink pink pink pink Pink pink
Color of ripe fruit Purple- Purple- Purple- Blackish Blackish Blackish Purple Purple Purple
black black black red red red -black -black -black
Flesh color white white White White white white white white white
Information : A = Medinilla speciose B = Medinilla javanensis C = Medinilla verrucosa 1,2,3 =Repetition

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 TABLE 2. Composition and Preparation of Traditional Medicine

Utilization
No. Ingredients Part used Preparation
Category
1. Mouth sores Parijoto (Medinilla speciosa) Fruit Wash fresh parijoto fruit ± 5 mg, finely
Water ground and dissolve in 100 ml of lukewarm
water, then used to rinse the mouth, and
drink the rest.
2. Diarrhea Parijoto(Medinilla speciosa) Leaf Wash fresh parijoto leaves ± 20 g and then
Water boil with 400 ml of water for 15 minutes,
filter it, drink it 2 times a day in the morning
and afternoon
3. Anti inflammation Parijoto(Medinilla speciosa) Fruit Prepare parijoto fruit ± 20 grams, pound it
Lempuyang(Zingiber Rhizoma along with lempuyang and then boil them.
zerumbet) Add brown sugar to remove lempuyangbitter
Water taste. Drink 2 times a day in the morning and
Brown sugar afternoon.
4. Anti bacterial Parijoto(Medinilla speciosa) Fruit Prepare parijoto fruit ± 20 g, pound together
Ginger(Zingiber officinale) Rhizoma with ginger and then boil. Filter and drink it
Water 2 times a day in the morning and afternoon.
5. Anti cancer Parijoto(Medinilla speciosa) Fruit+Leaf Prepare parijoto fruit ± 20 g, ± 10 g of
Turmeric(Curcuma longa) Rhizoma parijoto leaves, turmeric and
Lempuyang(Zingiber Rhizoma lempuyang,grind coarsely and then boil.
zerumbet) Filter and drink it 2 times a day in the
Water morning and afternoon.
6. Fertilixing the Parijoto(Medinilla speciosa) Fruit Consume parijoto fruit directly in its fresh
womb condition without any addition.
7. Become beautiful Parijoto(Medinilla speciosa) Fruit Eat parijoto fruit, pomegranate, and orange
or handsome when Pomegranate(Punica Fruit pamelo with refined brown sugar.
birth granatum) Fruit
Pummelo Orange (Citrus
grandis)
Brown sugar
8. As antioxidant Parijoto(Medinilla speciosa) Fruit Prepare parijoto fruit ± 20 g, turmeric, and
Turmeric (Curcuma longa) Rhizoma ginger, grind it coarsely and then boil. Filter
Ginger(Zingiber officinale) Rhizoma and drink it 2 times a day in the morning and
Brown sugar afternoon.

The Role and Philosophical Meaning

Parijoto has many roles for people in the area of mount Muria in Kudus regency. Among them, parijoto fruit is
used for the treatment of various diseases, for ornamental plants, and as a symbol of ritual. The treatment using
parijoto is still limited to women whose pregnancy is 3 months-old or more. Parijoto fruit consumption has been
done for generations since the story of SunanMuria’s wife who was pregnant and consumed parijoto fruit and then
delivered a handsome son. In addition, parijotois also used for Mitoni ritual (7 months) of pregnant women. Its
meaning is also a symbol of hope that babies to born will be handsome or beautiful. Of course, we should pray to
God before anything else. For the community of mount Muria area itself, parijoto is not merely used for the
consumption of pregnant women but more than that parijoto is regarded as a healer of all diseases. By having a prior
conviction that parijoto is the healer, all diseases can to be cured. Some women who do not yet have any children
can also use parijoto fruit to enrich their wombs. With the intercessor advanced by Sunan Muria and accompanied
with a strong belief to have children, many women could finally get pregnant. The tremendous benefit of parijoto
can also be seen from a stroke patient who eventually recovered after having a belief that parijoto was the cure.
The name itself derived from a song called Sinom Parijoto Gending Jawa (Javanese songs) was used by Sunan
Muria and Sunan Kalijaga to spread Islam in Java. For the Javanese people,the song of Sinom Parijoto persuades us
to control our lust, whether in the form of the desire of anger, lust to the opposite sex, desire to be lazy, and lust to

090018-5
sleep and eat. Lust is a gift from the Almighty God in order to be used by human as it should be. Controlling lust by
being concerned will reassure oneself as well as others (fellow). People who are able to control themselves and
control their emotions and desires would be able to be wise. Prudence is the expected thing from the people who are
expecting children. By being concerned, patient, praying, and consuming parijoto, it is expected that someone would
has a beautiful child of both physical and spiritual.

CONCLUSION
Based on the discussionabove, it can be concluded that for the community of Mount Muria,parijoto is mostly
used for pregnant women, the utilization is for treating diarrhea, mouth sores, anti-inflammatory, anticancer, and
anti-bacterial. The preparations process of traditional medical plants are by boiling (70%), way of brewing (15%),
and consuming it freshly (15%). The composition of the ingredients are 90% uses single material in the form of
Medinilla,spp and 10% uses addition ingredients such as ginger and turmeric.The type of Medinilla which is
mostly still used by the people in the Mount Muria for traditional medicine is Medinilla speciosa. Nowdays, the
existence of Medinilla speciosa has been decreased, thus the local people cooperate with governmental and non-
governmental organizations in order to conserve the sustainable traditional knowledge and the medicinal plant
species for later generation. The philosophical meaning of parijoto for the people in Mount Muria region is
thatparijotois not merely the fruit to be consumed by pregnant women, but is also considered as the fruit to heal
various diseases. It refers to a belief that after salah prayerbeforehand by Sunan Muria, all diseases can be cured.

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