Acmella oleracea

For culinary purposes, small amounts of shredded fresh leaves are said to add a unique flavour to salads. Cooked leaves lose their strong flavour and may be used as leafy greens. Both fresh and cooked leaves are used in dishes such as stews in northern Brazil, especially in the state of Pará. They are combined with chilis and garlic to add flavor and vitamins to other foods.[7]

The flower bud has a grassy taste followed by a strong tingling or numbing sensation and often excessive salivation, with a cooling sensation in the throat.[7] The buds are known as "buzz buttons", "Sichuan buttons", "sansho buttons", and "electric buttons".[8] In India, they are used as flavoring in chewing tobacco.[8]

Virgin jambu oil

A concentrated extract of the plant, sometimes called jambu oil or jambu extract, is used as a flavoring agent in foods, chewing gum, and chewing tobacco.[9][10][11][12] The oil is traditionally extracted from all part of the plant.[9] EFSA and JECFA reviewed a feeding study in rats conducted by Moore et al. and both authorities recognized that the no adverse effect level for spilanthol was 572 mg/kg b.w./day, yielding a safe dose of spilanthol of 1.9 mg/kg b.w./day, or 133.5 mg/70-kg-male/day, 111 mg/58-kg-female/day, or 38 mg/20-kg-child/day.[11][12]

Jambu extract as a flavoring agent is described as having a citrus, herbal, tropical or musty odor, and its taste can be described as pungent, cooling, tingling, numbing, or effervescent. Thus, as described,[13] the flavor use of jambu extract includes the ability induce a mouth-watering sensation and the ability to promote the production of saliva. Spilanthol, the major constituent of jambu extract,[14] is responsible for the perception of a mouth-watering flavor sensation, as well as the ability to promote salivation as a sialogogue, perhaps through its astringent action or its pungent taste.[15][16]

Jambu extract can also be used in cosmetics and shampoos.[17]

This plant prefers well-drained, black (high organic content) soil. If starting outdoors, the seeds should not be exposed to cold weather, so start after last frost. Seeds need direct sunlight to germinate, so should not be buried.[18]

A decoction or infusion of the leaves and flowers is a traditional remedy for stammering, toothache, and stomatitis.[7]

An extract of the plant has been tested against various yeasts and bacteria and was essentially inactive.[19] It has been shown to have a strong diuretic action in rats.[20]

As a bush plant used for treating toothache, the analgesic effect of the Spilanthes plant has been attributed to the presence of constituents containing an N-isobutylamide moiety, such as spilanthol, a substance that has been found to be an effective sialogogue, an agent that promotes salivation.[21] Spilanthol is absorbed trans-dermally and through the buccal mucosa.[22][23] Spilanthol may activate TRPA1, a specific transient receptor potential (TRP) ion channel in the oral cavity.[24] In addition to capsaicin, allyl isothiocyanate, and cinnamaldehyde,[25] spilanthol is also reported to affect the catecholamine nerve pathways present in the oral cavity that promote the production of saliva,[14] which is responsible for its ability to induce a mouth-watering sensation when used as a flavor (and associated with the tingling or pungent flavoring sensation in some individuals).

Since 2000, there are several medicinal activities reported for Acmella oleracea:[14][26]

• 
  Spilanthol: (2E,6Z,8E)-deca-2,6,8-trienoic acid isobutyl amide
• 
  (2E,7Z,9E)-Undeca-2,7,9-trienoic acid isobutyl amide, another alkylamide from Acmella oleracea
• 
  (2E)-Undeca-2-en-8,10-diynoic acid isobutyl amide

The most important taste-active molecules present are fatty acid amides such as spilanthol, which is responsible for the trigeminal and saliva-inducing effects of the plant.[27] It also contains stigmasteryl-3-O-b-D-glucopyranoside and a number of triterpenes. The isolation and total synthesis of the active ingredients have been reported.[28]

Extracts were bioassayed against yellow fever mosquito (Aedes aegypti) and corn earworm moth (Helicoverpa zea) larvae. The spilanthol proved effective at killing mosquitoes, with a 24-hour LD₁₀₀ of 12.5 µg/mL, and 50% mortality at 6.25 µg/mL. The mixture of spilanthol isomers produced a 66% weight reduction of corn earworm larvae at 250 µg/mL after 6 days.[27]