Cosmos sulphureus
Botany
Annual herb growing to 60 cm tall. Leaves are opposite, pinnately cut; with narrow lanceolate lobes. Flower stalk is up to 20 cm long. Ray flowers are 8, spreading, pale to golden yellow, toothed at the marginsw; disk flowers with exerted anthers. Many introduced hybrids with flowers ranging from pink, magenta to white.
Parts utilized: Rhizomes.
Properties and constituents
• Phytochemical studies yielded 2 '-hydroxy-4,4 '-dimethoxychalcone from the flowers and quercetine and 3stigmasterol-3-0-beta-D-glucopyranoside from the leaves. source
• Has yielded butein, known for its antioxidant activity.
Uses
Folkloric
No recorded folkloric use in the Philippines.
In Brazil, traditionally used for malaria.
Others
• Dye: Flower yields a yellow dye with sunlight fastness when used on wool.
Studies
• Anti-Malarial: An ethnobotanical study showed Cosmos sulphureus to have activity against Plasmodium.
• Butein / Antioxidant: Butein has been isolated from Cosmos sulfureus. Butein has been reported to be a powerful antioxidant against lipid and LDL peroxidation and has also exhibited anti-inflammatory activities, aromatase inhibition, cyclooxygenase inhibition and angiotensin converting enzyme inhibition, etc.