Palo Azul Bark Cut, Kidneywood, Diuretic Herbal Tea, Detox Tea Blue Stick

Palo Azul*  Botanical Name :  Eysenhardtia polystachya

Other Common Name:

Coate, coahtli, coatillo, coatli, cojtle, sipariqui, urza 

Common names in Spanish:

Palo azul, palo cuate, palo dulce, palo dulce blanco, palo de los riñones, leño nefrítico, Lignum nephriticum, rosilla, taray, taray de México, vara dulce, varaduz 

Wildcrafted Palo Azul Herb From Mexico

Parts of the plant used:

The wood, branches, and leaves.

How is it used?

The wood chips and or leafy branches can be steeped or boiled in water to make tea.

When the wood chips are steeped in cold water for a few hours, they confer a blue hue to the water (hence one of its popular names in Spanish, palo azul or “blue stick”). This color can later change to red or amber, according to the incidence of the light. The Spanish physicians first recorded the intense blue fluorescence of kidney wood tea in the sixteenth century. This interesting phenomenon is due to a novel four-ringed chemical compound known as tetrahydromethanobenzofuro[2,3-d]oxacine, which is not found in the intact plant, but rather is the end product of an unusual spontaneous oxidation involving some of the plant’s natural compounds known as flavonoids (Acuña et al., 2009; Berdonces, 2009; Mabberley, 2008; Martínez, 1989, utep.edu

A phytochemical study of kidneywood showed that it possesses antimicrobial, cytotoxic, and insecticidal properties; displaying moderate cytotoxic action against KB cell lines (Álvarez et al., 1998).).

Palo Azul is widely used to make a detox tea., Boil a handful of the herb in water for 30 minutes, drink as directed by your health provider. 

https://youtu.be/GeaDMzQoK3A

Credit: https://www.utep.edu/herbal-safety/herbal-facts/herbal%20facts%20sheet/kidneywood.html

• Acuña AU et al. Structure and formation of the fluorescent compound of Lignum nephriticum. Org Lett. 2009 ;11(14):3020-3.
• Alvarez L et al. Cytotoxic isoflavans from Eysenhardtia polystachya.
  J Nat Prod. 1998;61(6):767-70.
• Berdonces JL. Gran Diccionario de las Plantas Medicinales.
  Barcelona, Spain: Editorial Oceano; 2009; pp. 857-858.
• Gutierrez L. et al. Ixodicide activity of Eysenhardtia polystachya against Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) microplus. J Anim Sci. 2015;93(4):1980-6.
• Mabberley D. Mabberley’s Plant Book 3rd ed.
  London: Cambridge University Press; 2008; p. 331

* This is for educational purposes only. 

Safety/Precautions:

• The safety of using kidneywood during pregnancy and lactation has not been established.

Before you decide to take any medicinal herb or herbal supplement, be sure to consult with your health care professional first. Avoid self-diagnosis and self-medication: Always be on the safe side!