Amazon jambu blends tradition and science for numbing flavors and healthcare

The jambu plant is native to the Amazon Rainforest, where it’s renowned for its numbing and tingling effect when eaten. This characteristic has made it a main ingredient in many northern Brazilian dishes and drinks, as well as a traditional remedy for Indigenous communities living in Amazonian areas. But the benefits of the plant, Acmella oleracea, go even further: boosted by new studies, it’s now becoming a key ingredient of Brazil’s growing bioeconomy, thanks to researchers’ ability to turn local biodiversity and traditional knowledge into sustainable products with a huge socioeconomic impact.

One of the initiatives is led by scientists from the Supercritical Technology Laboratory (Labtecs) at the Federal University of Pará (UFPA). Since 2019, they’ve been developing new applications to turn jambu-based products into bio-innovations, relying on techniques passed through Indigenous knowledge. So far, they’ve created a fast-dissolving oral film that relieves dry mouth in cancer patients; an anti-aging facial cream; an intimate lubricant and gels with stimulating effects; and an alcohol-free mouthwash. New research is even exploring jambu’s anti-arrhythmic activity property 一 that is, its potential for correcting abnormal heartbeat frequency.

“It has truly unique characteristics,” Ana Paula Silva, a food science and technology researcher at UFPA, told Mongabay. “It’s an incredibly versatile plant with applications in cosmetics, medicine and functional foods. Very few native species offer such a wide range of possibilities.”

The science behind jambu’s multiple uses

This leafy green plant is widely used across the Brazilian Amazon for both traditional medicine and cuisine. In Pará, one of Brazil’s nine Amazonian states, it’s a key ingredient in local dishes such as tacacá, an aromatic soup made with a broth from fermented manioc root (or tucupi), dried shrimp and jambu leaves, among other ingredients. The plant’s tingling effect comes from spilanthol, a bioactive compound with natural anesthetic, anti-inflammatory and salivation-stimulating properties, found throughout the jambu plant, and especially in the flower buds.

For centuries, both Indigenous and non-Indigenous Amazonian communities have taken advantage of these effects, using jambu in herbal teas, pain medication for problems such as toothache, and even in fishing — the anesthetic effect temporarily stuns the fish, making them easier to catch. Remedies are typically prepared from the plant’s leaves or flowers, either alone or mixed with other ingredients, and have been used to treat ailments ranging from indigestion and bladder stones, to liver problems, respiratory issues and even anemia and scurvy.

Although most of these applications stem from ancestral knowledge passed down through generations, science is now keeping a close eye on them.

Studies from UFPA’s Science and Technology Guamá Park laboratories (PCT) in the Pará state capital, Belém, confirm these effects. They show that spilanthol interacts with nerve receptors to provide temporary pain relief, enhance circulation and reduce inflammation. Investigations have also discovered that the compound can have a beneficial effect on the cardiovascular system, helping to prevent arrhythmia.

The pharmaceutical potential of spilanthol, found only in jambu, goes beyond cardiac medicine; it’s also an effective alternative for oral health care.

According to PCT discoveries, the fast-dissolving film provides pain relief while also stimulating saliva production for cancer patients, eliminating the need for water. It can also provide hygiene assistance, being part of an alcohol-free mouthwash with gentle antimicrobial care for sensitive gums.

Experts say the innovations represent a “significant step” in natural, plant-based oral health care, offering solutions that are effective, practical and sustainable.

“We’re also using jambu in cosmetics with tightening and sensory effects, and in functional foods, with products like jambu oil, freeze-dried powder and condiments,” Silva said. “Jambu is ideal for these applications because it combines three highly valued qualities today: bioactivity, sensoriality, and Amazonian origin.”

She added, “To me, it’s the perfect example of how science can transform traditional knowledge into innovative health solutions.”

Jambu and the bioeconomy

The development of jambu-based treatments is part of Brazil’s larger effort toward a bioeconomy model, which relies on Amazonian biodiversity to create sustainable medical and commercial products.

As previously reported by Mongabay, the goal is to provide profitable solutions while preserving the rainforest and shielding it from exploitative activities such as logging or mining.

Throughout Pará, this movement is already showing promise.

The state’s bioeconomy grew by an average of 8.2% per year from 2006 to 2019, according to a study from U.S.-based nonprofit The Nature Conservancy. The study claimed that a combination of policies, investment, innovation and institutional change in the sector could see revenue from the bioeconomy increase 30-fold by 2040, generating 170 billion reais ($31.5 billion) annually.

Pará is betting heavily on the bioeconomy as a pathway for future development.

In 2022, the state government launched its Bioeconomy Plan, or PlanBio, a detailed road map to turn the Amazon’s biodiversity into a sustainable economic system. The initiative lays out dozens of actions focused on strengthening value chains for forest-sourced products like jambu, açaí and copaíba.

The goal is to build a low-carbon economy that keeps the wealth in the region while preserving forests and empowering Indigenous, quilombola (traditional Afro-Brazilian communities descended from enslaved people), and other traditional local communities.

“Our vision of the bioeconomy goes beyond sustainable production and climate resilience, encompassing actions related to green infrastructure, job creation, and the potential for low-carbon socioeconomic growth,” Pará’s PlanBio states. It’s also meant to ensure “the security of genetic heritage, as well as the protection and appreciation of the knowledge and culture of traditional peoples.”

Turning local knowledge into wealth

Alfredo Homma, a senior researcher at Embrapa, Brazil’s federal agricultural research institute, told Mongabay that using science to elevate traditional knowledge and sustainable cultivation is “the only way” to drive economic growth and meet conservation goals at the same time.

“We really need modern laboratories and trained researchers to transform Amazonian biodiversity into wealth. That’s how we can build a true bioeconomy,” he said. “If it’s based solely on traditional empirical knowledge, we’ll remain poor.”

Jambu is a key example of how this works in practice.

Unlike industries that require clearing the forest, jambu grows in home gardens and small farms. Its cultivation relies largely on traditional, local farming techniques passed down through generations. And now, scientific research from PCT supports local communities by promoting the sustainable use of jambu among smallholder farmers, helping generate jobs and income. It also helps retain more of the production chain within the region by encouraging local processing and value addition at the source.

“Science doesn’t replace this [traditional] knowledge — it recognizes and amplifies it,” Silva said, “valuing what local and Indigenous communities have always known.”

 

Banner image: A flowering shoot of jambu. The bio-compound spilanthol, which gives a tingling, numbing effect, is found throughout the plant. Image by Tuxyso via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0).

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Citation:

Prachayasittikul, V., Prachayasittikul, S., Ruchirawat, S., & Prachayasittikul, V. (2013). High therapeutic potential of Spilanthes acmella: A review. EXCLI journal, 12, 291-312. Retrieved from https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4827075