Journal of Ethnopharmacology 88 (2003) 131–136

Simple evaluation of the wound healing activity of a crude extract of

Portulaca oleracea L. (growing in Jordan) in Mus musculus JVI-1
A.N. Rashed a , F.U. Afifi a,∗ , A.M. Disi b
a Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Jordan, Amman, Jordan
b Faculty of Science, University of Jordan, Amman, Jordan

Received 4 December 2002; received in revised form 3 May 2003; accepted 7 May 2003

Abstract

The preliminary wound healing activity of Portulaca oleracea was studied using Mus musculus JVI-1. For this purpose fresh homogenized
crude aerial parts of Portulaca oleracea were applied topically on the excision wound surface as single and two doses in different amounts.
Wound contraction and tensile strength measurements were used to evaluate the effect of Portulaca oleracea on wound healing. The results
obtained indicated that Portulaca oleracea accelerates the wound healing process by decreasing the surface area of the wound and increasing the
tensile strength. The greatest contraction was obtained at a single dose of 50 mg and the second greatest by two doses of 25 mg. Measurements
of tensile strength and healed area were in agreement.
© 2003 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Portulaca oleracea; Wound healing; Jordanian folk medicine

1. Introduction referring to its use as a vegetable (Boulos and El-Hadidi,

Portulaca oleracea L. (Portulacaceae), is commonly
known as “Berbin” in Iraq, “Farfena” in Oman, “Rigla”
in Egypt and Saudi Arabia, “Baqlah” or “Farfahinah” in
Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, and Syria. In US it is known as
“Pusley,” “Pussly” and as “Purslane.” It is a warm climate,
annual green herb, with branched and succulent stems which
are decumbent near the base and ascending near the top to
a height of 15–30 cm. The plant is fleshy, stout, succulent
(water content of over 90%), with obovate to spathulate, ob-
tuse opposite leaves tapering towards the base. The flowers
are small, yellow, and sessile in clusters of three to five on
the forks and tips of the branches, opening in the morning
only. The fruit is oblong and transversely dehiscent. The
seeds are orbicular and 0.5 mm in diameter (Hussein, 1985;
Mitich, 1997; Mossa et al., 1987; Stephens, 1994). It has a
cosmopolitan distribution in Africa, China, India, Australia,
Middle East, Europe, and United States (Chan et al., 2000;
Oran and Al-Eisawi, 1998; Mitich, 1997).
The term Portulaca originates from Latin word “Portare”
meaning to carry and “lac” meaning milk, referring to the
milky sap of this plant. The species name oleracea origi-
nates from Latin, meaning, “pertaining to kitchen gardens,”
∗ Corresponding author. Fax: +962-6-5355522.
E-mail address: fatueafi@ju.edu.jo (F.U. Afifi).
1984). Indeed, fat weed may be the best name for this veg-
etable weed, since its leaves and stems are very fleshy and
succulent (Stephens, 1994). In ancient times it was looked
on as one of the anti-magic herbs, and when strewn round a
bed was said to afford protection against evil spirits. People
were told that it was a sure cure for blasting by lightening
or planets and burning of gunpowder (Grieve, 1998). The
main feature of the plant, which raises its status above that
of common weeds, is its edibility.
A review of the records in both, folkloric and scientific lit-
erature, indicated that Portulaca oleracea has many medic-
inal uses (Chan et al., 2000). Portulaca oleracea has been
used as folk medicine in different countries to treat differ-
ent ailments in humans. It is regarded as a cooling diuretic;
refrigerant and alterative. It is used as an article of diet in
scurvy, liver complaints, dysurea, pulmonary diseases, and
as a tonic. It has been claimed that this plant is useful against
snakebites, has sudorific activity and cures diseases of the
bladder, kidneys, spleen, lungs, and blood system. It is also
used for dry cough, shortness of breath, immoderate thirst,
and dysentery. It has been used as vulnerary herb against
sore nipples and mouth ulcers. A poultice made from the
leaves is applied to draw the pus out of infected sores, use-
ful for burns and skin diseases. The leaves are astringent,
refrigerant, diuretic, and emollient. The juice of the stem
is reported to be an effective dressing for soothing prickly

0378-8741/$ – see front matter © 2003 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.
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132 A.N. Rashed et al. / Journal of Ethnopharmacology 88 (2003) 131–136

heat. The seeds are taken as a sedative, demulcent, slightly

astringent, diuretic, to quench the thirst, and to provoke
menses (Hussein, 1985; Mossa et al., 1987; Rizk, 1986;
Samuelsson et al., 1993). The plant has been described as
good for the teeth, sooths ulcers of the stomach, reduces
inflammation, and is used as a vermifuge. The whole plant
is regarded as being an aphrodisiac (Chan et al., 2000). An
aqueous extract, applied topically onto the skin, proved to be
very effective in relieving of muscular spasms (Parry et al.,
1987). A recent report indicated the effectiveness of Por-
tulaca oleracea extracts in the treatment of indomethacin-
and phenylbutazone-induced ulcers (Islam et al., 2002).
There are two species of the genus Portulaca, namely
Portulaca oleracea and Portulaca afra found in Jordan.
Portulaca oleracea, an edible plant, is widely distributed,
especially in Deir ‘Alla, northern Ghor, Zarka, and in Sail
Tawaheen Adwan. The second species is also found in the Fig. 1. Excision wound model.
same region as Portulaca oleracea (Al-Eisawi, 1982). Peo-
ple in Jordan use Portulaca oleracea as food either raw in
2.2. Animal models
salad or cooked as a vegetable dish.
Oral information from the inhabitants indicated the use
Male albino Swiss mice (Mus musculus JVI-1) weighing
of the fresh plant in wound healing, reducing the pain and
23–26 g were used in wound healing model experiments. The
inflammation, which is practiced by the inhabitants of the
mice were obtained from Jordan Vaccine Institute, Ministry
remote areas, where people have little or no access to med-
of Health, Amman, and kept in the animal house unit at
ical assistance. Documented information on its folkloric
the Department of Biological Sciences at the University of
uses in Jordan is lacking. Thus, the present study aims to
Jordan for 2 weeks to be acclimatized. They were provided
investigate the claimed medicinal use of Portulaca oleracea
with food and water ad libitum during the whole period of
as a wound healing promoter that had been cited in folkloric
the experiment.
literature. The homogenous mixture of the fresh plant was
applied to the excision wound created on the shaven dorsal
back of the mice and the healing effect was observed at 2.3. Excision wound creation
3-day intervals throughout the 15 days of the experiment,
which was compared with that of untreated mice. The mice were anesthetized with 3.5% chloralhydrate so-
lution, at a dose of 0.35 mg/g body weight intraperitoneally.
This type of anesthesia prevents any movement of the
2. Material and methods animals at least for 2 h after the administration of the anes-
thetic solution, therefore animals were left without being
2.1. Plant material restrained. Hair was removed by shaving the dorsal back of
the mice. EtOH (70%) was used as antiseptic for the shaved
Aerial parts of Portulaca oleracea L., growing in Jordan, region before making the wound, and an excision wound
were purchased from the local market in Amman in January was made by removing a 7 mm × 7 mm full thickness piece
2000. The plant was identified botanically using descriptive of the skin from a predetermined shaved area on the back
references (Hussein, 1985; Chaudhary and Zawawi, 1983; of each animal (Fig. 1) (Suguna et al., 1996; Abu-Al-Basal,
Mossa et al., 1987) and authenticated in comparison with 2001). The wound was left undressed to the open environ-
the herbarium specimen of the Faculty of Science, Univer- ment and no local or systemic anti-microbial agents were
sity of Jordan. A voucher specimen has been deposited in used. The mice were distributed in groups randomly and
the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Faculty of Phar- each mouse was placed in a separate cage. This model was
macy, University of Jordan (Herbarium No. FM-POP001). used to monitor the rate of wound contraction and tensile
For the experiments, the fresh plant material was homoge- (breaking) strength.
nized without any additives using a blender mixer for 5 min
(Moulinex, Model No. 242) and used immediately. The rest 2.4. Grouping of animals
of the plant material was kept overnight in the refrigerator
and prepared under the same conditions for the second ap- After wound creation, experimental animals were divided
plication. The same batch of plant material was used for all into the following five groups, each group consisting of 13
animals treated. The homogenized plant material was very male mice.
viscous and had a creamy consistency. Group A: untreated (control) mice.
 A.N. Rashed et al. / Journal of Ethnopharmacology 88 (2003) 131–136
Group B: wounds treated topically with a single applica-
tion of 50 mg of the fresh homogenous mixture (single dose,
SD 50 mg).
Group C: wounds treated topically for two successive days
by application of 25 mg of the fresh homogenous mixture
(multi-dose, MD 25 mg).
Group D: wounds treated topically with a single applica-
tion of 25 mg of the fresh homogenous mixture (single dose,
SD 25 mg).
Group E: wounds treated topically for two successive days
by application of 50 mg of the fresh homogenous mixture
(multi-dose, MD 50 mg).
2.5. Determination of wound contraction
After surgery the excision wound margins were traced at
3-day intervals on transparent graph paper having a millime-
ter scale that was measured by a caliber with an accuracy
of 1/20 mm. Measurements were continued up to 15 days.
On each control day the wound of the animals was photo-
graphically documented. Wound contraction was expressed
as percentage of wound area that had healed.
2.6. Measurement of tensile strength
Tensile strength is the resistance to breaking under ten-
sion. It indicates how much the repaired tissue resists to
breaking under tension and may indicate in part the quality
of the repaired tissue. For this purpose the newly repaired
tissue including scar was excised to measure the tensile
strength. The instrument used for measurement is called a
tensiometer, which was designed according to the method
of Vaisberg et al. (1989). For the quantitation one of the
edges of the wound was fixed while applying a measurable
force to the other one (Fig. 2). The load (weight) in grams
Fig. 2. Tensiometer, the instrument designed according to the method of
Vaisberg et al. (1989) to measure tensile (breaking) strength.
133
required to disrupt the wound is determined after complete
healing of the wound, and that was on day 20 after surgery.
2.7. Statistical analysis
All treated groups were compared with the control
group. Thirteen sets of mice for each group were used for
the statistical analysis. The results were analyzed statis-
tically using one-way and two-way ANOVA methods to
identify the differences between treated groups and control.
The data were considered significant at P < 0.05.
3. Results
3.1. Calculation of wound contraction
The wound contraction percentage was determined from
the measurements using the following formula:
healed area
Percent wound contraction = × 100.
total area
To apply this equation, at 3-day intervals, the wound margins
were traced and measured to calculate the non-healed area
which was then subtracted from the original wound area to
obtain the healed area. Wound contraction on different days
is shown in Figs. 3–5. The wound contraction percentage
was determined from the measurements for the first time on
the third day after the application of the homogenized extract
of Portulaca oleracea and carried out at 3-day intervals for
the duration of 2 weeks. On day 3, all treated animal groups
exhibited significant increase in the percentage of wound
contraction as compared to control (Fig. 6; Table 1). On day
6, SD 50 mg treated animals showed a significant (P ≤ 0.05)
increase in the percentage of wound contraction followed by
MD 25 mg treated group, while SD 25 mg treated animals
showed the lowest percentage of wound contraction as com-
pared to the other treated groups. The difference between the
SD 50 mg and MD 25 mg groups was statistically not signif-
icant. Similarly on day 9, SD 50 mg and MD 25 mg treated
animal groups gave the highest percentage of wound con-
traction. These on day 9 observed results continued on the
measurements of the wound contraction on days 12 and 15
for the mentioned two groups. SD 50 mg showed through-
out the study, the highest contraction rate (Table 1; Fig. 6).
On day 15, SD 50 mg gave 94%, MD 25 mg gave 90%, MD
50 mg gave 72%, SD 25 mg gave 69%, and control gave 63%
of wound contraction. On day 20, no scars were observed
on animals treated with SD 50 mg and MD 25 mg, which
is an indication for complete healing and hence on this day
measurement of tensile strength was carried out (Fig. 5).
3.2. Tensile strength
The results of the measurement of the tensile strength,
on day 20, are shown in Table 2, and in Fig. 7. Tensile
134 A.N. Rashed et al. / Journal of Ethnopharmacology 88 (2003) 131–136

Table 1
Wound contraction as percentage of original wound size
Groups Post-wounding days (%)

3 6 9 12 15

Control 2.23 ± 0.93 11.74 ± 4.38 20.02 ± 0.44 47 ± 2.03 63.08 ± 1.43
MD 25 mg∗ 29.28 ± 3.84 41.42 ± 6.66 54.41 ± 2.56 76.49 ± 4.46 90.01 ± 4.81
MD 50 mg 15.89 ± 4.78 20.08 ± 4.52 34.95 ± 2.89 64.96 ± 6.65 72.09 ± 1.44
SD 25 mg 13.13 ± 5.46 16.04 ± 4.32 33.97 ± 2.55 59.98 ± 5.09 69.76 ± 1.05
SD 50 mg∗ 35.95 ± 3.87 46.64 ± 10.29 60.27 ± 2.01 82.29 ± 1.70 94.15 ± 3.12
Values are mean ± S.D. (standard deviation), n = 13 mice (in each group). Abbreviations as in Section 2.4.
∗ Highly significant compared to the control (P ≤ 0.05).

strength of the animals treated with SD 50 mg and MD 25 mg

was significantly greater than that of the untreated group
(control), while no significant increase in tensile strength
measurements was obtained for the groups treated with MD
50 mg and SD 25 mg. The significant difference (P < 0.05)
was observed with the SD 50 mg (1.078 kg) and MD 25 mg
(0.971 kg) treated animals, while the control animals showed
only 0.490 kg.

Fig. 4. Measurements of wound contraction on day 15 (last measurement).

Table 2
Breaking strength of healed wounds (day 20)
Groups Breaking strength (kg)

Control 0.495 ± 0.163

MD 25 mg 0.972 ± 0.240∗
MD 50 mg 0.623 ± 0.132
SD 25 mg 0.602 ± 0.105
SD 50 mg 1.08 ± 0.382∗
Values are mean ± S.D.
Fig. 3. Measurements of wound contraction on day 3 (first measurement). ∗ Significant difference from control (P ≤ 0.05).
 A.N. Rashed et al. / Journal of Ethnopharmacology 88 (2003) 131–136
Fig. 5. Measurements of wound contraction on day 20.
Fig. 6. Effect of the different doses of Portulaca oleracea on wound
contraction at various time intervals (error bars are too small to be seen).
4. Discussion
Wounds are physical injuries that result in an opening
or break of the skin. Proper healing of wounds is essential
for the restoration of disrupted anatomical continuity and
disturbed functional status of the skin. It is a product of the
integrated response of several cell types to injury. Cutaneous
wound repair is accompanied by an ordered and definable
sequence of biological events starting with wound closure
135
Fig. 7. Tensile strength of healing wounds treated with different doses of
Portulaca oleracea.
and progressing to the repair and remodeling of damaged
tissue (Phillips et al., 1991). In spite of tremendous advances
in the chemical drug industry, the availability of substances
capable of stimulating the process of wound repair is still
limited (Udupa et al., 1995). Moreover, the management of
chronic wounds is another major problem due to the high
cost of therapy and the presence of side effects (Porras-Reyes
et al., 1993; Suh et al., 1998). Wound healing, a complex
sequence of events, is initiated by the stimulus of injury to
the tissues. A positive stimulus may result from the release
of some factors by wounding of tissues. This sequence of
physiologic events occurs by a process of connective tissue
repair. These events involve four phases (Baie and Sheikh,
2000a,b; Bonner, 2000; Ross, 1980):
(i) Coagulation, which prevents blood loss.
(ii) Inflammation and debridement of wound.
(iii) Epithelial repair, including proliferation, mobilization,
migration and differentiation.
(iv) Tissue remodeling and collagen deposition.
Any agent which accelerates the above processes is a
promoter of wound healing. The application of medicinal
concoctions from plants to treat skin lesions, in particular,
burns and wounds, has had a long tradition. Plants with
wound healing activity have been reported and experimen-
tally studied on various animal models to reveal the most
active promising compounds (Abu-Al-Basal, 2001).
Results obtained in the present study suggest that treat-
ment of white Swiss mice skin excision wounds with fresh
homogenized crude extract of Portulaca oleracea has accel-
erated the wound healing process. Treated excision wounds
showed an increased rate of wound contraction, leading to
faster healing as confirmed by the increased healed area
when compared to the control group. Tensile strength was
measured to confirm the wound healing activity claimed for
this plant. The increase in tensile strength of treated wounds
may be due to increase in collagen concentration and stabi-
lization of the fibers (Udupa, 1994, 1995). The results ob-
tained in this study were similar to the influence of Aloe vera
136 A.N. Rashed et al. / Journal of Ethnopharmacology 88 (2003) 131–136
on collagen characteristics in healing dermal wounds in rats.
It was observed that Aloe vera increased the collagen con-
tent of the skin ultimately and contributed to wound strength
(Chithra et al., 1998). Also, a similar effect has been ob-
served with the ethanolic extract of Centella asiatica on the
rat dermal wound healing, increasing the tensile strength and
enhancing the wound healing process (Suguna et al., 1996).
Abu-Al-Basal (2001) studied the effect of Anchusa strigosa,
Artemisia herba-alba, Nigella sativa, Punica granatum, and
Trigonella foenum-graecum, in wound healing, and found
that there was a strong correlation between the collagen fiber
formation and acceleration of wound healing. The results
suggest that treatment with fresh homogenized crude extract
of Portulaca oleracea may have a beneficial influence on the
various phases of wound healing like fibroplasias, collagen
synthesis, and wound contraction, resulting in faster healing.
In conclusion, the observations and results obtained in
this study indicated that the fresh crude extract of Portu-
laca oleracea significantly stimulated wound contraction.
The breaking strength of the treated excision wounds in-
creased in the treated groups compared with the control
group. These findings could justify, at least partially, the
inclusion of this plant in the management of wound healing
in folk medicine. Further experiments are needed to test the
effect of this plant in treatment of chronic wounds.
Acknowledgements
The authors extend their gratitude to Dr. Mutasaem Taha
for useful ethnopharmacological information.
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