Gen info
Corchorus is a genus plant of about 40-100 species in the family Malvaceae. Jute is confusingly applied to any plant of the genus Corchorus and to its fiber. The chief sources of the fiber are the two species of Corchorus plant: C olitorius and C capsularis. In the Philippines, three Corchorus species are recorded with medicinal uses: Pasau, Pasau na bilog, and pasay na hapa. Another pasau, Pasau-na-hapai, Jussiaea erecta belongs to the family Onagraceae.

Botany
· Erect, branched, smooth half-woody shrub, 1 to 1.5 meters high. Leaves are ovate-lanceolate, 4 to 12 cms long, pointed at the tip, blunt at the base with taillike projections and toothed margins. Flowers are axillary, yellow, ab out 6 mm long. Capsules are elongated, cylindric, about 3 to 3.5 cm long with 10 ribs, with transverese partitions between seeds. Seeds are dark, bluish green, angular, about 2 mm and very bitter.

Distribution
Rice paddy banks, in fallow paddies throughout the Philippines.

Chemical constituents and properties
Leaves are demulcent, tonic, diuretic.
Young shoots an excellent source of iron, calcium and phosphorus, vitamins B and C.

Parts utilized
· Whole plant utilized. Collect from April to September.
· Wash, cut into whole pieces, dry under the sun.

Uses
Folkloric
· Seeds used as purgative
· Infusion of leaves used as tonic and febrifuge.
· Cold infusion of leaves used after dysentery to improve the appeties and strength.
· In dysentery, grains of the powder mixed with Curcuma longa for dysentery. ulcer.
· Powdered seeds with honey and giner for diarrhea.
Nutrition
Used as a vegetable; in the Philippines, especially by the Ilokanos.

Availability
Wild-crafted.