 Botany
Bischofia javanica is a fast-growing, medium to large tree, 12-50 m tall, evergreen or deciduous, with a dense, rounded crown. Bole is straight, stout, and cylindrical, up to 159 cm in diameter, branchless part short but sometimes up to 20 m long. Bark surface is fissured and scaly with small thick shaggy scales, reddish brown to purplish brown; inner bark fibrous, spongy, pink, exuding a red sap. Leaves are arranged spirally, compound with 3 leaflets, glabrous; stipules oblong-triangular, 7-22 mm long, papery; petiole 8-20 cm long; petiolules long and slender; leaflets elliptical to ovate, 6-16 cm by 3-10 cm, base rounded to broadly cuneate, apex acuminate, margin finely toothed, pinnately veined. Inflorescence is an axillary panicle up to 27 cm long. Flowers unisexual, regular, 5-numerous, small, greenish, corolla and disk absent; male flowers with sepals fused at the base, hooded, stamens free, Fruit is a globose drupe, 1-1.5 cm in diameter,r bluish-black, with a horny to leathery skin and fleshy pulp, 3-6-seeded. Seeds are obovoid, about 5 mm long, brown. (3)
Distribution
- Found in China, India, Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Malaysia, Philippines to New Guinea Australia, and the south Pacific.
- Common along streams and medium altitudes.
- In some countries, considered invasive.
Constituents
- Phytochemical screening of methanol extract yielded carbohydrates, cholesterol, proteins, flavonoids, alkaloids, phenols, saponins, tannins, and fatty acids. (4)
- Nutritional analysis of seeds
yielded protein 18.69%, carbohydrates 18.91%, crude fiber 5.32%, and ash 6.83%; phosphorus 391.4 mg/100g, calcium 710 mg/199gm, magnesium 610 mg/100gm, copper 2.43 mg/100gm, iron 2.33 mg/100gm, potassium 1.25 mg/100gm, zinc 1.4 mg/100gm, and sodium 0.08 mg/100gm. Seed oil yield was 20.1%. Fatty acids in the seed oil were linolenic acid 56.76%, palmitic acid 12.28%, linoleic acid 12.90%, oleic acid 12.19%, and stearic acid 3.86%. (6)
- Study of methanol extract of leaves isolated five compounds viz. 5'-b-D-glucopyranosyloxyjasmonic acid methyl ester (1), 2-(hydroxy-3-methoxyphenyl)ethyl-O-ß-D-glucopyranoside (2), hexyl-O-ß-D-glucopyranoside (3), friedelan-3-one (4), and gallic acid (5). (9)
- Study of extracts of leaves yielded n-triacontane, ß-amyrin, friedeline, ß-sitosterol, ursolic acid, chrysoeriol, fisetin, quercetin, luteolin-7-O-glucoside and quercetrin. (10)
Properties
- Studies have suggested antileukemic, antioxidant, DNA topoisomerase inhibitory, antimicrobial properties.
Parts used
Leaves, bark, sap.
Uses
Edibility
- Young, soft leaves eaten raw or cooked; as vegetable, in salads, or as condiment.
- In South Sumatra, used as a spice in cooking.
- Fruits used for making wine. (22)
Folkloric
- Fresh bark used to treat stomachaches.
- Crushed leaves rubbed onto aching stomach.
- In India, bark used for treatment of tuberculosis, body ache, stomach ulcers, mouth ulcers, and inflammatory afflictions. (3)
- Used for treatment of toothache, burns, cough, cracked feed, gastritis, tonsillitis.
- Bark, leaf, root and fruits
used for treatment of diphtheria, pharyngitis, burns, allergic conditions.
- In China, roots used for treatment of rheumatic pains and malaria. (3)
- In India, leaves used by people of Tai-Phake community of Assam for stomach ailments. (13) The ethnic communities of Arunachal Pradesh, use leaves and bark for gastric afflictions and jaundice. (18)
- Used by Karo healers of Indonesia for treatment of diabetes.
(16)
- The Paliyar tribes in the Maurai District of Tamil Nadu mix the stem bark of B. javanica with coconut oil and apply it over the head to stimulate hair growth. (19)
- In Kenya, decoction of roots used for stomach infections. (20)
Others
- Dye: Bark yields a red dye used for staining rattan baskets and bamboo mattings. Inner bark yields a brown dye used to color tapa bark cloth. (2)
- Tannin: Bark yields about 16% tannin used for toughening nets and ropes. (2)
- Wood: Medium-weight and moderately hard. Fresh wood smells of vinegar. Susceptible to Lyctus and dry-wood termite. (2)
- Construction: Used in construction for beams, posts, decks, bridges,railway sleepers, flooring, agricultural implements and for making veneer and plywod. (3)
- Pulp: Potential source of long fibers for pulp and paper production.
- Oil: Used as lubricant.
- Fuel: Not suitable as fuelwood. Used for charcoal production.
- Supplement potential for mallards: Study suggested inclusion of 15% pintoi peanut meal in the duck ration can improve growth and in mallard diucks. (23)
Studies
• Antileukemic / Leaves: Study evaluated the antileukemic activity of leaf extract on human leukemic cell lines U937, K562, and HL60. Results showed significant cytotoxicity (p<0.001) in leukemic cell lines in invitro cell proliferatio assay, with low IC50 (3.5 µg/ml). Results supported the ethnomedicinal use of B. javanica for cancer by mediating through the apoptosis pathway. (5)
• Betulinic Acid / Potent DNA Topoisomerase II Inhibitors / Bark: DNA Topoisomerases (Topos) II are target enzymes for anticancer chemotherapeutic drug development. Bioassay-guided fractionation of the chloroform bark extract isolated betulinic acid (1) and its derivatives, betulonic acid (2), 3ß-O-(Z)-cumaroylbetulinic acid (3) and 3ß-O-(E)-coumaroylbetiulinic acid (4). The compounds were found to be catalytic inhibitors of Topo II activities with IC50s ranging from 0.38 to 58 µM. (7)
• Antioxidant / Stem Bark: Study evaluated stem bark extract of B, javanica for secondary metabolites and antioxidant activity by DPPH assay. Study yielded flavonoids, glycosides, tannins, and triterpenoids. An ethanolic extract and n-hexane fraction exhibited very strong antioxidant activity with IC50 of 12,248 µg/mL and 39,622 µg/mL, respectively. (8)
• Anti-Inflammatory / Stem Bark: Study evaluated the anti-inflammatory activity of an ethanol extract of stem bark on carrageenan induced paw edema model in rats. Results showed effective anti-inflammatory activity at a dose of 200 mg/kbw. (11)
• Enhance Proliferative Effects on Skin Fibroblast Cells: Study evaluated 56 plant extracts from 47 medicinal and edible plants to identify plants with bioactive potential for skin care. Extracts from six plants, including Bischofia javanica, showed higher NB1RGB cell proliferation activity (>10%) than the control. (12)
• Antimicrobial / Leaves: Study evaluated leaves for bioactive compounds and antimicrobial activity. Phytochemical screening yielded saponins, steroids, glycosides, terpenoids, phenols, tannins, flavonoids, proteins, and carbohydrates. Antimicrobial testing by agar well diffusion method showed highest zone of inhibition against test organism. (13)
• Potential as Ingredient of Functional Foods and Cosmeceutical Products / Leaves: Bischofia javanica leaf extract exhibited activities against hyaluronidase, collagenase, tyrosiinase, and urease, suggesting potential use as active ingredient for functional foods and cosmeceutical products. The 50% inhibitory concentration for hyaluronidase was comparable to disodium cromoglycate, a well known hyaluronidase inhibitor used as anti-inflammatory and anti-allergy agent. Extract also inhibited urease with almost same potential as acetohydroxamic acid, reported to suppress Helicobacter pylori-induced gastritis through urease inhibition. (14)
• Free Radical Scavenging / Leaves: Study evaluated the free radical scavenging activities of B. javanica and Fraxinus floribunda leaves. Study used DPPH radical, lipid peroxidation and hydroxyl radical scavenging properties at 20-320 µg/ml of extract and isolated compounds. Friedeline 3α-acetate (FA) and ß-amyrin showed significant radical scavenging activity. The IC50s of 168.47, 137.90 and 129.85 µg/ml of ß-amyrin in all assays demonstrate the potent scavenging property. (17)
Availability
Wild-crafted.
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