Barringtonia acutangula is a species of plant in the family Lecythidaceae native to coastal areas from Afghanistan east to mainland Southeast Asia and south to northern Australia. It has a conservation status of least concern, and it has culinary and medicinal uses in parts of Asia. Common names include freshwater mangrove, itchytree and mango-pine.
Description This plant is a tree that grows to about 8–15 meters high. Its leaves are thick, smooth and oval in shape, about 8–12 centimeters long and 4–5 cm wide, with reddish petioles about 0.5–1.0 cm long. The plant has drooping raceme of up to 50 cm long, with numerous large, white flowers. Its fruit is oval-shaped and about 3 cm long, with one seed inside.
Distribution It is native to the following regions as defined in the World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions: Western Asia: – Afghanistan Indian Subcontinent: – Assam, Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka Indo-China: – Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam Malesia: – Borneo, Jawa, Lesser Sunda Islands, Malaya, Philippines, Sulawesi, Sumatera Papuasia: – New Guinea Australia: – Northern Territory, Queensland, Western Australia
Uses
Food The young leaves of this plant are consumed as food, such as in Vietnam where they are eaten fresh with other vegetables, meat and shrimp.
Medicinal Research on this plant has reported a number of medicinal uses, including antitumor (seed extract), antibiotic, inhibition of growth of Helicobacter pylori, and antifungal activity.
The 1889 book 'The Useful Native Plants of Australia' records that "In India an extract or juice is obtained from the leaves of this tree which, when mixed with oil, is used in native [sic.] practice for eruptions of the skin. The kernels powdered and prepared with sago and butter, are used in diarrhoea; mixed with milk they produce vomiting (Treasury of Botany). The root is bitter, and is said to be similar to Cinchona, but also cooling and aperient. (Drury)."
Chemistry Its bark contains potent painkillers, structurally unrelated to known opioid painkillers
Also 3,3'-dimethoxy ellagic acid, dihydromyricetin, gallic acid, bartogenic acid and stigmasterol,Chemical constituents of mangrove plant Barringtonia racemosa]. [Chinese] Sun HY. Long LJ. Wu J. Zhong Yao Cai. 29(7):671-2, 2006 Jul. triterpenoids, olean-18-en-3beta-O-E-coumaroyl ester and olean-18-en-3beta-O-Z-coumaroyl ester 12, 20(29)-lupadien-3-o
Oleanane-type isomeric triterpenoids:- racemosol A (1) [22alpha-acetoxy-3beta,15alpha,16alpha,21beta-tetrahydroxy-28-(2-methylbutyryl)olean-12-ene] and isoracemosol A (2) [21beta-acetoxy-3beta,15alpha,16alpha,28-tetrahydroxy-22alpha-(2-methylbutyryl)olean-12-ene].
Saponins,:Pal BC. Chaudhuri T. Yoshikawa K. Arihara S 1994 Saponins from Barringtonia acutangula. Phytochemistry 35(5):1315-8, barringtoside A, 3-O-beta-D-xylopyranosyl(1-->3)-[beta-D-galactopyranosyl(1-->2)]-beta-D- glucuronopyranosyl barringtogenol C; barringtoside B, 3-O-beta-D-xylopyranosyl(1-->3)-]beta-D-galactopyranosyl(1-->2)]-beta-D- glucuronopyranosyl-21-O-tigloyl-28-O-isobutyryl barringtogenol C; barringtoside C, 3-O-alpha-L-arabinopyranosyl(1-->3)-[beta-D-galactopyranosyl(1-->2 )]-beta-D - glucuronopyranosyl barringtogenol C.
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