|
Botany
A tree growing to a height
of 10 meters. Leaves are shiny, oblong to oiblong-lanceolate, up to
20 cm long, 2-5 cm wide, pointed at the tips, with petioles 1 to 1.5
cm long. Flowers are greenish-yellow, fragrant, 2 to 2.5 cm long, occurring
in twos or threes on lateral peduncles. Fruit is large, heart-shaped,
brownish-yellow, about 8 cm or more in diameter, with pentagonal areoles
on the outside. Skin is thin, covering a cream-colored juicy and sweet
pulp.
Distribution
Wild or cultivated fruit
tree.
Chemical constituents
and characteristics
The bark yields an alkaloid
of the aporphine type.
The bark and seeds are high in tannic acid.
The fresh leaves are antihelminthic internally and suppurant externally.
The bark is astringent and tonic.
Parts used
and preparation
Leaves and fruit.
Uses
Folkloric
Indigestion: Warm the
leaves in open fire. Apply to stomach while still warm; use abdominal
binder. Renew every 2 hours. Also used for babies and children.
The powdered bark used for dysentery and diarrhea.
Fruit is antihelminthic; the dried unripe fruit is astringent and used
for diarrhea and as vermifuge.
The unripe fruit is dried, pulverized and used for diarrhea and dysentery.
The roots used for epilepsy.
Crushed leaves or paste of the fruit used as poultice for boils, abscesses
and ulcers.
Decoction of the bark is astringent and taken as tonic.
In severe diarrheal cases, a potent decoction is made from the leaves,
bark and green fruits, boiled together for five minutes in a liter of
water.
Fragments of root bark are packed around the gums to relieve toothache.
Root decoction as febrifuge.
Others
Fruit used in the New
Year tradition of "bilog-bilog" for good luck - a bowlful
collection of fruits (anonas, mansanas, ubas, pakwan, pinya, bayabas,
etc) with other sundry items like cotton, salt, and coins.
Leaves used in tanning, yields a blue or black dye.
Young twigs yield a superior fiber.
Studies
• Phytochemicals: Study isolated two annonaceous acetogenins from the seeds of Anona reticulata: squamone and isoannonareticin.
• Anthelmintic: (1) Study showed the ethanol extract of Annona reticulata exhibited anthelmintic activity, taking less time to cause paralysis of the earthworms, Pherentima posthuma. Activity was attributed to a compound present in fraction of the ethanol extract. (2) Extracts from the bark of A reticulata showed potent anthelmintic activity.
• Annonacin / Cytotoxicity / Anti-Cancer: Study of annonacin isolated from the seeds of A reticulata showed it caused significant cell death in various cancer lines and suggests a potentially promising anticancer compound.
• Antioxidant Study: In a study of antioxidant potential of leaves of three diffferent species of Annona, A reticulata showed better activity in quenching DPPH and superoxide radical than A squamosa and A muricata.
Availability
Wild-crafted and cultivated.
|
