| Botany
An evergreen tree growing up to 20 meters high. Bark is brownish-gray, rough with deep vertical wrinkles. Leaves are crowded towards the ends of branchlets, obovate to elliptic, 5 to 10 cm long, entire or toothed, with a pale or rust-colored lower surface, minutely gland-dotted and aromatic. Flowers are minute and without perianth. The male flowers, in catkins, are 7 to 25 mm long, with 3 to 4 orbicular bracts. Stamens are 6 to 8. Female flowers are in axillary and erect spikes, 12 to 25 mm long, with 2 filiform stigmas. Drupe is sessile, scaly, ovoid, 12 to 18 mm in diameter, with a red flesh, the stone wrinkled and pitted.
Distribution
Found in the Zambales proviince of Luzon, in Palawan and other higher mountain areas.
Commonly cultivated in China and Japan.
Occasional cultivation in Manila.
Parts utilized
Bark. roots, fruit.
Properties
and constituents
Bark contains tannin, saccharin matter and salts.
Bark is considered aromatic and astringent.
Fruit is considered carminative.
Uses
Folkloric
Decoction of the bark is used for asthma, diarrhea associated with phthisis, fevers, lung afflictions, typhoid, dysentery and for diuresis.
Oil from the bark used as ear drops for earache.
Bark used for scrofulous and aphthous affections, chronic bronchitis, gonorrhea and atony of the digestive tract.
Powdered bark used as snuff in catarrh with headache; combined with ginger as a stimulant in cholera.
With cinnamon, used for chronic cough, fever and piles.
Mixed with vinegar, used to strengthen the gums.
Bark is chewed for toothaches.
Powder or lotion from bark is applied to putrid sores.
Pessaries are made from the bark to promote menstruation.
Myrtle wax, made from boing the fruit, is used as a healing application for ulcers.
In China, salted form of preserved forms of the plant used as pectoral and calming the stomach.
Fruit is carminative, and used for digestive disturbances, including diarrhea and dysentery.
Kernel of seeds used for sweating of the feet.
Bark and roots used as decoction for treatment of wounds, ulcers, scaly skin afflictions and arsenic poisoning.
In Taiwan, used for stomach disorders and diarrhea.
Edible
Fruits are eaten raw or cooked; also, preserved.
Studies
• Prodelphinidin / Anti-Herpes Simplex Virus Type 2:
Study isolated prodelphinidin B-2 3,3'-di-O-gallate (PB233'OG) which was shown to exhibit anti-HSV-2 effects in various models of action.
• Cytotoxicity / Anti-Tumor Compounds: Study isolated epigallocatechin 3-O-gallate and prodelphinidin a-2,3'-O-gallate as anti-tumor principle components. Both compounds inhibited the growth of HeLa cells. Results suggest the compounds can induce apoptosis in HeLa cells, and their cytotoxic effect may be through activation of caspase-3.
• Myricetin / Analgesic / Cox Inhibitor / Antiplatelet Activity: Study isolated myricetin from the leaves of M rubra. Test results showed it possessed potent analgesic activity with peripheral rather than opioid system analgesia. It also showed to be a potent COX-1 inhibitor with antiplatelet activity.
• Hepatoprotedtive: (1) Study of fruit extract was shown to have hepatoprotective activity in carbon-tetrachloride induced liver damage in mice, possibly through regulation of mitochondrial VDAC (volatage-dependent anion channels), one of the most important proteins in the mitrochondrial outer membrane. (2) Study of methanol extract of bark of MR show hepatoprotective effects on CCL4 induced liver injuries in rats and significant protective effects against cholestasis induced by ANIT.
• Flavonoids / Free Radical Scavenging: Studies of extracts from four Chinese bayberry varieties isolated one dominant anthocyanin, three major flavonols, myricetin and quercetin-3-O-rutinoside. The black varieties showed higher radical scavenging than the pink and yellow varieties attributed to the levels of anthocyanins, flavonoids and total phenolics.
• Tyrosinase Inhibiting Activity / Skin Whitening Potential: Ethanolic extract of dried leaves and bark of M rubra showed tyrosinase inhibiting activity, inhibition of the production of melanin from dopachrome by autoxidation, and SOD-like activity. Results suggest the leaves or bark of M rubra might be used as a whitening agent for the skin.
• Anti-Androgenic Activity: Aqueous ethanol extract of the bark of M rubra showed in vitro testosterone 5a-reductase inhibitory activity and in vivo anti-androgenic activity. Three main active principles were identified: myricanone, myricanol, and myricetin.
Availability
Cultivated.
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