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Family Leguminosae / Fabaceae
Guama
Inga laurina (Sw.) Willd.
SACKY SACK BEAN

Scientific names Common names
Feuilleea fagifolia (L.) Kuntze Guama (Tag.)
Feuilleea laurina (Sw.) Kuntze Sacky sac bean (Engl.)
Inga fagifolia fagifolia f. pedicellaris Hassl. Spanish oak (Engl.)
Inga laurina (Sw.) Willd White ice cream bean (Engl.)
Inga tetraphylla (Vell.) Mart. White inga (Engl.)
Mimosa fagifolia L.  
Mimosa laurina Sw.  
Mimosa tetraphylla Vell..  
Inga laurina (Sw.) Willd., Sp. Pl., ed. 4, 4 (1806) 1018; --Mimosa laurina Sw., Prodr. (1788) 85. Native to Central and South America. Not native to the Philippines. (10)
Inga laurina (Sw.) Willd. is an accepted name. The Plant List

Other vernacular names
FRENCH: Arbre a miel, Pois doux blanc.
PORTUGUESE: Inga-chichi (Brazil).
SPANISH: Cujincuil; Palal; Paternillo, Inga de praia.

Gen info
Inga laurina is a species of legume in the Fabaceae family.

Botany
Inga laurina is a small tree, 8 to 9 meters high, with a broad crown, glabrous throughout or nearly so. Leaf rachis is naked, with small cupular glands between each pair of leaflets, slender. Leaflets are 1 to 3 pairs, subcoriaceous, obliquely ovate, obovate, or elliptic, 4 to 14 centimeters long, 1.5 to 4.5 centimeters wide, acute or obtuse, often with an obtuse tip, cuneately narrowed at the base. Flowers are spicate, the spikes axillary or terminal, solitary or doubled, 4 to 15 centimeters long, lax and rather remotely flowered. Flowers are sessile or subsessile, white, fragrant, glabrous or nearly so, 4 to 5 millimeters long; corolla tubular-campanulate, 4 to 5 millimeters long, the stamen tube long-exserted. Legume is flat and strongly compressed, glabrous or nearly so, 7 to 15 centimeters long, 2 to 3.5 centimeters wide, sessile, broadly rounded at the apex, the margins strongly thickened. (Standley & Steyermark, 1946; (5):38) (7)

Distribution
- Introduced.
- Ornamental cultivation.
- Native to Mexico, Central and South America.

Constituents
- Ethyl acetate fraction contained high levels of total phenolics (475.3 ± 1.9 mg GAE/g extract) and flavonoids (359.3± 10.6 mg QE/g extract). The flavonol glycoside myricetin3-O-rhamnoside was also isolated for the first time. (see study below) (3)
- Study of stem bark for essential oil during the dry season yielded terpenoids (30.05%) and phytol (9.76%) as major compounds. During the rainy season, major compounds were terpenoids (26.63%), with a large amount of fatty acids (46.84%), in particular palmitic acid (25.40%). Leaf essential oil in the dry season yielded esters (42.35%) as main components, with the main ester identified as (Z)-hex-3-enyl-benzoate (10.15%), Main components of leaves EO in the rainy season were terpenoids (33.84%), long chain alkanes (27.04%), and fatty acids (21.72%). Major compounds identified were phytol (33.21%), nonacosane (21.95%), and palmitic acid (15.20%). (see study below) (5)
- Leaves extract yielded flavonoids: myricetin-3-O-(2"-O-galloyl)-a-rhamnopyranoside and myricetin-3-rhamnoside. (see study below) (6)

Properties
Studies have suggested antifungal, antibacterial, antigenotoxic, chemopreventive properties.

Parts used
Leaves, stem bark.

Uses

Edibility
- Fruit is edible; sweet, not widely appreciated. Small amount of flesh surrounding the seed is eaten. Seeds have an almond-like flavor. (4)
Folkloric
- No reported folkloric use in the Philippines.
Others
- Nectar: Flowers is a source of nectar for bees. (4)

- Agroforestry: Cultivated as a shade tree in coffee and cacao plantations. (4)
- Wood: Attractive pale reddish brown, moderately heavy and soft. Used for making minor items such as boxes. (In some places, used for furniture cabinetry, tool handles, etc. (4)
- Fuel: Wood used for fuel and for making charcoal. (4)

Studies
Antifungal / Leaves:
Study of ethyl acetate fraction showed activity against fungi of the Candida genus, with MIC of 11.7 µg/mL against C. glabrata and selectivity index of 1.6 against Vero cells. (see constituents above) (3)
Seasonal Variation / Antimicrobial / Essential Oil / Stem Bark: Study evaluated essential oil of stem bark for antimicrobial activity against aerobic and anaerobic oral bacterial. Results showed better inhibition of bacterial growth during the rainy season with MIC values of 25 or 50 µg/mL for aerobic bacteria and high selectivity. Better inhibitory effects may be related to large amount of fatty acids in the rainy season. (see constituents above) (5)
Chemoprotective / Antigenotoxicity / Flavonoids / Leaves: Study evaluated the cytotoxicity, genotoxicity, antigenotoxicity and chemoprevention property of flavonoids from Inga laurina leaves extract. Results showed the flavonoids did not show cytotoxicity in HepG2 cells. In antigenotoxicity test, all compounds showed protective effect against damage induced by hydrogen peroxide and were repaired against damage. Although the flavonoids could not induce the enzyme Quinone Reductase at concentrations tested, the antigenotoxicity results showed a powerful chemoprotective action. (6)
Antifungal / Kunitz-Type Trypsin Inhibitor: Proteinase inhibitors have been isolated from plants, particularly seeds, and have showed antimicrobial activity. Study of seeds isolated a 20,000 Da serine peptidase inhibitor, ILTI, which showed potent inhibitory enzymatic activity against trypsin. ILTI strongly inhibited the growth of Candida tropicalis and C. buinensis, inducing cellular agglomeration. It was ineffective against human pathogenic bacteria. The ILTI induced changes in the membranes of yeast cells leading to their permeabilization. Results showed ability of peptidase inhibitors to induce microbial inhibition, and potential as template for design of new antifungal agents. (8)
Insecticidal / Molecular Cloning / Trypsin Inhibitor ILTI: Trypsin inhibitor ILTI was evaluated for anti-insect activity against Diatraea saccharalis and Heliothis virescens larvae The ILTI inhibited proteinases present in the larval midgut of different species of Lepidoptera. Both native ILTI and reILTI (recombinant) showed similar strong inhibitory effect on bovine trypsin activity. Results suggest ILTU has insecticidal activities against both insects and may be a useful tool in the genetic engineering of plants. (9)

Availability
- Wild-crafted.
- Seeds in the cybermarket.

July 2020

                                                 PHOTOS / ILLUSTRATIONS
IMAGE SOURCE: Photo / Inga laurina - Sacky sac bean INLA / © Pedro Acevedo-Rodriguez : hosted by USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / click on image to go to source page / Non-commercial use / USDA
OTHER IMAGE SOURCE: Photo: Inga laurina Pod / File: Flickr-Joao de Deus Medeiros / click on image to go to source page / CC by 2.0 / Wikipedia
OTHER IMAGE SOURCE: Illustration / Inga laurina (Sw.) Willd. / ID: 169082 / Stahl, A., Estudios sobre para la flora de Porto-Rico / unpublished watercolors (1883-1888) / PlantIllustrations.org

Additional Sources and Suggested Readings
(1)
Inga laurina / Synonyms / The Plant List
(2)
Sorting Inga names / /Maintained by: Michel H. Porcher / MULTILINGUAL MULTISCRIPT PLANT NAME DATABASE / Copyright © 1995 - 2020 / A Work in Progress. School of Agriculture and Food Systems. Faculty of Land & Food Resources. The Univers ity of Melbourne. Australia.

(3)
Chemical Composition, Antifungal, and Cytotoxicity Activities of Inga laurina (Sw.) Willd Leaves / Carla Martins, Sergio A L de Morais, Mario M Martins et al /
DOI: 10.1155/2019/9423658
(4)
Inga laurina / Ken Fern: Tropical Plants Database / Useful Tropical Plants
(5)
Seasonal Variation of the Chemical Composition and Antimicrobial and Cytotoxic Activities of the Essential Oils from Inga laurina (Sw.) Willd. / Fabiana B Furtado, Francisco J T de Aquino, Evandro A Nascimento et al / Molecules, 2014; 19(4), pp 4560-4577 /  https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules19044560
(6)
Chemoprevention assessment, genotoxicity and cytotoxicity of flavonoids from Inga laurina leaves (FABACEAE) / TOR Sanzovo, NM Lima, SR Marqui, AS Andrade, G Navegante, RB Serafim et al / Natural Product Research / https://doi.org/10.1080/14786419.2019.1682574
(7)
Inga laurina (Sw.) Willd / Pacific Island Ecosystem at Risk (PIER)
(8)
Antimicrobial Activity of ILTI, a Kunitz‐Type Trypsin Inhibitor from Inga laurina (SW.) Willd / Ligia Macedo, Suzanna F F Ribeiro, Gabriel B Taveir, Simone Maria Neto et al / Current Microbiology, Jan 2016; 72(5) / DOI: 10.1007/s00284-015-0970-z
(9)
Molecular cloning and insecticidal effect of Inga laurina trypsin inhibitor on Diatraea saccharalis and Heliothis virescens / Odalys Cabrera, Desiree Da Silva, Goncalo Pereira / Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology, 2012; Part C, 156: pp 148-158
(10)
Inga Mill-Fabaceae / Co's Digital Flora of the Philippines

                                                                          DOI
It is not uncommon for links on studies/sources to change. Copying and pasting the information on the search window or using the DOI (if available) will often redirect to the new link page. (Citing and Using a (DOI) Digital Object Identifier)

                                                            List of Understudied Philippine Medicinal Plants

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