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Botany
A tree, smooth
and growing to 10 m high. Bark is pale and transversely cracked.
Wood is light and soft. Leaves are simple, elliptic-oblong, about
20 cm wide. Flowers are numerous, 4-parted, pinkish yellow, on
dense and pedunculated short-stalked umbels. Fruit is oval, about 6 cm long and 2.5 cm wide, consisting of one carpet, flattened and keeled.
Distribution
Found in Cagayan,
Luzon; Mindoro and Palawan; Lanao, Mindanao; in forests at low
altitudes.
Constituents
Fixed oil, 33%; with triolein 87.7 %, triplamitin, 8.41 %, tristearin 3.89%, an alkaloid, a bitter principle and a glycoside, samaderin.
The wood contains a bitter principle
similar to quassin.
Properties
Bark is toxic with a bitter principle, as do the seeds.
Bark and wood considered febrifuge, tonic, stomachic and emmenagogue.
Roots and fruits considered stomachic.
Parts used and preparation
Seeds, bark, and wood.
Uses
Folkloric
Fever: A mixture of the powdered bark or wood scrapings in warm water or coconut oil.
Rheumatism: Roast seed, pound, and apply over affected area.
Skin eruptions: Bruise leaves and apply over affected area.
Juice from pounded bark also used for skin diseases.
Oil extracted from fruit kernels used for rheumatism.
Seeds worn around the neck for asthma prevention.
Seeds used as emetic and purgative.
Infusion of wood taken as a tonic, as a substitute for Quassia.
Infusion of leaves used as insecticide, especially against white ants.
In the Congo and Madagascar, used for malaria.
Studies
• Antiinflammatory / Antimalarial: Indonesian medicinal plants; XVII. Characterization of quassinoids from
the stems of Quassia indica: Study
yielded four new quassinoids, a ndew quassinoid glycoside, with five
known quassinoids. Some showed activity againsst Plasmodium falcifarum
(samadeines X), in vitro cytotoxicity, and anti-inflammatory activity.
• Quassinoids: Biologically Active Quassinoids and Their Chemistry: Potential
Leads for Drug Design – Quassinoids possess a wide spectrum of biological
activities. Reports have been made of its antimalarial, antiinflammatory
and antiviral properties and two studies have been published on quassinoids
antitumor activity, but thus far the compounds have been found to be
too toxic for clinical use.
• Quassinoids / Antifeedant: Study of the seeds and bark of Samadera indica yielded four quassinoids: indaquassin C, samaderins C, B and A. Indaquassin C was the most effective antifeedant. Samaderin C increased pupal duration and induced pupal mortality.
• Mosquitocidal: Varied fractions and extracts, including Samadera indica leaf extracts significantly decreased the fecundity of mosquitoes and the hatchability of their eggs of C quinquefasciatus, A stephensi and Aedes aegypti.
Availability
Wild-crafted. |
