 Gen info
- Antidesma is a genus of tropical plants in the family Phyllanthaceae, described by Linnaeus in 1753. The genus comprises about 200 species, mainly in tropical Asia.
Botany
Antidesma montanum is a shrubs or tree up to 15(-20) m tall; young branches pubescent, glabrescent. Stipules linear to lanceolate, 2-7(-13) × 0.5-1.5 mm, pubescent, caducous or persistent; petiole 2-10(-20) mm, pubescent, glabrescent; leaf blade elliptic, oblong, lanceolate, or linear, more rarely slightly ovate or obovate, (1.5-) 3-25 × (0.4-)1.5-10 cm, membranous to leathery, glabrous except midvein and lateral veins pubescent on one or both surfaces, sometimes pubescent along margin, rarely abaxially slightly pubescent throughout, shiny and drying olive green to grayish green on both sides, often lighter abaxially, base acute or obtuse, rarely rounded, apex acuminate, acute, or obtuse, mucronate or not; domatia sometimes present; major veins impressed or flat adaxially, lateral veins 6-12 pairs, tertiary venation weakly percurrent or reticulate. Inflorescences axillary or terminal, males 1-13 cm, unbranched to 10 (-40)-branched, females 1-10 cm, unbranched to 6-branched, fruiting 2.5-20 cm, axes glabrous or pubescent. Male flowers sessile to pedicellate; pedicels to 1.5(-2) mm, glabrous to pubescent; calyx shallowly cup-shaped; sepals 3 or 4(or 5), free to fused for ca. 1/2 of their length, 0.5-0.8 mm, broadly ovate or rounded to obtuse, rarely acute, pubescent to glabrous outside, glabrous inside but often with long hairs at base, margin usually glandular-fimbriate to lacerate; disk cushion-shaped, fully or partially enclosing bases of filaments and pistillode or annular and 3-5-lobed, lobes extending inward between filaments to pistillode, glabrous, very rarely with some hairs; stamens 3-5(or 6), 1-2 mm; rudimentary ovary clavate, hemispheric, or terete, apex obtuse, sometimes obscurely lobed. Female flowers: pedicel 0.2-1.5 mm, fruiting 1-4 mm, glabrous to pubescent; calyx cup-shaped; sepals 3-5(or 6), 0.3-1 mm, triangular to ovate, otherwise as in males; disk glabrous, very rarely with some hairs; ovary glabrous, very rarely with some hairs; stigmas 2-6. Drupes ellipsoid, terete, (3-)5-6(-8) × 2.5-4(-6) mm, glabrous; styles terminal, very rarely slightly subterminal. (Flora of China) (8)
Distribution
- Native to the Philippines.
- Also native to Andaman Is., Assam, Bangladesh, Borneo, Cambodia, China, Hainan, Himalaya, India, Jawa, Laos, Lesser Sunda Is., Malaya, Maluku, Myanmar, Nansei-shoto, New Guinea, Nicobar Is., Queensland, Sri Lanka, Sulawesi, Sumatera, Taiwan, Thailand, Tibet, Vietnam.
(1)
- Occurs in primary and secondary forests, up to 1000 m altitude.
 Constituents
- Fruit contains bioactive constituents of steroid glycosides, saponins, flavonoids, polyphenols, and tannins. (see study below) (2)
-
Methanol extract of leaves yielded flavonoids, tannins, terpenoids, saponins, amino acids, fixed oils, and sterols. (see study below) (3)
- Study of A. montanum yielded major trace elements
of Si, Fe, Mn, Sr, Cr, and Zn. (6)
- Proximate analysis of leaves yielded in percentage (%): dry matter 34.91, moisture 65.09, total ash 8, crude fiber 3.87, crude protein 3.5.
(7)
- Carbohydrate and mineral analysis of leaves (mg/100g) yielded: reducing sugar 49, total sugar 214, starch 437, total carbohydrates 6140, nitrogen 1323, phosphorus 530, potassium 840, calcium 100, magnesium 8.82, sodium 80, iron 42, manganese 7, zinc 5, and copper 4. (7)
- GC-MS analysis of leaves yielded: 3,7,11,15-tetramethyl-2-hexadecen-1-ol (phytol), 9-eicosyne, hexadecanoic acid, tridecanoic acid, gamma-sitosterol.
(7)
Properties
- Studies have suggested antioxidant, antidiabetic, anticancer, anti-inflammatory, analgesic, antipyretic properties.
Parts used
Fruits, roots, leaves, stems.
Uses
Edibility
- Fruits are edible. Fruits in the genus are white when immature, turning red to black--sour and astringent when white, sour when red, and sweet and sour when black.
- Leaves consumed as wild vegetable.
- Leaves used to prepare tea, which is considered a tonic drink.
Folkloric
- Fruits and decoction of leaves used as tonic by mothers after childbirth.
- Roots used for stomach aches.
- Leaves applied to ulcers and areas of lumbar pain.
- Various plant parts used for ulcers, lumbar pain, eye diseases, hematochezia, stomach pains.
- In Malaysia, root preparations taken internally to treat measles, chickenpox, malaria.
- Poultice of leaves applied externally for headaches and thrush.
- In Thailand, stems and roots used as diuretic.
Studies
• Bioactive Compounds and Activities: Fruit contains bioactive constituents of steroid glycosides, saponins, flavonoids, polyphenols, and tannins that exhibits higher antioxidant activity than certain concentrations of standard antioxidants (vitamin E, ascorbic acid, trolox). Leaves are known to inhibit
α-amylase and α-glucosidase activities in diabetic therapy. Leaves possess scavenging activity against hydroxyl and superoxide anion radicals, and inhibit nitric oxide production. (2)
• Pharmacological Activities / Leaves: Methanol extract of leaves was fractionated and evaluated for pharmacological potential. The methanol and chloroform fractions exhibited better DPPH radical scavenging with IC50a of 103 NS 108.7 µg/mL, respectively. Methanol and chloroform fractions showed anti-inflammatory capacities in egg albumin test with IC50s of 89.10 and 92.85 µg/mL, respectively. Plant also showed anti-pyretic and anxiolytic activities in a dose-dependent manner. (3)
• Anti-Diabetic / Leaves: Study evaluated 18 extracts of six medicinal plants for anti-diabetic and antioxidant activities. The hexane extract of Antidesma montanum showed higher inhibition of
α-glucosidase activity than acarbose. (4)
• Anticancer / Breast Cancer Cells / Fruits and Leaves: Study evaluated the ethanol extract of fruits and leaves of A.. montanum in inhibiting the proliferation of breast cancer cells MDA-MB-231 by the CCK-8 method. The ethyl acetate phase showed higher inhibitory activity than other phases, with inhibition proliferation IC50 of 150.5 µg/mL after 7 2 h treatment. The EA phase showed inhibition in migration and invasion activity of MDA-MB-231 cells. One of the components identified, amentoflavone, showed IC50 inhibition of proliferation of 192.6 µg/mL after 72 h treatment. (5)
Availability
Wild-crafted.
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