Brucea antidysenterica

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NAME:  Brucea antidysenterica

FAMILY:  Simaroubaceae

COMMON NAMES: bitter bark tree

LOCAL NAMES: aballo, m'fankta

USEFUL PART(s): Root bark

GENERAL USES:

  • The plant is used for its medicinal value

  • The wood is used as firewood and for construction in roof

GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION

  • Guinea

  • Nigeria

  • Ethiopia

  • Angola

  • Malawi

  • Zambia

 

WHY IS IT GREEN?

Brucea antidysenterica medicinal values include

  • Cancer

  • Dysentery

  • Anthelmintic

  • Fever

  • Diarrhea

  • Indigestion

  • stomach-ache

FUN FACT

  • Brucea antidysenterica is a monoecious woody or small tree about 7 m tall used in local medicine

  • The fruit is bitter and said to be poisonous to farm animal

FURTHER READINGS

Chen, M., Chen, R., Wang, S., Tan, W., Hu, Y., Peng, X., & Wang, Y. (2012). Chemical components, pharmacological properties, and nanoparticulate delivery systems of Brucea javanica. International Journal of Nanomedicine. https://doi.org/10.2147/IJN.S31636

Dong, S. H., Liu, J., Ge, Y. Z., Dong, L., Xu, C. H., Ding, J., & Yue, J. M. (2013). Chemical constituents from Brucea javanica. Phytochemistry, 85, 175–184. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.phytochem.2012.08.018

Kefe, A., Giday, M., Mamo, H., & Erko, B. (2016). Antimalarial properties of crude extracts of seeds of Brucea antidysenterica and leaves of Ocimum lamiifolium. BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine, 16(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12906-016-1098-9