 Gen info
- Acacia is a
name shared by many species of Philippine plants, both scientific and common names:
(1) Acacia concinna, acacia, a prickly shrub found in La Union, Benguet, and
Ilocos Sur provinces of northern Luzon (2) Albizzia lebbect, acaci, langil,
mimosa (3) Samanea saman, rain tree, acacia, for Acacia concinna (4) Acacia
farnesiana, aroma (5) Acacia glauca, ipil-ipil (6) Acacia niopo, kupang, and (7)
Acacia crassicarpa.
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Acacia cassicarpa (northern wattle, brown salwood, thick-podded salwood, Papua New Guinea red wattle) is a tree native to Australia (Queensland), West Papua (Indonesia), and Papua Guinea.
Botany
• Acacia crassicarpa is a small- to medium-sized tree, growing
to 25 meters high. Trunk is often straight and branchless for 13 to 18 meters. Crown is heavily branched and spreading. Bark is dark brown,
hard with deep vertical furrows; the inner bark is red and fibrous.
The leaves are winged and curved like a sickle, 8 to 20 centimeter by 1 to 4 centimeters,
grayish green and glabrous. Inflorescence is a bright yellow spike,
clustered in groups of 2 to 6. Pods are woody, oblong-ovoid, flat, 5 to 8 centimeters long,
2 to 3 centimeters wide, glabrous, dull brown, transversely veined. Seeds are oblongoid, 5 to 6 millimeters by 2 to 3 millimeters wide, black and arranged in separate compartments.
• A small to medium-sized tree, up to 25(—30) m tall; bole often straight and branchless for up to 13—18 m, up to 50 cm in diameter, sometimes fluted at base. Bark dark or gray-brown, hard, with deep vertical furrows; inner bark red and fibrous. Phyllodes falcate, 8—27 cm x 1—4.5 cm, 2.5—12 times as long as wide, grayish-green, glabrous; primary veins 3—5, prominent, yellowish, longitudinal, tending to run into the lower margin at the base; secondary veins parallel, not anastomosing, crowded; pulvinus 4—20 mm long with a circular gland at top. Inflorescence a bright yellow spike, 4—7 cm long, clustered in groups of 2—6 in the upper axils; peduncle 5—10 mm long, rachis thick; flowers 5-merous, bisexual; calyx broadly cupular, 0.5—0.7 mm long, lobes concave, lobed to about halfway down; corolla widely spreading, glabrous, 1.3—1.6 mm long, 2—3 times as long as the calyx; stamens 2—3 mm long; ovary shortly pubescent, more densely hairy at the top. Pod woody, ovoid-oblong, flat, 5—8 cm x 2—4 cm, glabrous, dull brown, transversely veined but hardly reticulate. Seed oblongoid, 5—6 mm x 2—3 mm, black, arranged transversely in separate compartments; areole large and almost closed; funicle folded and thickened, forming a long aril below the seed, pale creamy-yellow. (8)
Distribution
- Recently introduced and popular used
as an ornamental shade tree.
- In landscaping, considered a "grow fast" tree.
- Native to Australia, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea.
- Exotic in China, Fiji, Malaysia, Thailand.
 Constituents
- Study of the chemical components from 5 families of A. crassicarpa showed every family yielded cellulose greater than 58%, lignin about 25%, and low ash ranging from 0.19 to 0.33%. (3)
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Study of A. crassicarpa heartwood extract showed extraction yield of 3.010%, TPC 259.09 mg GAE/g DE, TFC 65.24 mg QE/g DE, CT 370.99 mg CE/g DE, and 1055.77 mg TAE/g DE. (9)
- Study on pharmacologic activity of A. crassicarpa heartwood showed LC50 of 2054.09 µg/mL, and antioxidant capacity (mmol TE/g DE) of DPPH 1.96, ABTS 5.40, and FRAP 2.28. (9)
- LC-MS/MS study for bioactive compounds yielded:
Flavonoids (5,7,3′,5′-Tetrahydroxy-flavanone, 289 m/z, 12,47%; 3-Hydroxy-7-methoxy baicalein, 301.07 m/z, 6.79%; quercetin 303.04 m/z, 10.59%); Anthraquinone (Digitopurpone, 271.06 m/z, 5.18%); Xanthonoid (Onjixanthone II, 305.06 m/z, 10.59%). (9)
- Hydrodistillation and GC-MS analysis of fresh leaves for essential oil identified 61 compounds accounting for 95.8% of leaf oil. Classes of compounds consisted of aldehydes (30.7%), sesquiterpene hydrocarbons (25.2%), alkanes (19.1%), oxygenated monoterpenes (3.6%), oxygenated sesquiterpenes (2.3%), monoterpene hydrocarbons (0.8%), and others (14.2%). Major constituents were tridecanal (24.5%), (E)-caryophyllene (11.7%), n-heneicosane (7.2%), squalene (6.5%), and 7-tetradecenal (5.9%). (12)
Properties
- Studies have suggest antioxidant, antiproliferative, phytoremediative, anticancer, anthelmintic, adsorbent properties.
Uses
Edibility
- It has an edible gum which forms a tofee when soaked in water with honey.
- The roots are cooked and eaten.
Folkloric
- No recorded medicinal use
in the Philippines.
- The gum, roots, leaves, bark. pods and seeds have been used by aboriginal
Australians in decoction, poultice, tonics or inhalations for a variety
of ailments — diarrhea, dysentery, sore eyes, colds, sore eyes
and skin conditions. (5)
Others
- Timber: Wood is strong and durable. Sapwood is pale yellowish-brown; heartwood, golden brown. Its energy value is 22,600 kJ/g. The wood was used for manufacturing weapons and tools. Suitable for a wide range of timber end-uses, structural or decorative applications like construction, furniture, flooring, boat building. (5)
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Fuel: Wood dries rapidly and is good for
firewood and charcoal.
- Kraft / Pulp: Suitable for kraft pulping.
- Mulch: Leaves decompose slowly; useful as mulch.
- Agroforestry: In Papua New Guinea, reported to be a very vigorous colonizer of degraded soils following shifting cultivation.
- Prospects: Because of fast growth and propensity to produce large volumes of wood even on infertile land, Acacia crassicarpa has great potential for various forestry practices. While suitable for land reclammation, it is too competitive to grown in combination with annual crops. Coppicing studies are warranted. (8)
Studies
• Phenolic Compounds
/ Antioxidants: Bioactive phenolic substances have been
found in the heartwood, sapwood and knots of Acacia crassicarpa. (1)
• Chemical Components of Wood / Pulping: Study of chemical components of wood from 5 families of A. crassicarpa showed it can be used as raw material for pulping. (see constituents above) (3)
• Phytoremediation: Phytoremediation study showed the provision of fly ash and dreg significantly affected the growth of A. crassicarpa and its efficiency of metal uptake. Most heavy metals accumulated in the roots and the largest uptake efficiency was at the plant roots. (6)
• Effect on Biodiversity: Studies have mentioned that Acacia crassicarpa belongs to invasive species that could threaten native biodiversity. Study evaluated the understory and soil macrofauna diversity of three native tree species in Indonesia, viz., mahang (Macaranga pruinosa), skubung (Macaranga gigantea), and geronggang (Cratoxylum arborescens) and an exotic species namely krassikarpa. A. crassicarpa showed lower value in diversity index. The percentage of understory coverage under A. crassicarpa was significantly higher than that under all native tree species. Diversity index of macrofauna were significantly low at krassikarpa's compared to the other three native species. Study suggests introduction of krassikarpa has significant effect on level of understory's macrofauna biodiversity. (7)
• Antioxidant / Antiproliferative: Study showed heartwood of A. crassicarpa had highest antioxidant capacity compared to A. auriculiformis. A. crassicarpa heartwood extract also showed high antiproliferative activity through inhibition of growth of both carcinoma cell lines, MCF-7 and WiDr cell line. (9)
• Anticancer / Oxidative Stress-Regulating: In silico study of Acacia crassicarpa and A. auriculiformis identified most potent compounds as inhibitors of six cancer and stress oxidative therapy-targeted proteins. Seventeen out of 37 compounds exhibited low affinity and satisfied drug-likeness criterion. Five active chemicals were identified by redocking analysis: auriculoside, 3-(3,4-dihydroxybenzyl)-7-hydroxy-chroman-4-one, kaempferol 7-O-glucoside, quercetin 7-O-glucoside, and keto-teracacidin. Auriculoside showed lowest average binding energy against four receptors in colorectal and breast cancer. Auriculoside showed powerful ability to inhibit glycogen synthase kinase-3 beta, hence regulating oxidative stress. Kaempferol 7-O-glucoside and quercetin 7-O-glucoside also exhibited a possible single protein targeting method against breast cancer. Study suggests future research on these plants as sources of potent natural therapeutic raw materials for isolating or synthesizing compounds with anticancer and oxidative stress-regulating antioxidant properties. (10)
• Anthelmintic / Leaves: Study screened the anthelmintic effects of leaves and fruits of three Acacia species: Acacia crassicarpa, A. mangium, and A. auriculiformis, using concentration of 12% and incubation periods of 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 hours against Haemonchus contortus. Each leaves extract did not significantly differ in eliminating H. contortus, except for AM under 4 hours of incubation. At final incubation time, all Acacia-treated samples displayed complete mortality. Fruit extracts led to removal of 76.66-83.33% of H. contortus population, while albendazole-treated groups showed complete mortality. Result suggest potential as animal feed as anthelmintic against H. contortus parasites. Studies are suggested to evaluate for potential mechanisms. (11)
• Removal of Methyl Orange (MO) and Methylene Blue (MB) / Activated Carbon: Study evaluated the potential development of low-cost, carbon based adsorbents to remove industrial dyes (MO and MB) from aqueous solutions. The adsorbents were better able to remove the cationic dye than the anionic dye. Results provide springboard information for future scale-up production of low-cost adsorbents using A. cassicarpa for removal of cationic and anionic dyes. (13)
• Fabrication of Activated Carbon from Bark / Removal of Dyes: Study reports on the synthesis of activated carbon adsorbent from A. crassicarpa (Ac) bark to eliminate hazardous dyes in industrial wastewater, specifically anionic dye methyl orange (MO) and cationic dye methylene blue (MB). Results suggest activated carbon from Ac bark can potentially be applied for water purification treatment. Advantages over traditional charcoal includes integration into biomass energy cycle, improved filtration capabilities, and cost savings. (15)
Availability
Ornamental cultivation.
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