 Gen info
• Spondias is a genus of flowering plants in the cashew family, Anacardiaceae. The genus consists of 17 described species, 10 of which are native to tropical Asia, 7 to the Neotropics. They are commonly called hog plums, Spanish plums, Ciruelas, golden apples.
•
Spondias dulcis, commonly known as April plum, is a tropical tree, with an edible fruit containing a fibrous pit.
•
Manguelas: In the Philippines, its riipe fruit comparison to mango and its green fruit crispy similarity to sineguelas, has earned the local name 'manguelas'.
- Manguelas seedlings may fruit in as little as 3-4 years.
Botany
• Spondias dulcis is a tropical fast growing deciduous tree, averaging 10 to 12 meters high, occasionally reaching 20 meters.,that can reach a height of 20 meters. Leaves are pinnate, 20 to 60 centimeters in length, with 9 to 25 glossy, elliptic or obovate-oblong leaflets 9 to 10 centimeters long, finely toothed toward the ape. Flowers are small, inconspicuous in terminal panicles. Fruit is oval, 6 to 0 centimeters long, borne in bunches of 12 or more on long stalks, green when unripe, amber-colored when ripe.
 • There are two varieties: The dwarf variety, which is the dominant cultivar, and a prolific bearer growing up to 2.5 meters. The other variety grows up to 9 meters tall or more. (An occasional site mentions an "ultra-dwarf" variety.)
• The dwarf variety is a small semi-deciduous shrub that grows to about 2.5 metres. Fruits are egg-sized, and when ripe they become orange-yellow in colour and sour-sweet in flavour and produce a single sharp, rather large, spiny seed. Widely grown in the tropical regions, the fruit can be eaten fresh and used in cooking. This tree is easy to grow from seeds and can be used as a landscape tree in urban environments.
Distribution
- Inroduced.
- Cultivated; naturalized.
-
Native from Melanesia through Polynesia and introduced into tropical areas of both the Old and New World. (16)
-
First fruited in the Philippines in 1915. (16)
 Constituents
- Phytochemical screening of fruit peels yielded sterols and phenolics. (15)
- Nutrient content in 100 grams of food: energy 41 kcal, protein 1 g, fat 1 g,carbohydrates 3 gms, calcium 15 mg, phosphorus 22 mg, iron 3 mg, vitamin A 233 RJ, vitamin B1 0.08 mg, vitamin C 30 mg.
- Food value per 100 g of edible portion: Calories 137.30, total solids 14.53-40.35%, moisture 59.65-85.47%, protein 0.50-0.80%, fat 0.28-1.79%, sugar (sucrose) 8.05-10.54%, acid 0.47%, crude fiber 0.85-3.60%, ash 0.44-0.65%. (According to analyses made in the Philippines and Hawaii) Ascorbic acidcontent was reported at 42 mg/100g of raw pulp (Miller, Louis, and Yanawasa, Hawaii). Unripe fruits contain 0.76% of pectin. (16)
- The ethyl acetate extracts of peel howed highest phenolic content (463.68 mg GAE/g). Hexane extract of peel showed maximum flavonoid content (1133.77 mg QE/g). (see study below) (21)
 Properties
- Young fruit is mildly diuretic.
- Studies have suggested antioxidant, radical scavenging, antimicrobial, thrombolytic, anticancer, wound healing, DNA protective, topoisomerase inhibitory, laxative, anti-Salmonella properties.
Parts used
Fruits, shoots, leaves, bark..
Uses
Edibility
- Fruit has suffered by comparison with mango and repetition in literature of its inferior quality. However, at a proper and firm stage, it is often relished out of hand and provides a delicious drink. (16)
-
Fruit is eaten, raw or cooked. It is crisp when green, soft, sweet, and fibrous when yellow and ripe.
 - Ripe fruits made into jams, preserved jellies, nectars, marmalade, and beverates; unripe fruits are eaten in curries, green salads, pickles, chutneys, and used as sour flavoring for sauces and soups.
- Fruit can be cooked into a preserve
, with a consistency similar to apple butter.
- Young leaves are eaten raw or steamed, eaten as vegetable, pleasantly acid. (6)
- Fresh fruit used pickle and chutney using various concentrations of salt and sugar, respectively.
Pickle with 15% salt and chutney with 40% sugar were rate better than other. (7)
- In Fiji, used to make jam. In Samoa and Tonga, used to make otai. In West Java, young leaves used as seasoning for pepes. In Vietnam, eaten as a snack; consumed unripe, like green mangoes, sliced and dipped in a mixture of salt, sugar, and fresh chili or shrimp paste. In Jamaica, fruit is made into a drink, sweetened with sugar and spiced with ginger.
- Fruit skin has been recognized as a novel source of pectin and utilized as a gelling agent in jams, confectionary amd bakery fillings, as well as stabilizer in yogurts and milk drinks. (23)
- In our celebratory gatherings in Tiaong, the half-fruit served with small dollop of bagoong or alamang has become a favored pika-pika snack or side dish.
Folkloric
- In Bangladesh, fruits used to improved eyesight and prevent eye infections.
- Juice of plant used as eye drops to relieve eye inflammation.
Shoots used to stop bleeding after childbirth. Infusion of leave used for sore throats and mouth infections. (6)
- Juice from bark used to treat diarrhea; the bark used for dysentery. Grated fruit mixed with water used for high blood pressure. Young fruit used to treat stomach trouble and to aid women in labor. (5)
- In Suriname, juice of fresh fruits or infusion of fresh peels used for treatment of hypertension.
(10)
- In Sri Lanka, fruit eaten by women who are pregnant or plan to get pregnant.
- In Cambodia, astringent bark used with various species of Terminalia as remedy for diarrhea. (16)
Others
- Nectar: Study suggested fruit is a potential source for nectar production. (13)
- Wood: Light-brown and buoyant, used for canoes. (16)
- Hog plum sauce: Link provides information on the development of a sauce made from hog plum in Bangladesh. (24)
 Studies
• Comparative Study / Antioxidant / Cytotoxic / Antimicrobial / Thrombolytic / Leaves and Fruits: Study evaluated methanolic extracts of leaves and fruits, partitioned with Chloroform and dichloromethane. A methanolic fruit extract showed highest phenolic content, flavonoid content and antioxidant capacity with highest DPPH radical scavenging activity ) IC50 1.91 µg/mL) and maximum reducing power (EC50 3.58 µg/mL). All extracts showed moderate antimicrobial activity against bacterial strains, with weak or no anti fungal activity. On brine shrimp lethality bioassay, LC50 value of all extracts was 1.335-14.057 µg/mL, lower than cut off index for cytotoxicity. All extracts showed statistically significant (p<0.001) thrombolytic activity.
(3)
• Antimicrobial / Leaves : Study evaluated a hydroalcoholic extract of Spondias dulcis leaves for antimicrobial activity against S. aureus, S. epidermis, E. coli, P. aeruginosa and Salmonella sp. using agar diffusion and microdilution method Results showed good antimicrobial activity against Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Results showed low activity against gram-negative microorganisms. (4)
• Protection Against DNA Damage induced by Benzo[a0pyrene and Cyclophosphamide / Bark: Study evaluated an ethanolic extract of bark for protective effects against benzo[a]pyrene and cyclophosphamide induced DNA damage in mice. No genotoxic, cytotoxic, or mutagenic effect in bone marrow and peripheral blood of mice. The extract showed protective effects against B[a]P and CP-induced DNA damage, depleting the number of damaged nucleoids, MNPCW and MNRET in the test animals. The extract also increased CAT activity and GSH levels and depleted MDA levels. Results suggest S. dulcis can be a protective compound against DNA damage caused by mutagenic agents CP and B[a]P. (5)
• No Effect on Glucose Transport through Intestinal Mucosal Membrane / Leaves : Study evaluated the antihyperglycemic effect of S dulcis leaf infusion on glucose transport rate through intestinal mucosal membrane of male Wistar rats. Results showed no effect on glucose absorption rate (8)
• Antioxidant / Total Phenolic Content / Fruits: Study evaluated the antioxidant and total phenolic content of five species of fruits in Bangladesh. Ambarella showed a total phenolic content of 27.08 ± 1.66 mg GAE/g and total phenolic. On DPPH assay, ambarella showed scavenging effects of 74.12 ± 1.44%. (11)
• Inhibition of Human Topoisomerase / Anticancer: Study rationalized the known antioxidant and anticancer activities of extracts of some plants through inhibition of human topoisomerases I and II, as it is crucial to develop novel nontoxic topoisomerase inhibitors than can spare normal cells. Extracts of Spondias dulcis, Acacia catechu, Embelica officinalis, Terminalis belerica, and Terminalia chebula completely inhibited human topoisomerase I at 40 µg/mL concentration. The same extracts are known to possess anticancer activity. S. dulcis, T. chebula and A. catechu showed 20-80% inhibition of human topoisomerase 1 even at 9µg/mL concentration. The nuclear fragmentation leading to apoptosis in cancerous cell lines in the presence of such plant extracts may be through inhibition of topoisomerases in addition to modulation of modulation of Fenton-reaction mediated damage to DNA constituents shown elsewhere. (12)
• Fruit Nectar Source: Ambarella is an underutilized seasonal fruit crop in Sri Lanka, where it is largely utilized as curry and chutney. Study evaluated ambarella as a nectar source for use in food products. Proximate analysis of the fruit yielded: energy 69.12 Kcal/100g, carbohydrate 16.65%, protein 0.45%, fat 0.08%, sodium 3018 mg/kg, potassium 344 mg/kg, calcium 94.7 mg/kg, with total production cost of 190.oo Rs per one liter. Results suggest ambarella can be recommended as a source for fruit nectar production. The best maturity stage for nectar production is when the fruits are completely mature with ripening initiated on trees. (13)
• Burn Wound Healing / Leaf and Vaseline: Study evaluated the healing process of second degree burn in rats using ambarella leaf and vaselin. Parameters measured were inflammatory reactions and distribution of collagen tissue. Results showed the use of ambarella leaf and vaselin can speed up the healing process of burns in rats compared with other treatments. (14)
• Free Radical Scavenging / Fruit Peels: Study of fruit peels for DPPH free radical scavenging showed 69.7% at 1000 µg/ml, 24.25 at 500 µg/ml, and11.49% at 62.5 µg/ml. (15)
• Laxative Effect / Antioxidant / Acute Toxicity Testing: Study evaluated S.dulcis extract for in vivo pharmacological effect in intestinal motility, invitro antioxidant activity, and acute toxicity test in mice. Results showed a laxative effect of the S. dulcis extract and high antioxidant activity (IC50 5.10 on DPPH assay and 14.14 for hydrogen peroxide scavenging test. No side effects were observed in acute toxicity test up to a dose of 2000 mg/kg. CCC and NMR studoes revealed the presence of flavonoid rutin (quercetin-3-O-rutinoside) in the extract. (19)
69.7% at 1000 µg/ml, 24.25 at 500 µg/ml, and11.49% at 62.5 µg/ml. (15)
• Anti-Salmonella Effect / Pectin / Fruit: Study evaluated the bioactivity of pectin and pectin hydrolysates derived from the fruit of Spondias dulcis against four strains of Salmonellae. Antimicrobial activity was determined using agar well diffusion method. Balb/C mice were used. Ciprofloxacin was positive antibiotic control. Results showed one of the extract (crude pectein pH 2.5) was active against all Salmonellae by well diffusion, with growth inhibition varying from 12 to 15 mm at 100 µg/mL. Three of the extracts had MIC and MBC against all four Salmonellae strains with MIC ranging 5.69 to 44.45 µg/mL and MBC from 11.36 to 44.45 µg/mL. Results highlights potential of pectin polysaccharides as a new source of anti-Salmonella drugs. (20)
• Antioxidant / Phenolic and Flavonoid Contents / Fruit Peel and Seeds: Study evaluated the antioxidant and antibacterial potential of ethyl acetate, hexane, and dichloromethane extracts of seed and peel of S. dulcis fruit. The peel extracts of fruits showed highest activity. Dichloromethane extract of peel showed maximum activity by DPPH radcal scavenging assay (93.40%) followed by hexane extract of peel (91.10%) compared to BHT (74.26%). The ethyl acetate extracts of peel howed highest phenolic content (463.68 mg GAE/g). Hexane extract of peel showed maximum flavonoid content (1133.77 mg QE/g). Peel and seed extracts showed no significant antibacterial activity against S. aureus, E. coli and B. subtilis. (21)
• Gold Nanoparticles / Cytotoxicity Against Breast Cancer Vells / Peels: Study reports on the cost-effective, simple, green synthesis of golld nanoparticles using aqueous peel extract of Spondias dulcis as reducing and stabilizing agent. Tne SPE-AuNPs exhibited significant cytotoxic activity in a dose- and time-dependent manner to MCF-7 human breast cancer cells, with no toxicity to Vero normal cells. Treatment of MCF-7 cells with AuNPs increased the production of intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS). Results suggest potential of S. dulcies AuNPs for development of novel nanomedicines for cancer treatment. (22)
• Postharvest Histology and Storage: Golden apple fruits stored under ambient conditions require 6-9 days to undergo ripening from mature-green stage to golden yellow full ripe stage. Storage under refrigerated conditions require an additional 6-10 days to achieve the same objective. Mature fruits have total soluble solids (TSS) of 4.6-10.9%, total titratable acidity (TTA) of 0.45-1.07% and TSS/TTA of 7.7-19.1. Fruits are an excellent source of antioxidants with phenolic compounds averaging 349.5 mg GA/100g FW and vitamin C 52.0 mg/100g FW. Fruits are very sensitive to chilling injury (CI), Waxing effectively delays appearance of CI, such as pitting. (23)
Availability
- Wildcrafted.
- Cultivated.
- Plants in the cybermaket. (lunti) (ebay) (marketplace) (DaleysFruit) (Mango trees)
|
