Gen info
- Aglaia is genus of 117 species of woody dioecious trees belong to the Mahogany family Meliaceae.
- Due to considerable morphological variation, the genus is burdened with taxonomic problems, with the number of accepted species varying from 117 to over 390 depending on the species concept used. (3)
- Etymology: The genus name Aglaia derives from Greek Aglaea, one of the three Graces of Greek mythology. The specific epithet tomentosa derives from Latin, meaning "hairy".

Botany
• Aglaia tomentosa is small, sometimes medium-sized tree up to 15(-23) m tall, bole branchless for up to 9 m, up to at least 20 cm in diameter, bark surface pale reddish-brown or gray with green patches, inner bark yellow. Leaflets 5-11(-13), opposite or subopposite, with 5-25 pairs of secondary veins, above smooth and glabrous or the midrib densely covered with reddish-brown or orange-brown stellate hairs, below with numerous stellate hairs and interspersed with smaller paler hairs. Flowers 5-merous, anthers 5, style-head subglobose, longitudinally ridged. Fruit a subglobose indehiscent berry, 1-2-locular, ca. 2 cm in diameter, red, velvety, juicy. (1)

• Usually a small tree, sometimes up to 15(–23) m. Outer bark pale reddish-brown or grey with green patches, with longitudinal cracks and lenticels in longitudinal rows; inner bark yellow, fibrous or granular; sap wood pale brown or pinkish-brown; latex white. Leaves imparipinnate, 13–60 cm long, 13–50 cm wide; petiole up to 13 cm long, petiole, rachis and petiolules with indumentum like the twigs. Flowers 1–4 mm long and in diam., sessile. Petals 5. Staminal tube about half the length of the corolla, either cup-shaped, slightly incurved and shallowly 5-lobed at the apical margin, or subglobose, c. 1 mm in diam. with the aperture c. 0.4 mm across; anthers 5, half to as long as the length of the tube, broadly ovoid, inserted near the base or just be- low the margin of the tube, usually protruding, curved and pointing towards the centre of the flower. Fruits 1.6–2.5 cm long, 1.2–1.7 cm in diam., yellow, subglobose or pyriform, with indumentum like the twigs; fruitstalks up to 5 mm. Seed with a complete orange, red or brown, gelatinous, translucent, acidic-tasting aril. (Flora Malesiana)

Distribution
- Native to the Philippines.
- Also native to Borneo, India, Jawa, Laos, Lesser Sunda Is., Malaya, Sulawesi, Sumatera, Thailand, Vietnam. (2)
- An understorey tree in evergreen, primary, secondary, riverine, montane, and ridge forests; from sea level to 2,000 m. (6)

Constituents
- Study of stem bark extract showed TPC of 6.11 mg GAE/g extract and TFC of 5.16 mg QE/g extract; DPPH radical scavenging activity IC50 of 31.04 ppm, and ABTS radical scavenging activity IC50 of 71.07 ppm. (see study below) (4)
- Study of bark isolated dammarane triterpenes, viz., the known cabraleone, cabraleadiol 3-acetate, 3-epiocotillol, cabralealactone, cabralealactone 3-acetate and the new aglinins C and D; along with two new pregnane steroids, aglatomins A and B, with known cytotoxic cyclopenttetrahydrobennzofuran, rocaglol. (see study below) (5)
- Phytochemical screening revealed alkaloids, flavonoids, saponins, tannins, phenolics, and quinolines. Total flavonoid content was 23.27 mg QE/g.   (7)
- Proximate analysis of fruit yielded 77.7% carbohydrate, 8.52% protein, 1.94% lipid, 17.51 Kcal/100 g from fat, total energy362.39 Kca./100g, 4.65% ash, and 1.94% water. Amino acid content yielded
L-histidine 1398.75 ppm, L-isolecucine 1314.17 ppm, L-leucine 2880.18 ppm, and L-lysine 523.66 ppm. (7) |
- LC-MS/MS analysis revealed nine bioactive components, including coumarins (scopoletin and fraxidin), alkaloids (methysergide and tryptostatin A), terpenoids (Santonin and 4-alpha-(hydroxymethyl)-4 alpha-demethylterritrem B), flavonoid (Artoindonesianin B), phenolic (2,5-Di-tert-butylhydroquinone), and a glycoside (5,7-Dihydroxy-2-(4-methoxyphenul)-8-(3-methylbutyl)-4-oxo-4H-chromen-3-YL 6-deoxy-alpha-L-mannopyranoside). (7)

Properties
- Studies have suggested antioxidant and cytotoxicity properties.

Uses
Edibility
- Fruits are edible, although lacking in flavor. The acidic tasting, gelatinous, translucent covering (aril) around the seed is eaten, (6)
Folkloric
- No reported folkloric medicinal use in the Philippines.
Others
- Wood: Sapwood is pale brown or pinkish brown. Wood is not durable; density of 800-905 kg/m3 at 15% moisture. Used in construction, but not very durable when exposed. (1)
- Agroforestry: Serves as shelter and resting place for orangutans, helps prevent landslides, and maintains soil fertility, crucial for oragutan habitats (Atmoko and Ma'ruf, 2009). (7)

Studies
• Antioxidant / Cytotoxicity: Study evaluated 11 potential extracts from various Meliaceae plants family for antioxidant activity and cytotoxicity. Aglaia tomentosa showed highest antioxidant activity by ABTS assay with IC50 of 8.91 µg/mL. Antioxidant activity via DPPH radicals showed 29.32% inhibition. On cytotoxic activity testing on MCF7 cell line, A. tomentosa showed 80.40% inhibition at concentration of 100 ppm. (see constituents above) (4)
• Dammarane Triterpenoids and Pregnane Steroids / Cytotoxicity / Bark: Study of ethanol extract of bark showed cytotoxicity against KB cells (69% inhibition at 10 µg/ml). (see constituents above) (5)

Availability
Wild-crafted.

Additional Sources and Suggested Readings
(1)
Aglaia tomentosa (PROSEA) / PCM Jansen. J Jukema, LPA Oyen, TG van Lingen, MSM Sosef / Pl@ntUse
(2)
Aglaia tomentosa / KEW: Plants of the World Online
(3)
Aglaia / Wikipedia
(4)
Antioxidant and Cytotoxic Activities of Various Meliaceae Plants Extract  / Vera Permatasari, Muhammad Eka Prastya, Sri Rahayu et al / DOI: 10.2991/978-94-6463-112-8_29
(5)
Dammarane triterpenes and pregnane steroids from Aglaia lawiiand A. tomentosa / Khalit Mohamad, Thierry Sevenet, Vincent Dumontet, Mry Pais, Marie-Therese Martin et al / Phytochemistry, 1999, 52(8): pp 1031-1037
(6)
Aglaia tomentosa / Ken Fern: Tropical Plants Database / Useful Tropical Plants
(7)
Primary,Secondary Metabolites and Antioxidant Activity of CastanopsisArgantea, Artocarpus heterophyllus, and Aglaia tomentosa Fruit as Foodfor the Tapanuli Orangutan (Pongo tapanuliensis) in the Batang ToruForest, North Sumatra / Herna Febrianty Sianipar, Wahyu Widoretno et al / Advances in Animal and Veterinary Sciences,  2024; 13(1): pp 64-72 / DOI: 10.17582/journal.aavs/2024/13.1.64.72 / pISSN: 2309-3331 / eISSN: 2307-8316

DOI: It is not uncommon for links on studies/sources to change. Copying and pasting the information on the search window or using the DOI (if available) will often redirect to the new link page. (Citing and Using a (DOI) Digital Object Identifier)