Gen info
- Crypteronia is a genus of flowering trees and shrubs in the family Crypteroniaceae. The genus includes seven species.

Botany
• Trees (8-)12-30(-36) m tall,   (10-)50 cm in diam. Bark brown to gray-brown; twigs glabrous. Petiole (2-) 5-10 mm; leaf blade elliptic to oblong or ovate-oblong, (6-)7-17(-21) × 3-7(-12) cm, glabrous or puberulous, usually finely and distinctly reticulate abaxially, lateral veins 6-8(-10) pairs, base rounded to cuneate, apex acuminate to cuspidate, acumen usually obtuse, sometimes acute. Panicle axillary and/or terminal, ± pendulous,    (9-)15-25(-30) cm, without definite peduncle; bracts of axes usually caducous, triangular or narrowly triangular, (0.5-)1-6 mm. Flowers many, up to 150, dense. Pedicels 1-3 mm. Receptacle ca. 0.5 mm high, puberulous. Sepals 5, triangular, ca. 1 mm. Stamens 5, reduced and mostly permanently inflexed in female flowers, (2-)3-5 mm, glabrous. Ovary subglobose, 0.5-1.5 mm in diam., 2(or 3)-loculed, puberulous to papillose; ovules inserted on septa; style simple or shortly lobed. Capsule 2-3 mm, ± laterally compressed; valves 2. (Flora of China)

• Tree up to c. 30 m. Leaves elliptic or oblong or ovate-oblong, (5-)10-15(-25) by (3-)5-10(-12) cm, rounded to cuneate at the base, acuminate to cuspidate at the top, tip usually obtuse, sometimes acute, glabrous or puberulous, chartaceous to herbaceous, usually finely and distinctly reticulate beneath; Sepals deltoid to triangular, (¼-)½-1¼ mm. Stamens 5 (4), reduced and mostly permanently inflexed in ♀ flowers; Panicle axillary or terminal, also on leafless older nodes, (5-)10-30cm, branched up to the second order, without definite peduncle, more or less pendulous, not woody; Ovary reduced in ♂ flowers, subglobose, 2(-3)-locular, 1-2 mm, puberulous; Capsule (sub)globose or more or less obovoid, 2-3 mm, usually recurved; Ovules inserted on the surface of the septs. Seeds ½-l by c. ¼ mm; (Flora Malesiana)

Distribution
- Native to the Philippines.
- Also native to Andaman Is., Assam, Bangladesh, Borneo, Cambodia, China, East Himalaya, Jawa, Laos, Lesser Sunda Is., Malaya, Myanmar, Nicobar Is., Sumatera, Thailand, Vietnam. (1)

Constituents
- Bioassay-guided fractionation isolated three active compounds: Two were ellagic acid derivatives, namely, 3,3'-di-O-methylellagic acid 4'-O-beta-d-xylopyranoside (1) and 3'-O-methyl-3,4-methylenedioxyellagic acid 4'-O-beta-d-glucopyranoside (2), and the third, kaempferol-3-O-alpha-I-rhamnoside (3). (see study below) (4)

Properties
- Study suggested DNA cleavage activity.

Parts used
Bark, leaves, stem.

Uses
Edibility
- Young shoots are edible, raw or cooked; in salads or eaten as vegetable.
Folkloric
- In Borneo, bark used to treat blisters.
- In West Java, water from stem drunk for treatment of cough. (5)
- In the North Garo Hills, Meghalaya, India, bark and leaves used for snake bite and wound healing.   (6)
Others
- Wood: Hard and durable. However, seldom found in quantity.
- Construction: Used for house building,making furniture, flooring, interior finishing, cart wheels.
- Fuel: Wood used as fuelwood.

Studies
• DNA-Damaging: Study evaluated crude plant extracts of Crypteronia paniculata using a new yeast strain to identify DNA-damaging agents. Bioassay-guided fractionation isolated three active compounds: Two were ellagic acid derivatives, namely, 3,3'-di-O-methylellagic acid 4'-O-beta-d-xylopyranoside (1) and 3'-O-methyl-3,4-methylenedioxyellagic acid 4'-O-beta-d-glucopyranoside (2), and the third, kaempferol-3-O-alpha-I-rhamnoside (3). The three exhibited strong, selective cytotoxicity towards the RAD52 repair-deficient yeast strain. (4)
• Umbelactonyl Cinnamate That Mediate DNA Strand Scission: A bioassay guided fractionation of CH2Cl 2-MeOH extract prepared from Crypteronia paniculata isolated three novel DNA cleavage  agents. Compound 1 exhibited strong Cu2+-dependent relaxation of supercoiled pSP64 DNA, while compounds 2 and 3 showed only weak DNA cleavage activity. (2)

Availability
Wild-crafted.

Additional Sources and Suggested Readings
(1)
Crypteronia paniculata / KEW: Plants of the World Online
(2)
Umbelactonyl cinnamate derivatives from Crypteronia paniculata that mediate DNA strand scission / Jing-Zhen Deng, David J Newman, Sidney M Hecht / Journal of Natural Products, 2005; 68(3): pp 465-467 /
(3)
Crypteronia paniculata / Ken Fern: Tropical Plants Database / Useful Tropical Plants
(4)
DNA-Damaging Agents from Crypteronia paniculata / Jing-Zhen Deng, Rebekah Marshall, Shannon H Jones, Sidney M Hecht et al / Journal of Natural Products, 2003; 65(12): pp 1930-1932 / DOI: 10.1021/np020285o
(5)
Diversity of Indonesian Medicinal Plant in The lowland Forest, Bodogol and Its Surrounding of Mount GedePangrango National Park, West Java / S Susiarti, M Rahayu, Rugayah / IOP Conf. Series: Earth and Environmental Science 166, 2018: 012021 / DOI: 10.1088/1755-1315/166/1/012021
(6)
Indigenous uses of medicinal plants in North Garo Hills, Meghalaya, NE India / M sharma, CL Sharma, PN Marak / Research Journal of Recent Sciences, 2014; Vol 3: pp 137-146 / ISSN: 2277-2502

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)