 Gen info
- Anaxagorea is a genus of flowering plants in the subfamily Anaxagoreoideae is (of which it is the only genus) in the family Annonaceae.
- Anaxagorea javanica is a rainforest plant in the Custard Apple family Annonaceae. According to D.J. Mabberley, the fruit scatters its seeds by exploding. (Mabberley does not discuss the nature of the explosion.) (2)
- Etymology: The genus name Anaxagorea commemorates Anaxagoras (500-428 BCE), a Greek philosopher. The specific epithet javanica is Latin, referring to Java, a locality of natural distribution of the species. (3)
Botany
• Growth form: A shrub or tree up to 6 m tall. Foliage: Stalked leaves have thinly leathery leaf blades that are elliptic or elliptic-oblong, dark green above, green below, with bulges between the secondary veins, and 14–21 by 5–11 cm. Its midrib is often slightly covered with warts below. Flowers: Flowers are fragrant, with fleshy and greenish-white to whitish petals, 1.9–2.5 cm long, and grow in singly or in clusters of up to 4. Fruit: Fruits are dark green, 2.5–4.4 cm long, and grow in clusters of 4–8. Its seeds are shiny black, with a tiny white scar (hilum) at the pointed end. (3)
 • Shrub to tree 2–8 m tall. Twigs greyish brown to brown, markedly to slightly angled in cross-section, sparsely hairy or glabrous. Leaves subcoriaceous to chartaceous, oblong, elliptic-oblong, elliptic, obovate or obovate-oblong, 8–20 cm by 3–8 cm, base slightly acute or rounded, apex obtuse to acuminate, the acumen 3–20 mm long, glabrous on both surfaces, midrib plane to slightly sunken above, secondary veins 6–12 per side; petioles 5–12 mm long, glabrous. Inflorescences terminal or leaf-opposed, 1–5-flowered, or plants cauliflorous, peduncles 3–10 mm long, pedicels 5–20 mm long; buds ovoid or globose. Sepals ovate or triangular-ovate, 4–6 mm long, obtuse to acute. Outer petals pale green to white, ovate-triangular or ovate, 12–25 mm by 8–14 mm, inner side varying from bifacial just below apex to bifacial or broadly keeled in upper third to upper half, slightly to strongly thickened toward apex, apex obtuse or acute, sparsely hairy to glabrous outside, glabrous inside. Inner petals present or absent (in var. tripetala), white, elliptic-rhomboid, 7–22 mm by 4–10 mm, inner side bifacial to broadly keeled in upper third, concave at middle part of inner side, apex acute to acuminate, glabrous on both surfaces. Stamens 37–88, spatulate, 2.5–4 mm long, plus 10–25 staminodes. Carpels 3–16, ovaries oblong or linear-oblong, 1.7–2 mm long. Fruit of 1–16 monocarps borne on a pedicel 10–20 mm long. Monocarps brown to blackish brown at maturity, 2.5–3.5 cm by 0.7–1 cm, persistent apical beak straight, 0.1–0.8 mm long, sometimes absent in var. tripetala, stipe 12–25 mm long, hairy. Seeds 1–2 per monocarp, obovoid, 10–13 mm by 6–8 mm. (e-Flora of Thailand)
 Distribution
- Native to the Phlippines.
- Also native to Andaman Is., Borneo, Jawa, Malaya, Nicobar Is., Sumatera, Thailand. (1)
- In lowland primary and secondary forests, up to 500-1000 m altitude.
Constituents
- Study of bark and roots of A. javanica isolated a novel sesquiterpene, nordine (or 2,2,9-trimethyl-5-methylene-12-oxa-bicyclo[6.3.1]dodecane-4,9-diol) (1) and two new copyrine alkaloids of eupolauridine skeleton, viz., 4,11-dimethoxyeupolauridine (2) and 2-methoxy-3-hydroxyeupolauridine (3), along with five alkaloidal (4–8) and nine non-alkaloidal compounds (9–17). (see study below) (4)
Properties
- Fragrant flowers.
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Studies have suggested antioxidant, NO inhibitory, anti-inflammatory properties.
Parts used
Roots, bark, flowers.
Uses
Edibility
- No reports found on plant edibility.
Folkloric
- No reported folkloric medicinal use in the Philippines.
- In Peninsular Malaysia, root decoction given after childbirth. (3)
- In Thailand, used as a blood tonic.
- Flowers used as heart tonic. Whole plant mixed with Desmos chinensis used in a bath for rehabilitation of dug addicts. Root decoction used as ubat meroyan (medicine given to women after childbirth).
Others
- Laundry use: Seeds used to preserve clothes, like camphor.
- Fiber: Bark used as cordage.
- Crafts: Wood used for making rafters.
Studies
• Inhibition of NO Production / Sesquiterpene and Copyrine Alkaloids / Bark and Roots: Study
of bark and roots of A. javanica isolated a novel sesquiterpene, nordine (1) and two new copyrine alkaloids (2,3), along with five alkaloidal and nine non-alkaloidal compounds. Compounds 6 and 7 displayed moderate inhibition of NO production with IC50s of 18.2 and 32.3 µg/ml respectively. (see constituents above) (4)
• Antioxidant / Anti-Inflammatory / Bark and Roots: Hexane and dichloromethane extracts of barks showed weak inhibition of NO production at highest concentration of 200 µg/ml without cytotoxic effect. Methanolic and acetone extracts of roots showed inhibition of lipoxygenase activity at 100 µg/ml with IC50 of 48.21 and 63.87 µg/ml respectively. Of pure compounds isolated, only sampangine (89) and 3-methoxysampangine (90) significantly inhibited NO production with IC50s of 18.17 and 32.25 µg/ml, respectively, at highest concentration of 25 µg/ml tested. (6)
Availability
Wild-crafted.
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