Aglaia ceramica — Edible Plant | Edible Plant Database

Summary

Aglaia ceramica is a species of plant in the family Meliaceae. It is a tree endemic to the Maluku Islands in Indonesia.

Description

A small tree. It grows 3 m tall. Trees are separately male and female. It loses its leaves during the year. The fruit are oval and yellow. They are 1.5 cm long by 0.8 cm wide. There are 3 seeds.

Edible Uses

Fruit - raw. A rather sweet flavour. The yellow, obovoid fruits are around 15mm long and 8mm in diameter, containing 3 seeds, each covered with a thin-layer of sweet-tasting, white flesh.

Traditional Uses

The thin fleshy layer around the seeds is eaten.

This uses section is brief — help expand it

Medicinal Uses

The genus 'Aglaia' is the only source of the group of about 50 known representatives of compounds that bear a unique cyclopenta[b]tetrahydrobenzofuran skeleton. These compounds are more commonly called rocaglate or rocaglamide derivatives, or flavaglines, and most have been found to have potent insecticidal properties, antifungal, antiviral, antibacterial or anthelmintic bioactivity. Several of them exhibit pronounced cytotoxic activity against a range of human cancers. Since the first representative in this group was only discovered in 1982, this is one of the few recent examples of a completely new class of plant secondary metabolites of biological promise (see B. G. Wang et al., Biochem. Syst. Ecol. 32: 1223-1226. 2004; L.W. Chaidir et al., J. Nat. Prod. 64: 1216-1220. 2001).

Distribution

It is a tropical plant. It grows in Maluku between 200-650 m above sea level.

Where It Grows

Asia, Indonesia, SE Asia,

Cultivation

A dioecious species, both male and female forms need to be grown if fruit and seed are required.

Other Uses

The genus 'Aglaia' is the only source of the group of about 50 known representatives of compounds that bear a unique cyclopenta[b]tetrahydrobenzofuran skeleton. These compounds are more commonly called rocaglate or rocaglamide derivatives, or flavaglines, and most have been found to have potent insecticidal properties, antifungal, antiviral, antibacterial or anthelmintic bioactivity. Several of them exhibit pronounced cytotoxic activity against a range of human cancers. Since the first representative in this group was only discovered in 1982, this is one of the few recent examples of a completely new class of plant secondary metabolites of biological promise (see B. G. Wang et al., Biochem. Syst. Ecol. 32: 1223-1226. 2004; L.W. Chaidir et al., J. Nat. Prod. 64: 1216-1220. 2001).