Aglaia coriacea — Edible Plant | Edible Plant Database

Summary

Aglaia coriacea is a species of plant in the family Meliaceae. It is found in Kalimantan, Indonesia, and Peninsular Malaysia.

Description

A small tree. It grows about 5 m tall. Plants are separately male and female. The bark is brown with green and grey patches. The leaves are usually in a spiral near the top. They are 120 cm long by 90 cm wide with leaflets along the stalk. The flowering shoots are in the axils of leaves. The flowers are 2.5 cm long by 1 cm wide. The fruit are narrowly oval and 2-4 cm long by 2-3 cm wide. They have 3 seeds.

Edible Uses

Fruit - sweet and juicy. This report does not specifically say that the fruit is edible, but generally if the fruit of this genus is sweet and juicy, then it is also edible. The brown, ellipsoid fruit can be 23 - 40mm long and 18 - 35mm wide containing up to large 3 seeds, each of which are covered with a thin layer of sweet-tasting flesh.

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 forests up to 270 m above sea level.

Where It Grows

Asia, Indonesia, Malaysia, 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).