Aglaia speciosa — Edible Plant | Edible Plant Database

Summary

Aglaia speciosa is a species of plant in the family Meliaceae. It is found in Indonesia and Malaysia.

Description

A tree. It grows 35 m tall. The trunk is 50 cm across and can have buttresses. It can be without branches for the first 20 m. Trees are separately male and female. The fruit are orange to brown and broadly oval. They are 2-3 cm long by 1.7-2.7 cm wide. There are 2 seeds.

Edible Uses

Fruit - raw. A sweet flavour. The orange to brown, obovoid fruits are 23 - 30mm long and 17 - 27mm wide, containing up to 2 seeds each of which are covered in an edible flesh.

Traditional Uses

The 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).

Known Hazards

It is an at-risk species.

Distribution

It is a tropical plant. It grows in forest from sea level to 2,200 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). The sapwood is yellow.