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Medicinal Plant: Acacia
| By goGreen | April 16, 2012 |  |
Family • Mimosaceae
Akasya
Acacia
Samanea saman (Jacq.) Merr.
RAIN TREE
Scientific names | Common names |
| Samanea saman (Jacq.) Merr. | Acacia (Span., Tag.) |
| Albizia saman | Akasya (Tag., Ilk.) |
| Mimosa saman Jacq. | Palo de China (Span.) |
| Inga saman Willd. | False powder puff (Engl.) |
| Pithecolobium saman Benth. | Rain tree (Engl.) |
| Enterolobium saman Prain | Saman (Puerto Rico) |
| Monkey pod (Engl.) | |
| Acacia is a name shared by many species of Philippine plants, both scientific and common names: (1) Acacia concinna, acacia, a prickly shrub found in La Union, Benguet, and Ilocos Sur provinces of northern Luzon; (2) Albizzia lebbect, acaci, langil, mimosa; (3) Samanea saman, rain tree, acacia, for Acacia concinna; (4) Acacia farnesiana, aroma; (5) Acacia glauca, ipil-ipil; (6) Acacia niopo, kupang; (7) Acacia crassicarpa. | |
Botany
Acacia is a large umbraculiform tree growing to a height of 20 to 25 meters. Bark is rough and furrowed. Branches are widespread. Leaves are evenly bipinnate and hairy underneath. Pinnae are 8 to 12 and 15 centimeters long or less. Leaflets are 12 to 16 in the upper pinnae, 6 to 10 in the lower ones, decreasing in size downward, hairy beneath, with the mid-nerve diagonal, and oblong-rhomboid, 1.5 to 4 centimeters long. Flowers are pink, borne in dense, peduncled, axillary, solitary, fascicled heads. Fruits are pods, straight, somewhat fleshy, indehiscent, 15 to 20 centimeters long, 2 centimeters wide, with a pulpy sweet mesocarp.
Distribution
- Throughout the Philippines in waste places along roads and trails in fallow, rice paddies, etc.
- Widely planted as a shade tree.
- In some places, spontaneous.
- Introduced here about 1860 from tropical America.
- Now pantropic in cultivation.
Constituents
· Saponin-like alkaloid pithecolobin has been isolated from the bark and the seed.
· Alkaloids are said to be abundant in the bark, stems, leaves, and seeds.
· Leaves and stems have saponin and tannin; gum from the trunk.
· Pods are rich in starch and sugar, with a fair proportion of albuminoid substances.
· Bark has no tannin. Trunk yields an inferior gum.
Properties
Slightly acidic tasting, cooling.
Antipyretic, antimicrobial, stomachic, astringent and antidermatoses.
Parts utilized:
· Entire plant.
· Collect from May to October.
· Rinse and sun-dry.
Uses
Edibility
Mesocarp of the fruit is sweetish, sometimes eaten by children.
Folkloric
· In the Philippines, a decoction of the inner bark or fresh cambium and leaves is used to treat diarrhea.
· Acute bacillary dysentery, enteritis, diarrhea: use 15 to 30 gms dried material in decoction.
· Also for colds, sore throat, headache.
· A decoction of the inner bark or fresh cambium and leaves is used to treat diarrhea.
· Anaphylactic dermatitis, eczema, skin pruritus: use decoction of fresh material and apply as external wash.
· Latex used as gum arabic for gluing.
· In Venezuela, rain tree is a traditional remedy for colds, diarrhea, headache, intestinal ailments and stomach ache.
· Root decoction used in hot baths for stomach cancer.
· In the West Indies, the leaf infusion is used as a laxative and seeds chewed for sore throat.
· The alcoholic extract of leaves used for tuberculosis.
· In Columbia, the fruit decoction is used as a sedative.
Others
- Wood: Valued for its shade. Popularly used in carving, making tables, wood basins and bowls. Hats are made from the shavings of the wood.
- Fodder: Seasonally copious pods with sweet pulp that can be grounded and converted to fodder and alcohol as an energy source. It is also an important honey plant like most mimosaceous trees
Studies
• Studies have suggested antimycobacterial antimicrobial activity in the crude extracts of acacia.
• Preliminary phytochemical screening and antimicrobial activity of Samanea saman: A study of the aqueous plant extract on three organisms (Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus and Candida albicans) showed inhibitory activity against all the tested organisms. Phytochemical screening revealed tannins, flavanoids, saponins, steroids, cardiac glycosides and terpenoids. The study validates the use of the plant in traditional medicine.
• Antibacterial: A methanol extract from leaves showed a highly significancellpadding=”0″>
• Larvicidal: Of 112 medicinal plant species collected in Thailand, Samanea saman (stem bark) was one of 14 plants that exhibited high toxicity to the fourth instar larvae of Aedes aegypti in preliminary screening.
• Antioxidant: Several extracts of Samanea saman showed the highest antioxidant potential in both DPPH and reducing power assay.
• Anti-Termite: Study of ethanolic extracts of seeds and bark of Acacia collected from the Laurel Farm in Lipa city yielded saponins, tannins, alkaloids, reducing agents – glycosides, carbohydrates. Results showed termite killing activity comparable to solignum.
Availability
Wild-crafted.
Source: Philippine Medicinal Plants
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