Botany
Lansones is a tree growing to a height of 4 to
15 meters. Leaves are alternate, 20 to 40 centimeters long, with 5 to 7 leaflets,
oblong to oblong-elliptic, 7 to 18 centimeters in length, and pointed at both ends. Flowers are small,
yellow and borne on spikes, solitary or fascicled on the trunk or
larger branches. Fruit is yellowish-white, occuring in bunches on
a single stem, ellipsoid or globose, 2 to 4 centimeters long, with bitter seeds
that are surrounded by a translucent pulp (arillus). The outer skin is thin
and tough, abundant in a milky juice. The pulp occurs in five sections
with one well-developed seed.
Distribution
- Cultivated for its fruit in Luzon, particularly the Quezon and Laguna Provinces, and occurs wild in Mindanao and Basilan.
-
Also occurs in Indo-China, and the Malay Peninsula and Archipelago, in general cultivation.
Constituents
The rind yields 6% lansium
acid which is toxic.
The fresh peeling yielded a volatile oil, a resin, and some reducing
acids.
The resin is believed to be nontoxic and protective to the stomach
against alcohol.
The outer skin of the fruit is rich in tannin.
From the seeds, two toxic and bitter substances and traces of
an alkaloid.
The fruit pulp contains sucrose, saccharose, fructose and glucose.
Bark is astringent.
• Study isolated a new tetranortriterpenoid (Source)
• Study yielded five tetranoterpenoids, domesticulide A-E (1-5)
from the seed. The seed extract was rich in limonoids.
• Yields triterpenoid lansiolides with antimalarial activity.
Properties
Bark is considered antipyretic and anthelmintic.
Parts
utilized
Bark, fruit, leaves, seeds.
Uses
Nutritional
-The fruit pulp is succulent and
delicious, and may be candied or preserved in syrup.
- Food value per 100 g of edible portion: Moisture 86.5 g; protein 0.8
g; carbohydrates 9.5 g, fiber 2.3 g; calcium 20 mg; phosphorus 30
mg; vitamin A 13 IU; thiamine 89 mcg; riboflavin 124 mcg; ascorbic
acid 1 mg.
Folkloric
- Decoction of bark and leaves used
for dysentery.
- Peel, rich in oleoresin, used for diarrhea and intestinal spasms.
- Crushed seeds used for fevers.
- Astringent bark used for dysentery and malaria.
- Powdered bark used for scorpion stings.
- Bark resin used for flatulence and gastrointestinal colic, for swellings,
and as antispasmodic.
- Grounded seeds mixed with water as vermifuge and antipyretic.
- Tincture prepared from the dried rind used for diarrhea and abdominal
colic.
- In Java. seeds are used as vermifuge and antipyretic.
- In Indonesia, used
for malaria.
Cosmetics
- Cosmeceutical value from its antioxidant,
moisturizing, whitening and lightening effects. Dry extract
of fruit, re-dissolved in propylene glycol is used for skin depigmentation
and as a moisturizer.
Others
- The dried fruit skins when burned
emit an aromatic smell which repels mosquitoes. It also makes a pleasant
room inhalant.
- The juice of the bark and fruit is recorded as used for poison arrow.
Studies
• Anti-Malarial:
(1) Lansium domesticum: skin and leaf extracts of this fruit
tree interrupt the lifecycle of Plasmodium falciparum, and are active
towards a chloroquine-resistant strain of the parasite (T9) in vitro:
Study indicates extracts of LD are a potential source for compounds
with activity against chloroquine-resistant strains of P. falcifarum.
(2) Study yielded firve tetratriterpenoids –
domesticulide A-E from the seeds of Lansium domesticum together with
11 known triterpenoids. Eight of the compounds showed antimalarial
activity against Plasmodium falcifarum.
• Antioxidant:
Extract of LD has shown to have antioxidant activity against
DPPH free radical and anti-tyrosinase activity.
• Skin Moisturizing
/ Lightening Effect: Study showed LD extract can significantly
increase skin moisture and decrease the skin melanin index.
• Antimelanogenesis:
LD methanol extract was one of the study extracts that showed
strong inhibition of melanin production of B16 melanoma cells without
sginificant cytotoxicity, presenting as a potential ingredient for
skin-whitening cosmetics if their safety can be confirmed.
• Antibacterial:
The air-dried fruit peel of LD yielded five onoceroid triterpenes;
the air-dried seeds yielded one onoceroid triterpene (lansionic acid)
and germacrene D. Studies of the compounds showed varying degrees
of activity against P. aeruginosa, B subtilis, C albicans, A niger
among others.
• Anti-Skin Tumor: Study isolated a new cycloartanoid triterpene from the leaves of LD. Some of the natural product derivaties show significant inhibitory activity on skin-tumor promotion on the basis of Epstein Barr virus activation.
• Onoceramoid Triterpenes / Cytotoxicity: Study isolated three new natural onoceranoid triterpenes from the fruit peel of LD together with two known triterpenoids. The triterpenoids exhibited mild toxicity against brine shrimp (Artemia salina).
• Onoceranoid-type Triterpenoids / Antibacterial: Study yielded a rare class of onoceranoid-type triterpenoids, lamesticumin a, lamesticumins B-F, lansic acid 3-ethyl ester and ethyl lansiolate and four known analogues from the twigs of LD. Compounds 1-9 exhibited moderate antibacterial activity against Gram-positive bacteria.
Availability
Commercial cultivation.
