Gen info
- Planchonella obovata is a species of tree in the family Sapotaceae. It was first described as Sersalisia obovata by Robert Brown in his 1810 work Prodromus Florae Novae Hollandiae. In 1890, Jean Baptiste Louise Pierre moved to its current binomial name. (2)
- Etymology: The genus name Planchonella honors the French botanist Jules Emile Planchon (1823-1888), appointed Keeper of the Herbarium at the Roya Kew Gardens. The specific epithet obovata  dervies from Latin, meaning "inverted ovate" or "egg-shaped, referring to the plant's leaves.  (4)

Botany
• Pouteria obovata is a tree of various dimension, from small (10 m) to medium-sized (30 m) or sometimes even up to 40 m tall; bole varying from crooked and gnarled to straight and branchless for over 10 m (and then usually with plank buttresses). Leaves evenly distributed, usually obovate but sometimes elliptical-lanceolate, with distinct reticulate tertiary venation, usually velvety beneath, but often glabrescent. Flowers in 1-20-flowered clusters in axils of leaves, borne on 2-10 mm long pedicels, white to greenish. Fruit obovoid or subglobose, 1-1.5 cm long, glabrous, whitish-yellow, red or blue. (1)

• Planchonella obovata is a shrub or tree, to 40 m tall but usually shorter. Bark brown. Branchlets angulate, rust colored sericeous to tomentose when young, glabrescent. Leaves scattered; petiole 0.5--5 cm; leaf blade obovate to lanceolate, 6--24 X 1.5--15 cm, membranous, papery, or leathery, abaxially rust colored, blackish tomentose, or sericeous but glabrescent, adaxially shining and glabrous, base narrowly to broadly cuneate, apex rounded to acuminate, lateral veins 7--18 pairs. Flowers female or bisexual, green to white, several in axillary clusters, 5- or 6-merous. Pedicels 2--10 mm, rust colored and white tomentose. Sepals 5(or 6), rounded or broadly ovate, 2--3 X 2--3 mm, outside white, yellow, or rust colored tomentose, inside glabrous, margin membranous, ciliate, or fimbriate. Corolla campanulate, 3--5 mm; lobes 5, broadly ovate to oblong. Stamens 2.5--3.5 mm, sometimes absent or abortive; staminodes lanceolate to triangular, sometimes absent. Ovary conical to obovoid, rust colored hirsute, 5--10-locular. Style conical, 1.5--2 mm, 5-ribbed. Fruit white, yellow, red, or blue when fresh, obovoid to globose, 1--1.5 X 1--1.5 cm; pericarp membranous, glabrous; 1--5-seeded. Seeds oblique fusiform, 8--12 X 2--3.5 mm, yellow; scar narrowly elliptic. (Flora of China)

Distribution
- Native to the Philippines.
- Also native to Andaman Is., Bangladesh, Borneo, Cambodia, Caroline Is., Hainan, Jawa, Kazan-retto, Lesser Sunda Is., Malaya, Maluku, Marianas, Nansei-shoto, New Guinea, Nicobar Is., Ogasawara-shoto, Pakistan, Queensland, Santa Cruz Is., Seychelles, Solomon Is., Sulawesi, Sumatera, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam. (3)

Constituents
- Study of ethanol extract of leaves isolated four benzophenone glucosides (1-4), along with five known flavonol glycosides. (see study below) (6)
- Study of leaves isolated four triterpenoid glycosides viz., 6β-hydroxy-conyzasaponin G (2), 3‴-O-de-β-d-apiofuranosylisoarganin F (3), isoarganin F (4), and 6β-hydroxy-conyzasaponin N (5), possessing protobassic acid as common aglycon, together with 16 known compounds. (see study below) (7)

Properties
- Studies have suggest antioxidant, analgesic, xanthine oxidase inhibitory, cytotoxic properties.

Parts used
Leaves, bark.

Uses
Edibility
- Fruits are edible.
Folkloric
- Bark chewed for treatment of sprue. Decoction of leaves drunk for stomach aches. Poultice of leaves used for lumbago (1)
- Leaf paste applied to forehead to relieve headaches. Leaf decoction drunk as remedy for chest pains. (4)
Others
- Wood: Timber used as nyatoh or bitis. Used as house posts and for salt-water piling. Suitable for carving, cabinet making, turnery. (1)

Studies
• Antioxidant / Analgesic / Bark: Study evaluated ethanolic bark extract of P. obovata for antioxidant, cytotoxic, and analgesic activity. DPPH free radical scavennging assay for antioxidant activity showed IC50 of 1.15 µg/ml compared to ascorbic acid at 3.338 µg/ml. Total phenolic content was 145.56 mg/g, total flavonoid content 8.75 mg/g. Cytotoxicity study showed insignificant cytotoxicity effect with very high LC50 of 3318.471 µg/ml compared to vincristine sulfate LC50 2.313 µg/ml. Analgesic activity testing using Hot Plate test and acetic acid induced writhing test, bark extract doses of 500 and 70 showed better analgesic effect than standard diclofenac. The ethanolic extract of bark showed mild antioxidant activity but highly significant DPPH scavenging activity. On acute toxicity testing,  no adverse effects were observed in mice up to 1000 mg/kg. (5)
• Benzophenone Glucosides / α-Glucosidase Inhibitory / Leaves: Study of ethanol extract of leaves isolated four benzophenone glucosides (1-4), along with five known flavonol glycosides. Compound 4, iriflophenone 2-O-(2,6-di-O-galloyl)-β-D-glucopyranoside, showed some inhibitory activity against α-glucosidase of Bacillus stearothermophilus (91.4 and 15% inhibition at 100 and 10 µg/ml, respectively. (6)
• Cytotoxic Protobassic Acid Glycosides / HL-60 Leukemia Cell Line / Leaves: Study of leaves isolated four triterpenoid glycosides viz., 6β-hydroxy-conyzasaponin G (2), 3‴-O-de-β-d-apiofuranosylisoarganin F (3), isoarganin F (4), and 6β-hydroxy-conyzasaponin N (5), possessing protobassic acid as common aglycon, together with 16 known compounds. Compound 5, Mi-saponin A (8), and ursolic acid (10) showed moderate inhibitory activities against HL-60 leukemia cell line with IC50s of 16.88, 15.50, and 12.69 µM, respectively. (7)
• Xanthine Oxidase Inhibitors / Potential Anti-Hyperuricemic: In a  study searching for natural xanthine oxidase inhibitors as anti-hyperuricemmic agent, screening extended to benzophenone glucosides 19-22, isolated from Planchonella obovata. Digalloylated 22, having a docking score around -25.5 Kcal/mol, showed comparable inhibitory activity against xanthine oxidase to allopurinol (IC50 40.0 cx 58.5 µM). (8)

Availability
Wild-crafted.

Additional Sources and Suggested Readings
(1)
Pouteria obovata (PROSEA) / RHMJ Lemmens // Pl@ntUse
(2)
Planchonella obovata / Wikipedia
(3)
Planchonella obovata / KEW: Plants of the World Online
(4)
Planchonella obovata / National Parks: FLORA & FAUNA WEB
(5)
Evaluation of Antioxidant, Cytotoxicity and Analgesic Activities of the Ethanolic Extract of the Barks of Planchonella Obovata /  Md Abdur Roug, Humaira Jahan Mali, AFM Mahmudul Islam et al / International Academic Journal of Applied Bio-Medical Sciences, 2022; 3(6): pp 1-10 / pISSN: 2709-328X / eISSN: 2709-3298
(6)
Three New Benzophenone Glucosides from the Leaves of Planchonella obovata / Shoei-Sheng Lee, Chang-Cheng Tseng, Chien-Kuang Chen / Helvetica Chimica Acta,2010; 93(3): pp 522-529 /
DOI: 10.1002/hlca.200900264
(7)
Cytotoxic protobassic acid glycosides from Planchonella obovata leaf / Hsin-Yi chen, Jih-Hwa
guh, She-Hung Chan, Shoei-sheng Lee / Phytochemistry Letters, 2015 /
DOI: 10.1016/j.phytol.2015.01.005
(8)
Potential Anti-hyperuricemic Agents from Proanthocyanidins, Procyanidins, and Benzophenone Glucosides via In Silico Docking Analysis Verified with In Vitro Bioassay / Dr Sheau Ling Ho, Yi Ii Lin, Sheng Fa Tsai, Dr Shoei-sheng Lee / Chemmistry Select, 2022, 87(3): e202103581 /
DOI: 10.1002/slct.202103581

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