Coconut plum

Coconut plum
Shrub shape of the coconut plum
Systematics
Eurosiden I Order : Malpighiales (Malpighiales) Family : Gold plum family (Chrysobalanaceae) Tribe : Chrysobalaneae Genre : Golden plums ( Chrysobalanus ) Type : Coconut plum
Scientific name
Chrysobalanus icaco
L.

The coco plum ( Chrysobalanus icaco ) is a plant from the genus of gold plums ( Chrysobalanus ) within the family of chrysobalanaceae (Chrysobalanaceae). The natural range is mostly in the coastal areas in the tropical areas on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean in the east of the New World and in West Africa .

The coconut plum with its fruits and seeds is used as a food supplier. Folk medicine also uses the positive properties of various extracts, some of which have been proven by studies. The effect of the pomolic acid contained in the leaves against a leukemia cell line should be emphasized .

description

Appearance and leaf

Simple, leathery leaves

The evergreen coconut plum grows as a shrub with heights of 1 to 1.5 meters. It rarely grows as a small tree with heights of 2 to 9 meters with a trunk diameter of 0.3 meters. In exposed locations it also occurs prone and creeping. The bark of young twigs is green and bare. On older branches, the thin bark has a light gray surface with raised lenticels . The bark flakes off in long strips and has a reddish-brown tint underneath.

The alternate and two-line, almost bare and entire leaves are divided into a petiole and a leaf blade. The short petiole is 3 millimeters long. The leathery, simple leaf blade is 3 to 10 centimeters long and 2.5 to 7 centimeters wide, elliptical to obovate, with rounded to indented or rounded to pointed upper end. The upper side of the leaf is glossy dark green and the underside light green, the leaf edge is finely bent.

Coconut plum inflorescence ( Lake Worth , Florida)

Ripe stone fruits

Inflorescence, flower and fruit

The terminal or lateral, zymous inflorescences are finely haired and with a length of 3 to 6 centimeters shorter than the leaves. The relatively small, hermaphrodite and stalked flowers are rarely four, usually five-fold with a double flower envelope . There are sloping small bracts and bracts. There are seldom four, mostly five, fine-haired, free and mostly triangular sepals present. The rarely four, mostly five white and narrow, obovate petals are 5 millimeters long. The approximately 20 stamens are basal, tube-like fused, with hairy stamens underneath, they sit inside on the edge of the flower cup . There is only a central carpel . The ovary is hairy with a laterally and basal accreting, hairy stylus with smaller capitate scar . It is protogyny (pre-femininity) in the flowers .

One fruit per inflorescence develops to maturity. The small stone fruit of the coconut plum resembles that of a plum . The almost spherical to ellipsoidal, smooth fruits with a diameter of 2 to 4 centimeters are thin-skinned. The initially green stone fruits turn creamy white, yellow, light pink, violet, brownish purple and blackish at the end when ripe. They have a white, juicy, spongy, oily " pulp " with a sweet to, in the case of ripe fruit, bland taste, whereby unripe fruits have a "contracting" effect. The fleshiness of the fruit is different depending on the distribution area. The fruit yield per plant for a 2.5 meter tall individual in Puerto Rico was 760 ripe fruits from a single harvest. In Puerto Rico, ripe fruits weigh 4.36 ± 1.17 grams. The egg-shaped, brownish stone core is ribbed and sculpted, with fleshy cotyledons and it is hollow inside.

ingredients

The fruit has an edible share of around 49%. The fruit contains per 100 grams: 86.3 grams of water, 47  kilocalories , 0.4 grams of protein , 0.1 grams of fats , 12.4 grams of carbohydrates , 1 gram of fiber and 0.8 grams of vegetable ash . Minerals are included with 38 milligrams of calcium , 0.6 milligrams of iron and 17 milligrams of phosphorus . An vitamins come 9 milligrams of ascorbic acid ( Vitamin C ), 0.04 milligrams of thiamine ( vitamin B ₁ ), 0.03 mg Riboflavin ( vitamin B ₂ ), 0.3 milligrams of nicotinic acid ( vitamin B ₃ ), and traces of Vitamin A before.

Occurrence

The coconut plum occurs naturally in the coastal regions of the Bahamas and the Caribbean ( Cayman Islands , Cuba , Dominican Republic , Jamaica , Puerto Rico, and Trinidad and Tobago ). The coconut plum can also be found on the coasts of Central and South America ( Belize , Costa Rica , El Salvador , Guatemala , Honduras , Nicaragua , Panama , French Guiana , Guyana , Suriname , Venezuela , Colombia , Ecuador ) and northern Brazil . The coconut plum was naturalized in the Seychelles , Fiji , French Polynesia ( Marquesas Islands and Society Islands ), Singapore and Vietnam . In North America , the coconut plum is only found in southern Florida . The natural distribution has spread inland through plantings.

The coconut plum grows naturally on beaches and coasts, but has spread inland through plantings. In areas without tides , the coconut plum sometimes forms extensive thickets. The coconut plum grows as a single individual in thickets on dunes and stony headlands up to a height of 500 meters above sea level. It is tolerant of wind, salt fog and floods and generally occurs on shallow soils. The coconut plum is intolerant of shading.

Some sources also describe the tropical regions of Africa as the home region. It can also be a (former) subspecies of Chrysobalanus icaco . The following are named: Cameroon , the Central African Republic , the Republic of the Congo , Equatorial Guinea , Gabon , the Democratic Republic of the Congo , Benin , the Ivory Coast , Gambia , Ghana , Guinea , Guinea-Bissau , Liberia , Nigeria , Senegal , Sierra Leone , Togo , Angola and Zambia .

ecology

The pollination is done by bees because the flowers a good source of nectar represent for them. The coconut plum bears fruit almost all year round and reproduces via its seeds. The diaspores are mainly spread by water, birds , bats , domestic animals and humans , as well as falling from the bush.

Scale insects and caterpillars can sometimes damage natural and ornamental coconut plum plants. Investigations in Puerto Rico have also found that the fruits of the coconut plum are attacked by species of the genus Anastrepha . There were an average of 161 ± 29 pupae per kilogram of fruit . Four adult individuals of the species Anastrepha obliqua , 67 adult individuals of the species Anastrepha suspensa and three individuals of the wasp parasite Utetes anastrephae were collected.

Studies in the Brazilian Parque das Dunas found that arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) predominate in the local area of ​​distribution . However, a direct interaction with the roots of the coconut plum is not described.

Systematics

Chrysobalanus     Licania     Couepia robusta     Hirtella triandra

Cladogram according to Yakandawala et al. (2010)

The coconut plum was first described in 1753 by Carl von Linné in his work Species Plantarum , Volume 1, Page 513.

The generic name is derived from the Greek words chrysos for gold and balanos for acorn and refers to the yellow fruits of the coconut plum. The epithet icaco referred Linnaeus by Charles Plumier , who described how the native common name of this species on Haiti icaco was. Sun is yet to Pedro Menendez de Aviles during the war against the Huguenots a fruit named cacos have used.

Synonyms for Chrysobalanus icaco L. are: Chrysobalanus pellocarpus G.FWMeyer , Chrysobalanus icaco L. var. Genuinus Stehlé & Quentin and Chrysobalanus icaco L. var. Pellocarpus (GFWMeyer) C.Martius .

The genus Chrysobalanus forms a relationship with group licania , such as by molecular genetic studies of plastids - DNA was detected sequence rbcL.

The African species Chrysobalanus orbicularis Schum. and Chrysobalanus ellipticus Soland. ex Sabine used to be considered a subspecies of Chrysobalanus icaco . References to Chrysobalanus icaco in Africa can therefore also refer to one of these species. The names are now in the synonymy of Chrysobalanus icaco subsp. icaco posed.

According to R. Govaerts, two subspecies can be distinguished:

• Chrysobalanus icaco subsp. atacorensis (A.Chev.) F.White (Syn .: Chrysobalanus atacorensis A.Chev. ): It occurs originally from western tropical Africa to Zambia.
• Chrysobalanus icaco subsp. icaco : It originally occurs from Florida to eastern Brazil and from western tropical Africa to Angola.

use

Use as an ornamental plant in a hedge ( Boynton Beach , Florida)

The fruits of the coconut plum were a widely used food at the time of Christopher Columbus' landing in the Caribbean. The fruits are freshly edible and can also be boiled down . The coconut plum was also used as a torch. An astringent effect is described for bark, leaves and roots .

The seeds have a high, edible oil content of 20 to 22% of their volume and taste like roasted almonds. They contain among other things palmitic acid , stearic acid and arachidic acid . The wood is light brown, hard and heavy with a relative density of 0.8. It is used as fuel and for construction purposes. Use as an ornamental plant and for fortifying dunes and soils is also described.

Planting

Studies on the planting of coconut plums show an average of 1790 seeds per kilogram, a germination rate of 89% after 34 days. No roughening of the seed coat (scarification) or any other treatment of the seeds is necessary. The growth of the young plants in the greenhouse and in the field is slow, which is why special care is required against weeds .

Medical use

In folk medicine, the coconut plum has an abortive, astringent , blood sugar-lowering and hemostatic effect. In scientific studies anti-angiogenic , cancer-inhibiting, antioxidant, antileukemic and tumor-inhibiting effects were also found.

From these effects, various medical fields of application have developed in which the coconut plum is used as a medicine. These include: diarrhea , blennorrhea , bleeding , urinary bladder infections , genital infections , dysentery , hypoglycaemia , leucorrhea, nephrosis and warts . For cancer and diabetes mellitus, there are also studies that prove the effect. There is scientific evidence for tumors and leukemia , but no popular medical use.

Structural formula of pomolic acid (C ₃₀ H ₄₈ O ₄ )

In a study with coconut plum leaves, the triterpene pomolic acid was extracted using dichloromethane (CH ₂ Cl ₂ ). This showed an inhibitory effect on growth and induced apoptosis in the leukemia cell line K562 . This triterpene also inhibited the spread of Lucena 1 , a vincristine- resistant offshoot of K562 . A methanol extract also showed 44 percent angiogenic inhibition in a chicken embryo culture.

In 2007 the FDA listed two articles in their FDA Poisonous Plant Database that indicated the toxicity of this species.

Web links

Commons : Coconut Plum ( Chrysobalanus icaco )  - Collection of images, videos, and audio files

• Chrysobalanus icaco on plantillustrations.org.
• Meyers Konversations-Lexikon , 1888
• Chrysobalanus icaco at Useful Tropical Plants.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c d e f} data sheet at Pacific Island Ecosystems at Risk = PIER.
2. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g} Klaus Ulrich Leistikow: The Woodbook: The Complete Plates . TASCHEN Verlag, Cologne 2013, ISBN 978-3-8365-3603-5 , pp. 190 .
3. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o} Jules Janick and Robert E. Paull: The Encyclopedia of Fruit & Nuts . CAB International, Wallingford 2008, ISBN 978-0-85199-638-7 , pp. 253 f .
4. ↑ ^{a b} Stephen H. Brown, Marc S. Frank: Cocoplum (Chrysobalanus icaco L.) Identification and Uses. 2018, (PDF) , from EDIS, UF / IFAS - University of Florida, accessed on September 2, 2019.
5. ↑ TM de Aguiar, RR Luo, RE Smith et al. a .: Chemical Characterization of Cocoplum (Chrysobalanus icaco, L) Seed Oil and Seeds. In: Journal of Regulatory Science. 5 (2), 2017, pp. 15–28.
6. ^ ^{A b c} Chrysobalanus icaco in the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN), USDA , ARS , National Genetic Resources Program. National Germplasm Resources Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland.
7. ↑ David A. Jenkins, Ricardo Goenaga: Host Breadth and Parasitoids of Fruit Flies (Anastrepha spp.) (Diptera: Tephritidae) in Puerto Rico . In: Environmental Entomology (=  37 ). No. 1 . Entomological Society of America, 2008, pp. 110-120 , doi : 10.1603 / 0046-225X (2008) 37 [110: HBAPOF] 2.0.CO; 2 .
8. ^ Sulzbacher et al .: A survey of an ectotrophic sand dune forest in the northeast Brazil . In: Mycosphere (=  4 ). No. 6 . Mycosphere Online Edition, 2013, ISSN  2077-7019 , p. 1106-1116 ( pdf ).
9. ↑ ^{a b} Deepthi Yakandawala, Cynthia M. Morton, Ghillean T. Prance: Phylogenetic Relationships of the Chrysobalanaceae inferred from chloroplast, nuclear, and Morphological Data . In: Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden (=  97 ). No. 2 . Missouri Botanical Garden, 2010, p. 269 , doi : 10.3417 / 2007175 .
10. ↑ Umberto Quattrocchi: CRC World Dictionary of Plant Names: Common Names, Scientific Names, Eponyms, Synonyms, and Etymology. A-C. (=  I. ). CRC Press LLC, Boca Raton 2000, ISBN 0-8493-2673-7 , pp. 532 .
11. ^ ^{A b c} Daniel F. Austin: Florida Ethnobotany . CRC Press, Boca Raton 2004, ISBN 0-8493-2332-0 , pp. 325-328 .
12. ↑ ^{a b c d} Rafaël Govaerts (Ed.): Chrysobalanus - World Checklist of Selected Plant Families of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Last accessed on September 25, 2018.
13. ↑ ^{a b c d} James A. Duke, Mary Jo Bogenschutz-Godwin, Andrea R. Ottesen: Duke's Handbook of Medicinal Plants of Latin America . CRC Press, Boca Raton 2009, ISBN 978-1-4200-4316-7 , pp. 209 f .
14. ↑ External identifiers or database links for pomolic acid : CAS number: 13849-91-7, PubChem : 382831 , ChemSpider : 339219 , Wikidata : Q27135401 .
15. ↑ Janaina Fernandes, Rachel Oliveira Castilho, Mariana Rangel da Costa, Karen Wagner-Souza, Maria Auxiliadora Coelho Kaplan, Cerli Rocha Gattass: Pentacyclic triterpenes from Chrysobalanaceae species: cytotoxicity on multidrug resistant and sensitive leukemia cell lines . In: Cancer Letters (=  190 ). No. 2 . Elsevier, 2003, p. 165-169 , doi : 10.1016 / S0304-3835 (02) 00593-1 .

This article is about a health issue. It is not used for self-diagnosis and does not replace a diagnosis by a doctor. Please note the information on health issues !