Brucea javanica (also known as Macassar kernels) is a plant in the family Simaroubaceae. The specific epithet Latin: javanica is from Latin, meaning "of Java". Other common names in English include Java brucea and kosam.
Brucea javanica grows as a shrub or small tree to tall. The tiny flowers (1.5–2 mm in diameter) are greenish white to greenish red or purple and occur in panicles. There are separate male and female flowers on each plant, making it a monoecious species. The anthers are typically red. In the northern hemisphere it flowers in June and July and sets fruit in July and August, in Australia it flowers from October to February and fruits from February to July. The fruit, which are drupes, measure up to 0.51NaN1 long. When ripe they are a black-gray color and they become wrinkled when dry. The seed is whitish yellow and covered with an oily membrane. It has compound leaves with typically 7–9 (but range from 3–15) ovate to ovate-lanceolate leaflets with serrate margins. Each leaflet is 20–40 cm long at maturity and comes to a point at the apex. The leaves are covered with fine hairs that are most prominent on the veins and on the undersides of the leaves. All parts of the plant are intensely bitter.
Brucea javanica occurs naturally from Sri Lanka and India to China, Indochina, Malesia, New Guinea and Australia. Its habitat includes open areas, secondary forest and sometimes sand dunes. In Australia it grows as an understory tree from sea-level to altitude.
The fruit of this plant was first mentioned as medicine in the Chinese medical monograph Omissions from the Grand Materia Medica, written in 1765. It contains quassinoid compounds called bruceolides that are anticancer and antiparasitic. It is traditionally used to treat dysentery and malaria, though no clinical trials have been published confirming efficacy for these conditions despite test tube studies repeatedly showing anti-malarial activity. Moronic acid, another compound found in the plant, shows also potential anti-HIV activity.[1] An injectable oil emulsion from the plant has been studied in China in controlled trials for treating lung cancer patients combined with chemotherapy, with promising results. More high-quality trials are needed to confirm this use.