Myrianthus arboreus explained

Myrianthus arboreus, the giant yellow mulberry or monkey fruit or Nyankama, in the Akan twi language of Ghana, is a dioecious tropical tree in the genus Myrianthus. It lives in the tropical Central African countries of Central African Republic, Gabon, Cameroon, Nigeria, and Tanzania, and also Ghana in the West African countries.^[1] Its chromosome count is 2n = 28.^[2]

it is locally known as ‘nyankama’ among the Asante people of Ghana.

Description

The species grows as a shrub or small tree that can reach an height of 10 m and occasionally taller. The bark is greyish to green while the slash is white.^[3] Leaves are arranged in a spiral form and are often palmately compound, stipules are long (3 - 5 cm) and commonly covered in hairs. The outline of the leaflet lanceolate with a serrate to dentate margin, leaflets can reach up to 65 cm long and 22 cm wide. The infructescences is up to 15 cm in diameter, the fruit drupe like in shape, yellow to orange-red in color, the endocarp is up to 1.7 cm long and 0.8 cm wide.

Distribution and habitat

The species occurs in Tropical Africa, from Guinea eastwards to the Sudan and southwards to Tanzania. Commonly found in lowland forest environments.

Chemistry

Chemical compounds isolated from extracts of the species includes a few ursane type triterpenoids, tormentic, myrianthic and euscaphic acids and flavanols: epicatechin and dulcisflavan.^{[4] [5]}

Uses

The seeds of M. arboreus are eaten cooked; the leaves are made into a vegetable soup called ofe ujuju,^[6] or used as livestock feed.^[7]

Stem bark and leaf extracts are prepared as part of a decoction used in pain management and in the treatment of diabetes,^[8] dysentery, wounds and infections.^[9]

Notes and References

1. Web site: Myrianthus arboreus in Tropicos.
2. Web site: Nutritive Value of the Leaves of Myrianthus arboreus: A Browse Plant . 2022-06-16 . Science Alert . en-gb.
3. de Ruiter . G. . 1976 . Revision of the Genera Myrianthus and Musanga (Moraceae) . Bulletin du Jardin botanique national de Belgique / Bulletin van de National Plantentuin van België . 46 . 3/4 . 471–510 . 10.2307/3667730 . 3667730 . 0303-9153.
4. Ngounou . F. N. . Lontsi . D. . Sondengam . B. L. . 1988-01-01 . A pentacyclic triterpene diacid from Myrianthus arboreus . Phytochemistry . 27 . 7 . 2287–2289 . 10.1016/0031-9422(88)80144-4 . 1988PChem..27.2287N . 0031-9422.
5. García-Pérez . Martha-Estrella . Kasangana . Pierre-Betu . Stevanovic . Tatjana . 2023-02-22 . Bioactive Molecules from Myrianthus arboreus, Acer rubrum, and Picea mariana Forest Resources . Molecules . 28 . 5 . 2045 . 10.3390/molecules28052045 . free . 1420-3049 . 36903291. 10004429 .
6. Web site: PROTA Myrianthus arboreus P.Beauv . Database.prota.org . 2013-12-15 . https://web.archive.org/web/20130412042750/http://database.prota.org/PROTAhtml/Myrianthus%20arboreus_En.htm . 2013-04-12 . dead .
7. Web site: Nutritive Value of the Leaves of Myrianthus arboreus: A Browse Plant . 2022-06-16 . Science Alert . en-gb.
8. Harley . Benjamin Kingsley . Dickson . Rita Akosua . Amponsah . Isaac Kingsley . Ben . Inemesit Okon . Adongo . Donatus Wewura . Fleischer . Theophilus Christian . Habtemariam . Solomon . 2020-12-01 . Flavanols and triterpenoids from Myrianthus arboreus ameliorate hyperglycaemia in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats possibly via glucose uptake enhancement and α-amylase inhibition . Biomedicine & Pharmacotherapy . 132 . 110847 . 10.1016/j.biopha.2020.110847 . 33068933 . 0753-3322. free .
9. Awounfack . Charline Florence . Ateba . Sylvin Benjamin . Zingue . Stéphane . Mouchili . Oumarou Riepouo . Njamen . Dieudonné . 2016-12-24 . Safety evaluation (acute and sub-acute studies) of the aqueous extract of the leaves of Myrianthus arboreus P. Beauv. (Cecropiaceae) in Wistar rats . Journal of Ethnopharmacology . 194 . 169–178 . 10.1016/j.jep.2016.08.052 . 0378-8741.