 Gen info
- Dalbergia is a large genus of small to medium-sized trees, shrubs, and lianas in the pea family, Fabaceae, subfamily Faboideae. It contains between 293 and 375 species.
- The genus name Dalbergia honors the 18th century brothers Nils and Carl Dalberg.
- Dalbergia latifolia is a premier timber species. There is international high demand for its high-priced wood. The tree is slow-growing and plantations have not caught up with demand. Under the Indian Forest Act of 1927, the exportation of lumber products from the wild harvested D. latifolia is illegal. Many popular uses of D. latifolia wood have been replaced with Dalbergia sissoo wood and engineered rosewoods. (13)
 Botany
• Dalbergia latifolia is a medium-sized to large evergreen or deciduous tree that grows up to 40 meters high. Bole is straight or slightly twisted. Buttress is often prominent. Bark is gray, peeling in long fibers. Leaves are arranged spirally, pinnately compound with 3 to 7 leaflets. Leaflets are alternate, broadly obovate to elliptic-oblong, 3 to 12 centimeters by 2.5 to 9 centimeters, obtuse, rounded or notched at the apex. Inflorescence is a terminal or axillary panicle, 5 to 15 centimeters long, laxly branched, almost glabrous and many-flowered. Flowers are bisexual, papilionaceous, 6 to 8 millimeters long, distinctly pedicellate; calyx about 4 millimeters long, lobes shorted than the tube. Fruit is a papery brown pod, flat, elliptical to oblong,
4 to 10 centimeters by 1.5 to 2.5 centimeters, reticulately veined, indehiscent, 1- to 4-seeded. Seeds are kidney-shaped, shiny brown to black, hard but brittle when dry, 7 to 10 millimeters long, 4 to 5 millimeters wide. (11)
Distribution
- Introduced.
- Cultivated, not naturalized.
- Native to India and Indonesia.
- Also grown in Nigeria, Kenya, Vietnam, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Malaysia as an ornamental plant.
- IUCN: Listed as vulnerable.
 Constituents
- Preliminary screening of ethanolic and aqueous bark extracts yielded carbohydrates, glycoside, tannins, amino acid, and flavonoids. (see study below) (4)
- Study of heartwood isolated a new diaryl 1,2-diketone, named 1-(2,5-dihydroxy-4-methoxyphenl)-2-phenylethane-1,2-dione (1), along with eight known compounds (2-9)
(6)
- Study of heartwood yielded a new benzofuran compound, named 2-[5-hydroxy-4-methoxy-2-{3-p-henyl-trans-allyloxy}benzyl]-5-hydroxy-6-methoxy-3-phenylbenzofuran (1), along with (+)-obtusafuran (2) and isoparvifuran (3). (see study below)
(7)
- Preliminary phytochemical screening of roots yielded alkaloids, tannins, flavonoids carbohydrates, and glycosides. (see study below) (10)
- Study of heartwood isolated 16 neoflavanoids: eight dalbergiphenols (1-8), three dalbergiones (9-11), two dalbergins (12, 13) two benzophenone (14, 15) and one other type of neoflavanoids (16).
(16)
Properties
- Studies have suggested antioxidant, immunomodulatory, antimutagenic, anxiolytic, nootropic, anti-hemolytic, nephroprotective, cerebroprotective, antidiabetic, anthelmintic properties.
Parts used
Leaves, bark, heartwood, leaves.
 Uses
Folkloric
- No reported folkloric medicinal use in the Philippines.
- In the Jashpur district of India, leaves taken orally for spermatorrhea.
(8)
- In India, used to treat diarrhea, indigestion, leprosy; also used as vermifuge.
(11)
Others
- Wood: Wood is hard, heavy, and durable, resistant to rot and insects. One of the most valuable timbers; comparable to or more expensive than teak.
- Construction: Because of qualities and straight bole, preferred used in premium furniture making and cabinetry, exotic veneers; also used for guitar bodies and other musical instruments, fretboards, carvings, boats, skis, etc. Suitable for turnery. Used for making plywood.
- Agroforestry: A popular shade tree. Used for reforestation of eroded soil. Popular roadside or shade tree.
Studies
• Antioxidant Against Free Radicals / Bark: Study evaluated an ethanolic bark extract for phenolic content and antioxidant activity by DPPH, nitric oxide thiocyanate, and reducing antioxidant property methods. Phenolic content was 210±1.16 µg/mL and flavonoid content was 46±3.61 µg/mL. Results showed significant antioxidant potential with DPPH, NO and thiocyanate percentage inhibition scavenging activity were 92.10±1.10, 86.39±2.12 and 87.22±2.47, respectively. (4)
• Immunomodulatory / Bark: Study evaluated the immunomodulatory activity of ethanolic extract of D. latifolia bark on Swiss albino mice using a cyclophosphamide-induced immunosuppression model and Neutrophil adhesion test. Results showed immunomodulatory activity as evidenced by increased levels of depleted levels of total WBC count and RBC, % Hb and % neutrophil adhesion.(5)
• New Benzofuran / Antioxidant / Heartwood: Study isolated a new benzofuran compound, along with two other compounds from the heartwood of D. latifolia. Compound 1 exhibited moderate antioxidant effect for scavenging DPPH free radical with IC50 of 96.7±8.9 µM. (see constituents above) .(7)
• Antimuutagenic: Study evaluated the antimutagenic effect of methanolic extract of D. latifolia using cyclophosphamide micronucleus (MN) and chromosomal aberration (CA) assay in Swiss mice bone marrow. Results showed D. latifolia provided significant antimutagenicity when given 24 hours prior to single administration of cyclophosphamide. (9)
• Neuropharmacological / Anxiolytic and Nootropic / Roots: Study evaluated the CNS activity of ethanolic extract of roots in Swiss albino mice. Results showed nootropic and anxiolytic properties The extract did not produce any toxic symptoms or mortality up to a dose of 5000 mg/kbw. The extract produced no depressive symptoms, while standard diazepam caused significant depression. (see constituents above) (10)
• Inhibition of Lysenin-Induced Hemolysis / All-E-Lutein / Leaves : Lysenin is a pore-forming toxin derived from coelomic fluid of earthworm Eisenia foetida. The model of lysenin-induced hemolysis includes the binding of lysenin to sphingomyeline, oligomeriation of the pore proteins, and pore formation. This study screened for inhibitors of lysenin-induced hemolysis using a methanolic extract of D. latifolia leaves. E-lutein was identified as the hemolysis inhibitor with an effective dose of 0.025-2.5 ng/ml, without any toxicity. The inhibition likely occurs during receptor binding and/or pore-forming protein oligomerization. (11)
• Anticancer: Study evaluated the in vitro anticancer activity of various fractions of hydroalcoholic extract of D. latifolia against L6, EAC, MCF-7, HepG2, and Hela cell lines by MTT assay. Parameters measured were percentage cytotoxicity, percentage cell viability, and IC50 values. The methanol fraction showed more significant anticancer compared to other fractions. MCF-7 cell lines were more susceptible to the methanol fraction. (15)
• Cerebroprotective / Bark: Study evaluated the mechanism of cerebroprotective action of methanolic extract of bark of D. latifolia against a global model of ischemia in rats. Results showed D. latifolia extract is a potent cerebroprotective possibly through a mechanism of cyclooxygenase (COX) pathway inhibition. A synergistic activity with the COX inhibitor was attributed to flavanoids. (17)
• Nephroprotective / Gentamicin Nephrotoxicity / Leaves: Study evaluated the effects of methanolic extract of D. latifolia leaves on gentamicin-induced nephrotoxic rats. Results showed significant nephroprotective effect as evidenced by a decrease in elevated serum creatinine, blood urea nitrogen, total protein, serum uric acid, urinary urea and creatinine, urinary protein, along with histopathological attenuation in tubular nephrosis. Results show DL can normalized oxidative stress and attenuated tubular nephrosis, and presents as a potential agent in drug induced nephrotoxicity. (18)
• Antifungal / Latifolin / Roots and Heartwood: An ethanol extract roots showed antifungal activity against Candida albicans, better than methanol and chloroform extracts, with 12.3 mm zone of inhibition. Latifolin isolated from the wood exhibited most significant activity against E. palustris and C. cladosporioides compared to other derivatives. Latifolin from the heartwood showed high activity against Tramates versicolor compared to 4-methoxydalbergione. (19)
• Allergic Contact Dermatitis: Study reports of a case of contact dermatitis to jewels — two wooden earrings and a necklace — made of East Indian rosewood, manifesting as diffuse, swollen, erythematous, and itchy vesicular lesions in both ears and lateral and anterior aspects of the neck. Although initial patch tests were negative, wood scrapings after the varnish was removed gave positive reactions. Patch tests using same scrapings to five volunteers as controls were all negative. (20)
• Antidiabetic / Dalbergin and Isoliquiritigenin / Heartwood: Study evaluated dalbergin (DGN) and isoliquiritigenin (ISG) isolated from heartwood of D. latifolia heartwood for potential antidiabetic potential in vivo and invitro. Alpha amylase activity inhibition of ISG and DGN was 99.05% (IC50 0.6025 µg/ml) and 84.68% (IC50 0.0216 µg/ml) respectively. Glucose uptake assay showed DGN (158%) promoted maximum uptake than ISG (77%) over control. In vivo antidiabetic activity in HFD and STZ induced diabetic rats continuously administered with DGN and ISG for 14 days, showed reduction in blood glucose levels, body weight, total cholesterol, LDL, VLDL, blood urea, creatinine, SGOT, SGPT and alkaline phosphatase, indicating potency of ISG and DGN against diabetes. (21)
• Anthelmintic / Antioxidant / Leaves: Study evaluated the antioxidant and anthelmintic activity of ethanolic extracts of leaves of Dalbergia latifolia and D. sissoo using DPPH assay and Indian earthworms respectively. Results showed maximum antioxidant activity at 300 µg/ml and highest anthelmintic activity at 200 mg/ml. (22)
• Cytotoxicity / Isoliquiritigenin (ISG) / Wood Extract: Study revealed the cytotoxic effect of isoliquiritigenin, which efficiently controls the invasive capacity of breast cancer cells MCF10A human mammary epithelial cell line through uplifting of G1-phase cell cycle, arresting at low concentration, and accelerating the extracellular signal regulated kinase signaling pathway. Invitro cytotoxicity of ISG against MCF10A ATCC cells by MTT assay showed potent anticancer activity with IC50 of 10.00 µg/ml. Use of the wood extract may help reduce side effects in patients under conventional chemotherapy. Potential molecule may exert their co-active effects through various pathways and help in the development of novel drugs. (23)
Availability
Wild-crafted.
Plants and seeds in the cybermarket. |
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