Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
MONODORA MYRISTICA
Botanical Name —
Monodora myristica
(Gaertn.) Dunal
Synonyms —
Monodora borealis
Scott-Elliot.,
Monodora claessensii
DeWild.,
Annona myris-
tica
Gaertn.
Family —
Annonaceae
Common Name —
Calabash nutmeg
African Names —
Hausa: gujiya'dan miwa;
Igbo: churu, efuru; Yoruba: abo lakoshe, arigho,
eyinaghose
Description —
Monodora myristica
is an ornamental tree up to 30 m high, with dense foliage
and spreading crown. The stem is fluted; the bark is fissured geometrically; the outer bark is thin
and dark brown; and the inner bark is light brown above and pale cream beneath. The sapwood is
soft, white, and slowly turns pinkish after slashing. The stem is aromatic. The leaves are elliptic,
sometimes becoming wider at the apex, about 14-15 cm long and 5-14 cm broad, arranged alter-
nately. The apex is shortly pointed, and the base is rounded or slightly caudate. The leaves display
up to 20 pairs of prominent lateral veins and parallel secondary nerves. It flowers from September
to April, at the time of the appearance of new leaves. The fruits are large, fragrant, and pendant,
hanging on very long stalks with a crinkly bract about 2.5 cm long near the end of the stalk. Sepals
are about 4 cm long, spotted with red, and with wavy edges and crisped. There are 6 petals, the outer
ones, about 10 cm long, are brightly yellow in color and with dark red marks on the edge and toward
the end. The inner petals are subtriangular, dull cream yellow, with red spots in the inner side.
The fruits are produced April-September, are about 15 cm in diameter, green, round, and are
woody, suspended in a long stalk. The pulp is white and contains numerous seeds about 2.5 cm long.
Ethnomedicinal Uses —
The seeds yield a colorless volatile oil with a pleasant taste and odor
and are used as condiments for soup and added into snuffs as a flavoring agent. The seeds are also
used to treat migraine (external application on the forehead) and as a stomachic and mixed with
palm oil as a stimulant.
77
A pomade is made from the pulverized seeds fried in oil and the powder
is used to treat guinea worms and other sores.
77
A related species,
M. tenuifolia
is used as an anthel-
mintic and in Yoruba traditional medicine for the treatment of toothache.
Constituents —
The plant contains volatile oils, alkaloids belonging to the benzyltetrahydroiso-
quinoline group, prenylated indoles, diterpenes, and sesquiterpenes. A related species,
Monodora bre-
vipes,
yields the proaporphine alkaloids crotsparine and stepharine, 3-formylindole, the sesquiterpene
(-)- α-cadinol and the monoterpene lα,6βdihydroxy-4α-p-menth-2-ene, and clerodane diterpenes.
777
Pharmacological Studies —
The essential oils and extracts of
M. myristica
are known to
possess antimicrobial properties. The antibacterial and antifungal activities have been evaluated
against some microorganisms.
778
In the
in vitro
assay against
Mycobacterium tuberculosis
, metha-
nolic extract of the seeds showed both mycobacteristatic (IC
50
= 512 µg/ml) and mycobactericidal
(IC
50
= 1024 µg/ml) activities on two strains of the organism tested.
779
MORINDA LONGIFLORA
Botanical Name —
Morinda longiflora
G. Don
Synonyms —
Morinda longiflora
var.
breviloba
DeWild.
Family —
Rubiaceae
African Names —
Fulani: kodudu; Mende: wawe, leve rokbeni; Mano: gie gbindi; Wolof: ram-
beul; Yoruba (Oyo): oju-olgbo
Description —
Morinda longiflora
is a climbing shrub common up to 6 m high. The leaves are
simple, oval-elliptic, pointed at the apex, and rounded at the base. They are smooth and shiny and
