Common Name:

General Information

Aglaia oligophylla is a tree with a narrow, rounded crown; it usually grows up to 20 metres tall with occasional specimens to 25 metres[]. The bole can be free of branches for up to 10 metres and about 60 - 90cm in diameter, with small buttresses[, ].
The tree is harvested from the wild for its edible fruit and timber.
The plant is threatened by habitat destruction, It is classified as 'Near Threatened' in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species(2011)[].

Known Hazards

None known

Botanical References

,

Range

E. Asia - Andaman Islands, Myanmar, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines.

Habitat

A sub-canopy tree, found in deciduous and evergreen primary forest, secondary forest, swamp forest, riverine forest and in kerangas; on limestone, granite, basalt, sandy loam, clay; at elevations from sea level to 830 metres[, ].

Properties

Conservation Status	Near Threatened
Edibility Rating
Other Uses Rating
Habit	Tree
Height	15.00 m
Pollinators	Insects
Self-fertile	No
Cultivation Status	Wild

Cultivation Details

The plant is often found in the wild in Kerangas forest - a type of moist, heath forest found on acidic, sandy soils that are low in nutrients, especially nitrogen[].
A dioecious species, both male and female forms need to be grown if fruit and seed are required.

Edible Uses

The fruits, which are formed in bunches, are edible with an acid flavour[]. A sweet flavour[, ]. The translucent, gelatinous fleshy coating (aril) surrounding the seed is eaten[]. The fruit is about 1 - 3cm in diameter, containing 1 or 2 seeds[].

Medicinal

The genus 'Aglaia' is the only source of the group of about 50 known representatives of compounds that bear a unique cyclopenta[b]tetrahydrobenzofuran skeleton. These compounds are more commonly called rocaglate or rocaglamide derivatives, or flavaglines, and most have been found to have potent insecticidal properties, antifungal, antiviral, antibacterial or anthelmintic bioactivity. Several of them exhibit pronounced cytotoxic activity against a range of human cancers. Since the first representative in this group was only discovered in 1982, this is one of the few recent examples of a completely new class of plant secondary metabolites of biological promise (see B. G. Wang et al., Biochem. Syst. Ecol. 32: 1223-1226. 2004; L.W. Chaidir et al., J. Nat. Prod. 64: 1216-1220. 2001)[, ].

Other Uses

The genus 'Aglaia' is the only source of the group of about 50 known representatives of compounds that bear a unique cyclopenta[b]tetrahydrobenzofuran skeleton. These compounds are more commonly called rocaglate or rocaglamide derivatives, or flavaglines, and most have been found to have potent insecticidal properties, antifungal, antiviral, antibacterial or anthelmintic bioactivity. Several of them exhibit pronounced cytotoxic activity against a range of human cancers. Since the first representative in this group was only discovered in 1982, this is one of the few recent examples of a completely new class of plant secondary metabolites of biological promise (see B. G. Wang et al., Biochem. Syst. Ecol. 32: 1223-1226. 2004; L.W. Chaidir et al., J. Nat. Prod. 64: 1216-1220. 2001)[, ].

The sapwood is pale orange-brown or pale yellow[]. The wood is used as timber[].

Propagation

Seed -

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