Common Name: African Mammee Apple

General Information

Mammea africana is an evergreen tree with a small, dense crown with short, spreading branches; it can eventually grow up to 45 metres tall. The straight, cylindrical bole can be unbranched for up to 27 metres and up to 125cm in diameter, with large root swellings or steep buttresses up to 3.5 metres high at the base[, , ].
A valuable mulit-purpose tree, providing food, medicines and various commodities for the local population. The plant is commonly harvested from the wild, and is also sometimes cultivated, for its edible fruit[, ]. The valuable timber is exported in quantity[, ].

Known Hazards

The bark is used as fish poison in small streams; its potency is limited[].

Botanical References

Range

Western tropical Africa - southern Senegal to Cameroon, DR Congo and Uganda, south to Angola.

Habitat

Wetter sites of the forest zone[]. Evergreen and moist semi-deciduous forests at elevations up to 1,000 metres[]. Often found on seasonally inundated alluvial soils, where it may form small stands, though it is usually scattered in the forest[].

Properties

Edibility Rating
Medicinal Rating
Other Uses Rating
Habit	Evergreen Tree
Height	30.00 m
Growth Rate	Slow
Self-fertile	No
Cultivation Status	Cultivated, Wild

Cultivation Details

A tree of hot, tropical monsoon climates[].
Young plants tolerate shade, but this should be gradually removed as the tree grows[]. Prefers a fertile, humus-rich forest soil, where moisture is in abundance, succeeding in both clay and sandy substrates[, ]. It has succeeded in base-poor soils[]. The tree is easy to cultivate, and has been successfully grown in plantations, but growth is slow and overhead shading is necessary[]. It has also been established by underplanting, and conversely the mature trees are good shade-bearers[].
A slow-growing tree[]. The annual growth of saplings is about 30 - 50cm. In Nigeria trees have been reported to reach a height of 15 metres, with a bole diameter of almost 30cm, 24 years after planting[].
Trees may start flowering at an age of 10 years, but initially without developing fruits. Flowering is irregular[].
The flowers are morphologically either bisexual or male, the two types occurring on different trees, but pollen research showed that the apparently bisexual flowers are functionally female, having pollen without apertures. This means that
Mammea africana is functionally dioecious and at least one tree of each form needs to be grown if fruit is required[].
Mass fruiting generally occurs every 2 - 3 years[]. The fruits ripen 10 - 12 months after flowering[].
Natural regeneration may be abundant under the mother tree[].

Edible Uses

Fruit - raw[]. The fruit-pulp of fully-ripe fruits is sweet smelling, fibrous but edible and is commonly consumed[, ]. When they soften, the fruits are sliced open and the flesh consumed, leaving the seed(s) and the skin[]. The fruit usually has a good flavour, but is sometimes quite acidic[, ]. The fruit is a large, pale yellow to orange, globose to pear-shaped drupe with numerous small, brownwarts; it can be 7 - 18 cm long, containing 1 - 4, ovoid seeds each 4 - 6cm long[].

The seeds are edible[, , , ]. The seeds are 4 - 6cm long[].

Each fruit has 3 - 4 or more seeds containing an edible oil that is used locally for culinary purposes[]. The seeds contain about 10% of oil, in which several unusual fatty acids occur: ricinoleic acid (20%), vernolic acid(12%), malvalic acid (6%) and sterculic acid (4%). Other, more common, fatty acids present in the oil are palmitic acid (28%), stearic acid (27.5%), myristic acid (1.5%), lauric acid (1%), and traces of oleic acid and linoleic acid[].

In Guinea an edible salt is obtained from the bark[, ].

Medicinal

African mammee apple is often used in African traditional medicine.
The root and bark material have been reported to contain flavonins, tannins, steroids and terpenes[].
Several xanthones have been identified in the heartwood and stem bark[].
Several coumarins and the sterol friedelone have been isolated from the seeds[].
Coumarins have also been isolated from the bark; these showed noteworthy cytotoxicity against the human 9-KB cell line and significant antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus aureus[].
A bark extract showed vasodilator effect, in which the coumarins might also be involved[].

The bark exudes a yellow resinous sap. This, or the bark in decoction, is widely and commonly used to treat skin parasites and infections - craw-craw, itch, etc[, ].
The extracted latex is mixed with clay and applied to the skin to heal scratches and is applied to skin-diseases[].

A decoction of the bark is used as an anodyne in the treatment of fever-pains; to assuage rheumatic pain; and as a treatment for whooping cough[]. The bark is occasionally used as a remedy for syphilis[]. The bark, crushed with maleguetta peppers and sugar-cane, is macerated for 24 hours and the liquor is taken to treat ovarian and stomach troubles, blennorrhoea and as an oxytocic[, ]; this prescription is also put into hip-baths and vaginal douches for metritis and vaginitis[].
Water in which the bark, or the fruit, has been boiled is used to draw jiggers from the feet; as a wash to treat skin diseases and to cleanse ulcers; and is put into baths for children with fever[, ]. Bark-scrapings are rubbed over cutaneous eruptions and onto dogs for mange[].

Water in which the roots have been boiled is used as a wash to treat children with an itch known as boro[].

The fruits have medical application in Nigeria: pulped and mixed into a bark- and root-infusion to make a thin paste to paint onto itch and other skin-afflictions and allowed to dry[].

Other Uses

The bark is a source of potash, and is burnt along with dried plantain-skins to make soap with palm-oil or other fats. This soap is said in Nigeria to be particularly helpful to people suffering from minor skin-complaints[].

The seed-husk is taken in Gabon as a gunpowder measure[]

A yellow resin obtained from the bark has been used for repairing earthenware[].

The heartwood is pinkish brown to reddish brown when freshly cut, darkening to dark reddish brown or purplish brown upon exposure; it is distinctly demarcated from the up to 6cm wide band of pinkish brown to pale brown sapwood. The attractive grain is usually interlocked; texture is medium to rather coarse; quartersawn surfaces are mottled with ribbon like figures and abundant silver grain, tangential surfaces have flowered figures; the wood is resinous and dark oily spots are often present on tangential surfaces. The wood is moderately hard; moderately heavy; fairly durable, being quite resistant to fungi and to powder-post beetle and pinhole borer attacks, but moderately susceptible to termite attack. It has also shown some resistance to marine borers. It air dries slowly, and careful drying is needed because it is liable to checking and distortion; once dry it is moderately stable in service. The wood saws cleanly but slowly and works well; the silica content is low; it finishes smoothly with a nice polish; holds nails and screws well, but pre-boring is needed to avoid splitting; gluing properties are satisfactory, but painting and varnishing may give poor results due to the presence of resin. This presence of resin makes peeling difficult. Although it is on the hard and heavy side, the wood might serve as a substitute for mahogany. It is used in local furniture construction and is considered as a primary structural timber. It is a timber of general utility for carpentry, joinery, interior decoration, planks, beams, bridge piles, and heavy construction-work[, , , ]. Canoe dugouts are cut from the trunk in SE Nigeria[, ].

Propagation

Seed - pre-treatment is not necessary, but germination is promoted by carefully filing a hole in the wall of the stone or soaking the seeds in water for 24 hours. Seeds should be sown in shady positions, either in situ, or in nursery seedbeds. Germination is irregular, taking from 3 - 35 weeks. The germination rate is often high; up to 90% for fresh seeds; about 70% for seeds sown 2 - 6 weeks after being harvested; and about 35% for seeds sown 10 weeks after being harvested. Nursery-sown plants can be planted out when around 18 - 24 months old[].

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