Traditional and Pharmacological Reports of The Genus Baccaurea. A Review

Baccaurea is a genus of flowering plant belongs to the family Phyllanthaceae categorically large genus with members of up to 100 species and few of which have been recognized as popular healing plants in South-East Asia. ( B. ramiflora ), ( B. angulata) , ( B. courtallensis ( B. macrophylla ), ( B. macrocarpa ), ( B. lanceolata ), ( B. racemosa ) and ( B. motleyana ) are underutilized medicinal plants of the genus Baccaurea. The literature review revealed that Baccaurea species have been used traditionally in South-East Asian countries to treat various diseases. Baccaurea species have been believed to possess significant medicinal values like analgesic, anthelmintic, antioxidant, anti-diarrheal, antiatherosclerotic, anticancer, antidiabetic, neuropharmacological, thrombocytic, antimicrobial, etc. activities. Few species of the Baccaurea genus have demonstrated significant exposure to phytochemicals such as alkaloids, flavonoids, anthocyanins, carotenoids, tannins, phytosterols, saponins, phenolic compounds, steroids, rosmarinic acids, etc. Several bioactive constituents including 6′-O-vanilloylpicraquassioside D, 4′-O-(6-O-vanilloyl)-β-D-glucopyranosyl tachioside D, Icariside B5, picrotoximaesin, β-sitosterol, Sapidolide A, Daucosterol, methyl 2-hydroxy-3-methylbutanoate, quercetin, decanoic acid, etc. were also isolated and described from various species of Baccaurea. The purpose of this review is to evaluate the published article which is based on the medicinal values of different species of Baccaurea genus, provide updated information and knowledge on the ethnomedicinal, pharmacological and phytochemical properties and further phytochemical assessment opens a new prevalence, effectiveness in protection and clinical research.


Baccaurea Species in Folklore Practice
Generally, the practice of herbal medicine is most widespread in developing countries and is often more affordable than expensive modern pharmaceutical drugs [9]. It has been revealed that 80% of the population in Asian countries are still using herbal medicines as their main medicinal source for their wellbeing [10].
B. ramiflora, the most well-known species, for the Southeast Asian region and found growing wild as well as under cultivation in Nepal, Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, South China, Indochina, Thailand, the Andaman Islands and Peninsular Malaysia. It grows in few districts of Bangladesh namely Narsingdi, Sylhet, Gazipur, Netrokona and Kishoregonj [11]. The folklore uses of B. ramiflora  Table 1]. B. courtallensis is another common species widely distributed in Western Ghats of India [12]. The plant is frequently used in India such as treatment of diarrhoea, dysentery, skin infection, controlling diabetes, piles, antidote, anti-inflammatory purposes etc. International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Recourses (IUCN) has enlisted it as threatened species [13].

Species Local Name Used Part Uses References
B. ramiflora Lour.

Whole plant
An antiphlogistic and anodyne against rheumatoid arthritis, cellulitis, abscesses and to treat injuries in Chinese Dai medicine. Also used for stomach ulcer, stomachache and colic in Mizoram, India. Used against some ailments by hill-tribes in Northern Thailand.
[ [18][19][20] Fruit Religious purpose as applied by Local people during the Holy Chariot Procession of Lord Jagannath. People pay their homage to God by throwing the latka fruit along with other rituals. The Fruit juice is considered as an Antidote for snake bite in Assam, India.
[ [21][22] Young leaves Used as vegetable, flavoring agent with curries and minced meat in Bangladesh. [23] Bark In India, fresh bark is chewed or juice is used orally for constipation. Stem bark gives diuretic activity. [24] Seed Seeds are crushed to cure diarrhea. In Bangladesh, cultivated chiefly for production of valuable dye called annatto which is used for colouring silk, cotton, and other textile materials for orange colour. Mootapalam/ Muttithuri/ Kalikuki/ Muttathuri.

Root and leave
The paste of root and leaves are mixed with hot water and taken internally to treat piles and act as antidote. [27] Fruit Local tribal people such as kanikkar, Malampandarangal and Paniyar consume ripe fruit for its medicinal properties. Treatment for sterility, mouth, and stomach ulcers and for controlling serum cholesterol degree. [12,28] Root Used in the treatment of controlling diabetes and headache. [12] Fruit rind In Kerala, fruit rind is pickled for use in everyday life. The pericarp of tender fruit is consumed as antipyretic. [27,29] Leave In Kerala, boiled water of fruits, bark and leaves powder form is taken internally to take out poison traditionally. The fresh leaves paste is applied on swellings for anti-inflammatory purposes. Leaves are cooked like side dishes and consumed with rice or rice soup. [30-31]

Bark
The bark is used as a tonic in disorders of mucous membrane and to heal wounds and antibacterial recreation. [32] Baccaurea angulata Merr Belimbing Dayak/ Belimbing hutan.

Skin
The red part (skin) is sour, and usually cooked by the rural communities. [33] Whole fruit Eaten fresh and used in cooking and as traditional medical practice. Aqueous juice of the whole fruit in daily meal also recommends. [34-35]

Berry
The soft whitish part of this fruit (berry) is edible. [15] Extract gel Good dental gel for wound healing in extracting a tooth. [36] Baccaurea lanceolata (Miq.) Muell. Arg

Lepeso/Limposu
Fruit In Iban community, the solution obtained from the fruits as a component of an herbal formulation with other plant extracts, i.e., Etlingera elatior (fruits) and Begonia spp (leaves) applied on head when it was cooled to cure headaches. Fruits are potential to be used for the treatment of fever (due to infection), swellings on the body and topically on the skin to protect the skin from sunburn with natural skin care ingredients by the Bidayuh people. [37-39]

Leave
The decoction of leaves and water pounded in bamboo is used orally to treat stomach-ache for medicinal purpose in Sarawak, Bidayuh community. [38]

Bark
To prevent drunkenness, the Penan community pound the bark and drink the sap before consuming alcohol. [39] Fruit shell The shell of the fruit is eaten to cure diarrhea in the Kelabit community. [10] Baccaurea macrophylla Muell.

Langkha
Whole plant Used in in local cuisine and herbal medicines in Thailand. Treatment of stomachache and sore eyes. [17] Baccaurea motleyana Müll. Arg. Rambai

Bark
The bark has been used as an ingredient of a concoction of many ingredients and administered internally after childbirth in protective medicaments. Squeezed cambium and inner bark has been used as remedy for eye inflammation. [40-41]

Skin
Used for sore eyes. In the Malaysian and Indonesian traditional cosmetic industries, in medicated face powder preparation for treatment of acne and general skin complaints. [42]

Fruit
The fruits are turned into a jelly and used for cooking. [42] Peel Induce abdominal discomfort. [43] B. angulata, is also the popular plant that is native to Borneo Island of Malaysia and several other regions of Indonesia [14]. The high antioxidant levels of B. angulata had opened a new possibility of developing it as herbal preparations that has a high potential for producing nutraceutical benefits our wellbeing. In Borneo Island, the plant is considered as traditionally important by the rural communities [15]. B. lanceolata, another species is found in Thailand, Peninsular Malaysia, Sumatra, Borneo, and Philippines.
In traditional contemplation the plant is used for stomach-ache,

Anti-inflammatory activity
B. ramiflora is known to be effective against inflammation, which is confirmed by investigating the anti-inflammatory effect using methanolic extract of their stem, leaves and fruit pulp by carrageenan induced paw oedema method in rodents. The result indicated that the extracts of B. ramiflora at the dose level of 100mg/kg and 200mg/kg exhibited significant anti-inflammatory activity that was strongly comparable with the (Ibuprofen, 10mg/kg) [64]. Another study reported the down-regulating the increased level of cytokine due to inflammation effect of Baccaurea leaf on the cytokine level IL-1β (4.4pg/mg protein) and TNF-α (0.21ng/μg protein). The

Anti-cancer activity
Cancer is a leading cause of death worldwide. According to the literature, the best anticancer activity was exhibited by hexane extract of B. motleyana peels that showed IC50 43.6μg/mL on colon cancer line (HT-29) compared to other extracts, measured by

Cytotoxic property
Almost entire plant has been accessed for cytotoxic activity of B. ramiflora [51, 64,67,68]. Among them the stem bark of B. ramiflora was found to be the best cytotoxic activity, which was investigated by using brine shrimp lethality bioassay, where the result showed that aqueous soluble fraction of stem bark of B. ramiflora exhibited most toxicity with LC50 1.44µg/mL as compared to the standard vincristine sulphate (LC50 0.9258µg/mL) [51]. Lipoprotein (LDL) from oxidative modification may be attributed to phenolic compounds known to act as powerful chain-breaking antioxidants and free radical scavengers [14].

Anti-diarrhoeal activity
The protection and effectiveness of B. ramiflora fruit pulp and seeds were evaluated for in vivo castor oil induced anti-diarrheal activity against diarrhea. It is evident that the percentage inhibition of defecation by methanol extract (200mg/kg) of fruit pulp was close to that of loperamide (3mg/kg), while the seeds (200mg/kg) were marginally more effective. Thus, it demonstrated anti-diarrheal activity [64].

Sleep inducing property
Melatonin is involved in circadian rhythm and regulation of diverse body functions, including sleep [69]. Melatonin was extracted by using solid phase extraction and showed a modest amount of melatonin (43.2 ng/g of dry sample weight) in B. ramiflora. Melatonin content in the leaves is a promising result for future development of this overlooked part of B. ramiflora as a health food supplement [70].

Thrombolytic activity
To identify blood thinning medications from plant source different extractives (aqueous, methanolic, ethanolic, ethyl acetate, chloroform, and their cyclohexane soluble partitioning materials extracts) of B. ramiflora were studied for thrombolytic activity. The aqueous extract of B. ramiflora seeds showed the highest thrombolytic potential with promising clot disruption (88.21%) which was higher than the standard drug streptokinase (66.77%) [68].
Another thrombolytic evaluation of n-hexane extracts of B. ramiflora bark showed 17.00±1.31 % of clot lysis, whereas streptokinase exhibited 65.13±0.96% of clot lysis as standard [71]. From these experiments, it can be said that the B. ramiflora extracts can be used as thrombolytic agents with its best pharmaceutical possibilities. death of worms which was comparable to standard drug albendazole (10mg/ml) [68]. The anthelmintic effect of leaf might be attributed to the presence of β-sitosterol, which has proven antihelimintic property [74].

Insecticidal activity
Insecticidal activity of acetone fraction B. ramiflora leaf has been tested against adult Sitophilus oryzae. The fraction was effective in eliminating S. Oryzae, with a mortality rate of 80% and 100%, thus helping to manage the rice weevil field population, S.

Haemolytic activity
A literature review analyzed that the haemolytic activity of fruit juice of B. ramiflora using human erythrocyte. Fruit juice (100µl/ ml) was declared safe to human erythrocyte since it exhibited negligible haemolytic activity (% Haemolysis=5.69) compared to Triton X-100 (100µl/ml) where % Haemolysis is 60.28 as standard [52].

Two different neuropharmacological models, named open field
and whole cross test were used to study the CNS depressant activity of crude extaracts (100mg/kg and 200mg/kg) of B. ramiflora fruit pulp and seeds, respectively. Both the tests revealed that the extracts could reduce the locomotor activity which is a measure of Central Nervous System (CNS) depressant activity. The results were comparable to the standard diazepam [64,77].

Antidiabetic activity
A literature review revealed that B. racemosa leaf extract possesses mild to moderate antidiabetic property, which was experi-   [9]. β-sitosterol was also reported to be detected from the ethyl acetate (fr. EtOAc) extracts of Fruits of B. lanceolata [85].

Conflict of Interest Statement
Authors announce that no conflict of interest occurs.