''Fadogia homblei'' is a 60 cm-tall erect perennial

sub-Saharan Sub-Saharan Africa is, geographically, the area and regions of the continent of Africa that lies south of the Sahara. These include West Africa, East Africa, Central Africa, and Southern Africa. Geopolitically, in addition to the African co ...

shrublet with subterranean stems producing unbranched annual shoots, and is one of some 47 species of ''Fadogia'' in the family

Rubiaceae The Rubiaceae are a family of flowering plants, commonly known as the coffee, madder, or bedstraw family. It consists of terrestrial trees, shrubs, lianas, or herbs that are recognizable by simple, opposite leaves with interpetiolar stipules ...

. It occurs in

Angola , national_anthem = " Angola Avante"() , image_map = , map_caption = , capital = Luanda , religion = , religion_year = 2020 , religion_ref = , coordina ...

Tanzania Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands and ...

Malawi Malawi (; or aláwi Tumbuka: ''Malaŵi''), officially the Republic of Malawi, is a landlocked country in Southeastern Africa that was formerly known as Nyasaland. It is bordered by Zambia to the west, Tanzania to the north and northeast ...

Mozambique Mozambique (), officially the Republic of Mozambique ( pt, Moçambique or , ; ny, Mozambiki; sw, Msumbiji; ts, Muzambhiki), is a country located in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi ...

Zambia Zambia (), officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa, although it is typically referred to as being in Southern Africa at its most cent ...

Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and Mozam ...

, and in Limpopo and Gauteng Provinces in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

. This species has leaves in whorls of 3-5. The leaves are elliptic or lanceolate, shiny above, with greyish-white papillose hairs on the undersurface. Fragrant flowers are in 3-5-flowered whorls arising from the leaf nodes, and are creamy yellow to bright yellow in colour. The fruit is spherical, crowned with the persistent calyx limb, initially green, but turning black when ripe, and is edible. Browsing of this species has long been known to cause 'gousiekte' ("quick disease"), a cardiotoxicosis of

ruminants Ruminants ( suborder Ruminantia) are hoofed herbivorous grazing or browsing mammals that are able to acquire nutrients from plant-based food by fermenting it in a specialized stomach prior to digestion, principally through microbial actions. The ...

marked by heart failure four to eight weeks after ingestion of certain species of ''

Vangueria ''Vangueria'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Rubiaceae. The genus is named for , as '' V. madagascariensis'' is known in Malagasy. Distribution The genus contains over 50 species distributed in Africa south of the Sahara with one ...

'', ''

Pavetta ''Pavetta'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Rubiaceae. It comprises about 360 species of trees, evergreen shrubs and sub-shrubs. It is found in woodlands, grasslands and thickets in sub-tropical and tropical Africa and Asia. The plan ...

'', and ''

Fadogia ''Fadogia'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Rubiaceae. The genera ''Rytigynia'' and ''Fadogia'' form a strongly supported clade but neither of these genera is monophyletic. Distribution ''Fadogia'' is found in Tropical Africa. '' ...

'', and is thought to be caused by the

polyamine A polyamine is an organic compound having more than two amino groups. Alkyl polyamines occur naturally, but some are synthetic. Alkylpolyamines are colorless, hygroscopic, and water soluble. Near neutral pH, they exist as the ammonium derivatives. ...

pavettamine. All six plants known to cause gousiekte are members of the family Rubiaceae. Laboratory analysis has revealed that the pavettamine concentration in ''Fadogia homblei'' was highest in the topmost leaf pair, and decreased towards the base of the plant. All the gousiekte-causing plants have symbiotic bacteria in their leaves, and at first these were suspected of playing a role in the production of pavettamine. However, cultures of the bacteria have not revealed any traces of pavettamine, showing that the toxin is either from an interaction with the plant or solely produced by the plant. The structure of pavettamine remained elusive, but was finally published in 2010 by Bode et al., some 15 years after it was first isolated, and found to be (2S,4R,8R,10S)-1,11-diamino-6-aza-undecane-2,4,8,10-tetraol. Despite the determination of pavettamine's structure, it has yet to be linked to gousiekte. A large number of compounds were isolated from the fruits, leaves, and stem of the species, including: *

Scopoletin Scopoletin is a coumarin. It found in the root of plants in the genus ''Scopolia'' such as ''Scopolia carniolica'' and ''Scopolia japonica'', in chicory, in '' Artemisia scoparia'', in the roots and leaves of stinging nettle (''Urtica dioica''), i ...

- anti-fungal, anti-spasmodic, anti-oxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anti-cancer. *

Luteolin Luteolin is a flavone, a type of flavonoid, with a yellow crystalline appearance. Luteolin is the principal yellow dye compound that is obtained from the plant ''Reseda luteola'', which has been used as a source of the dye since at least the fir ...

- anti-mutagenic, anti-tumor, anti-oxidant, and anti-inflammatory. *

Quercetin Quercetin is a plant flavonol from the flavonoid group of polyphenols. It is found in many fruits, vegetables, leaves, seeds, and grains; capers, red onions, and kale are common foods containing appreciable amounts of it. It has a bitter flavor a ...

- 3-O-β-D-galactoside is common in plants and an active ingredient of many herbal remedies, anti-hypertensive, vasodilatory. *

Lupeol Lupeol is a pharmacologically active pentacyclic triterpenoid. It has several potential medicinal properties, like anticancer and anti-inflammatory activity. Natural occurrences Lupeol is found in a variety of plants, including mango, '' Acaci ...

- anti-oxidant, anti-angiogenic, anti-neoplastic, anti-inflammatory, and anti-malarial. *

Betulinic acid Betulinic acid is a naturally occurring pentacyclic triterpenoid which has antiretroviral, antimalarial, and anti-inflammatory properties, as well as a more recently discovered potential as an anticancer agent, by inhibition of topoisomerase. I ...

- anti-inflammatory, in vitro anti-malarial, anti-HIV, and anti-cancer. *

Sitosterol β-sitosterol (beta-sitosterol) is one of several phytosterols (plant sterols) with chemical structures similar to that of cholesterol. It is a white, waxy powder with a characteristic odor, and is one of the components of the food additive E499. ...

and

stigmasterol Stigmasterol – a plant sterol (''phytosterol'') – is among the most abundant of plant sterols, having a major function to maintain the structure and physiology of cell membranes. In the European Union, it is a food additive listed with E numb ...

- common compounds found in almost all plant species. *

Pinoresinol Pinoresinol is a tetrahydrofuran lignan found in ''Styrax sp.'', ''Forsythia suspensa, and in Forsythia koreana''. It is also found in the caterpillar of the cabbage butterfly, ''Pieris rapae'' where it serves as a defence against ants. In food, i ...

- inhibitor of 15-lipoxygenase. *

Uracil Uracil () (symbol U or Ura) is one of the four nucleobases in the nucleic acid RNA. The others are adenine (A), cytosine (C), and guanine (G). In RNA, uracil binds to adenine via two hydrogen bonds. In DNA, the uracil nucleobase is replaced by ...

- isolated from the leaf of ''Fadogia homblei'', significant as the first finding of uracil from plants other than ferns.

Synonyms

*''Fadogia monticola'' Robyns *''Fadogia oleoides'' Robyns

References

External links

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q15442419 homblei Flora of Africa Taxa named by Émile Auguste Joseph De Wildeman