''Piptadeniastrum africanum'' is a tall deciduous tree within the Fabaceae family (subfamily Mimosaidae), also called ''Piptadenia africana'' its timber is traded under the names, Dabema or Dahoma. It commonly occurs in

freshwater swamp forest Freshwater swamp forests, or flooded forests, are forests which are inundated with freshwater, either permanently or seasonally. They normally occur along the lower reaches of rivers and around freshwater lakes. Freshwater swamp forests are foun ...

s but can also be found further north.

Description

The species is a medium-sized to large tree capable of growing to 50 meters tall, with the record being 199'1" (60.68 meters) and a maximum girth a breast height of 14' 9" (4.5 meters) in Ghana , it has wide spreading branches. Its trunk is straight and cylindrical while the base of the tree has thin buttress roots that can reach a height of 5 meters or more and extends along the ground, its bark is grey to brown in color but reddish at the base. Leaves are alternate, bipinnately compound in arrangement with about 10 - 20 pairs of pinnae and about 30 - 58 leaflets per each pinnae. Leaflets, sessile and small, 0.3 x 1 cm long and 0.8 x 1.25 mm wide, glossy green above and paler beneath. Flower is yellowish to white colored and fruit is a brown woody pod, .

Distribution

Naturally occurs in the rain forest zones of West and

Central Africa Central Africa is a subregion of the African continent comprising various countries according to different definitions. Angola, Burundi, the Central African Republic, Chad, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Republic of the Congo, E ...

from Senegal to Sudan and moving southwards towards Northern Angola. It is locally known as Dabema in Ivory Coast and as Dahoma in Ghana.

Chemistry

Methanol and

aqueous An aqueous solution is a solution in which the solvent is water. It is mostly shown in chemical equations by appending (aq) to the relevant chemical formula. For example, a solution of table salt, or sodium chloride (NaCl), in water would ...

extracts from the stem bark tested for the presence of

flavonoid Flavonoids (or bioflavonoids; from the Latin word ''flavus'', meaning yellow, their color in nature) are a class of polyphenolic secondary metabolites found in plants, and thus commonly consumed in the diets of humans. Chemically, flavonoids ...

s, phenols,

tannin Tannins (or tannoids) are a class of astringent, polyphenolic biomolecules that bind to and precipitate proteins and various other organic compounds including amino acids and alkaloids. The term ''tannin'' (from Anglo-Norman ''tanner ...

s and

saponin Saponins (Latin "sapon", soap + "-in", one of), also selectively referred to as triterpene glycosides, are bitter-tasting usually toxic plant-derived organic chemicals that have a foamy quality when agitated in water. They are widely distributed ...

s. Profiles of its compounds include a variety of dihydroxy-trimethoxy(iso)flavone isomers,

apigenin Apigenin (4′,5,7-trihydroxyflavone), found in many plants, is a natural product belonging to the flavone class that is the aglycone of several naturally occurring glycosides. It is a yellow crystalline solid that has been used to dye wool. ...

, chrysoeriol,

eriodictyol Eriodictyol is a bitter-masking flavanone, a flavonoid extracted from yerba santa ('' Eriodictyon californicum''), a plant native to North America. Eriodictyol is one of the four flavanones identified in this plant as having taste-modifying prop ...

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 firs ...

, and

liquiritigenin Liquiritigenin is a flavanone that was isolated from ''Glycyrrhiza uralensis'', and is found in a variety of plants, including ''Glycyrrhiza glabra'' (licorice). It is an estrogenic compound which acts as a selective agonist of the ERβ subtype of ...

Uses

The chemical compounds of ''Piptadeniastrum africanum'' has generated interest among researchers largely because of a wide variety of afflictions plant extracts are used to treat in traditional medicine. Extracts of the species in used to treat gastric ulcers, the Baka people of Cameroon use macerated stem bark extracts in preparations to treat abdominal pains. While some healers use leave extracts as a tonic or as an aphrodisiac. In Congo and Ghana, it is applied in native medicine as a treatment for back pains and sexual asthenia. Its timber is valued for use in building canoes and in marine and bridge construction.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q3011617 Flora of West Tropical Africa Flora of the Democratic Republic of the Congo Mimosoids