''Streblus asper'' is a tree known by several common names, including Siamese rough bush, khoi, serut, and toothbrush tree. It is a medium-sized tree native to dry regions in

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

Cambodia Cambodia, officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. It is bordered by Thailand to the northwest, Laos to the north, and Vietnam to the east, and has a coastline ...

Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

, and

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

. In the

Philippine The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

s, it is commonly known as "bogta-e","bogtalay", and "Kalyos". In Cambodia, it is known as Snay. Several rural communes in Cambodia were named after the tree such as Snay Pol village (Poisonous Snay) of Prey Veng and Krang Snay (Hill of Snay) of Kampot Province. In Malaysia, it is known as "kesinai".

Description

The

leaves A leaf (: leaves) is a principal appendage of the stem of a vascular plant, usually borne laterally above ground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", while the leaves, stem, ...

are approximately long, rigid, oval-shaped, irregularly toothed, and borne on small petioles. Staminate flower heads are spherical with minute flowers; pistillate flowers have longer peduncles. Streblus asper in the the Penang Botanical Garden

Streblus asper in the the Penang Botanical Garden

Common Names

*English: Sand Paper Tree, Siamese rough bush, Toothbrush tree *Hindi: Daheyā/Dahiā (दहेया/दहिया) , Karchannā (करचन्ना) , Rusa (रुसा) , Sahorā/Sihorā (सहोरा/सिहोरा) *Marathi: Poi (पोइ), Karerā (करेरा) , Kharoli/Kharota () *Rajasthani: Piḷuṛi (पिळूड़ी) *Indonesian: Serut *Tamil: Kurripila (குர்ரிபிலா) , Kuṭṭippirai (குட்டிப்பிறை) , Parayan (பறையன்) , Pasunā (பசுனா) *Malayalam: Parakam (പരകം) , Paruva (പരുവ), Sakhotavrksam (സഖോതവൃക്ഷം), Ṭinḍa-paruva (ടിൻഡ പരുവ) *Telugu: Baranikā (బరానికా) , Baranki (బారంకి), Barinikā (బారినికా) *Kannada: Akhōr Mōranu (ಅಖೋರ್ ಮೊರನು) , Miṭālā (ಮಿಟಾಲಾ) *Bengali: Shāorā (শাওড়া) , Sāhrā (শাহড়া) , Shewrā (শ্যেওড়া) *Oriya: Sāhāṛā (ସାହାଡ଼ା) hirtonimranu *Assamese: Khoruā (খৰুআ) , Sāurā gās (শাওৰা গাছ) *Khasi: dieng sohkhyrdang *Sanskrit: akshadhara, bhutavasa, bhutavriksha, dhukavasa, gavakshi, karkashachhada *Malay: Kesinai (کسيناي) *Thai: Khoi (ต้นข่อย) *Sinhala: nithulla (නිතුල්ල) *Tagalog: kalyós

Uses

Papermaking

The tree has a number of uses. It has been important in

papermaking Papermaking is the manufacture of paper and cardboard, which are used widely for printing, writing, and packaging, among many other purposes. Today almost all paper is Pulp and paper industry, made using industrial machinery, while handmade pape ...

in Thailand for seven hundred years. Virtually all of the ancient Thai documents still in existence are written on the bark of this tree. The Buddhist texts and official records from before the twentieth century in Thailand are known as khoi books. The paper is durable even in the local high-humidity climate. It does not burn easily and it is resistant to yellowing and insect damage. Today other fiber sources are used to make paper and khoi fibers are used primarily by artisans who produce paper using traditional techniques. In Vietnam traditional woodworking uses the coarse texture of the leaves as natural sandpaper.

Health

Various parts of the plant are used in

Ayurveda Ayurveda (; ) is an alternative medicine system with historical roots in the Indian subcontinent. It is heavily practised throughout India and Nepal, where as much as 80% of the population report using ayurveda. The theory and practice of ayur ...

and other folk medicines for the treatment of different ailments such as

filariasis Filariasis is a filarial infection caused by parasitic nematodes (roundworms) spread by different vectors. They are included in the list of neglected tropical diseases. The most common type is lymphatic filariasis caused by three species o ...

leprosy Leprosy, also known as Hansen's disease (HD), is a Chronic condition, long-term infection by the bacteria ''Mycobacterium leprae'' or ''Mycobacterium lepromatosis''. Infection can lead to damage of the Peripheral nervous system, nerves, respir ...

toothache Toothaches, also known as dental pain or tooth pain,Segen JC. (2002). ''McGraw-Hill Concise Dictionary of Modern Medicine''. The McGraw-Hill Companies. is pain in the teeth or their supporting structures, caused by dental diseases or referred ...

diarrhoea Diarrhea (American English), also spelled diarrhoea or diarrhœa (British English), is the condition of having at least three loose, liquid, or watery bowel movements in a day. It often lasts for a few days and can result in dehydration d ...

, and

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving Cell growth#Disorders, abnormal cell growth with the potential to Invasion (cancer), invade or Metastasis, spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Po ...

. It is a well known and documented ethnomedicinal plant. Research carried out using different ''in vitro'' and ''in vivo'' techniques of biological evaluation support most of these claims. It has been used in the past as an

oral hygiene Oral hygiene is the practice of keeping one's oral cavity clean and free of disease and other problems (e.g. bad breath) by regular brushing of the teeth (dental hygiene) and adopting good hygiene habits. It is important that oral hygiene be carr ...

product and for this reason it is also known as the toothbrush tree. A twig or stick about eight inches long with a frayed or mashed end to increase the cleaning surface was used as a tooth cleaning aid up until the middle of the twentieth century when the cheap and more practical plastic brush with a

toothpaste Toothpaste is a paste or gel dentifrice that is used with a toothbrush to clean and maintain the aesthetics of Human tooth, teeth. Toothpaste is used to promote oral hygiene: it is an abrasive that aids in removing dental plaque and food from th ...

become common throughout the world. It is the main active ingredient of a popular brand of a herbal, dark brown toothpaste in Thailand. Different studies were carried on its antibacterial activity upon various microorganisms involving oral and nasopharyngeal infections and especially ''

Streptococcus mutans ''Streptococcus mutans'' is a Facultative anaerobic organism, facultatively anaerobic, gram-positive coccus (round bacteria, bacterium) commonly found in the human oral cavity and is a significant contributor to dental caries, tooth decay. The m ...

''. An extract of ''Strebulus asper'' leaves have demonstrated to possess a selective

bactericidal A bactericide or bacteriocide, sometimes abbreviated Bcidal, is a substance which kills bacteria. Bactericides are disinfectants, antiseptics, or antibiotics. However, material surfaces can also have bactericidal properties based solely on their p ...

activity towards ''Streptococcus'', especially to ''S. mutans'' which has been shown to be strongly linked with

dental caries Tooth decay, also known as caries,The word 'caries' is a mass noun, and is not a plural of 'carie'.'' is the breakdown of teeth due to acids produced by bacteria. The resulting cavities may be a number of different colors, from yellow to black ...

. The Khoi wood is used throughout Southeast Asia as an ingredient mixed with

cannabis ''Cannabis'' () is a genus of flowering plants in the family Cannabaceae that is widely accepted as being indigenous to and originating from the continent of Asia. However, the number of species is disputed, with as many as three species be ...

which reduces the throat irritation associated with inhaling cannabis smoke through a water pipe or

bong A bong (also known as a water pipe) is a filtration device generally used for smoking cannabis, tobacco, or other herbal substances. In the bong shown in the photo, the smoke flows from the lower port on the left to the upper port on the right ...

. Image:Streblus asper bark.jpg, Khoi bark Image:Ruối - Streblus asper.JPG, A Streblus asper tree in Phong Nha-Kẻ Bàng National Park File:Streblus asper Jaldapara WLS AJT Johnsingh.JPG, Fruits of ''Streblus asper''

Protein coagulation

Streblus Asper contains protease which has a potential as a milk coagulating enzyme.

References

External links

Pre clinical studies of Streblus asper Lour in terms of behavioural safety and toxicity.Medical research and properties
{{Taxonbar, from=Q23370 asper Flora of the Indian subcontinent Flora of Indo-China