''Diospyros abyssinica'' (also known as ''giant diospyros'', or ''Kôforonto'' and ''Baforonto'' in local languages spoken in parts of

Mali Mali (; ), officially the Republic of Mali,, , ff, 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞥆𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 𞤃𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭, Renndaandi Maali, italics=no, ar, جمهورية مالي, Jumhūriyyāt Mālī is a landlocked country in West Africa. Mal ...

,The Malian Medicinal Plant Project, University of Oslo: Common name, description, distribution, and medical usage
/ref> ''blidzo'', ''blitcho'', ''gblit∫o'', ''blonyat∫o'' or ''gblεt∫o'' in some

Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...

ian languages) is a

tree In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, including only woody plants with secondary growth, plants that are ...

species in the family Ebenaceae which is native to Sub-Saharan Africa.

Distribution and description

While usually not a common species, ''Diospyros abyssinica'' is widespread in Africa, ranging from Guinea to Eritrea, southwards to the area covered by the

Flora Zambesiaca ''Flora Zambesiaca'' is an ongoing botanical project aimed at achieving a full account of the flowering plants and ferns of the Zambezi River basin covering Zambia, Malawi, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Botswana and the Caprivi Strip, and is published by ...

, and

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

. The species is a large tree with a relatively sparse and shortly branched crown. Like other

Diospyros ''Diospyros'' is a genus of over 700 species of deciduous and evergreen trees and shrubs. The majority are native to the tropics, with only a few species extending into temperate regions. Individual species valued for their hard, heavy, dark tim ...

, it is an evergreen species. The leaves are alternating, oblong-elliptic, and glossy dark green. Their margin is entire and often wavy. The young leaves are distinctly red. Flowers are small, growing axillary, and are found to be solitary or in few-flowered clusters. They have a creamy-white to yellow colour. The fruit is fleshy, spherical, and held in a lobed cup. It is a yellowish-green colour, turning blue-black when ripe.

Uses

The fruit are consumed by

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweig ...

s and various mammals, and are an important part of the diet of

primate Primates are a diverse order of mammals. They are divided into the strepsirrhines, which include the lemurs, galagos, and lorisids, and the haplorhines, which include the tarsiers and the simians ( monkeys and apes, the latter including ...

s and

fruitbat Leslie George Carter, known as Fruitbat (born 12 December 1958) is an English musician who was a member of Carter USM. Career Carter played in a number of bands during the late 1970s, before meeting Jim Bob (James Neil Morrison) at The Orchest ...

s. Records of human consumption is lacking, but the sweet

mesocarp Fruit anatomy is the plant anatomy of the internal structure of fruit. Fruits are the mature ovary or ovaries of one or more flowers. They are found in three main anatomical categories: aggregate fruits, multiple fruits, and simple fruits. Agg ...

under the tough

epicarp Fruit anatomy is the plant anatomy of the internal structure of fruit. Fruits are the mature ovary or ovaries of one or more flowers. They are found in three main anatomical categories: aggregate fruits, multiple fruits, and simple fruits. Aggre ...

might likely also be consumed by the local population, as in other

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

n ''

'' species. Besides the varied use of its hard and moderately heavy wood, which is lacking the dark colour and high durability of other ''Diospyros'' species, ''D. abyssinica'' is said to have medical properties.Plant Resources of Tropical Africa (PROTA): ''Diospyros abyssinica'' (Hiern) F.White
/ref> Few studies of the traditional use of ''D. abyssinica'' have however been done. The tree is considered to be a traditional medicine by the

an people of

Sikasso region Sikasso Region ( Bambara: ߛߌߞߊߛߏ ߘߌߣߋߖߊ tr. Sikaso Dineja) is the southernmost region of Mali. The region's capital city, Sikasso, is the country's second-largest city. Major ethnic groups include the Senoufo, known for masks and rever ...

, and is used for treatments of various diseases. The Dioïla cercle uses the

decoction Decoction is a method of extraction by boiling herbal or plant material (which may include stems, roots, bark and rhizomes) to dissolve the chemicals of the material. It is the most common preparation method in various herbal-medicine systems. Dec ...

of leaves against

malaria Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects humans and other animals. Malaria causes symptoms that typically include fever, tiredness, vomiting, and headaches. In severe cases, it can cause jaundice, seizures, coma, or death. S ...

, and wound healing, while the roots are used against

dysentery Dysentery (UK pronunciation: , US: ), historically known as the bloody flux, is a type of gastroenteritis that results in bloody diarrhea. Other symptoms may include fever, abdominal pain, and a feeling of incomplete defecation. Complications ...

. The extraction of the root bark is attractive to scavengers and some 15 lipoxygenase inhibitors have been found. The attraction is caused by phenolic smell of

bergenin Bergenin, alias cuscutin, is trihydroxybenzoic acid glycoside. It is the C-glycoside of 4-O-methyl gallic acid. It possesses an O-demethylated derivative called norbergenin. These are chemical compounds and drugs of Ayurveda, commonly known as P ...

and

flavanol Flavan-3-ols (sometimes referred to as flavanols) are a subgroup of flavonoids. They are derivatives of flavans that possess a 2-phenyl-3,4-dihydro-2''H''-chromen-3-ol skeleton. Flavan-3-ols are structurally diverse and include a range of com ...

that the plant releases. It also releases betulinic acid and

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, ''Acacia ...

from the stem bark. All of those compounds are used as

anti-inflammatory Anti-inflammatory is the property of a substance or treatment that reduces inflammation or swelling. Anti-inflammatory drugs, also called anti-inflammatories, make up about half of analgesics. These drugs remedy pain by reducing inflammation as o ...

, and are protecting plants from protozoan parasites. The plants are also effective against blood

platelet Platelets, also called thrombocytes (from Greek θρόμβος, "clot" and κύτος, "cell"), are a component of blood whose function (along with the coagulation factors) is to react to bleeding from blood vessel injury by clumping, thereby i ...

aggregation and murine tumors.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q5279613 abyssinica Flora of Africa Afromontane flora