''Archidendron pauciflorum'', commonly known as djenkol, jengkol or jering is a species of flowering tree in the

pea The pea is most commonly the small spherical seed or the seed-pod of the flowering plant species ''Pisum sativum''. Each pod contains several peas, which can be green or yellow. Botanically, pea pods are fruit, since they contain seeds and d ...

family,

Fabaceae The Fabaceae or Leguminosae,International Code of Nomenc ...

. It is native to

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, south-eastern region of Asia, consistin ...

, where the seeds are a popular dish.Lim, T. K. "Archidendron jiringa." Edible Medicinal And Non-Medicinal Plants. Springer Netherlands, 2012. 544-548. They are mainly consumed in

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

Myanmar Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John C. Wells, Joh ...

, and

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

and prepared by frying, boiling, or roasting and are also eaten raw.Larson, JAMES L., and RICHARD F. Clark. "Plant toxins in the tropics." Tropical Infectious Diseases (Second Edition)(2006): 102-19. The

beans A bean is the seed of several plants in the family Fabaceae, which are used as vegetables for human or animal food. They can be cooked in many different ways, including boiling, frying, and baking, and are used in many traditional dishes th ...

are mildly toxic due to the presence of

djenkolic acid Djenkolic acid (or sometimes jengkolic acid) is a sulfur-containing non-protein amino acid naturally found in the djenkol beans of the Southeast Asian plant '' Archidendron jiringa''. Its chemical structure is similar to cystine but contains a met ...

, an amino acid which causes djenkolism (djenkol bean poisoning). The beans and leaves of the djenkol tree are traditionally used for medicinal purposes such as purifying the blood.Ong, H. C., and J. Norzalina. "Malay herbal medicine in Gemencheh, Negri Sembilan, Malaysia." Fitoterapia 70.1 (1999): 10-14. To date, djenkol is traded on local markets only.Wiriadinata, H. (1993) Archidendron jiringa (Jack) Nielsen. In: Siemonsma JB, Piluek K (eds.) Plant resources of South-East Asia No 8: Vegetables. Prosea, Bogor, p. 89–90

Vernacular names

Common English names are blackbead, dog fruit, ''djenkol'' tree, ''luk nieng'' tree and ''ngapi'' nut. As this plant grows in different countries in South-East Asia, it has a variety of vernacular names. The common names in Indonesia is ''djenkol'' tree, ''jinkol'', ''jarung'' (Sumatra) or ''jering'' (Java). It is called ''krakos'' in Cambodia, ''jering'' in Malaysia and in Thailand. Other vernacular names include ''luk nieng'', ''cha niang'', ''khang daeng'' and ''pha niang''. In Myanmar it is called ''da-nyin-thee'' or ''da-nyin-pen''.

Description

''Archidendron pauciflorum'' is a

legume A legume () is a plant in the family Fabaceae (or Leguminosae), or the fruit or seed of such a plant. When used as a dry grain, the seed is also called a pulse. Legumes are grown agriculturally, primarily for human consumption, for livestock f ...

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 ...

with a size of 18–25 m, has spreading crown and

bipinnate The following is a list of terms which are used to describe leaf morphology in the description and taxonomy of plants. Leaves may be simple (a single leaf blade or lamina) or compound (with several leaflets). The edge of the leaf may be regular o ...

leaves (up to 25 cm) and greyish smooth bark. The young leaves have a wine-red colour and are edible. Flowering time of the tree is between September and January. The white calyx cup-shaped flowers are bisexual and have various yellowish-white

stamen The stamen (plural ''stamina'' or ''stamens'') is the pollen-producing reproductive organ of a flower. Collectively the stamens form the androecium., p. 10 Morphology and terminology A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filame ...

s. The

fruit In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants that is formed from the ovary after flowering. Fruits are the means by which flowering plants (also known as angiosperms) disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in particu ...

(

) of the tree is a woody, glabrous and deep purple pod. Each Pod contains around three to nine round-shaped

seed A seed is an embryonic plant enclosed in a protective outer covering, along with a food reserve. The formation of the seed is a part of the process of reproduction in seed plants, the spermatophytes, including the gymnosperm and angiospe ...

s. The pods are formed falcate or twisted in a wide spiral. The

seed coat A seed is an embryonic plant enclosed in a protective outer covering, along with a food reserve. The formation of the seed is a part of the process of reproduction in seed plants, the spermatophytes, including the gymnosperm and angiosperm p ...

of a young seed shows a yellow-green colour and turns into dark brown during ripening. Then the ripe fruit dehisces along the

ventral Standard anatomical terms of location are used to unambiguously describe the anatomy of animals, including humans. The terms, typically derived from Latin or Greek language, Greek roots, describe something in its standard anatomical position. Th ...

suture.

Habitat and ecology

The tree is indigenous to

primary Primary or primaries may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music Groups and labels * Primary (band), from Australia * Primary (musician), hip hop musician and record producer from South Korea * Primary Music, Israeli record label Works * ...

and

secondary forest A secondary forest (or second-growth forest) is a forest or woodland area which has re-grown after a timber harvest or clearing for agriculture, until a long enough period has passed so that the effects of the disturbance are no longer evident. ...

s in humid, mountainous and undulating areas as well as on

river banks In geography, a bank is the land alongside a body of water. Different structures are referred to as ''banks'' in different fields of geography, as follows. In limnology (the study of inland waters), a stream bank or river bank is the terrai ...

from sea-level up to 1600 m altitude in Southeast Asian countries such as

Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...

(

Sumatra Sumatra is one of the Sunda Islands of western Indonesia. It is the largest island that is fully within Indonesian territory, as well as the sixth-largest island in the world at 473,481 km2 (182,812 mi.2), not including adjacent i ...

Sulawesi Sulawesi (), also known as Celebes (), is an island in Indonesia. One of the four Greater Sunda Islands, and the world's eleventh-largest island, it is situated east of Borneo, west of the Maluku Islands, and south of Mindanao and the Sulu Ar ...

Kalimantan Kalimantan () is the Indonesian portion of the island of Borneo. It constitutes 73% of the island's area. The non-Indonesian parts of Borneo are Brunei and East Malaysia. In Indonesia, "Kalimantan" refers to the whole island of Borneo. In 2019, ...

and

Southern Thailand Southern Thailand, Southern Siam or Tambralinga is a southernmost cultural region of Thailand, separated from Central Thailand region by the Kra Isthmus. Geography Southern Thailand is on the Malay Peninsula, with an area of around , bounded ...

. Djenkol trees grow best in pervious sandy or

lateritic Laterite is both a soil and a rock type rich in iron and aluminium and is commonly considered to have formed in hot and wet tropical areas. Nearly all laterites are of rusty-red coloration, because of high iron oxide content. They develop by ...

soil Soil, also commonly referred to as earth or dirt, is a mixture of organic matter, minerals, gases, liquids, and organisms that together support life. Some scientific definitions distinguish ''dirt'' from ''soil'' by restricting the former te ...

s and they need a high rainfall guaranty.

Uses

Culinary Use

Nutritional value

The beans of the Djenkol tree have a crude

carbohydrate In organic chemistry, a carbohydrate () is a biomolecule consisting of carbon (C), hydrogen (H) and oxygen (O) atoms, usually with a hydrogen–oxygen atom ratio of 2:1 (as in water) and thus with the empirical formula (where ''m'' may or ma ...

content of about 26% which is relatively low compared to other common

s, such as

cowpea The cowpea (''Vigna unguiculata'') is an annual herbaceous legume from the genus ''Vigna''. Its tolerance for sandy soil and low rainfall have made it an important crop in the semiarid regions across Africa and Asia. It requires very few input ...

kidney bean The kidney bean is a variety of the common bean (''Phaseolus vulgaris''). It resembles a human kidney and thus is named after such. Red kidney beans should not be confused with other red beans, such as adzuki beans. Classification There are d ...

and

which all contain about 60 - 70%. The crude

protein Proteins are large biomolecules and macromolecules that comprise one or more long chains of amino acid residues. Proteins perform a vast array of functions within organisms, including catalysing metabolic reactions, DNA replication, respo ...

content instead is about 14.2%.Sridaran, Ashuwini, Alias A. Karim, and Rajeev Bhat. "Pithecellobium jiringa legume flour for potential food applications: Studies on their physico-chemical and functional properties." Food Chemistry 130.3 (2012): 528-535. This is higher than that of common

cereals A cereal is any grass cultivated for the edible components of its grain (botanically, a type of fruit called a caryopsis), composed of the endosperm, germ, and bran. Cereal grain crops are grown in greater quantities and provide more food en ...

, such as

wheat Wheat is a grass widely cultivated for its seed, a cereal grain that is a worldwide staple food. The many species of wheat together make up the genus ''Triticum'' ; the most widely grown is common wheat (''T. aestivum''). The archaeologi ...

(13%), rye (11%) or

rice Rice is the seed of the grass species ''Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice) or less commonly ''Oryza glaberrima ''Oryza glaberrima'', commonly known as African rice, is one of the two domesticated rice species. It was first domesticated and grown i ...

(7%). The presence of adequate protein and low fat contents might be perceived as desirable by consumers. When processed to flour, the presence of high

moisture Moisture is the presence of a liquid, especially water, often in trace amounts. Small amounts of water may be found, for example, in the air (humidity), in foods, and in some commercial products. Moisture also refers to the amount of water vapo ...

content (about 59%) suggests that this seed needs to be further processed to improve the shelf life and the overall quality.

Ways of preparation

Djenkol beans are 3.0 to 3.5 cm in diameter and 1.5 to 2.0 cm thick and have a reddish-brown color. These beans are prepared by

frying Frying is the cooking of food in oil or another fat. Similar to sautéing, pan-fried foods are generally turned over once or twice during cooking to make sure that the food is well-made, using tongs or a spatula, while sautéed foods are cooked ...

, boiling, or

roasting Roasting is a cooking method that uses dry heat where hot air covers the food, cooking it evenly on all sides with temperatures of at least from an open flame, oven, or other heat source. Roasting can enhance the flavor through caramelization ...

and are also eaten raw. They are mainly consumed in

, and

. The seeds of djenkol are mainly used to add flavour to food, although the crushed seeds give off a mild

sulfur Sulfur (or sulphur in British English) is a chemical element with the symbol S and atomic number 16. It is abundant, multivalent and nonmetallic. Under normal conditions, sulfur atoms form cyclic octatomic molecules with a chemical formula ...

ous odorBarceloux, Donald G. "Djenkol Bean rchidendron jiringa (Jack) IC Nielsen. ''Disease-a-Month'' 55.6 (2009): 361–364. which is perceived as rather offensive by some people.Siemonsma, J. S., and Kasem Piluek. Vegetables. Pudoc, 1993. Young seeds are often eaten raw as so-called ulam.Siew, Yin-Yin, et al. "Ethnobotanical survey of usage of fresh medicinal plants in Singapore". ''Journal of Ethnopharmacology'' 155.3 (2014): 1450–1466. Mature seeds are prepared in different ways: * boiled thoroughly until the bad smell has disappeared, then consumed with salt and grated coconut. * steeped in salted water for some hours, then fried in oil. This also removes most of the offensive smell. * The seeds can be buried for about 14 days until they germinate. Then they are dug up and eaten after the sprout has been removed. This way of preparation is said to minimize the danger of intoxication by jengkolic acid.

Folk medicine

Different parts of the djenkol tree are applied in traditional medicine of

South-East Asia Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical south-eastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of mainland ...

. The raw seeds are thought to purify the blood or cure

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 ...

. Compresses with young leaves are used for skin problems, and burnt old leaves are believed to relieve itchy feelings. The powder of burnt young leaves are applied to cuts and wounds.Muslim, Nahdzatul, and Amin Malik Shah Abdul Majid. "Pithecellobium Jiringa: A Traditional Medicinal Herb." (2010).

Other uses

''Archidendron pauciflorum'' can also be used for

dyeing Dyeing is the application of dyes or pigments on textile materials such as fibers, yarns, and fabrics with the goal of achieving color with desired color fastness. Dyeing is normally done in a special solution containing dyes and particular ...

. The pods of the seeds dye silk purple and the bark of the tree dyes black. The shell is also being used for hair washing, timber as firewood and for building (e.g. coffins)''.'' Due to the content of

s in the seeds, the raw seed is also being applied to the production of organic

pesticide Pesticides are substances that are meant to control pests. This includes herbicide, insecticide, nematicide, molluscicide, piscicide, avicide, rodenticide, bactericide, insect repellent, animal repellent, microbicide, fungicide, and lampri ...

s in combination with other plants to kill and prevent the growth of pests.

Cultivation

Forms of cultivation

Djenkol trees have often been spared when

secondary Secondary may refer to: Science and nature * Secondary emission, of particles ** Secondary electrons, electrons generated as ionization products * The secondary winding, or the electrical or electronic circuit connected to the secondary winding i ...

rain forest Rainforests are characterized by a closed and continuous tree canopy, moisture-dependent vegetation, the presence of epiphytes and lianas and the absence of wildfire. Rainforest can be classified as tropical rainforest or temperate rainforest ...

has been cut down. Otherwise planting distances are 10–15 m. The plant favours a well-drained sandy, lateritic or sandy clay

. is propagated by Seed. Methods for clonal distribution are not yet been found. In nature Squirrels ''(

Callosciurus notatus The plantain squirrel, oriental squirrel or tricoloured squirrel (''Callosciurus notatus'') is a species of rodent in the family Sciuridae found in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand in a wide range of habitats: forests, mangroves ...

)'' eat the seeds and facilitate its distribution.

Harvest and post-harvest treatment

A tree produces between 1000 and 4000 seeds per year.Charungchitrak, Sarinya, et al. "Antifungal and antibacterial activities of lectin from the seeds of Archidendron jiringa Nielsen". ''Food Chemistry'' 126.3 (2011): 1025–1032. The main harvesting time in

Java Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's List ...

is around July to August, the aftercrop in December to February. Usually Djenkol is sold in the markets by number of seeds. For transport, seeds, in particular young ones, should not be removed from the pods to avoid

desiccation Desiccation () is the state of extreme dryness, or the process of extreme drying. A desiccant is a hygroscopic (attracts and holds water) substance that induces or sustains such a state in its local vicinity in a moderately sealed container. ...

. One way to store the seeds is by processing it into chips ( emping). Another possibility however could be its procession to

flour Flour is a powder made by grinding raw grains, roots, beans, nuts, or seeds. Flours are used to make many different foods. Cereal flour, particularly wheat flour, is the main ingredient of bread, which is a staple food for many culture ...

. To date, due to the high moisture content, this is hardly done.

Pests and diseases

''Archidendron pauciflorum'' has a number of pests in common with other leguminous trees and

shrub A shrub (often also called a bush) is a small-to-medium-sized perennial woody plant. Unlike herbaceous plants, shrubs have persistent woody stems above the ground. Shrubs can be either deciduous or evergreen. They are distinguished from trees ...

s such as the pod-borers '' Mussidia pectinicornella'' and '' Cryptophlebia ombrodelta'' or the

caterpillar Caterpillars ( ) are the larval stage of members of the order Lepidoptera (the insect order comprising butterflies and moths). As with most common names, the application of the word is arbitrary, since the larvae of sawflies (suborder Sym ...

s of the leaf-feeder ''

Eurema blanda ''Eurema blanda'', the three-spot grass yellow, is a small butterfly of the family Pieridae which is found in Sri Lanka, India and southeast Asia. Description Life Cycle Egg Pale yellowish oval-shaped eggs are laid under or upper the le ...

'', one of the most common butterflies in Java.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q3503085 pauciflorum Edible legumes Medicinal plants of Asia Flora of Southeast Asia Plant dyes Potentially dangerous food