''Parasenegalia visco'' is a perennial tree found at higher elevations in northern Argentina, Bolivia, Chile and Peru. It has also been introduced to

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 ...

. Common names for it include arca, visco, viscote, viscote blanco and viscote negro. It grows 6–25m tall and it has fragrant yellow flowers in the Spring. In Bolivia is found at an

altitude Altitude or height (also sometimes known as depth) is a distance measurement, usually in the vertical or "up" direction, between a reference datum and a point or object. The exact definition and reference datum varies according to the context ...

of 1500–3000m. It has light to dark reddish brown twigs and small white flowers. It is cultivated for use in cabinetmaking. Methanol extract of ''Senegalia visco'' has been shown to have short-term and long-term anti-inflammatory effects in lab rats. Among the class of compounds characterized from ''S. visco'' leaves, the

triterpenoid Triterpenes are a class of chemical compounds composed of three terpene units with the molecular formula C30H48; they may also be thought of as consisting of six isoprene units. Animals, plants and fungi all produce triterpenes, including squal ...

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 ...

, α-amyrin and β-amyrin may be mainly responsible for the pharmacological activities.Pedernera AM, Guardia T, Calderón CE, Rotelli AE, de la Rocha NE, Saad JR, Verrilli MA, Aseff SG, Pelzer LE. Anti-inflammatory effect of ''Acacia visco'' extracts in animal models. Inflammopharmacology. 2010 Oct;18(5):253-60.

References

External links

''Senegalia visco'' (as ''Acacia visco'') (www.fieldmuseum.org)
Parasenegalia visco Trees of South America Trees of Africa Least concern plants {{africa-stub