''Ploiarium'' is a genus of three species of woody plants in the family

Bonnetiaceae Bonnetiaceae is a family of flowering plants, consisting of 4 genera and 41 species. The family is Neotropical, with the exception of the genus ''Ploiarium'', which is found in Malesia. It is sister to the family Clusiaceae The Clusiaceae or ...

. It is native to tropical forests and peat swamp forests in

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 ...

including southern

Indochina Mainland Southeast Asia, also known as the Indochinese Peninsula or Indochina, is the continental portion of Southeast Asia. It lies east of the Indian subcontinent and south of Mainland China and is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the west an ...

Malay Peninsula The Malay Peninsula (Malay: ''Semenanjung Tanah Melayu'') is a peninsula in Mainland Southeast Asia. The landmass runs approximately north–south, and at its terminus, it is the southernmost point of the Asian continental mainland. The area ...

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 ...

, and

Borneo Borneo (; id, Kalimantan) is the third-largest island in the world and the largest in Asia. At the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, in relation to major Indonesian islands, it is located north of Java, west of Sulawesi, and eas ...

. Species are generally slow growing with irregular flowering and fruiting cycles. Colonization of plants by

arbuscular mycorrhiza An arbuscular mycorrhiza (AM) (plural ''mycorrhizae'', a.k.a. ''endomycorrhiza'') is a type of mycorrhiza in which the symbiont fungus (''AM fungi'', or AMF) penetrates the cortical cells of the roots of a vascular plant forming arbuscules. (N ...

l fungi is known to improve growth and biomass.

Chemistry

Species of ''Ploiarium'' are used in medicine as they contain compounds that possess antimicrobial activity. Several

xanthone Xanthone is an organic compound with the molecular formula O 6H4CO. It is a white solid. In 1939, xanthone was introduced as an insecticide and it currently finds uses as Insecticide, ovicide for codling moth eggs and as a larvicide. Xanthone ...

s have been discovered in the stems and bark of '' P. elegans'' including: ploiarixanthone, euxanmodin A, and euxanmodin B. The

anthraquinones ''For the parent molecule 9,10-anthraquinone, see anthraquinone'' Anthraquinones (also known as anthraquinonoids) are a class of naturally occurring phenolic compounds based on the 9,10-anthraquinone skeleton. They are widely used industrially an ...

emodin Emodin (6-methyl-1,3,8-trihydroxyanthraquinone) is a chemical compound, of the anthraquinone family, that can be isolated from rhubarb, buckthorn, and Japanese knotweed ('' Reynoutria japonica'' syn. ''Polygonum cuspidatum''). Emodin is particula ...

, ploiariquinone A, and 1,8-dihydroxy-3-methoxy-6- methyl-anthraquinone have also been reported from the genus. Triterpenoid benzoates are also reported from the bark of '' P. elegans''. Leaf extracts contain a diverse array of

terpenoid The terpenoids, also known as isoprenoids, are a class of naturally occurring organic chemicals derived from the 5-carbon compound isoprene and its derivatives called terpenes, diterpenes, etc. While sometimes used interchangeably with "terpenes" ...

alkaloid Alkaloids are a class of basic, naturally occurring organic compounds that contain at least one nitrogen atom. This group also includes some related compounds with neutral and even weakly acidic properties. Some synthetic compounds of similar ...

polyphenol Polyphenols () are a large family of naturally occurring organic compounds characterized by multiples of phenol units. They are abundant in plants and structurally diverse. Polyphenols include flavonoids, tannic acid, and ellagitannin, some 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 ...

steroid A steroid is a biologically active organic compound with four rings arranged in a specific molecular configuration. Steroids have two principal biological functions: as important components of cell membranes that alter membrane fluidity; and a ...

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 and have been studied for their anti-bacterial properties, particularly against ''

Propionibacterium ''Propionibacterium'' is a gram-positive, anaerobic, rod-shaped genus of bacteria named for their unique metabolism: They are able to synthesize propionic acid by using unusual transcarboxylase enzymes. Its members are primarily facultative pa ...

'', responsible for skin

acne Acne, also known as ''acne vulgaris'', is a long-term Cutaneous condition, skin condition that occurs when Keratinocyte, dead skin cells and Sebum, oil from the skin clog hair follicles. Typical features of the condition include comedo, black ...

.Marselia, S., Wibowo, M. A., & Arreneuz, S. (2015). Aktivitas Antibakteri Ekstrak Daun Soma (Ploiarium alternifolium melch) Terhadap Propionibacterium acnes. ''Jurnal Kimia Khatulistiwa'', ''4''(4).

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q9061136 Bonnetiaceae Plants described in 1841 Malpighiales genera