''Swietenia macrophylla'', commonly known as mahogany,
Honduran mahogany,
Honduras mahogany, or big-leaf mahogany is a species of
plant
Plants are predominantly Photosynthesis, photosynthetic eukaryotes of the Kingdom (biology), kingdom Plantae. Historically, the plant kingdom encompassed all living things that were not animals, and included algae and fungi; however, all curr ...
in the
Meliaceae
Meliaceae, the mahogany family, is a flowering plant family of mostly trees and shrubs (and a few herbaceous plants, mangroves) in the order Sapindales.
They are characterised by alternate, usually pinnate leaves without stipules, and by synca ...
family. It is one of three species that yields genuine
mahogany
Mahogany is a straight- grained, reddish-brown timber of three tropical hardwood species of the genus '' Swietenia'', indigenous to the AmericasBridgewater, Samuel (2012). ''A Natural History of Belize: Inside the Maya Forest''. Austin: Un ...
timber (
Swietenia), the others being ''
Swietenia mahagoni'' and ''
Swietenia humilis''. It is native to South America, Mexico and Central America, but
naturalized
Naturalization (or naturalisation) is the legal act or process by which a non-citizen of a country may acquire citizenship or nationality of that country. It may be done automatically by a statute, i.e., without any effort on the part of the i ...
in the
Philippines
The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no),
* bik, Republika kan Filipinas
* ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas
* cbk, República de Filipinas
* hil, Republ ...
,
Singapore
Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...
, Malaysia and
Hawaii
Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only ...
,
and cultivated in plantations and wind-breaks elsewhere.
Description
Wood
Mahogany wood is strong and is usually a source for furniture, musical instruments, ships, doors, coffins, decors.
Leaves
Mahogany is characterised by its large leaves (up to 45 cm long). The leaflets are even in number and are connected by a central midrib.
Fruits
The fruits are called "sky fruits" because of its upwards growth towards the sky. The fruits of mahogany can be measure to 40 cm in length, in a light grey to brown capsule. Each fruit capsule could contain 71 winged seeds.
Seeds
The seeds of mahogany can reach 7 to 12 cm long.
Timber
Unlike mahogany sourced from its native locations, plantation mahogany grown in Asia is not restricted in trade. The mahogany timber grown in these Asian plantations is the major source of international trade in genuine mahogany today. The Asian countries which grow the majority of ''Swietenia macrophylla'' are
India
India, officially the Republic of India ( Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the ...
,
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 ...
,
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 ...
,
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, with a population exceeding 165 million pe ...
,
Fiji,
Philippines
The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no),
* bik, Republika kan Filipinas
* ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas
* cbk, República de Filipinas
* hil, Republ ...
,
Singapore
Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...
, and some others, with India and Fiji being the major world suppliers. The tree is also planted in
Laos PDR.
Medicinal use
It was scientifically studied for its various biological activities. A detailed mechanism of action of apoptotic inducing effect on HCT116 human cancer cell line was elucidated. Through solvent extraction and fractionation done on seeds of Swietenia macrophylla, the ethyl acetate fraction (SMEAF) was further examined for its neuroprotective activity and acute toxicity effects. Various purified compounds derived from Swietenia macrophylla were further examined and was revealed to possesses potent PPARγ binding activity which might capable of stimulating glucose uptake in muscle cells.
The ethyl acetate fraction from the seeds of Swietenia macrophylla (SMEAF) was studied for anti-inflammatory properties using lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced BV-2 microglia. SMEAF significantly attenuated the LPS-induced production of nitric oxide (NO), inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2), tumour necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and interleukin-6 (IL-6). SMEAF inhibited nuclear translocation of nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-κB) via the attenuation of IκBα phosphorylation. Moreover, SMEAF markedly suppressed phosphorylation of Akt, p38 Mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) and Extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2 (ERK1/2) in LPS-induced BV-2 cells. Treatment with specific inhibitors for Akt, NF-κB, p38 and ERK1/2 resulted in the attenuation of iNOS and COX-2 protein expression. These findings indicated that SMEAF possesses anti-inflammatory activities in BV-2 cells by modulating LPS-induced pro-inflammatory mediator production via the inhibition of Akt-dependent NF-κB, p38 MAPK and ERK1/2 activation. These results further advocate the potential use of S. macrophylla as nutraceutical for the intervention of neurodegenerative and neuroinflammatory disorders.
There are also claims of its ability to improve blood circulation and skin condition, as well as anti-erectile dysfunction.
However, there are reports of liver injury or hepatotoxicity after consumption of Mahogany Seeds both in raw form
and raw seeds grind and pack in capsule form. The severity of liver damage varies. There are also the report of single case kidney injury and polyarthralgia. In most cases, the liver function was recovered after stopping the consumption.
The exact mechanism of these adverse events is currently unknown.
These cases that happened are the first reports of Swietenia Macrophylla seeds’ association with liver injury.
This may also due to over dosage and consumption of contaminated raw seeds which are never been thoroughly investigated. Based on acute oral toxicity studies of ''Swietenia Macrophylla'' seeds, the consumption of Swietenia Macrophylla by humans is safe if the dose is less than 325 mg/kg body weight. The usual dose of Swietenia Macrophylla prescribed in Malaysian folk-lore medicine is one seed per day.
Population genetics
Mesoamerica
Mesoamerica is a historical region and cultural area in southern North America and most of Central America. It extends from approximately central Mexico through Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and northern Costa Rica. W ...
n rainforest populations show higher
structure than in the
Amazon
Amazon most often refers to:
* Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek mythology
* Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin
* Amazon River, in South America
* Amazon (company), an American multinational technolog ...
.
Common names
The species is also known under other
common name
In biology, a common name of a taxon or organism (also known as a vernacular name, English name, colloquial name, country name, popular name, or farmer's name) is a name that is based on the normal language of everyday life; and is often contra ...
s, including bastard mahogany,
Flowers of India: Big-leaf mahogany
/ref> broad-leaved mahogany, Brazilian mahogany, large-leaved mahogany, genuine mahogany, tropical American mahogany, and sky fruit, among others.
*English - big leaf mahogany, large-leaved mahogany, Brazilian mahogany
*French -
*Spanish -
*Malayalam -
*Tamil - (தேன்கனி)
*Telugu -
*Sinhala - (මහෝගනි)
File:Mahogany trees in Bangladesh.jpg, Mahogany trees
Image:Young tree I IMG 8665.jpg, Young tree
Image:Young Bark I IMG 8669.jpg, Young Bark
Image:Old Bark & leaves I IMG 8671.jpg, Old Bark and leaves
Image:Fruit with leaves at Branch Canopy I IMG 8673.jpg, Fruit with leaves
Image:Swietenia macrophylla at Kadavoor.jpg, Bark pattern on mahogany tree.
Image:Mahogany seed.JPG, Mahogany seed.
Image:Swietenia macrophylla wood.jpg, Wood
Image:Mahogany historic range lamb.jpg, Historic distribution of mahogany from Mexico to southeastern Amazonia according to Lamb (1966). From Martinez et al. 2008.
Image:Historic distribution big-leaf mahogany.jpg, Revised historic distribution of mahogany in South America based on expert surveys. From Martinez et al. 2008.
Image:Mahogany historic range mexico.png, Historic distribution of mahogany in Mexico and Central America. From Calvo et al. 2000.
File:大葉桃花心木 Swietenia macrophylla 20210327101510 02.jpg, Green leaves turn red.
File:Swietenia macrophylla.jpg, Swietenia macrophylla
References
External links
*
*
{{Taxonbar, from=Q12955947
macrophylla
Trees of Belize
Trees of Bolivia
Trees of Brazil
Trees of Campeche
Trees of Chiapas
Trees of Colombia
Trees of Costa Rica
Trees of Dominica
Trees of Ecuador
Trees of El Salvador
Trees of French Guiana
Trees of Guadeloupe
Trees of Guatemala
Trees of Guyana
Trees of Honduras
Trees of Martinique
Trees of Mexico
Trees of Nicaragua
Trees of Panama
Trees of Peru
Trees of Quintana Roo
Trees of Tabasco
Trees of Venezuela
Trees of Veracruz
Vulnerable plants
National symbols of Belize
Trees of the Philippines
Invasive plant species in Sri Lanka
Taxonomy articles created by Polbot