Madhuca longifolia

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Madhuca longifolia
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Division: Magnoliophyta
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Ericales
Family: Sapotaceae
Genus: Madhuca
Species: M. longifolia
Binomial name
Madhuca longifolia
(J.Konig) J.F.Macbr.

Madhuca longfolia, commonly known as mahwa or mahua, is an Indian tropical tree found largely in the north Indian plains and forests. It is a fast growing tree that grows approximately 20 meters in height, possesses evergreen or semi-evergreen foliage, and belongs to the family Sapotaceae. It is adapted to arid environoments, being a prominent tree in tropical deciduous forests in central India.

It is cultivated in warm regions for its oleaginous seeds, its flowers and its wood, producing between 20 and 200 kg of seeds annually per tree, depending on maturity. This oil (solid at ambient temperature) is used for the care of the skin, to manufacture soap or detergents, and as a vegetable butter. It can also be used as a fuel oil. The seed cakes obtained after extraction of oil constitute very good fertilizers. The flowers are used to produce an alcoholic drink in tropical India. Several parts of the tree are used for their medicinal properties. It is considered holy by many tribal communitites because of its usefulness. The bark is used for medicinal purposes.

Contents

[edit] Oil

  • Refractive index: 1.452
  • Fatty acid composition (acid, %) : Palmitic (c16:0) : 24.5 - Stearic (c18:0) : 22.7 - Oleic (c18:1) : 37.0 - Lionoleic (c18:2) : 14.3

[edit] Other names

  • Other botanical names: Bassia longifolia L., Bassia latifolia Roxb., Madhuca indica J. F. Gmel., Madhuca latifolia (Roxb.) J.F.Macbr., Bassia longifolia L., Illipe latifolia (Roxb.) F.Muell., Illipe malabrorum (Engl.)
Note: The tree should not be confused when the chenopodiaceous plants of the genus Bassia.
  • Varieties :
    • Madhuca longifolia var. latifolia (Roxb.) A.Chev. (=Bassia latifolia (Roxb))
    • Madhuca longifolia var. longifolia
  • Vernacular names: English : honey tree, butter tree - French : Illipe, Arbre à beurre, Bassie, Madhuca - India : moha, mohua, madhuca, illuppai, kuligam, madurgam, mavagam, nattiluppai, tittinam, mahwa, mahua, mowa, moa, mowrah - Sri Lanka : mi, illuppai, kulilgam, maduragam, mavagam, nattiluppai, tittinam

[edit] External links

[edit] Bibliography

  • Boutelje, J. B. 1980. Encyclopedia of world timbers, names and technical literature.
  • Duke, J. A. 1989. Handbook of Nuts. CRC Press.
  • Encke, F. et al. 1993. Zander: Handwörterbuch der Pflanzennamen, 14. Auflage.
  • Govaerts, R. & D. G. Frodin. 2001. World checklist and bibliography of Sapotaceae.
  • Hara, H. et al. 1978–1982. An enumeration of the flowering plants of Nepal.
  • Matthew, K. M. 1983. The flora of the Tamilnadu Carnatic.
  • McGuffin, M. et al., eds. 2000. Herbs of commerce, ed. 2.
  • Nasir, E. & S. I. Ali, eds. 1970–. Flora of [West] Pakistan.
  • Pennington, T. D. 1991. The genera of the Sapotaceae.
  • Porcher, M. H. et al. Searchable World Wide Web Multilingual Multiscript Plant Name Database (MMPND) - on-line resource.
  • Saldanha, C. J. & D. H. Nicolson. 1976. Flora of Hassan district.
  • Saldanha, C. J. 1985–. Flora of Karnataka.