Lanzones – Lansium Domesticum Correa
lanzones fruits
Lansones – Lansium Domesticum Correa / Baccaurea sylvestris Lour. / Melia parasitica Osbeck
Local names: Boboa (Bis.); buahan (Mbo., Sul.); bulahan (Bis.); buan (Mbo.); bukan (Bis.); kalibongan (Mbo.); lansones (Tag., Bik.); tubua (Bag.).
Lanzones is planted for its desirable fruit in Luzon, particularly in Quezon and Laguna Provinces, and occurs wild in Mindanao and Basilan. It also occurs in Indo-China, and the Malay Peninsula and Archipelago, in general cultivation.
The tree grows from 4 to 15 meters in height. The leaves are alternate, 20 to 40 centimeters long, with 5 to 7 leaflets, which are oblong or elliptic-oblong, 7 to 18 centimeters in length, and pointed at both ends. The flowers are small, yellow, and borne on spikes, which are solitary or fascicled on the trunk and larger branches. The fruit is hairy, oblong-ovate or ellipsoid, 3 to 5 centimeters long, and contains seeds, which are surrounded by pulp (arillus). One or two seeds usually develop and the rest abort.
Lanzones are a great favorite with the Filipinos. The fruit is whitish-yellow and occurs in bunches which resemble those of grapes, except that they occur on a single stem instead of a branched stem. The outer skin is fairly thin but is tough and contains a milky juice, which exudes abundantly. This juice deters many foreigners from eating lanzones. If the fruit is peeled, then iced, and eaten within a reasonable time, its flavor is not impaired. The edible part of the fruit is a translucent pulp, which occurs in five sections, one of which usually contains a well-developed seed. The pulp is succulent and delicious, and may be preserved in syrup or candied. The fruit skins are often dried and, when burned, give an aromatic smell, which drives away mosquitoes and makes a pleasant inhalant in a sick room. The seeds are very bitter.
Boorsma, the first to undertake a chemical study of the rind, reported that 6 per cent of lansium acid, which is toxic, was isolated. Two kinds of bitter (toxic) substances and traces of an alkaloid were isolated from the seeds. Prinsen and Geerligs report that the fruit (pulp) contains sucrose 14.15 per cent, saccharose 9.98 per cent, fructose 2.5 per cent, and glucose 1.67 per cent.
Valenzuela, Guevarra, and Garcia conducted a study of the chemistry of the peeling and the pharmacodynamics of the oleoresin and report that the fresh skin yielded on extraction a pale yellow volatile oil (0.2 per cent) (D25 0.8819, n 25/D (1.5155)); a brown resin (3.5 per cent), and some reducing acids. The dried peel yielded a dark-colored, semi liquid oleoresin. Regarding the pharmacodynamics, they state that the lanson resin is nontoxic; lessens the irritation of the intestines caused by alcohol; and has no action on the heart. Pratt and del Rosario say that the outer skin of the fruit is bitter and is regarded as very rich in tannin.
Heyne reports that the bark is astringent and that its decoction is used for dysentery in Java, Borneo, and Malaya. Burkill and Haniff state that a decoction of the bark and leaves is used in the treatment of dysentery, and that the powdered bark is a remedy for scorpion stings.
The juice of the bark and fruit skin is recorded as a Dyak arrow poison by Perrot and Vogt.
Heyne asserts that the seeds, ground and mixed with water, are given to children against worm. The seeds are also used as a febrifuge. Boorsma says that in Java the seeds are used as a vermifuge and an antipyretic. Skeat and Blagden report that the bitter seeds, crushed, are used to cure fevers among the Sakai.
Father Alzina reported that as early as 1668, the use of the resin was known. The resin from bark was prescribed for flatulence, for swellings and as an antispasmodic. Valenzuela, Guevarra and Garcia suggest that the resin may be useful in the treatment of inflammation and colic of the gastro-intestinal tract. They recommend that a tincture prepared from the dried rind, is useful, as an anti-diarrhoetic or anti-colic, for the tincture, besides containing the resin, will also contain much tannin.
Source: Bureau of Plant Industry, Department of Agriculture
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