Sarcocephalus pobeguinii (PROTA)

The wood is used for construction, joinery and cabinet work. Although the wood has been recorded to be suitable for making mortars, like that of the related Nauclea diderrichii (De Wild. & T.Durand) Merr., other sources indicate it is not used for making mortars in Ghana because it imparts a bitter taste to food. The pulp of the infructescence is edible, but not much eaten.

Sarcocephalus pobeguinii is widely used in African traditional medicine. A root decoction is taken as an anthelminthic in Guinea. In Nigeria root preparations are used against gonorrhoea. The powdered bark is taken in water against intestinal pain and diarrhoea in Senegal, and a bark decoction as an oxytocic. In Guinea a bark maceration is recorded to be taken as an abortifacient, while in Cameroon the bark is said to be used against threatened abortion. In Côte d’Ivoire bark preparations are used for the treatment of fever and jaundice. In Nigeria a bark decoction is drunk for the treatment of stomach-ache. In Gabon a maceration or decoction of the bark is drunk for the treatment of gonorrhoea. In DR Congo bark decoctions are taken for the treatment of malaria, a decoction of the barks of Sarcocephalus pobeguinii and Symphonia globulifera L.f. is taken against sexual asthenia, and a bark preparation is applied as a suppository against epilepsy. A leaf decoction is used against jaundice in Nigeria. In Gabon a leaf infusion is taken against fever.

Production and international trade

The wood is only used locally and not commercialized.

Properties

The heartwood is yellow or pale orange, the sapwood pale yellow to orange. The grain is irregular, texture fine. The wood is medium-weight, with a density of 500–780 kg/m³, and moderately hard to hard. It works and glues well, and holds nails and screws well.

Aqueous, ethanolic and dichloromethane extracts of the bark have shown in-vitro antimalarial activity against Plasmodium falciparum and in-vivo antimalarial activity against Plasmodium berghei and Plasmodium yoellii in mice. No significant in-vivo toxic effects in mice were observed for aqueous and ethanolic bark extracts, but dichloromethane extracts have shown high in-vitro cytotoxic activity. A hydromethanolic extract of the bark showed significant chromosome-damaging activity, but had no cytotoxic activity. A clinical test with a small group of human adult volunteers diagnosed with uncomplicated Plasmodium falciparum malaria has shown that oral administration during meals of capsules of an 80% ethanolic extract of the stem bark was effective against malaria and well-tolerated, giving only mild and self-resolving adverse effects. Alkaloids, especially the major compound strictosamide, are assumed to be responsible for the antimalarial activity. However, neither strictosamide nor other alkaloids did show in-vitro antimalarial activity, suggesting activation of strictosamide, probably by the gastrointestinal tract, is necessary for its activity. The root bark contains alkaloids and quinovic acid glycosides. An aqueous extract of the leaves has shown in-vivo anti-oxidant activity in rats.

Description

Deciduous, small to medium-sized tree up to 30 m tall, sometimes a shrub; bole branchless for up to 15 m, straight and cylindrical, up to 100 cm in diameter, without buttresses; bark surface longitudinally fissured, flaking in papery scales c. 2 cm in diameter, whitish, grey or pale brown, inner bark fibrous, pale yellow-brown, turning darker on exposure; crown with whorled horizontal branches; twigs short-hairy when young.
Leaves opposite, simple and entire; stipules triangular, 3–7 mm long; petiole slender, 1.5–5 cm long; blade oblong-elliptical to broadly elliptical, 8–25 cm × 5.5–16 cm, cuneate at base, rounded to acute or acuminate at apex, thin, glabrous, pinnately veined with 7–9 pairs of lateral veins.
Inflorescence a solitary, terminal, rounded head 2–5 cm in diameter; peduncle 1–3 cm long.
Flowers bisexual, regular, 4–5-merous, fragrant; calyx tubes fused to each other, lobes oblong-spatulate, 2–4 mm long, densely hairy; corolla 8–10 mm long, pinkish white, white or cream-coloured, tube funnel-shaped, c. 7 mm long, hairy inside, lobes oblong to ovate, 1.5–2 mm long; stamens inserted in the throat of the corolla tube, alternating with the lobes, without filaments; ovary inferior, 2-celled, style c. 12 mm long, with spindle-shaped thickening near apex.
Fruits fused into a globose, fleshy infructescence 3.5–10 cm in diameter, yellow, densely pitted because of the persistent calyx lobes, with yellow pulp and an apple-like smell, many-seeded.
Seeds ellipsoid or ovoid, 1–3 mm long, reddish, reticulate.
Seedling with epigeal germination.

Other botanical information

Sarcocephalus comprises only 2 species, restricted to tropical Africa, and seems related to Burttdavya and Nauclea.

In West Africa Sarcocephalus pobeguinii flowers in (April–)May–July, and fruits in September–November(–December). The fruits are a favoured food for chimpanzees in Guinea and gorillas in Central Africa. The seeds are recorded to be dispersed by water.

Ecology

Sarcocephalus pobeguinii occurs from sea-level up to 1400 m altitude on river banks and lake sides, and in swamp forest, where it may grow in nearly pure stands.

Management

Seed germination takes 1–3 weeks, and the germination rate is usually high. In an inventory in forest in southern Cameroon, an average wood volume of 0.25 m³/ha has been recorded for trees with a bole diameter of more than 15 cm.

Genetic resources

As Sarcocephalus pobeguinii is widely distributed and not much used, it seems not threatened with genetic erosion.

Prospects

The wood of Sarcocephalus pobeguinii is only used locally and not traded internationally, and there are no indications that this situation will change. Quantitative data on the wood properties are scarce, and information on the durability of the wood is lacking altogether. Research on the pharmacological properties, especially in relation to the treatment of malaria, showed promising results for possible drug development in the pharmaceutical industry.

Major references

Bridson, D. & Verdcourt, B., 2003. Rubiaceae (Cinchonoideae). In: Pope, G.V. (Editor). Flora Zambesiaca. Volume 5, part 3. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Richmond, United Kingdom. 720 pp.

Burkill, H.M., 1997. The useful plants of West Tropical Africa. 2nd Edition. Volume 4, Families M–R. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Richmond, United Kingdom. 969 pp.

Mesia, K., Cimanga, R.K., Dhooghe, L., Cos, P., Apers, S., Totté, J., Tona, G.L., Pieters, L., Vlietinck, A.J. & Maes, L., 2010. Antimalarial activity and toxicity evaluation of a quantified Nauclea pobeguinii extract. Journal of Ethnopharmacology 131: 10–16.

Taylor, C.J., 1960. Synecology and silviculture in Ghana. Thomas Nelson and Sons, Edinburgh, United Kingdom. 418 pp.

Vivien, J. & Faure, J.J., 1985. Arbres des forêts denses d’Afrique Centrale. Agence de Coopération Culturelle et Technique, Paris, France. 565 pp.

Other references

de la Mensbruge, G., 1966. La germination et les plantules des essences arborées de la forêt dense humide de la Côte d’Ivoire. Centre Technique Forestier Tropical, Nogent-sur-Marne, France. 389 pp.

Hallé, N., 1966. Rubiacées (1re partie). Flore du Gabon. Volume 12. Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, Paris, France. 278 pp.

Hawthorne, W. & Jongkind, C., 2006. Woody plants of western African forests: a guide to the forest trees, shrubs and lianes from Senegal to Ghana. Kew Publishing, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, United Kingdom. 1023 pp.

Kadiri, H., Adegor, E. & Asagba, S.O., 2007. Effect of aqueous Nauclea pobeguinii leaf extract on rats induced with hepatic injury. Research Journal of Medicinal Plant 1(4): 139–143.

Liu, W., di Giorgio, C., Lamidi, M., Elias, R., Ollivier, E. & de Méo, M.P., 2011. Genotoxic and clastogenic activity of saponins extracted from Nauclea bark as assessed by the micronucleus and the comet assays in Chinese hamster ovary cells. Journal of Ethnopharmacology 137: 176–183.

Mesia, G.K., Tona, G.L., Penge, O., Lusakibanza, M., Nanga, T.M., Cimanga, R.K., Apers, S., van Miert, S., Totte, J., Pieters, L. & Vlietinck, A.J., 2005. Antimalarial activities and toxicities of three plants used as traditional remedies for malaria in the Democratic Republic of Congo: Croton mubango, Nauclea pobeguinii and Pyrenacantha staudtii. Annals of Tropical Medicine and Parasitology 99(4): 345–357.

Mesia, K., Tona, L., Mampunza, M.M., Ntamabyaliro, N., Muanda, T., Muyembe, T., Cimanga, K., Totté, J., Mets, T., Pieters, L. & Vlietinck, A.J., 2011. Antimalarial efficacy of a quantified extract of Nauclea pobeguinii stem bark in human adult volunteers with diagnosed uncomplicated falciparum malaria. Part 1: a clinical phase IIA trial. Planta Medica (Epub ahead of print. Nov. 17, 2011).

Vivien, J. & Faure, J.J., 1996. Fruitiers sauvages d’Afrique: espèces du Cameroun. Ministère Français de la Coopération, Paris, France & CTA, Wageningen, Netherlands. 416 pp.

Voorhoeve, A.G., 1979. Liberian high forest trees. A systematic botanical study of the 75 most important or frequent high forest trees, with reference to numerous related species. Agricultural Research Reports 652, 2nd Impression. Centre for Agricultural Publishing and Documentation, Wageningen, Netherlands. 416 pp.

Zeches, M., Richard, B., Gueye-M’Bahia, L., le Men-Olivier, L. & Delaude, C., 1985. Constituants des écorces de racine de Nauclea pobeguinii. Journal of Natural Products 48(1): 42–46.

Author(s)

M. Brink, PROTA Network Office Europe, Wageningen University, P.O. Box 341, 6700 AH Wageningen, Netherlands

Correct citation of this article

Brink, M., 2012. Sarcocephalus pobeguinii Pobég. In: Lemmens, R.H.M.J., Louppe, D. & Oteng-Amoako, A.A. (Editors). PROTA (Plant Resources of Tropical Africa / Ressources végétales de l’Afrique tropicale), Wageningen, Netherlands. Accessed 17 September 2026.

See the Prota4U database.

Sarcocephalus pobeguinii (PROTA)

Synonyms

Vernacular names

Origin and geographic distribution

Uses