Eurycoma Longifolia
 Description:
Eurycoma longifolia (Simaroubaceae) is a small tree to 15 m high.
Plants dioecious (flowers on a plant are either male or female).
Leaves compound, long, and crowded at the tips of the branches.
When the leaves fall they leave large scars on the stems. Leaflets
are ovate-lanceolate, sessile or nearly so, and opposite. Flowers
are borne in axillaries panicles, mostly large and lax, and puberulous
with short hairs. Flowers are unisexual; male flower has sterile
pistil, female flower has sterile stamens. Fruits ellipsoid or ovoid,
10-20 x 5-12 mm, green to blackish-red when ripe.
Ecology
E. longifolia prefers acid and sandy soils at low altitude up to
700 m above sea level. Plants usually grow in beach forests, primary
and secondary forests, mixed dipterocarp forests and also in heath
forests. In Riau Province, Sumatra, 1991, the author found that
plants were growing in areas with an average temperature of 25C
and 86% humidity. The soils in this area were found to be poor in
nutrients, but mycorrhizal fungi were found growing near the plants
and may indicate an association. Seedlings require shade, during
which time they develop an extensive root system. Following juvenile
stages, plants need stronger light to develop vegetative and reproductive
parts. E. longifolia flowers and fruits throughout the year, with
peak flowering from June-July and peak fruiting in September.
Distribution
E. longifolia originates from South East Asia, including Indonesia,
Malay Peninsula, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam. In Indonesia,
this species only occurs naturally in Sumatra and Kalimantan.
 Uses
Though E. longifolia is currently mostly known as an aphrodisiac,
in South East Asia, all parts of E. longifolia plants have long
been used medicinally. The plant is commonly used throughout the
region as a tonic after childbirth. The bark of the roots is used
in the Malay Peninsula to cure fever, ulcers in the mouth, and intestinal
worms. The Malays also use the paste of the plant to relieve headache,
stomachache, pain caused by syphilis, and many other general pains.
In parts of Sumatra and Kalimantan, the root is used as an anit-pyretic.
In Lampung and Belitung it is used as a medicine for dysentery.
The people of Sabah and Kalimantan make a decoction of the bark
that is drunk to relieve pain in the bones or applied for washing
itches. In Vietnam, people use the flowers and fruits as a medicine
for treating dysentery. In Riau, where the author carried out research,
people living in the surrounding forests boil the root or stem to
cure malaria. One of the most unique uses for E. longifolia is that
of the Sakai ethnic group in Sumatra who use the plant as an amulet
to protect people from the smallpox virus.
Phytochemistry
The active constituents in E. longifolia, and many other species
in the Family Simaroubaceae, include quassin, neo-quassin, glaukarubin,
sedrin, eurycomanol that are mostly derivatives from compounds with
20 carbon atoms.
Further Research
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