SAPOTACEAE

(Sapodilla family)

800 tropical species occur in 35 to 75 ill-defined genera. Many furnish useful products, especially gutta-percha and balata.

Poisoning by several Brazilian woods of this family causes alopecia (Friese 1932 cited by Senear 1933).

[Summary yet to be added]

Autranella congolensis (De Wild.) A.Chev.

[syn. Mimusops congolensis De Wild.]

Mukulungu

The wood-dust from this tropical African tree is irritant to the respiratory tract (Orsler 1973). Hausen (1970) cites CTFT (1954) for mucosal irritation from the wood.

The genus is monotypic (Mabberley 2017).

Baillonella toxisperma Pierre

[syns Baillonella djave (Engl.) Pierre ex Dubard, Mimusops djave Engl., Mimusops toxisperma (Pierre) A.Chev.]

Djave Nut, False Shea Butternut, Moabi

This tropical West African species is the source of timber known as African pearwood or moabi.^a It has long been recognised as being injurious (Helig 1957, CTFT 1966, Hausen 1970). Hanslian & Kadlec (1966a) noted that African pearwood derived from Mimusops toxisperma has produced skin, eye, and nasal irritation, and nosebleeds in woodworkers. Chronic inflammation of the eyelids, conjunctivitis, and profuse tearing, possibly of allergic aetiology, occurred in 80% of workers with the wood (Kuběna et al. 1968, Heinc & Kuběna 1969). Ronsmans et al. (2024) have described allergic contact dermatitis, rhinoconjunctivitis, and asthma in a woodworker following exposure to moabi wood dust.

The genus is monotypic (Mabberley 2017).

^a https://www.wood-database.com/moabi/; accessed June 2024

Chrysophyllum L.

150 species are found in tropical regions, especially in America. Chrysophyllum cainito L. is cultivated for its edible fruit — the star apple.

A Brazilian species of this genus was reported to produce dermatitis from the fine dust produced in making veneers (Friese 1932).

Madhuca Buch.-Ham. ex J.F.Gmel.

85 species are native to Indo-China, Indo-Malaysia and Australia. The botanical name Bassia All. refers to a genus of Chenopodiaceae. The botany is complex (Hausen 1970); he confused the genus with Bassia of the Chenopodiaceae.

Madhuca betis (Blanco) J.F.Macbr.

[syns Azaola betis Blanco, Bassia betis (Blanco) Merr., Illipe betis (Blanco) Merr., Isonandra betis (Blanco) Baehni, Payena betis (Blanco) Fern.-Vill.]

Betis

The powdered bark is sternutatory (Quisumbing 1951).

Madhuca longifolia (L.) J.F.Macbr.

[syns Bassia longifolia L., Illipe longifolia — of no botanical standing, Vidoricum longifolium (L.) Kuntze]

Butter Tree, Butter-Nut Tree, Moah Wood, Mahua, Mahwa, Mowa, Arbre à Beurre, Indische Illipe

The flowers are edible and are distilled to make a liquor. The leaves yield an essential oil.

The wood was reported to produce dermatitis in all woodworkers who were exposed, suggesting an irritant effect (Pflanz 1908, Matthes and Schreiber 1914). The wood of Bassia longifolia was listed as irritant by Schwartz et al. (1947, 1957). The juice from the bark of Madhuca indica is irritant and is used as a rubefacient (Behl et al. 1966).

According to Record (1925) the moah wood or edelteak which Matthes and Schreiber (1914) identified as Illipe longifolia [or Illipe latifolia; see below] was actually Paratecoma peroba. All lists which include Bassia, Illipe and Madhuca as toxic woods appear to result from Matthes and Schreiber's error. Woods and Calnan (1976) suggest that the wood named moah (Pflanz 1908) may have been Flindersia australis. The statements of irritation re Madhuca indica above and M. parkii below are possibly irrelevant by reason of the error noted in the report of Matthes and Schreiber (1914).

The thick sticky juice from the bark is irritant and workers with a meal derived from the plant can develop cellulitis of the hands and feet (Lewin 1962, Behl et al. 1966).

Thomson (1971) does not accept reports that the wood yields lapachol, a sensitiser of teak (Tectona grandis L.f., fam. Labiatae).

Madhuca longifolia var. latifolia (Roxb.) A.Chev.

[syns Bassia latifolia Roxb., Illipe latifolia (Roxb.) F.Muell., Madhuca latifolia (Roxb.) J.F.Macbr., Vidoricum latifolium (Roxb.) Kuntze]

Butter Tree, Champa, Illupai, Mahua, Mahwa, Arbre à Beurre

The seeds are the source of the cosmetic product ingredient Bassia Latifolia Seed Butter, also known as Illipe Butter.

The wood of Bassia latifolia was listed as irritant by Schwartz et al. (1947, 1957).

Manilkara bidentata (A.DC.) A.Chev.

[syn. Mimusops bidentata A.DC.]

Balata, Balata Rouge, Assapookoo

This West Indies species is reported to be injurious (Heilig 1957). The fine dust produced in making veneers produced dermatitis (Freise 1932). Woods and Calnan (1976) cite an incompletely referenced report that the wood of assapookoo is very poisonous.

This species yields a gutta-percha.

Manilkara huberi (Ducke) A.Chev.

[syn. Mimusops huberi Ducke]

Masaranduba, Níspero, Sapotilla

The fine dust produced in making veneers produced dermatitis (Freise 1932).

Manilkara zapota (L.) P.Royen

[syns Achras zapota L., Mimusops grisebachii Pierre]

Chicle, Mespel, Naseberry, Sapodilla Plum, Sapote, Soapapple, Breiapfelbaum, Kaugummibaum, Sapodillbaum

According to Usher (1974), Achras sapota L [sic; nom. illeg.] is cultivated for its edible fruit and gum. The gum is extracted from the stem by tapping and is used to produce chicle, a chewing gum. This species also provides timber known as chico zapote, zapote, or sapodilla.^a

Burkill (1935), referring to Achras zapota, noted that the wood-dust is irritant to the nasal passages. Hanslian & Kadlec (1966a) noted that sapodilla wood derived from an unspecified species of Mimusops from Brazil [perhaps Mimusops grisebachii], has produced skin irritation, swelling, and hair loss in woodworkers.

^a https://www.wood-database.com/sapodilla/; accessed June 2024

Pouteria procera (Mart.) K.Hammer

[syns Calocarpum procerum (Mart.) Dubard, Lucuma procera Mart., Urbanella procera (Mart.) Pierre]

The fine dust produced when making veneers from a Brazilian wood with the common name massaranduba, and the trade name ebano, listed as being derived from this Brazilian species, has been reported to cause dermatitis (Friese 1932, Gottwald 1958). Similar effects from wood with the common name abiuranda, and listed as being derived from various Lucuma L. species, were also noted. However, the botanical sources of these woods may not have been correctly assigned. The name massaranduba is now most commonly applied to the timber from Manilkara bidentata A.Chev. or Manilkara huberi A.Chev. [see above].

Pouteria sapota (Jacq.) H.E.Moore & Stearn

[syns Achras mammosa Bonpl. ex Miq., Calocarpum sapota (Jacq.) Merr., Sideroxylon sapota Jacq.]

Mamey Apple, Mammee Sapote, Marmalade Plum, Sapota, Zapote

Referring to Calocarpum mammosum, Allen (1943) noted that the sap of the entire plant is caustic and vesicant, and that care should be exercised in gathering the [edible] fruits not to break the branches, or to rub the fresh sap into the eyes.

Pycnandra acuminata (Pierre ex Baill.) Swenson & Munzinger

[syns Niemeyera acuminata (Pierre ex Baill.) T.D.Penn., Sebertia acuminata (Pierre ex Baill.) Engl., Sersalisia acuminata Pierre ex Baill.]

Sève Bleue

This New Caledonian tree accumulates extraordinary amounts of nickel from the soil in which it grows. The nickel content of its blue-green latex can reach 25% on a dry weight basis (Jaffré et al. 1976). The nickel occurs predominantly as a negatively charged citratonickelate (II) complex with [Ni(H₂O)₆]²⁺ as the major cationic constituent (Lee et al. 1977). Whilst the contact sensitising properties of nickel and its salts are well documented (Cronin 1980), there appear to be no reports of contact dermatitis attributable to this plant.

Sideroxylon spinosum L.

[syns Argania sideroxylon Roem. & Schult., Argania spinosa (L). Skeels]

Argan

The fruit of this thorny North African tree provides an edible oil known as argan oil (Morton & Voss 1987). According to El Monfalouti et al. (2010), the oil is used in Moroccan traditional medicine for the treatment of skin infections, and in cosmetic products to revitalise and hydrate the skin, and to cure acne.

The fruit is the source of a number of recognised cosmetic product ingredients [of uncertain composition (see Schmidt 2017)] purported variously to have abrasive, antimicrobial, antioxidant, emollient, humectant, hair conditioning, skin conditioning, and skin protecting properties. In addition to the individual cosmetic product ingredients to which the INCI names listed below refer, argan oil-derived material is also included in numerous multicomponent preparations, products produced by transesterification, saponification, hydrogenation, or ozonisation, and fermentation products intended for use in cosmetic product formulations (Standing Committee on Cosmetic Products 2019, CosIng 2023/4).

^a CAS Registry Number is a Registered Trademark of the American Chemical Society

Synsepalum dulcificum (Schumach. & Thonn.) Daniell

[syns Bumelia dulcifica (Schumach. & Thonn.), Pouteria dulcifica (Schumach. & Thonn.) Baehni, Sideroxylon dulcificum (Schumach. & Thonn.) A.DC.]

Miraculous Fruit

After eating the fruit pulp, everything, even lime juice, tastes deliciously sweet. This effect persists for about an hour, depending upon the amount consumed (Fairchild 1930, Menninger 1967). See also Sphenocentrum jollyanum Pierre, fam. Menispermaceae and Thaumatococcus daniellii Benth., fam. Marantaceae.

Tieghemella africana Pierre

[syns Baillonella africana (Pierre) Baehni, Dumoria africana (Pierre) Dubard]

Douka, Makoré, Afrikanischer Birnbaum

Nasal and respiratory irritation with haemoptysis occurred in men sawying woods from Spanish Guinea probably mainly Tieghemella africana (Dantin-Gallego and Armayor 1952). This wood is less often exported than Tieghemella heckelii but equally irritant (CTFT (1955), Subiza Martín 1971).

Tieghemella heckelii (A.Chev.) Pierre ex A.Chev.

[syns Baillonella heckelii (A.Chev.) Baehni, Dumoria heckelii A.Chev., Mimusops heckelii (A.Chev.) Hutch. & Dalziel]

Douka, Makoré, Afrikanischer Birnbaum

This West African tree provides a timber known variously as African cherry, makoré, baku, agamokwe, douka, or dumori. The wood can cause dermatitis, conjunctivitis and respiratory symptoms (Malespini 1935, Turc et al. 1950, Sandermann & Barghoorn 1955); this has discouraged its use (CTFT 1966). Makore was listed by Oleffe et al. (1975) as a cause of dermatitis in the Belgian timber industry.

A saponin, which is a glycoside of bassic acid, has been isolated from the wood (Sandermann and Barghoorn 1955, King et al. 1955).

Vitellaria paradoxa C.F.Gaertn. subsp. paradoxa

[syns Bassia parkii G.Don, Butyrospermum paradoxum subsp. parkii (G.Don) Hepper, Butyrospermum parkii (G.Don) Kotschy, Lucuma paradoxa (C.F.Gaertn.) A.DC.]

Illipe

The wood of Bassia parkii was listed as irritant by Schwartz et al. (1947, 1957).

References

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