Acacia catechu (L.f.) Willd.

DeFilipps, Robert A. & Krupnick, Gary A., 2018, The medicinal plants of Myanmar, PhytoKeys 102, pp. 1-341 : 75

Acacia catechu (L.f.) Willd.

Names.

Myanmar: mung-ting, nya, sha, shaji, tun-sa-se. English: black cutch, catechu, cutch, wadalee-gum tree.

Range.

West Pakistan to Myanmar. In Myanmar, found in Magway and Mandalay.

Uses.

Bark used as an astringent. Wood: An extract is used to treat ulcers and chest problems.

Notes.

In India the bark is used to treat sores in the mouth, chest pain, strangulation of the intestine, and to facilitate childbirth. The heartwood is applied in a thick decoction for cancerous sores ( Jain and DeFilipps 1991). In China the resin is used as a febrifuge, sialogogue, stimulant, styptic, antiphlogistic, astringent, corrective, and expectorant ( Duke and Ayensu 1985). Perry (1980) also discusses the medicinal uses of the species in China.

The species contains tannin and catechin ( Duke and Ayensu 1985). Reported chemical constituents also include catechutannic acid, acacatechin, catechu red, and quercetin. In research on vitamin P, "the isomer 1-epi-catechin is reported to be especially active even in minute doses.", and is "The most important source of this substance in the heartwood of A. catechu " ( Perry 1980).

References.

Nordal (1963), Perry (1980).