RosemaryBrifman at 07:24, 11 April 2026

2026-04-11T07:24:32Z

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{{Short description|Species of tree}}
{{Speciesbox
| image = Garudaphala (Kannada- ಗರುಡಫಲ) (5662074766).jpg
| image2 = Hydnocarpus pentandrus flower - മരോട്ടി.jpg
| image2_caption = Detail of flowers
| status = VU
| status_system = IUCN3.1
| status_ref = <ref name=IUCN>{{cite iucn |last1=Ved |first1=D. |last2=Saha |first2=D. |last3=Ravikumar |first3=K. |last4=Haridasan |first4=K. |year=2015 |title=''Hydnocarpus pentandrus'' |volume=2015 |article-number=e.T50126615A50131365 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2015-2.RLTS.T50126615A50131365.en |access-date=2 January 2025}}</ref>
| genus = Hydnocarpus
| species = pentandrus
| authority = ([[Francis Buchanan-Hamilton|Buch.-Ham.]]) [[Lorenz Oken|Oken]]
| synonyms =
{{Species list
| Chilmoria pentandra | Buch.-Ham.
| Hydnocarpus laurifolius | [[Hermann Otto Sleumer|Sleumer]]
| Hydnocarpus wightianus | [[Carl Ludwig Blume|Blume]]
| Munnicksia laurifolia | [[August Wilhelm Dennstedt|Dennst.]]
}}
| synonyms_ref = <ref>{{cite POWO |id=365635-1 |title=''Hydnocarpus pentandrus'' |access-date=21 February 2025}}</ref>
}}

'''''Hydnocarpus pentandrus''''' (previously '''''Hydnocarpus wightianus''''') or '''chaulmoogra''' is a medium-sized tree in the family [[Achariaceae]]. This [[Dioecy|dioecious]] tree grows up to 10m tall, in moist deciduous forests of [[Western Ghats]] in [[India]].<ref name=":0">{{cite web|url=https://indiabiodiversity.org/species/show/13613|title=Hydnocarpus pentandra|website=Indiabiodiversity.org|access-date=20 November 2021}}</ref>

[[Hydnocarpus wightiana seed oil|''Hydnocarpus wightiana'' seed oil]] has been widely used in traditional Indian medicine, especially in [[Ayurveda]], and in [[Chinese traditional medicine]] for the treatment of [[leprosy]]. It entered early Western medicine in the nineteenth century before the era of [[Sulfonamide (medicine)|sulfonamides]] and other antibiotics for the treatment of several skin diseases and leprosy.<ref name="norton">{{cite journal|last=Norton|first=SA|title=Useful plants of dermatology. I. Hydnocarpus and chaulmoogra.|journal=Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology|date=October 1994|volume=31|issue=4|pages=683–6|pmid=8089304|doi=10.1016/s0190-9622(08)81744-6}}</ref> The oil was prescribed for leprosy as a mixture suspended in gum or as an [[emulsion]].<ref name="cottle">{{cite journal|last=Cottle|first=Wyndham|title=Chaulmoogra Oil in Leprosy|journal=The British Medical Journal|date= June 28, 1879|volume=1|issue=965|pages=968–969|jstor= 25251370 |doi=10.1136/bmj.1.965.968|pmid=20749243|pmc=2239681}}</ref><ref name=parascandola>{{cite journal|last=Parascandola|first=J|title=Chaulmoogra oil and the treatment of leprosy|journal=Pharmacy in History|year=2003|volume=45|issue=2|pages=47–57|pmid=12894769|citeseerx = 10.1.1.2.164}}</ref>

==Common names==
Common name: Jangli almond
* [[Hindi]]: कालमोगरा Calmogara, Chalmogra, Chaulmoogra,<ref name="india">{{cite web|url=https://www.flowersofindia.net/catalog/slides/Jangli%20Almond.html |title=Hydnocarpus pentandrus – Jangli Almond |publisher=Flowersofindia.net |access-date=2013-11-21}}</ref> Jangli badam
* [[Kannada]]: Chalmogra yenne mara, Mirolhakai, Surti, Suranti, Toratti, Garudaphala
* [[Malayalam]]: Kodi, Maravatty, Marotti, Nirvatta, Nirvetti
* [[Marathi language|Marathi]]: Kadu Kawath
* [[Sanskrit]]: Tuvaraka, Turveraka, Tuvrak, कुष्टवैरी Kushtavairi
* [[Tamil language|Tamil]]: Maravetti, Maravattai, Marotti
* [[Telugu language|Telugu]]: Niradi-vittulu

==Habitat==
'''In India''': It grows in [[tropical forests]] along western Ghats, along the coast from [[Maharashtra]] to [[Kerala]], Assam, [[Tripura]], often planted on road sides in hilly areas.

'''Other countries''': The tree is found in South East Asia, chiefly in the Indo-Malayan region, and cultivated in [[Sri Lanka]], [[Nigeria]] and [[Uganda]].<ref name="sea">SEA HandBook, 2009 by the Solvent Extractors' Association Of India</ref>

==Morphology==
This is a [[semi-deciduous]] tree which grows up to {{convert|10|m|abbr=on}} tall. Bark is brownish, fissured; blaze pinkish. Branchlets are round, minutely velvet-hairy. [[Leaves]] are simple, alternate, carried on {{convert|0.7-2.2|cm|abbr=on}} long stalks. Leaves are {{convert|8-23x3.5-10|cm|abbr=on}}, usually oblong to elliptic-oblong, tip long-pointed, often falling off, base narrow, margin toothed, papery, hairless. Midrib is raised above, secondary nerves 5–7 pairs. Its [[flower]]s have greenish white petals and are borne in short [[cyme (botany)|cyme]]s or racemes, or sometimes appear by themselves in leaf [[axil]]s. The flowering takes place from January to April. Its berries are woody, round, tomentose, about {{convert|6-10|cm|abbr=on}} in diameter, and start off black when young but become brown when they mature. They have numerous seeds.<ref name="india"/><ref name="sea"/>

Trees of the species that yield chaulmoogra oil grow to a height of {{convert|12-15|m|abbr=on}} and in India, trees bear [[fruits]] in August and September. The fruits are ovoid some {{convert|10|cm|abbr=on}} in diameter with a thick woody rind. Internally, they contain 10–16 black seeds embedded in the fruit pulp. The seeds account for some 20% of the fruit weight. A typical tree produces {{convert|20|kg|abbr=on}} of seed/annum. The kernels make up 60–70% of the seed weight and contain 63% of pale yellow oil (mukherjee).

Flowers- unisexual, greenish yellow, sepals - 5, petals - 5, stamens - 5 to 15.<ref name=":0" />

==Chaulmoogra oil==
[[File:Dr Isabel Kerr European missionary vaccinating a child Wellcome L0069838.jpg|thumb|right|150px|Dr [[Isabel Kerr]] administering Chaulmoogra]]
The oil from the seeds of ''Hydnocarpus pentandrus'' has been widely used in various forms of traditional Indian medicine and in [[Chinese traditional medicine]] for the treatment of [[leprosy]]. The oil was introduced into England by [[Frederic J. Mouat]], and it was used in its raw form both as topical and internal medicine.

The chemical constituents of the oil were analyzed for their potential [[pharmacology|pharmacological activity]] by [[Frederick Belding Power]], working for [[GSK plc|Wellcome Chemical Research Laboratories]], in 1904.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Power|first1=Frederick Belding|last2=Gornall|first2=Frank Howorth|date=1904|title=LXXXV.—The constituents of chaulmoogra seeds|url=https://xlink.rsc.org/?DOI=CT9048500838|journal=J. Chem. Soc., Trans.|language=en|volume=85|pages=838–851|doi=10.1039/CT9048500838|issn=0368-1645}}</ref> Power and colleagues isolated [[hydnocarpic acid]], which has the formula {{chem2|C16H28O2}}, from seeds of both the ''Hydnocarpus wightiana'' and ''Hydnocarpus anthelmintica'' trees.<ref name=":0a" /> They introduced the [[extract]] into medical usage until [[sulfone]]s and [[antibiotics]] became more dominant in the treatment of several skin diseases and leprosy.<ref name="norton"/><ref name=":0a">{{Cite journal|last=Parascandola|first=John|date=2003|title=Chaulmoogra Oil and the Treatment of Leprosy|journal=Pharmacy in History|volume=45|issue=2|pages=47–57|jstor=41112155|pmid=12894769|issn=0031-7047}}</ref> It was [[Alice Ball]], however, whose groundbreaking experiments led to the first effective cure for leprosy by making the oil soluble in water and thus injectable.

===Physical characteristics and composition===
The oil is semi-solid at room temperature with no odor. [[Gas–liquid chromatography]] analysis has shown the oil to contain the following fatty acids—[[hydnocarpic acid]], [[chaulmoogric acid]], [[gorlic acid]], lower cyclic homologues, [[myristic acid]], [[palmitic acid]], [[stearic acid]], [[palmitoleic acid]], [[oleic acid]], [[linoleic acid]], and [[linolenic acid]].<ref>{{cite journal|last=Sengupta|first=A.|author2=Gupta, J. K. |author3=Dutta, J. |author4=Ghosh, A. |title=The component fatty acids of chaulmoogra oil|journal=Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture|date=1 June 1973|volume=24|issue=6|pages=669–674|doi=10.1002/jsfa.2740240606|pmid=4737104|bibcode=1973JSFA...24..669S }}</ref> The oil is unusual in not being made up of straight chain fatty acids but acids with a cyclic group at the end of the chain.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.fao.org/docrep/x5043e/x5043e0d.htm |title=Minor oil crops – Individual monographs (Allanblackia-Almond-Chaulmoogra-Cuphea spp.-Jatropa curgas) |publisher=Fao.org |access-date=2013-11-21}}</ref> The oil also contains [[5'-Methoxyhydnocarpin|5′-methoxyhydnocarpin]], an [[amphipathic]] weak acid, and isohydnocarpin.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Ranganathan|first=KR|author2=Seshadri TR|title=Constitution of isohydnocarpin isolated from the seed hulls of ''Hydnocarpus wightiana''|journal=Indian Journal of Chemistry|year=1974|volume=12|page=993}}</ref>

The crude oil has a pale greenish-brown color, and can be easily purified into a white, watery oil containing three cyclopentene [[fatty acids]].

'''Table: fatty acid composition of oil'''<ref>{{cite journal|title=The component fatty acids of chaulmoogra oil | doi=10.1002/jsfa.2740240606 |pmid=4737104 |volume=24 | issue=6 |date=Jun 1973 |journal=J Sci Food Agric |pages=669–74|last1 = Sengupta|first1 = A.| last2=Gupta | first2=J. K. | last3=Dutta | first3=J. | last4=Ghosh | first4=A. | bibcode=1973JSFA...24..669S }}</ref>
{| class="wikitable"
|- style="background:blue; color:white; text-align:center;"
|Acid||''H. kurzil'' || ''H. wightiana'' || ''H. odorata''
|-
|[[Hydnocarpic acid]]||23.0||22.9||..
|-
|[[Chaulmoogric acid]]||19.6||35.0||..
|-
|[[Gorlic acid]]||25.1||12.8||..
|-
|Lower cyclic homologs ||0.3||4.6||..
|-
|[[Myristic acid]] (C14:0)||0.6 ||0.8||0.4
|-
|[[Palmitic acid]] (C16:0)||8.4||5.6||11.8
|-
|[[Stearic acid]] (C18:0)||1.6||4.7||..
|-
|[[Palmitoleic acid]] (C16:1)||6.0||1.3|0.5||
|-
|[[Oleic acid]] (C18:1)||5.4||3.6||21.8
|-
|[[Linoleic acid]] (C18:2)||1.6||1.8||29.3
|-
|[[Linolenic acid]] (C18:3)||.. ||.. ||31.2
|}

'''Table of physical properties of oil'''<ref name="physic">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OIpS8F7IVMAC&q=physical+characters+of+chaulmoogra+oil&pg=PA151 |title=Encyclopaedic Dictionary of Bio-Medecine – Rita Singh – Google Books |access-date=2013-11-21|isbn=978-81-7625-242-3 |last1=Singh |first1=Rita |year=2001 |publisher=Sarup & Sons }}</ref>

{| class="wikitable"
|- style="background:orange; color:blue; text-align:center;"
|Property||Range
|-
|[[Refractive index]], at 40<sup>0</sup>C||1.472-1.476
|-
|[[Iodine value]]||98–103
|-
|[[Saponification value]]||198–204
|-
|[[Acid value]]||Max. 25.0%
|-
|[[Melting point]]||20–25 °C
|-
|[[Specific gravity]] (at 25 °C)||0.950-.960
|}

===Extraction===
Seeds are ovoid, irregular and angular, 1 to 1 1/4 inches long, 1 inch wide, skin smooth, grey, brittle; kernel oily and dark brown. A fatty oil is obtained by expression, known officially as ''gynocardia oil'' in Britain, as ''oleum chaulmoograe'' in the United States.<ref name="botanical.com">{{cite web|url=https://botanical.com/botanical/mgmh/c/chaulm51.html |title=A Modern Herbal | Chaulmoogra |publisher=Botanical.com |access-date=2013-11-21}}</ref>

Fruits are plucked by climbing the tree or using long sticks with a sickle tied to it. The fruits are peeled by knife and the [[seed]]s are washed in water and then dried in the sun. Seeds are decorticated (dehusked) by mallet, hand hammer, or decorticator. They may also be crushed in an expeller and rotary. The kernels yield 43% oil. The extracted oil is stored in zinc barrels until exported.<ref name="sea">SEA HandBook, 2009 by the Solvent Extractors' Association Of India</ref>

===Leprosy===
Chalomoogra fruit has a long history in [[Ayurveda|Ayurvedic]] medicine and other traditional Asian medicine as a treatment for [[leprosy]], and was introduced to Western medicine in the mid-19th century.<ref name=":0a" />[[File:Kalawao, Molokai, ca. 1922.jpg|thumb|left|200px|The [[Molokai]] island in Hawaii once the "Land of the Living Death," where lepers were treated with remarkable success by the then new chaulmoogra oil. Photo from 1922.]]

Chaulmoogra oil was commonly used in the early 20th century for the treatment of [[leprosy]]. It was applied [[topical medication|topically]] (which was ineffective) or taken internally (more effective but [[nausea]]ting and often rejected by people as worse than leprosy).<ref name=":0a" /><ref>{{Cite book|last=Zumthurm |first=Tizian |title=Trial and Error: Drugs and the Treatment of Infectious Diseases |chapter=Trial and Error |date=2020 |trans-title=Practicing Biomedicine at the Albert Schweitzer Hospital 1913–1965 |pages=171–212 |series=Ideas and Improvisations |publisher=Brill |jstor=10.1163/j.ctv2gjwxnc.9 |isbn=978-90-04-40267-6 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Charmaine Robson |date=2018 |title=Medical Experimentation and Indigenous Intergenerational Memory in the Context of Twentieth-Century Hansen's Disease Treatment in Australia |journal=Health and History |volume=20 |issue=2 |pages=54–74 |doi=10.5401/healthhist.20.2.0054|jstor=10.5401/healthhist.20.2.0054 |s2cid=81487422 }}</ref> The ingredient that appears to produce [[antimicrobial]] activity is [[hydnocarpic acid]], a [[lipophilic]] compound. It may act by being an [[Antagonist (pharmacology)|antagonist]] of [[biotin]].<ref>{{cite journal|last=Jacobsen|first=PL|author2=Levy, L|title=Mechanism by which hydnocarpic acid inhibits mycobacterial multiplication.|journal=Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy|date=March 1973|volume=3|issue=3|pages=373–9|pmid=4799554|pmc=444418|doi=10.1128/aac.3.3.373}}</ref> American researcher [[Victor Heiser]] worked on developing a method of using the oil against leprosy by intravenous or intramuscular injection.<ref name=":0a" /><ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=MacPherson |first=Hamish |date=10 January 2021 |title=Back in the Day: The Scots doctor who pioneered treatment for leprosy in India |url=https://www.thenational.scot/news/19000081.scots-doctor-pioneered-treatment-leprosy-india/ |access-date=2021-01-11 |website=The National |page=11 |language=en}}</ref> The effectiveness of Chaulmoogra oil as a treatment was highly controversial, while some doctors regarded it as effective, others regarded it as an ineffective treatment.<ref name=":0a" />

An ethyl [[ester]] of the oil (the "Ball method") was developed by [[Alice Ball]] in 1916,<ref name="NW Hawaii">{{cite news|last=Mendheim|first=Beverly|title=Lost and Found: Alice Augusta Ball, an Extraordinary Woman of Hawaiʻi Nei|url=http://www.northwesthawaiitimes.com/hnsept07.htm|access-date=20 May 2013|newspaper=Northwest Hawaii Times|date=September 2007|archive-date=3 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303233106/http://www.northwesthawaiitimes.com/hnsept07.htm}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |date=2020 |title=Elimination of leprosy as a public health problem |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/resrep39241.6 |journal=Report of an Informal Consultation Mexico City, Mexico, 10–12 February 2020 |publisher=World Health Organization |pages=8–15|last1= Organization|first1= World Health}}</ref> who died suddenly before publishing the technique. Her work was stolen by Arthur L. Dean who began producing large quantities of the treatment and named it after himself.<ref name="Chem Matters">{{cite journal|last=Wermager|first=Paul|author2=Carl Heltzel|title=Alice A. Augusta Ball|journal=ChemMatters|date=February 2007|volume=25|issue=1|pages=16–19|url=http://www.acs.org/content/dam/acsorg/education/resources/highschool/chemmatters/chemmatters-february-2007.pdf|access-date=18 June 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140713035905/http://www.acs.org/content/dam/acsorg/education/resources/highschool/chemmatters/chemmatters-february-2007.pdf|archive-date=2014-07-13}}</ref>

It was then produced and marketed by [[Burroughs Wellcome]] (modern GlaxoSmithKline) in the early 1920s. The oil preparations were used intravenously for lepers. The oil was often obtained directly from trees in India, Sri Lanka or Africa. Doctors would locally prepare ethyl esters for treatments. In June 1927, Burroughs Wellcome released the commercial preparation {{ndash}} sodium hydnocarpate marketed as ''Alepol'' {{ndash}} which produced few unpleasant side effects. In May 1928, doctors reported cure of leprosy in some people treated with Alepol.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Simpkin |first=Alice |title=The Treatment of Leprosy |journal=British Journal of Nursing |date=December 1928 |pages=313–4 |url=http://www.leprosyhistory.org/cgi-bin/showdetails.pl?ID=437&type=lep |access-date=22 October 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120425083148/http://www.leprosyhistory.org/cgi-bin/showdetails.pl?ID=437&type=lep |archive-date=25 April 2012 }}</ref> In the 1940s, chaulmoogra oil was replaced by the more effective sulfones.<ref name="NW Hawaii" />

==See also==
* [[Trees of India]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/ja01878a025 Pubs.acs.org]

{{Taxonbar|from=Q15391741 |from2=Q95928768 |from3=Q50841922 |from4=Q2961600 }}

[[Category:Hydnocarpus|pentandrus]]
[[Category:Plants used in traditional Chinese medicine]]

Hydnocarpus pentandrus - Revision history

RosemaryBrifman at 07:24, 11 April 2026