Senegalia rugata is a spiny climbing shrub native to China and tropical Asia, common in the warm plains of central and south India.[2][1] It is renowned as a raw material for shampoo, and the leaves and young shoots are often eaten. Archaeobotanical evidence shows its use for hair care in the pre-Harrapan levels of Banawali, some 4500–4300 years ago.
| Senegalia rugata | |
|---|---|
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Scientific classification 
| |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Rosids |
| Order: | Fabales |
| Family: | Fabaceae |
| Subfamily: | Caesalpinioideae |
| Clade: | Mimosoid clade |
| Genus: | Senegalia |
| Species: | S. rugata
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| Binomial name | |
| Senegalia rugata | |
| Synonyms[1] | |
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Description
editA woody climber, shrub, or small tree up to 5 metres (16 ft) tall, with numerous spines.[3][4] Leaves are bipinnate. Cream to pale-yellow flowers, though buds are red to purplish-red and when the flowers are open they appear cream. The seed pods are distinctive. When fresh, they are smooth, thick, and fleshy; however, when they dry, they become wrinkled, blackish, and very hard.[5]
Distribution
editThe species is native to Asia, including China.[1][6][5][3] Countries and regions to which it is native include: Papua New Guinea (Eastern New Guinea); Indonesia (West Papua, Kai Islands, Sulawesi, Nusa Tenggara, Maluku, Jawa, Sumatera); Philippines; Malaysia (Peninsular Malaysia); Thailand; Cambodia; Vietnam; Zhōngguó/China (Guangdong, Yunnan); Laos; Myanmar; India (Andaman Islands, Assam), Bangladesh, Nepal, East Himalaya. It has been introduced/naturalized to the following countries/regions: Nouvelle Caledonie; Australia (Queensland); Japan (Okinawa); Réunion; Madagascar; Seychelles; Brazil (southeast); Jamaica[citation needed]
The species is invasive in countries around the world, including New Caledonia.[7]
Habitat and ecology
editIn the Philippines the plant occurs in low and medium elevation thickets.[8] The species grows both in the forest and within villages in Chiang Mai Province, Thailand.[9] S. rugata grows in forest or thickets in Zhōngguó/China, most commonly near watercourses in valleys, at an altitude of between 880 and 1,500 metres (2,890 and 4,920 ft).[3]
The tree is food for the larvae of the butterfly Pantoporia hordonia.[10]
Archaeobotany
editPre-Harappan level of Banawali (2750–2500 BC), Haryana have revealed traces of a mixture of Shikakai with soap nuts and Amla (Indian Gooseberry), exhibiting ancient roots of South Asian hygiene.[11]
Vernacular names
edit- Burmese: ကင်ပွန်း; kinmun[12] or kinbun[13]
- Chinese: 紫荚金合欢; pinyin: zǐ jiá jīn hé huān; lit. 'purple-pod senegalia'[3]
- Australian English: soap pod wattle[14]
- Karen (Pang Hin Fon district): phu che sa[9] or pa chi [15] (Chiang Mai Province, Thailand)
- Khmer: ba:y dâmnaëb ('sticky rice', an allusion to its clingy thorns), bânla sâöt ('viscous spines'), sâmpöy, sândaèk kâmpöënh (evoking 'wild bean')[16]
- Kannada: ಸೀಗೆಕಾಯಿ, Seegekaayi derived from Tamil word Sigaikaai ( Sigai means Hair, Kaai means unrip fruit)
- Lawa language, Pang Hin Fon district, Chiang Mai, Thailand: kad ka ha[what language is this?][citation needed]
- Malayalam: Chevakka kai
- Tamil: Sigaikaai ( Sigai means Hair, Kaai means unrip fruit)
- Thai: ส้มขน som khon or ส้มป่อย som poi[3][17]
Uses
editShikakai in hair care
editSenegalia rugata has been used traditionally for hair care in the Indian Subcontinent since ancient times. It is one of the Ayurvedic medicinal plants. It is traditionally used as a shampoo[18] and it is also added in synthetic Ayurvedic shampoos. It is widely known as shikakai, from Tamil சிகைக்காய் cikaikkāy (cikai 'hair'+kāy 'fruit'). In order to prepare it, the fruit pods, leaves and bark of the plant are dried, ground into a powder, then made into a paste. While this traditional shampoo does not produce the normal amount of lather that a sulfate-containing shampoo would, it is considered a good cleanser. It is mild, having a naturally low pH, and does not strip hair of natural oils. An infusion of the leaves has been used in anti-dandruff preparations.[19]
Senagalia rugata extracts are used in natural shampoos or hair powders and the tree is now grown commercially in India and Far East Asia.[20] The plant parts used for the dry powder or the extract are the bark, leaves or pods. The bark contains high levels of saponins, which are foaming agents found in several other plant species used as shampoos or soaps. Saponin-containing plants have a long history of use as mild cleaning agents. Saponins from the plant's pods have been traditionally used as a detergent, and in Bengal for poisoning fish; they are documented to be potent marine toxins.[citation needed]
In Myanmar, the fruit is mixed with the bark of the tayaw (Grewia) tree and sometimes lime to make the traditional tayaw kinpun shampoo.[21] Shampooing with tayaw kinpun has been an important tradition in Burmese culture since ancient times. Burmese kings used to wash their hair with tayaw kinpun during the royal hair-washing ceremony (ခေါင်းဆေး မင်္ဂလာပွဲ), in the belief that using the shampoo would cast away bad luck and bring good luck.[22] It remains customary for many Burmese people to wash their heads with tayaw kinpun, especially on the Burmese New Year's Day to leave behind impurities and bad omens of the past,[23][24] and the shampoo is commonly sold in the country's open-air markets, typically in plastic bags.[25][26]
Food, medicine, and other uses
editThis species is used in a variety of ways in Cambodia.[16] The young leaves are included in salads. The fruit is used for washing hair and in local medicine. To treat abscesses, eczema and leprosy the fruit can also be used externally or as a laxative when they are taken internally. The pulp of the fruit, without the seeds, is used as a diuretic and emetic, while the seeds are reputed to make delivery in childbirth easier.[citation needed]
Traditional healers of Nakhon Nayok Province, Thailand, use the leaves of this species to treat irregular menstruation.[17]
Amongst the Karen people of Chiang Mai Province, Thailand, the plant is one of the most widely used legumes.[9] They use the fruit in a cold infusion both as soap and shampoo, and as a medicine for food poisoning. The dried fruit is used in holy water for the rituals to pay respect to elderly people and to evict wickedness.
Investigating plant use amongst both Karen and Lawa people living in Pang Hin Fon district (Chiang Mai), S. rugata was one of the plants that provided both food and health-products.[15] The young shoots and leaves are cooked in a soup, the fruit are eaten raw or cooked, while the bark was chewed and kept as a quid in the mouth to counter-act toothache, and a decoction of the fruit was used as shampoo.[citation needed]
An infusion of the leaves of Senagalia rugata has also been used for therapy of jaundice in the traditional Indian medicine.[27]
In Nepal, the plant is one of many that are processed and sold in the medicinal products industry.[28] In 2004, an estimated 2,459 kilograms (5,421 lb) of material was purchased nationwide by the industry at an average price of 80 Nepalese rupees. Central wholesalers provided the raw material.
The leaves have an acidic taste and are used in chutneys.
Chemical constituents
editAlkaloids are found in the tree's fruit.[29] In commercial extracts, when the plant is hydrolyzed it yields lupeol, spinasterol, acacic acid, lactone, and the natural sugars glucose, arabinose and rhamnose. It also contains hexacosanol, spinasterone, oxalic acid, tartaric acid, citric acid, succinic acid, ascorbic acid, and the alkaloids calycotomine and nicotine.
Gallery
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Pods -
Seeds
History
editThe two American botanists, Nathaniel Lord Britton (1859–1934, co-founder of the New York Botanical Garden), and Joseph Nelson Rose (1862–1928, of the Smithsonian), first described the taxa in 1928 in the publication North American Flora (vol. 23[2]: 120, published by the New York Botanical Garden.[30] This taxa was subsumed into the well-known species Acacia concinna, however with advances in DNA analysis and consequent revision of plant phylogeny, the species S. rugata was recognized as having precedence in 2015 by Maslin and others.[6] The epitaph rugata is derived from rugatus (Latin), meaning 'wrinkled', referring to the state of the pods when dry.[3]
References
edit- ^ a b c "Senegalia rugata (Lam.) Britton & Rose". Plants of the World Online. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Retrieved 27 February 2021.
- ^ "Acacia concinna – ILDIS LegumeWeb". www.ildis.org. Retrieved 2008-03-13.
- ^ a b c d e f Maslin, Bruce R.; Ho, Boon Chuan; Sun, Hang; Bai, Lin (2019). "Revision of Senegalia in China, and notes on introduced species of Acacia, Acaciella, Senegalia and Vachellia (Leguminosae: Mimosoideae)". Plant Diversity. 41 (6, December): 353–480. Bibcode:2019PlDiv..41..353M. doi:10.1016/j.pld.2019.09.001. PMC 6923495. PMID 31891020.
- ^ "Senegalia rugata (Lam.) Britton & Rose". Flora of Australia. Dept. Environment & Energy, Australian Government. Retrieved 27 February 2021.
- ^ a b Maslin, B.R. (2015). "Synoptic overview of Acacia sensu lato (Leguminosae: Mimosoideae) in East and Southeast Asia" (PDF). Gardens' Bulletin Singapore. 67 (1): 231–250. doi:10.3850/S2382581215000186. Retrieved 27 February 2021.
- ^ a b Maslin, B.R.; Seigler, D.S.; Ebinger, J. "New combinations in Senegalia and Vachellia (Leguminosae: Mimosoideae) for Southeast Asia and China".
- ^ Hequet, Vanessa (2009). Les Espèces Exotiques Envahissantes de Nouvelle Calédonie (PDF) (in French). p. 17.
- ^ Pelser, Pieter B. "Co's Digital Flora of the Philippines: Fabaceae = Leguminosae Subfamily Mimosoideae: Senegalia Raf". Co's Digital Flora of the Philippines. philippineplants.org. Retrieved 28 February 2021.
- ^ a b c Sutjaritjai, Natcha; Wangpakapattanawong, Prasit; Balslev, Henrik; Inta, Angkhana (2019). "Traditional Uses of Leguminosae among the Karen in Thailand". Plants. 8 (12): 600. doi:10.3390/plants8120600. PMC 6963713. PMID 31847100. Retrieved 27 February 2021.
- ^ "Pantoporia". www.funet.fi. Retrieved 2008-03-13.
- ^ Bisht (1993). "Paleobotanical and pollen analytical investigations" (PDF). Indian Archaeology a Review 1993–1994: 143–144.
- ^ Hardiman, John Percy (1901). Sir James George Scott (ed.). Gazetteer of Upper Burma and Shan States Part 2. Vol. 2. Government Press, British Burma. p. 252.
- ^ Burma Research Group (1987). Burma and Japan: Basic Studies on Their Cultural and Social Structure. Burma Research. p. 299.
- ^ Csurhes, Steve (2016). "Using 'WeedSearch' to assess the feasibility of eradicating 34 high-risk invasive plant species in Queensland". Twentieth Australasian Weeds Conference (PDF). pp. 255–7.
- ^ a b Punchay, Kittiyut; with four others (2020). "Traditional knowledge of wild food plants of Thai Karen and Lawa (Thailand)". Genet Resour Crop Evol. 67 (5): 1277–1299. doi:10.1007/s10722-020-00910-x. S2CID 211479636. Retrieved 28 February 2021.
- ^ a b Pauline Dy Phon (2000). Plants Utilised In Cambodia/Plantes utilisees au Cambodge. Phnom Penh: Imprimerie Olympic. p. 406.
- ^ a b Sitthithaworn, Worapan; Weerasathien, Lalita; Onsawang, Chamaiporn (2019). "The Use of Medicinal Plants for Gynecologic Ailments by Thai Traditional Folk Healers in Nakhonnayok Province" (PDF). Thai Pharmaceutical and Health Science Journal. 14 (3): 111–121. Retrieved 28 February 2021.
- ^ "Acacia concinna – Shikakai". www.flowersofindia.net. Retrieved 8 September 2018.
- ^ "Shikakai for Hair: 16 Benefits and 11 Ways to Use it". beautystylr.com. 2017-04-29. Retrieved 8 September 2018.
- ^ "Forestry :: Nursery Technologies". agritech.tnau.ac.in. Retrieved 8 September 2018.
- ^ Yadu (31 August 2019). "မှေးမှိန်လာနေတဲ့ တရော်ကင်ပွန်းသုံးစွဲခြင်း အလေ့အထ". The Myanmar Times (in Burmese). Archived from the original on 20 February 2021. Retrieved 2 August 2022.
- ^ "Soap Nut (ကင်ပွန်းသီး)". Hello Sayarwon (in Burmese). 25 September 2017. Archived from the original on 24 January 2021. Retrieved 2 August 2022.
- ^ "နှစ်ဆန်းတစ်ရက်နေ့". Eleven Media Group (in Burmese). 17 April 2019. Archived from the original on 8 August 2022. Retrieved 2 August 2022.
- ^ "မြန်မာရိုးရာ အတာနှစ်ကူး ခေါင်းဆေးမင်္ဂလာ". DVB (in Burmese). 14 April 2021. Archived from the original on 8 August 2022. Retrieved 2 August 2022.
- ^ "Myanmar Shampoo". www.myanmars.net. 13 November 2018. Archived from the original on 17 August 2022. Retrieved 2 August 2022.
- ^ "Yan Win (Taung Da Gar) – Myanmar Shampoo". THIT HTOO LWIN (Daily News) (in Burmese). 16 April 2011. Archived from the original on 8 September 2019. Retrieved 2 August 2022.
- ^ Tewari, Devesh; Mocan, Andrei; Parvanov, Emil D.; Sah, Archana N.; Nabavi, Seyed M.; Huminiecki, Lukasz; Ma, Zheng Feei; Lee, Yeong Yeh; Horbańczuk, Jarosław O.; Atanasov, Atanas G. (2017). "Ethnopharmacological Approaches for Therapy of Jaundice: Part I". Frontiers in Pharmacology. 8: 518. doi:10.3389/fphar.2017.00518. PMC 5559545. PMID 28860989.
- ^ Caporale, Filippo; Mateo-Martín, Jimena; Usman, Muhammad Faizan; Smith-Hall, Carsten (2020). "Plant-Based Sustainable Development—The Expansion and Anatomy of the Medicinal Plant Secondary Processing Sector in Nepal". Sustainability. 12 (14): 5575. doi:10.3390/su12145575.
- ^ "Final Report of the Safety Assessment of Acacia Catechu Gum, Acacia Concinna Fruit Extract, Acacia Dealbata Leaf Extract, Acacia Dealbata Leaf Wax, Acacia Decurrens Extract, Acacia Farnesiana Extract, Acacia Farnesiana Flower Wax, Acacia Farnesiana Gum, Acacia Senegal Extract, Acacia Senegal Gum, and Acacia Senegal Gum Extract1". International Journal of Toxicology. 24 (3_suppl): 75–118. 2005. doi:10.1080/10915810500257170. PMID 16422266.
- ^ "Senegalia rugata (Lam.) Britton & Rose, N. Amer. Fl. 23(2): 120 (1928)". International Plant Name Index (IPNI). The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Retrieved 27 February 2021.
External links
edit
Media related to Senegalia rugata at Wikimedia Commons