Download Product profile No 1:_Bong bark ,“Peuak Bong, Yang Bong”

Medicine: seeds
Hydnocarpus kurzii (King) Warb. ssp. australis Sleum.
Mak kabao
Synonym: H. heterophyllus Bl. apud Kurz., Taraktogenos kurzii King, Gynocardia prainii Desprez
Family: FLACOURTIACEAE (BIXACEAE)
Other names: Local names: kee tout. Thai: nga yoi, ma duk, kra bao, ka pao, lin seua. Vietnamese:
nang trung, lo noi, chong bao. Burmese: kalaw. English: Chaulmoogra. French: arbre à lèpre (leprosy
tree)
Remark: H. kurzii var. conica Craib., only known from Thailand. Used for centuries in SE Asia.
Use: The seeds have medicinal properties and are used externally in the treatment of rheumatism, and
other chronic skin diseases, internally the capsules are used to treat leprosy. In England starting lung
tuberculosis is treated, and also in veterinary practice. It is advised not to eat pigs nor fish that have
been feeding on the seeds, as their flesh induces nausea and vomiting.
Active ingredients: Contains chaulmoogric and palmitic acid. A fatty oil is obtained by expression,
known as Gynocardia oil in Britain, and as Oleum Chaulmoograe in the U.S.A. Chaulmoogra contains
strongly antibacterial chemicals, two of which, hydnocarpic and chaulmoogric acids, are responsible for
destroying the bacterium: Mycobacterium leprae, that causes leprosy.
The fatty oil has been found to yield glycerol, a very small quantity of
steroid alcohol and a mixture of fatty acids. Chaulmoogra oil can be an
ingredient in various cosmetic skin products for irritated skin.
Harvesting: Fruits are harvested from the tree when they are ripe,
brown.
Yield, densities:
Access rules:
Sustainability: Cutting of trees and agricultural expanding
threaten the trees.
Conservation status:
Processing: Oil is obtained by expression from the seeds.
Quality criteria:
Marketing:
Market prospects: International market is declining as other
medicine is being synthesised.
Propagation: In Indochina sometimes cultivated for its fruits, to
produce chaulmoogra. Shade tolerant.
Description: Evergreen tree 8-30 m tall, with buttresses to 50 cm
high, 60-120 cm DBH. Bark smooth, grey; inner bark whiteyellow. Branchlets pubescent at tips. Leaves laceolate-oblong,
leathery, 15-32 by 4-8 cm. Petiole thickened at apex, 1.2-1.6 cm.
Inflorescence axilary, with short cymes short, 4-9 flowered, all
over densely pubescent. Flowers, white-green, 4 mm long, form
sparse clusters; male and female flowers appear on different
trees, no pleasant smell. Infructescence axes brown, hard fruits are ovoid, irregular and angular, 2.5-3
cm long, 2.5-10 cm wide, skin smooth and pubescent, grey-brown, brittle; kernel grayish seeds that are
angled with blunt ends, oily and dark brown, 3 by 1.5 cm.
Distribution & Ecology: Occurs along streams in evergreen parts of the forest, on limestone. Found in
Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam, India and Malaysia.
References: BPC, PROSEA, BOT, BKF, BL, FLC, TPN, HERBS, GREEN, VFT96.