Manilkara bidentata
Details Top
| Internal ID | UUID643fe2963b8ec513379140 |
| Scientific name | Manilkara bidentata |
| Authority | (A.DC.) A.Chev. |
| First published in | Rev. Bot. Appl. Agric. Trop. 12: 270 (1932) |
General Uses Top
Suggest a correction!Common products:
- Balata gum (dried latex), a natural resin derived from the tree’s sap.
- Bulletwood (heartwood), a dense, durable hardwood.
Industrial and craft applications:
- The dried latex (balata gum) serves as a thermoplastic resin used historically as a chewing‑gum base, for dental impressions, as an electrical‑insulation material and in natural varnishes.
- The wood is employed in heavy construction (bridges, marine pilings), railroad ties, high‑stress flooring, furniture, and tool handles due to its high density and resistance to decay.
- Balata sheets have historically been employed as electrical insulation in telegraph and early submarine cables due to their low moisture absorption and dielectric properties.
- The gum can be remolded when heated, serving as a renewable base for natural resin blends used in artisanal coatings and repair work.
Food and beverages (non‑medicinal):
- Ripe fruit (commonly called “balata”) is eaten fresh and processed into jams, jellies and fruit‑based beverages.
Wood and fiber:
- The timber provides a high‑density hardwood suitable for structural and decorative uses; its high lignin content confers durability.
Properties relevant to use:
- Latex: composed mainly of trans‑1,4‑polyisoprene (∼90 % of dry mass) with ∼5 % neutral resins; insoluble in water, soluble in chloroform, thermoplastic when heated.
- Heartwood: specific gravity ≈0.9–1.0, high Janka hardness, natural extractives imparting insect and decay resistance.
- Fruit pulp: rich in soluble sugars (≈15 % w/w) giving a sweet flavor suitable for culinary processing.
Standards and regulation:
- Timber is graded under national structural‑timber standards (e.g., Brazil’s NBR 7190 for load‑bearing applications).
- Balata gum is listed by the U.S. FDA as Generally Recognized As Safe (GRAS) for use as a chewing‑gum base.
Sustainability and sourcing:
- Manilkara bidentata is assessed as “Least Concern” by the IUCN, but many range countries enforce selective‑logging and export permits to prevent over‑exploitation.
- Community forest‑management programs in the Amazon Basin monitor extraction rates; experimental plantations in Colombia have shown mean annual increments of 2–3 m³ ha⁻¹ with rotation periods of 30–40 years.
Scientific and model uses:
- Wood and leaf samples are incorporated into reference collections for microscopic identification of tropical timbers.
- DNA sequences (e.g., rbcL, matK) deposited in GenBank support phylogenetic studies of Sapotaceae.
Synonyms Top
| Scientific name | Authority | First published in |
|---|---|---|
| Manilkara bidentata var. cruegeri | (Pierre) A.Chev. | Rev. Int. Bot. Appl. Agric. Trop. 12: 275. 1932 |
| Mimusops balata | Crueg. ex Griseb. | Fl. Brit. W. I. : 400 (1861) |
| Mimusops balata var. sieberi | (A.DC.) Pierre | Bull. Mens. Soc. Linn. Paris 1: 508. 1885 |
| Mimusops bidentata | A.DC. | Prodr. 8: 204 (1844) |
Common names Top
Add a new one! Suggest a correction!| Language | Common/alternative name |
|---|---|
| English | bulletwood |
| Spanish | ausubo |
| Spanish | mimusops surinamensis |
| Spanish | balatá |
| Spanish | balata |
| Arabic | منلكارا ثنائية التسنن |
| Arabic | أوسوبو |
| Arabic | بالاطا |
| Arabic | مساراندوبا |
| Arabic | سبوتة ثنائية التسنن |
| German | balatabaum |
| Basque | balatondo |
| Persian | چوب گلوله |
| French | balata franc |
| French | balatá |
| Dutch | balata |
| Portuguese | balata |
| Chinese | 巴拉塔樹 |
Subspecies (abbr. subsp./ssp.) Top
Add a new one! Suggest a correction!| Name | Authority | First published in |
|---|---|---|
| Manilkara bidentata subsp. bidentata | Unknown | |
| Manilkara bidentata subsp. surinamensis | (Miq.) T.D.Penn. | Fl. Neotrop. Monogr. 52: 61 (1990) |
Germination/Propagation Top
Suggest a correction or add new data!
No germination or propagation data was added yet.
Distribution (via POWO/KEW) Top
Legend for the distribution data:
- Doubtful data
- Extinct
- Introduced
- Native
-
Southern America click to expand
-
Brazil
- Brazil North
-
Caribbean
- Dominican Republic
- Leeward Islands
- Puerto Rico
- Trinidad-Tobago
- Windward Islands
-
Central America
- Panamá
-
Northern South America
- French Guiana
- Guyana
- Suriname
- Venezuela
-
Western South America
- Bolivia
- Colombia
- Ecuador
- Peru
-
Brazil
Links to other databases Top
Suggest others/fix!| Database | ID/link to page |
|---|---|
| World Flora Online | wfo-0000235825 |
| USDA Plants | MABI5 |
| Tropicos | 28700368 |
| INPN | 630092 |
| KEW | urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:1032531-2 |
| The Plant List | kew-120114 |
| Open Tree Of Life | 452753 |
| Observations.org | 509812 |
| NCBI Taxonomy | 597317 |
| IUCN Red List | 61964167 |
| IPNI | 1032531-2 |
| iNaturalist | 431276 |
| GBIF | 2885366 |
| Freebase | /m/02z6nt |
| EPPO | MNKBI |
| EOL | 1154624 |
| Elurikkus | 324471 |
| USDA GRIN | 102645 |
| Wikipedia | Manilkara_bidentata |
| PFAF | Manilkara bidentata |
Genomes (via NCBI) Top
No reference genome is available on NCBI yet. We are constantly monitoring for new data.
Scientific Literature Top
Below are displayed the latest 15 articles published in PMC (PubMed Central®) and other sources (DOI number only)!
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Phytochemical Profile Top
Add a new one!
Below are displayed the proven (via scientific papers) natural compounds!
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| Name | PubChem ID | Canonical SMILES | MW | Found in | Proof |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| > Hydrocarbons / Saturated hydrocarbons / Alkanes | |||||
| Docosane | 12405 | Click to see CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC | 310.60 | unknown | https://doi.org/10.1039/JR9630000677 |
| Eicosane | 8222 | Click to see | 282.50 | unknown | https://doi.org/10.1039/JR9630000677 |
| Heneicosane | 12403 | Click to see | 296.60 | unknown | https://doi.org/10.1039/JR9630000677 |
| Heptadecane | 12398 | Click to see CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC | 240.50 | unknown | https://doi.org/10.1039/JR9630000677 |
| Hexadecane | 11006 | Click to see CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC | 226.44 | unknown | https://doi.org/10.1039/JR9630000677 |
| Nonadecane | 12401 | Click to see | 268.50 | unknown | https://doi.org/10.1039/JR9630000677 |
| Octadecane | 11635 | Click to see CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC | 254.50 | unknown | https://doi.org/10.1039/JR9630000677 |
| Pentadecane | 12391 | Click to see | 212.41 | unknown | https://doi.org/10.1039/JR9630000677 |
| Tetracosane | 12592 | Click to see CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC | 338.70 | unknown | https://doi.org/10.1039/JR9630000677 |
| Tetradecane | 12389 | Click to see | 198.39 | unknown | https://doi.org/10.1039/JR9630000677 |
| Tricosane | 12534 | Click to see CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC | 324.60 | unknown | https://doi.org/10.1039/JR9630000677 |
| Tridecane | 12388 | Click to see | 184.36 | unknown | https://doi.org/10.1039/JR9630000677 |
| > Lipids and lipid-like molecules / Fatty Acyls / Fatty acids and conjugates / Long-chain fatty acids | |||||
| Palmitic Acid | 985 | Click to see | 256.42 | unknown | https://doi.org/10.1039/JR9630000677 |
| Stearic Acid | 5281 | Click to see | 284.50 | unknown | https://doi.org/10.1039/JR9630000677 |
| > Lipids and lipid-like molecules / Prenol lipids / Triterpenoids | |||||
| (3S,4aR,6aR,6bS,8aR,12aS,14aR,14bR)-4,4,6a,6b,8a,11,11,14b-octamethyl-1,2,3,4a,5,6,7,8,9,10,12,12a,14,14a-tetradecahydropicen-3-ol | 12358398 | Click to see | 426.70 | unknown | https://doi.org/10.1039/JR9630000677 |
| Bassic acid | 160465 | Click to see | 486.70 | unknown | https://doi.org/10.1039/JR9630000677 |
| beta-Amyrenol | 225689 | Click to see | 426.70 | unknown | https://doi.org/10.1039/JR9630000677 |
| Mimusopssapogenin | 3698770 | Click to see | 486.70 | unknown | https://doi.org/10.1039/JR9630000677 |
| > Lipids and lipid-like molecules / Steroids and steroid derivatives / Cycloartanols and derivatives | |||||
| (1S,3R,6S,8R,11R,12S,15R,16R)-15-[(2R,5R)-5,6-dimethylhept-6-en-2-yl]-7,7,12,16-tetramethylpentacyclo[9.7.0.01,3.03,8.012,16]octadecan-6-ol | 163050077 | Click to see | 440.70 | unknown | https://doi.org/10.1039/JR9630000677 |
| 9,19-Cyclolanost-25-en-3-ol, 24-methyl-, (3beta,24S)- | 550205 | Click to see | 440.70 | unknown | https://doi.org/10.1039/JR9630000677 |
| > Lipids and lipid-like molecules / Steroids and steroid derivatives / Stigmastanes and derivatives | |||||
| 17-(5-ethyl-6-methylhept-3-en-2-yl)-10,13-dimethyl-2,3,4,5,6,9,11,12,14,15,16,17-dodecahydro-1H-cyclopenta[a]phenanthren-3-ol | 521229 | Click to see CCC(C=CC(C)C1CCC2C1(CCC3C2=CCC4C3(CCC(C4)O)C)C)C(C)C | 412.70 | unknown | https://doi.org/10.1039/JR9630000677 |
| alpha-Spinasterin | 5281331 | Click to see CCC(C=CC(C)C1CCC2C1(CCC3C2=CCC4C3(CCC(C4)O)C)C)C(C)C | 412.70 | unknown | https://doi.org/10.1039/JR9630000677 |
Collections Top
| In private collections | 0 |
| In public collections | 0 |