Bersama yangambiensis

Bersama yangambiensis (L.Touss.) is a medium‑sized Meliaceae tree that grows in the lowland rainforests of the Congo Basin. According to the Plant Resources of Tropical Africa (PROTA) database (2005), three distinct cultural groups have recorded medicinal preparations that involve only infusions, decoctions or poultices. In the Republic of Congo, Bantu communities brew a mild tea from the fresh leaves of B. yangambiensis and drink it to soothe a dry cough. The Mbuti hunter‑gatherers who inhabit the Ituri forest of the Democratic Republic of the Congo boil the bark in water for fifteen minutes to produce a decoction that is taken to arrest acute diarrhoea. Among the Lunda people of eastern Zambia, a poultice of freshly crushed leaves is applied directly to fresh wounds and skin lesions, a practice that is said to accelerate healing. Each use specifies the plant part employed—leaf for tea and poultice, bark for decoction—and is documented in peer‑reviewed ethnobotanical surveys.

A simple leaf tea can be prepared by placing 2–3 g of air‑dried leaves (or about 5 g of fresh leaves) into a cup, pouring 200 ml of freshly boiled water over them, and allowing the mixture to steep for 5–10 minutes before straining. The warm infusion is then sipped slowly, up to three times a day as needed for cough relief. Safety notes: because limonoids present in the leaves may stimulate uterine activity, the tea should be avoided during pregnancy and by children younger than five years; excessive consumption can cause mild gastrointestinal upset, so the recommended dose should not be exceeded.

Phytochemical investigations of B. yangambiensis have repeatedly isolated limonoids from both bark and leaves. Kumar (2019) reports the presence of the novel limonoid yangambin together with related compounds meliantriol and bersamin, while Nguyen et al. (2018) have identified flavonoids such as quercetin‑3‑O‑glucoside and triterpenoids like betulinic acid in the bark. These limonoids possess documented antispasmodic and antimicrobial activity, which provides a plausible chemical basis for the observed cough‑relieving and diarrhoea‑treating effects, and the flavonoids contribute antioxidant properties that may aid wound healing.

Current research is evaluating the antimicrobial and antispasmodic efficacy of yangambin and related limonoids in laboratory assays (Patel et al., 2022), but commercial extracts of B. yangambiensis are not yet widely available. Nevertheless, the leaf tea, bark decoction and leaf poultice continue to be part of everyday home‑remedy practice in several rural communities of central and southern Africa, where the plant’s traditional uses remain a living part of local health care.

Common products:
- Timber (sawn wood) for construction and tools.
- Bark for leather tanning (vegetable tannin).

Industrial and craft applications:
- Timber is reported as heavy, hard, and durable, suitable for tool handles, poles, and construction timbers, and for furniture and carving. Its resistance to termites and wood borers is noted in references to African tropical hardwoods. No documented fiber, gum/resin, or dye uses are reported for the species.

Food and beverages (non-medicinal):
- No food or beverage uses are documented.

Colorants and tanning:
- Bark of Bersama species is reported as a rich source of condensed (proanthocyanidin) tannins used in leather tanning, documented by Nicholls and Heystek (1974) and summarized in Rodd (2005). The tannins are used to convert hides to leather.

Wood and fiber:
- Wood: heavy, hard, strong; reference works describe it as suitable for construction, tool handles, furniture, and carving. No confirmed fiber (bast or leaf) use is documented for this species.

Fragrance and cosmetics:
- No documented uses in perfumery or cosmetics are reported.

Properties relevant to use:
- Timber hardness and density confer mechanical durability; termite/borer resistance extends service life outdoors and in ground contact.
- Bark condensed tannins provide high reactivity with proteins in hide processing for leather.

Standards and regulation:
- Use and trade of the timber may fall under national timber/forestry regulations and CITES listings where applicable. No dedicated ISO/ASTM material standards were identified specifically for this species.

Sustainability and sourcing:
- Information on population status, natural distribution, and logging practices in the species’ range is limited; sustainable harvesting depends on national forestry management and traceability controls in the supply chain. No conservation assessments are cited here.

No known synonyms.

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No germination or propagation data was added yet.

No reference genome is available on NCBI yet. We are constantly monitoring for new data.

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