Caesalpinia sappan

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Caesalpinia sappan
Caesalpinia sappan1.jpg
Leaves and fruits of Caesalpinia sappan
Conservation status
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
(unranked): Angiosperms
(unranked): Eudicots
(unranked): Rosids
Order: Fabales
Family: Fabaceae
Genus: Caesalpinia
Species: C. sappan
Binomial name
Caesalpinia sappan

Caesalpinia sappan is a species of flowering tree in the legume family, Fabaceae, that is native to Southeast Asia and the Malay archipelago. Common names include Sappanwood, Sapanwood,'Patanga- Chekke Sappanga(Kannada Name)' and Suō (Japanese). Sappanwood belongs to the same genus as Brazilwood (C. echinata), and was originally called "brezel wood" in Europe.

Disease : Twig dieback (Lasiodiplodia theobromae)[2]

This plant has many uses. It possesses medicinal abilities as an antibacterial and for its anticoagulant properties. It also produces a valued type of reddish dye called brazilin, used for dyeing fabric as well as making red paints and inks. Heartwood also contains juglone (5-hydroxy-1,4-naphthoquinone), also an active antimicrobial principle.[3] Homoisoflavonoids (sappanol, episappanol, 3'-deoxysappanol, 3'-O-methylsappanol, 3'-O-methylepisappanol[4] and sappanone A[5]) can also be found in C. sappan.

The wood is somewhat lighter in color than Brazilwood and its other allies, but the same tinctorial principle appears to be common to all. Sappanwood was a major trade good during the 17th century, when it was exported from Southeast Asian nations (especially Siam) aboard red seal ships to Japan.

Bark of Caesalpinia sappan


  1. ^ World Conservation Monitoring Centre (1998). "Caesalpinia sappan". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2009.2. International Union for Conservation of Nature. Retrieved February 11, 2010. 
  2. ^
  3. ^ Lim, M.-Y.; Jeon, J.-H.; Jeong, E. Y.; Lee, C. H.; Lee, H.-S. (2007). "Antimicrobial Activity of 5-Hydroxy-1,4-Naphthoquinone Isolated from Caesalpinia sappan toward Intestinal Bacteria". Food Chemistry 100 (3): 1254–1258. doi:10.1016/j.foodchem.2005.12.009. 
  4. ^ Homoisoflavonoids and related compounds. II. Isolation and absolute configurations of 3,4-dihydroxylated homoisoflavans and brazilins from Caesalpinia sappan L. Michio Namikoshi, Hiroyuki Nakata, Hiroyuki Yamada, Minako Nagai and Tamotsu Saitoh, Chemical & Pharmaceutical Bulletin, 1987, volume 35, number 7, pages 2761-2773 (abstract)
  5. ^ Melanogenesis Inhibition by Homoisoflavavone Sappanone A from Caesalpinia sappan. Te-Sheng Chang, Shih-Yu Chao and Hsiou-Yu Ding, Int J Mol Sci., 2012, volume 13, issue 8, pages 10359–10367, doi:10.3390/ijms130810359, PMC 3431864


External links[edit]

Media related to Caesalpinia sappan at Wikimedia Commons Data related to Caesalpinia sappan at Wikispecies