Bioactive constituents of Sacoglottis gabonensis, a tropical forest tree consumed by monkeys, apes and humans

Sacoglottis gabonensis is a red brown tree, and only African representative of the Humiriaceae. The tree grows in wet, swampy areas of humid forest along the coastal region of west-central Africa. Tree products are used as food, building materials, and in traditional medicine by local peoples. For example, bark extract is used to treat ailments such as gonorrhea and as an emetic while other ingredients are used in the fermentation of palm wine. The major active compound from the stem bark is known to be bergenin which suppresses lipid peroxidation. Even though some phytochemical research has been performed on the bark of this tree, the fruit is not yet studied. The hexane and/or chloroform extracts of the fruit of S. gabonensis exhibited significant activity in the MTP, NF-κB, ROS, and Sema 3B assays. In this research, biological active compounds from the fruit of S. gabonensis were isolated, characterized, and identified.