Swietenia mahagoni Jacq. – A medicinal boon among woods

Abstract

Mahogany is an economically very valuable timber tree. The phytochemical components included in plant extracts make them a less risky and more cost-effective choice. Swieteniamhagoni is a medium to large evergreen tree with 30-35 m of height, which belongs to Meliaceae family. Meliaceae (the mahogany) is a family of flowering plants that includes about 51 genera and 575 species of trees. S. mahagoni produced fragrant, yellow green colour with less than 0.3 inches wide, small flowers. The plant is native to the Bahamas, Antilles, USA, Hispaniola, Jamaica, Haiti, Southern Florida, Cuba, and widely cultivated in India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Philippines, Malaysia and China. The identification of chemical compounds derived from herbal plants has sparked research into the phytocompounds responsible for their biological properties. The Swieteniamahagoni (L.) belongs to the Meliaceae family, which consists mainly of evergreen blooming plants. This family, which has around 50 genera and 550 species, has been widely farmed in South Asia and the Pacific region. A broad variety of diseases are treated using various species from this family’s usage in traditional medicine. The bark of S. mahagoni is used as a spice and in spirits, while its seeds are employed for the treatment of malaria, diabetic complications, autoimmune disorders, viral infections, eating disorders, and hypertension. The therapeutic properties of plants are attributed to their secondary metabolites, which can be used to produce natural antibiotics. The Meliaceae family contains various chemical compounds, including triterpenoids (limonoids), which are more abundant in this family than in others. Diabetes is endocrine chronic metabolic disorder in insulin production or insulin resistance. It is diagnosed with hyperglycemia and other parameters such as HbA1c. Insulin is one of among the hormones which regulate the blood glucose level (BGL). Phytochemicals content of S. mahagoni are phospholipid, alkaloids, phenols, flavonoids, antraquinones, saponins, terpenoids, cardiac glycosides, volatile oils and long chain unsaturated acid. The dire need for such a review arises as the plant is included in the list of endangered species due to its high exploitation for timber utilization.