Crateva adansonii (PROTA)

Plant Resources of Tropical Africa Introduction

List of species

General importance
Geographic coverage Africa
Geographic coverage World
Fruit
Vegetable
Dye / tannin
Essential oil / exudate
Medicinal
Timber
Fuel
Ornamental
Forage / feed
Food security

Crateva adansonii DC.

distribution in Africa (wild)

1, flowering twig; 2, flower; 3, fruit. Redrawn and adapted by J.M. de Vries

Protologue: Prodr. 1: 243 (1824).

Family: Capparaceae

Chromosome number: n = 13

Synonyms

• Crateva religiosa auct. non G.Forst.

Origin and geographic distribution

Crateva adansonii is widespread, from Mauritania, Senegal and Gambia eastward to Eritrea and Ethiopia, and southward to Tanzania and Zambia.

Uses

Various plant parts of Crateva adansonii are used in traditional medicine. Ground roots are taken against fever and applied externally to treat headache and swellings. Root decoctions are taken to treat gastrointestinal complaints and rheumatism. Powdered root bark is administered as a remedy against carbuncles and anthrax. Powdered or pounded stem bark is applied to cysts and swellings, whereas bark decoctions are taken to treat rheumatism and sterility, and as a tonic. Leaf decoctions are applied as a vapor bath against jaundice, yellow fever and eye complaints. They are taken to treat arterial hypertension, malaria, jaundice, oedema, pains, epilepsy, measles, dysmenorrhoea, abscesses and skin diseases. Leaf powder is applied to cysts and to treat headache and rheumatism. In Burkina Faso the leaves are commonly used to induce and stimulate milk production in breast-feeding women. The leaves are eaten as a cooked vegetable and in soups and sauces. The fruit pulp is edible and seeds are sometimes eaten after roasting. The seeds are also added to food as a condiment. The wood is used for joinery, small furniture, utensils and implements such as spoons, and for beehives and veneer. It is also used as firewood and for charcoal production. The foliage, which is not very palatable, is useful as forage in the dry season. The leaves have been used in the preparation of a yellowish dye for cloths. Crateva adansonii is occasionally planted as ornamental and in hedges. Honey bees collect nectar from the flowers.

Production and international trade

Young leaves are sold as vegetable in local markets in Ghana.

Properties

From the aerial parts, flavonoids (notably kaempferol-3-glucoside) and phenolic acids have been isolated. In tests in Benin, leaf extracts showed antibacterial activity in vivo in greater cane rat (Thryonomys swinderianus); the extracts were active against Escherichia coli, Shigella sonei, Staphylococcus aureus, Pasteurela pestis and Yersinia enterocolitica, with ethyl acetate extracts being most potent. In experiments in Nigeria, the extracts exhibited moderate in-vitro inhibitory activity against Mycobacterium bovis. The main constituents of the essential oil from Nigerian Crateva adansonii were linalool (30%) and nonanal (17%).

In the bark of Crateva magna (Lour.) DC. from tropical Asia, alkaloids, triterpenes, fatty acids and steroids have been identified. One of the compounds isolated is lupeol, which is known to have anti-inflammatory activity and to reduce renal tubular damage in rats with induced hyperoxaluria. Leaf extracts of Crateva spp. in India showed antibacterial as well as antifungal activities, bark extracts of Crateva magna exhibited nephroprotective, anti-oxidant, anti-inflammatory and snake venom neutralizing activities.

The wood of Crateva adansonii is pale yellow, lightweight and comparatively soft. It has a strong smell when freshly cut. The specific gravity (moisture content 0%) of the wood is about 0.39. The pulp can be used for paper production, but the wood has a short fibre and should be mixed with wood with longer fibres. The wood contains 44% cellulose, 24.5% lignin, 24% pentosan, 0.6% ash and 1.4% silica.

On a dry-weight basis, the foliage contains 15–25% crude protein and 0.1–0.3% phosphorus.

Description

Deciduous shrub or small tree up to 10(–15) m tall; bole usually irregular and short, up to 50 cm in diameter; bark surface smooth and grey to brown, inner bark thin, yellow-brown with brown streaks; crown rounded, more or less open; twigs glabrous, brown with grey lenticels. Leaves alternate but clustered near end of twigs, compound with 3 leaflets; stipules minute, soon falling; petiole 2.5–8.5 cm long; petiolules up to 8 mm long; leaflets elliptical to ovate or lanceolate, the lateral ones asymmetrical, 3–12.5 cm × 1–5 cm, cuneate at base, acuminate at apex, papery, glabrous, pinnately veined with up to 15 pairs of indistinct lateral veins. Inflorescence a short terminal raceme up to 2.5(–7.5) cm long, glabrous, up to 15-flowered. Flowers bisexual, nearly regular, 4-merous; pedicel 1.5–4 cm long; sepals free, deltoid to lanceolate, 3–9 mm long, equal; petals free, ovate, slightly unequal, 1.5–3 cm long, yellowish white, sometimes red-purple tipped; stamens 15–20, free, 2–3.5(–5) cm long, with purplish anthers; ovary superior, long-stalked, ellipsoid, glabrous, 1-celled, stigma sessile, knob-shaped. Fruit a distinctly stalked, globose berry 4–5(–8) cm, smooth, yellow to brown, with mealy whitish pulp, up to 15(–20)-seeded. Seeds kidney-shaped, 0.5–1 cm long, brown to black.

Other botanical information

Crateva comprises approximately 9 species, most of them in tropical Asia, about 3 in Madagascar, 1 in mainland Africa and 1 in tropical America. The genus is closely related to Euadenia. Several Crateva spp. are widely used in traditional medicine in tropical Asia, particularly in India. One of these is Crateva religiosa G.Forst., and in the literature this name has also been applied to the African Crateva adansonii. On the other hand, the name Crateva adansonii has been used in literature on Crateva spp. from India, resulting from the conception that Crateva adansonii consists of several subspecies, one in tropical Africa and the other in tropical Asia; the latter are nowadays usually considered to represent different species.

Several Crateva spp. from Madagascar also have medicinal uses. Crateva excelsa Bojer and Crateva greveana Baill. are shrubs to small or medium-sized trees up to 20(–30) m tall occurring in western and central Madagascar. Poultices prepared from the roots are applied to treat toothache and affected gums. The bark is used as tonic and aphrodisiac, and bark and fruits are added in the preparation of alcoholic drinks. Fruits are occasionally used as condiment. The wood is useful for joinery, although it has a bad smell when fresh, and as kindling-wood.

Growth and development

In West Africa Crataeva adansonii usually flowers at the end of the dry season, before new foliage develops. In Cameroon it usually flowers at the beginning of the rainy season, just before new leaves develop or together with young leaves, and in Ethiopia it has been found flowering from November to May. Fruits ripen about 6 months after flowering.

Ecology

Crateva adansonii occurs in a variety of habitats, from grassland, often on termite mounds, to riverine forest, forest edges and semi-deciduous forest, up to 1500 m altitude in East Africa. It is usually found on deep and light soils, and is able to tolerate temporary flooding.

Propagation and planting

It has been reported that seeds of Crateva adansonii only germinate on bare, sunny, moist soil. In-vitro micropropagation techniques have been developed for a Crateva species in India.

Management

The trees are often lopped.

Harvesting

For use as a vegetable in Burkina Faso, leaves of Crateva adansonii are collected at the beginning of the rainy season.

Genetic resources and breeding

Crateva adansonii is widespread, although irregularly distributed, and occurs in various habitats, and therefore does not seem to be threatened.

Prospects

Crateva adansonii extracts were demonstrated to have antibacterial activity, but little more information on phytochemistry and pharmacological activity is available. In view of the fairly common use of Crateva adansonii in traditional medicine in Africa, the use of leaves as a vegetable in Africa and the wide medicinal use and interesting properties of other Crateva spp. in tropical Asia, more research is warranted. Crateva adansonii is a multipurpose plant, worth of more extensive planting. It is conspicuous when flowering and may have prospects as woody ornamental.

Major references

• Arbonnier, M., 2004. Trees, shrubs and lianas of West African dry zones. CIRAD, Margraf Publishers Gmbh, MNHN, Paris, France. 573 pp.
• Burkill, H.M., 1985. The useful plants of West Tropical Africa. 2nd Edition. Volume 1, Families A–D. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Richmond, United Kingdom. 960 pp.
• Elsaki, O.T., Otuk, S. & Khider, T.O., 2012. Sulfur-free pulping of Crateva adansonii from Sudan. Journal of Forest Products & Industries 1(1): 23–26.
• Jacobs, M., 1964. The genus Crateva (Capparaceae). Blumea 12: 177–208.
• Kers, L.E., 1986. Capparidaceae. Flore du Cameroun. Volume 29. Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, Paris, France. 141 pp.
• Lagnika, L., Anago, E., Atindehou, M., Adjahoutonon, B., Dramane, K. & Sanni, A., 2011. Antimicrobial activity of Craeteva religiosa Forst. against bacteria isolated from Thryonomys swinderianus Temminck. African Journal of Biotechnology 10(49): 10034–10039.
• Mann, A., Ibrahim, K., Oyewale, A.O., Amupitan, J.O. & Okogun, J.I., 2009. Antimycobacterial activity of some medicinal plants in Niger State, Nigeria. African Journal of Infectious Diseases 3(2): 44–48.
• Schmelzer, G.H., 2001. Crateva L. In: van Valkenburg, J.L.C.H. & Bunyapraphatsara, N. (Editors). Plant Resources of South-East Asia No 12(2): Medicinal and poisonous plants 2. Backhuys Publishers, Leiden, Netherlands. pp. 188–191.
• Teketay, D., Senbeta, F., Maclachlan, M., Bekele, M. & Barklund, P., 2010. Edible wild plants in Ethiopia. Addis Ababa University Press, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. 575 pp.
• von Maydell, H.-J., 1986. Trees and shrubs of the Sahel: their characteristics and uses. Schriftenreihe der GTZ No 196. Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit, Eschborn, Germany. 525 pp.

Other references

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Sources of illustration

• Elffers, J., Graham, R.A. & Dewolf, G.P., 1964. Capparidaceae. In: Hubbard, C.E. & Milne-Redhead, E. (Editors). Flora of Tropical East Africa. Crown Agents for Oversea Governments and Administrations, London, United Kingdom. 88 pp.

Author(s)

• R.H.M.J. Lemmens, PROTA Network Office Europe, Wageningen University, P.O. Box 341, 6700 AH Wageningen, Netherlands
• C.H. Bosch, PROTA Network Office Europe, Wageningen University, P.O. Box 341, 6700 AH Wageningen, Netherlands

Correct citation of this article

Lemmens, R.H.M.J. & Bosch, C.H., 2013. Crateva adansonii DC. In: Schmelzer, G.H. & Gurib-Fakim, A. (Editors). Prota 11(2): Medicinal plants/Plantes médicinales 2. PROTA, Wageningen, Netherlands. Accessed 3 April 2025.

• See this page on the Prota4U database.