Useful Tropical Plant | Pohon Jaran (Lannea coromandelica) Edible As Vegetable, Medicinal, And Water Source During Survival Condition

One of the Useful tropical plant that we are discussing now is Pohon Jaran. Peoples are more familiar with Pohon Jaran as a shade tree on the side of the road and a tree on the fence. Today, fewer peoples understand that this plant is one of the useful tropical plant, especially for vegetable.

Classification

• Kingdom          :           Plantae
• Clade               :           Angiosperms
• Clade               :           Eudicots
• Order               :           Sapindales
• Family             :           Anacardiaceae
• Genus             :           Lannea
• Species           :           Lannea coromandelica (synonym: Lannea grandis)

Local name

As one of the useful tropical plant, Pohon Jaran has many name in Indonesia. Kayu kuda (Melayu), Kayu Jaran, Kayu kuda, Kuda Putih, Kajaran, Kudo (Javanese), Kayu Jaran, Kayu Palembang, Kayu Ceureum (Madurase), Ki Jaran (Sundanese), Tamatte, Kayu Cina, Kayu Jawa (Bugis), Reo (Flores), Kedondong Laki, Kedondong Pager (Betawi).

Description

Small to medium tree, 15-20 meters high, leaves, straight trunk, brown trunk color. When it falls, the leaves are scattered and leave only the stems. Long-stemmed leaves. in pairs, 3-7 pairs, Length 5-15 cm; opposite leaflets, short petiole. Calyx about 4-5 lobes, greenish-yellow. Petals 4-5, ovate elongated, with arched back, blunt or round top, 0.25-0.3 cm long, 0.1-0.15 cm wide. The stamens in male flowers are 8-10, the stamens on female flowers are also 8-10, very short. Ellipsoidal ovum, naked, light yellow or especially at the base, brick-red, 1-lofted; short and thick. Ellipsoidal fruit.

This species is very easy to propagate. Only by cutting the wood and sticking it in the ground, roots and shoots will quickly emerge and become a new tree. It grows very fast and has a cycle of shedding its leaves during the dry season. This tree is very drought tolerant. In dry conditions, it can still survive by storing a lot of water at the roots.

Distribution

In Indonesia, Pohon Jaran is found mainly on Java island.  But the distribution is from Sumatra, Sulawesi, and eastern Indonesia. In Java island, Pohon Jaran grows in the lowlands to the middle land. From Indische Groenten’s book, since the 1920s, this tree has grown wild along the coast in East Java. And since a long time ago, trees that grow in West Java, rarely produce fruit.  A wide distribution of this species is from India, China, to South East Asia.

Utilization

Seasoning

Information from the Indische Groenten’s Book, In the past, people around Ragunan-Jakarta used Pohon Jaran bark as a spice to enhance the taste of food. The bark is smoothed and then it becomes a mixture of fried spices.

Vegetable

Another information from Indische Groenten’s book about this useful tropical plant, people in Madura island use the young leaves of Pohon Jaran as a vegetable by steaming and then mixing it with spices mixed with grated coconut and eat it with rice. Some people in Indonesia also eat fresh young leaves.

Remedy

Nowadays there is more and more literature that mentions the benefits of Pohon Jaran . From some scientific literature, it is stated that Pohon Jaran has medicinal properties to treat hepatitis, diabetes, ulcers, heart disease, and dysentery. While the leaf juice can be drunk fresh to reduce ulcers and pain. Then the fruit sap is effective for the treatment of colds and coughs. Until the bark is also commonly used to treat gout, dyspepsia, dysentery, and toothache. From the information above, it can be concluded that Pohon Jaran is actually a species with many benefits.

Some scientific report mentions that the leaves have antinociceptive, antioxidant, and antidiarrheal activities. Besides, the barks also have anti-inflammatory, hypotensive, antihyperglycaemic, antimicrobial, antifungal, analgesic, and antioxidant effects.

Adhesive

It turns out that the sap from the jaran tree is also useful as a natural adhesive. Data from the results of research conducted by one of the researchers stated that the sap of the jaran tree, called blendok, has the potential as a substitute for synthetic materials, as an adhesive.

Water Source During Survival Condition

Personally, I know this useful tropical plant was while I join with the survival course in Baluran National Park, Situbondo, East Java. This tree grows wild in many spots during the trip from one post to another. In accordance with Ocshe’s information in Indische Groenten’s book, that the tree grows wild along the coast in East Java.

At that time, the scenario of the survival course was coastal and savanna survival. Scorching heat with a temperature of more than 40 degrees Celsius. Baluran is mostly savanna that rarely gets rain. So that the vegetation turns yellow in all locations. We should survive for 5 days without water and food. During the course, freshwater we can get from the condensation process by using evergreens plants along with the coast and distillate seawater.

When we moving to the other point, We saw many Pohon Jaran trees along the track. We can take water from Pohon Jaran roots. On that day, we can save our lives by drinking water that comes out of Pohon Jaran roots. The water in the roots feels fresh, even though the tree lives a few meters from the shoreline.

References

• Istihanah.  S017.  Kudo (Lannea coromandelica) Sap as an Alternatif Adhesive for Handicraft Products.  Dinamika Kerajinan dan Batik, Vol. 34, No. 1, Juni 2017, 19-24
• Mahmudur et. Al. 2016.  Comparative effect of Lannea coromandelica (Houtt.) Merr. leaves and stem barks on acetic acid induced pain model in mice and chromagenic reagents: exploring the analgesic potential and phytochemical groups.  April 2016.  Pharmacologyonline 1(1):146-152
• Ochse J.J.  1931. Indische Groenten.  Department Landbouw, Nijverheid en Handel, Buitenzorg (1931)
• Sharmin Akhter et. Al., 2020.  Phytochemical and Pharmacological Investigations of Lannea grandis (Dennst.) Engl. Leaves Extracts.  Journal of Drug Delivery and Therapeutics Vol 10, No 5-S, 2020