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Meranti melantai - Shorea macroptera Dyer - Dipterocarpaceae [1]
Other names:
Belantai (Kedah), Melantai (Malay), Meranti melantai damar hitam (Malay) [1]
General information:
A tree with a dense, hemispherical crown; it can grow 40 – 50 meters tall; Native to Malaysia [2]
Distinguish botanical characteristics:
Leaf – elliptic, oblong, leathery, cuneate [1]
Fruit – nut (13 -21 mm long and 8 – 12 mm wide) with 3 longer wings (13 – 21 mm long) and 2 shorter wings (2 – 10 mm long), lobes on calyx base are present, brown in colour [3]
Heart wood – light red to pink or pink-brown [2]
Uses:
Medicinal uses – none known
Wood – source of ‘Light Red Meranti timber; it is harvested from the wild for commercial use [2]
Major/bioactive phytochemicals:
Stem bark – Antioxidant, antimicrobial, cytotoxic; resveratrol oligomers (ε-viniferin, laevifonol, davidiol A, stenophyllol B, hemsleyanol D, hopeaphenol A, hopeaphenol isohopeaphenol [4]
References:
[1] https://www.mybis.gov.my/sp/30032
[2] http://tropical.theferns.info/viewtropical.php?id=Shorea%20macroptera
[3] https://www.nparks.gov.sg/FloraFaunaWeb/Flora/3/1/3125
[4] Nazri et al. (2012). Australian Journal of Basic and Applied Sciences, 6(8): 431-436.
[5] http://nysp-runner-plants.blogspot.com/2011/04/shorea.html
