Premna microphylla

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Premna microphylla
Premna microphylla.jpg
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Lamiales
Family: Lamiaceae
Genus: Premna
Species:
P. microphylla
Binomial name
Premna microphylla
Turcz. 1863 [2]
Synonyms [3]

Premna microphylla is a tree [4] in the mint family (Lamiaceae). [3]

Contents

Names

P. microphylla has the English common names Japanese premna, [5] (Japanese) musk maple, [6] and Japanese neem tree. [6] It is also called tofu tree because of the tofu-like food made from the leaves. [7]

The specific epithet microphylla derives from Greek μικροϛ (micros) and φυλλον (phyllon) and means 'small leaves'. [6] [8] The name for the genus Premna derives from the Greek πρέμνον (premnon, tree stump) refers to the short trunks that some species have. [6]

In Japanese it is called ハマクサギ (hamakusagi). [4] In China, it is known as 豆腐柴 (dòufu chái 'tofu wood'), 斑鸠树 (bānjiū shù 'turtledove tree'), [9] 臭黄荆 (chòu huáng jīng 'stinky yellow thorn'), 腐蜱 (fǔ pí 'rotten tick'), and 观音草 (guānyīn cǎo 'Guanyin grass'). [10] In Taiwan it is called 臭黃荊 (chòu huáng jīng) [11] The plant is called cách lá nhỏ in Vietnamese. [12] [13]

Description

P. microphylla is a tree [4] and has square, woody, mostly smooth stems and branches. [2] The plant reaches 2–6 m (6 ft 7 in – 19 ft 8 in) in height, [10] and around 3 m (9.8 ft) wide. [6] It grows as a nanophanerophyte or phanerophyte. [3]

The leaves are sessile, ovate-lanceolate in shape and tapered near the tip. [2] The leaves grow in an opposite pattern. [6] The leaf margins are serrate from the middle to the apex. [2] Both sides of the leaves are scabrous and covered with very short 'hairs'. [2] The leaves have a strong odor [10] that has been compared to those of Serissa . [14]

The flowers are hermaphroditic [2] and grow in conical panicles. [6] The 5-part calyx is short, [2] cup-shaped, and purplish-green. [6] The calyx surrounds a funnel-shaped corolla [2] that is pale yellow. [10] [6] The petals are 0.3–0.4 inches (7.6–10.2 mm) long. [2] The cream-colored and zygomorphic flowers bloom in May and August. [4]

The drupe is obovate to nearly spherical and purple-black when ripe. [10] [6]

Major compounds found in the essential oil include blumenol c, β-cedrene, limonene, α-guaiene, cryptone, and α-cyperone. [15]

Distribution

The plant is found in southern China, [2] [3] [6] central and southern Japan, [3] [4] and Taiwan. [3] [11] [6] The type specimen was collected by Scottish botanist and plant hunter Robert Fortune in China. [2] It prefers growing in slightly acidic to acidic soil mainly on woodland edges or understory at an altitude of 500–1,000 metres (1,600–3,300 ft) in elevation. [10]

Ecology

The growing season is yearly from March to November. [10] The pollination syndrome for P. microphylla is melittophily, with bee and wasp pollinators including Xylocopa amamensis , Cerceris yuwanensis , and Hylaeus insularum . [4] There are no major diseases or insect pests known. [6] There is some evidence that sika deer will nibble on the tree occasionally. [16]

Uses

P. microphylla is used for food. The leaves can be used to make a pectin-rich gel that is something like tofu. [10] [9] The jelly is similar to grass jelly but it not usually called that, unlike other grass jelly plants. This green gel is called 神仙豆腐 (shénxiān dòufu, immortal/divine tofu) [9] or 观音豆腐 (Guānyīn dòufu, Guanyin tofu). [10] In English it is sometimes called green leaf tofu. [7] A similar 'fairy tofu' is made from the leaves of Premna puberula . [17] The leaves are high in protein (13.48%), [10] and while not as much as soybeans, it is high for a leaf vegetable and ranks closer to cereal grains like hard wheat (12.6%) rather than spinach (2.9%). [18] [19] To make the 'tofu', the leaves are washed and crushed with some water to facilitate grinding. [10] Culinary ash is added to the strained mixture and it is allowed to set. [10] Some cooks burn specific wood for the ash, such as Osmanthus . [20] The dish is considered a refreshing summer treat. [10] Production is small and local, and not done on an industrial scale. [10]

Much effort has been made to develop P. microphylla as an industrial source of pectin. [10] The leaves contain 30-40% pectin, [10] much higher than the typical sources, apple pomace (10-15%) and citrus peel (20-30%). [21]

The plant is also used for bonsai [6] because of its small, strong-smelling leaves. [14] The bonsai trunks are evocative of driftwood, similar to shimpaku juniper. [14] A specimen of P. microphylla was used as an autonomous bonsai in the art installation titled Premna Daemon. [22] [23] [24] [25]

References

  1. ↑ Zhao, L., Botanic Gardens Conservation International (BGCI) & IUCN SSC Global Tree Specialist Group. 2019. Premna microphylla. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2019: e.T147650548A147650550. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2019-2.RLTS.T147650548A147650550.en Archived 6 July 2024 at the Wayback Machine . Accessed on 3 July 2024.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Turczaninow, Nikolai (1863). Renard (ed.). "Verbenaceae et Myoporaceae Nonnullae Hucusque Indescriptae" [Verbenaceae and Myoporaceae Several Thus Far Undescribed](PDF). Bulletin de la Société Impériale des Naturalistes de Moscou (in Latin). XXXVI (3): 217. OCLC   12176618. Archived from the original on 20 September 2023. Retrieved 12 December 2018.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Premna microphylla". World Checklist of Selected Plant Families (WCSP). Kew: Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Archived from the original on 6 May 2022. Retrieved 12 December 2018.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Kato, Makoto (31 March 2000). "Anthophilous insect community and plant-pollinator interactions on Amami Islands in the Ryukyu Archipelago, Japan". Contributions from the Biological Laboratory, Kyoto University. 29 (2): 157–254. CiteSeerX   10.1.1.861.2315 . hdl:2433/156116. ISSN   0452-9987. OCLC   957900493.
  5. ↑ Yang, Xinrong (9 March 2013). Encyclopedic Reference of Traditional Chinese Medicine. Springer Berlin Heidelberg. p. 325. ISBN   9783662051771. OCLC   1012445569. Archived from the original on 6 July 2024. Retrieved 3 July 2024.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 "Premna microphylla". Missouri Botanical Garden. St. Louis, MO. Archived from the original on 6 May 2022. Retrieved 3 July 2024.
  7. 1 2 Goldthread (30 November 2018). "The Tofu That Grows On Trees". YouTube. RADII. Retrieved 7 July 2024.
  8. ↑ Griffith, Chuck. "micranthiformis – mitissimus". Dictionary of Botanical Epithets. Archived from the original on 14 June 2023. Retrieved 3 July 2024.
  9. 1 2 3 LI, Gang-feng; YAN, Hong-bo; KANG, Ming; WANG, Huan; HE, Zhi-jun; ZHOU, Qiang-ying; ZHANG, Hua-min (19 February 2017). "豆腐柴叶豆腐的加工工艺优化" [Optimization of Processing Technology of Premna microphylla Turcz Leaf Tofu]. 食品研究与开发 (in Chinese). 38 (14): 68–74. doi:10.3969/j.issn.1005-6521.2017.14.015. ISSN   1005-6521. Archived from the original on 6 July 2024. Retrieved 3 July 2024.
  10. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 LI, Mei-qing; WANG, Yuan-li; DONG, Ming; HE, Jin-ling (2011). "豆腐柴的研究与应用综述" [Summarization of research and application of Premna microphylla Turcz]. Science and Technology of Food Industry (in Chinese) (3): 462–464. doi:10.13386/j.issn1002-0306.2011.03.029. ISSN   1002-0306. Archived from the original on 3 July 2024. Retrieved 3 July 2024.
  11. 1 2 Chung, KF; Shao, KT (17 August 2022). "The National Checklist of Taiwan (Catalogue of Life in Taiwan, TaiCoL)". Archived from the original on 6 July 2024. Retrieved 3 July 2024.
  12. ↑ "Premna microphylla Turcz". Vietnam Plant Data Center. BotanyVN – Botany Research and Development Group of Vietnam. Archived from the original on 8 August 2020. Retrieved 3 July 2024. Scientific name: Premna microphylla Turcz. Vietnamese name: Cách lá nhỏ
  13. ↑ Văn Chi Võ (2007). Sách tra cứu tên cây cỏ Việt Nam (in Vietnamese). Nhà xuất bản Giáo dục. OCLC   271047166 . Retrieved 6 July 2024.
  14. 1 2 3 Chan, Peter (8 September 2014). The Bonsai Bible The Definitive Guide to Choosing and Growing Bonsai. Octopus. ISBN   9781784720063. OCLC   897024475. Archived from the original on 6 July 2024. Retrieved 3 July 2024.
  15. ↑ Zhang, Han-Yu; Gao, Yang; Lai, Peng-Xiang (March 2017). Tzakou, Olga (ed.). "Chemical Composition, Antioxidant, Antimicrobial and Cytotoxic Activities of Essential Oil from Premna microphylla Turczaninow". Molecules. 22 (3): 381. doi: 10.3390/molecules22030381 . OCLC   7181596296. PMC   6155397 . PMID   28264507.
  16. ↑ Terada, Chisato; Tatsuzawa, Shirow; Kawamura, Takashi; Fujioka, Masahiro (15 February 2010). "ヤクシカの餌場としての林道脇植生の評価" [Evaluation of forestry roads as feeding sites of sika deer]. 保全生態学研究 (Japanese Journal of Conservation Ecology) (in Japanese). 15: 197. doi:10.18960/hozen.15.2_193. ISSN   2424-1431. OCLC   9658348117 . Retrieved 7 July 2024.
  17. ↑ Zhang, Ming-Sheng (28 September 2012). "A Key Component Determination on Forming Fairy Tofu from the Leaf of Premna puberula (Verbenaceae)". Journal of Applied Pharmaceutical Science. 2 (9): 031–035. doi: 10.7324/JAPS.2012.2906 .
  18. ↑ Steinke W, et al. (1992). New protein foods in human health: nutrition, prevention and therapy. CRC Press. pp. 91–100. ISBN   978-0-8493-6904-9.
  19. ↑ Young VR, Pellett PL (May 1994). "Plant proteins in relation to human protein and amino acid nutrition" (PDF). The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. 59 (5 Suppl): 1203S –1212S. doi:10.1093/ajcn/59.5.1203s. PMID   8172124. Archived (PDF) from the original on 28 April 2020. Retrieved 6 July 2024.
  20. ↑ Documentary Channel, Shanghai Media Group (3 March 2022). "Guanyin Tofu观音豆腐". YouTube. Retrieved 7 July 2024.
  21. ↑ Srivastava, Pranati; Malviya, Rishabha (March 2011). "Sources of pectin, extraction and its applications in pharmaceutical industry − An overview". Indian Journal of Natural Products and Resources. 2 (1). India: NISCAIR-CSIR: 10–18. ISSN   0975-1033. OCLC   724554396 . Retrieved 6 July 2024.
  22. ↑ Roth, Christopher; Malik, Suhail; Seidler, Paul; Rafferty, Penny; Noorizadeh, Bahar; Raesaar, Kristel (25 May 2022). REALTY Beyond the Traditional Blueprints of Art & Gentrification. Hatje Cantz Verlag GmbH. pp. 151–152. ISBN   9783775753432. OCLC   1372166991. Archived from the original on 21 May 2023. Retrieved 3 July 2024.
  23. ↑ terra0 (16 November 2018). "Premna Daemon — An Introduction via a History of Autonomy in the Cryptosphere". Medium. Archived from the original on 23 February 2024. Retrieved 3 July 2024.
  24. ↑ "terra0". github. Archived from the original on 6 July 2024. Retrieved 3 July 2024.
  25. ↑ "Premna Daemon – An Introduction via a History of Autonomy in the Cryptosphere". Info Institute. 9 November 2023. Archived from the original on 5 July 2024. Retrieved 3 July 2024.
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