Caesalpinia Sappan
Family : Leguminosae-Caesalpinioideae
Common Name : Sappan wood, Brazil wood, East Indian redwood
Hindi Name : Bakam
Tamil Name : Sappan, Parthang
Sanskrit Name : Pattaranjka
Tree Characteristics :
A middle sized thorny tree, reaching a height of 12 m and a girth of up to 45-75 cm, with a few small or scattered prickles. Branches lenticellate. Flowering Season is March to May, sometime extending to August and Fruiting Season is November to December.
Nursery Practice :
Propagated through seed. Soaking the seeds in water for 12 to 24 hrs may be beneficial in accelerating germination. Concentrated sulfuric acid treatment for 6 min improve germination (48.86%) by removing seed coat dormancy. The treatment with GA3 300 ppm show 71.10%, germination. Seed Rate is 1,760-2,260 seeds/kg.
Economic Use:
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Caesalpinia sappan is a multipurpose tree used primarily as a source of medicine and dye. Wood is used for cabinet making, scabbards and walking sticks. A red dye called Brazilin is extracted and used for colouring cotton, silk, and woolen fabrics. Pods contain tannin. The wood takes a good polish and is likely to be useful in inlay work.
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It is very hard and very heavy wood with diffuse porous structure. The sapwood is white and heartwood is orange red. W
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Medicinal - Wood is an astringent, a decoction of the wood is used against dysentry, diarrhoea and in certain cases of skin affection. The active antibacterial principle of Caesalpina sappan is brasilin. Its heartwood has long been used in Chinese medicines for treating a variety of immune-mediated pathology and inflammatory disease. Brazilein and Caesalpinia sappan ethanol extract (SME) could distinctly inhibit the proliferation of T lymphocyte stimulated by Concanavalin A (Con A) and the proliferation of B lymphocyte stimulated by lipopolysaccharides (LPS).
