Black Plum Seed: Morphology, Chemistry, and Antiproliferative Activities

For more than five decades, chemotherapy has been an important cancer treatment and an indispensable metastasis treatment. Depending on the patient’s medical condition and adherence, chemotherapy alone or in combination with radiation therapy and surgery is used. Studies show that about 47% of all anticancer drugs in use are of natural origin. Commonly used drugs such as vincristine, vinblastine, teniposide, taxol, etoposide, docetaxel, and camptothecin are derived from plants. Unfortunately, these compounds have serious side effects on normal cells, necessitating the search for new nontoxic agents. For this, the Jamun plant was studied, and has shown that many compounds have beneficial effects on berries. Eugenia jambolana Lam also known as Syzygium jambolana Dc, Eugenia cuminii Druce, and Syzygium cumini Skeels recognized as Java Plum, Portuguese Plum, Malabar Plum, and Black Plum informally, Indian Mulberry, family Myrtaceae, Myrtaceae is native to the Indian subcontinent. These trees can now be found growing naturally in Florida and Hawaii in the United States, as well as in Madagascar, East Africa, South America, and the Asian subcontinent. The berries have a sweet and sour taste and the tree bears fruit once a year. Ripe fruits are used to make medicinal drinks, jams, pumpkins, jelly, and wine. Preclinical studies have shown that various berry extracts that have a number of pharmacological actions, such as antibacterial, antifungal, antiviral, antiulcerogenic, cardioprotective, antiallergic, hepatic, and antidiarrheal effects are maintained. In the black plum plant, different types of chemical constituents are present such as Jambosine, gallic acid, 1-galloylglucose, 3-galloylglucose, quercetin, β-sitosterol, 3,6-hexahydroxydiphenoylglucose, n-octacosanol quercetin, ellagic acid, n-dotriacontanol, corilagin 4,6-hexahydroxydiphenoylglucose, n-triacontanol, mycaminose, crategolic (maslinic) acid, betulinic acid, n-heptacosane, n-hentriacontane, myricetin, n-nonacosane, myricitrin, and the flavonol glycosides such as myricetin 3-O-(400-acetyl)-α-l-rhamnopyranosides. The essential oils are present those are 1,8-cineole, geranyl acetone, myrtenol, pinocarveol, α-terpineol, ww31α-cadinol, α-myrtenal, muurolol, pinocarvone, and eucarvone. Preclinical studies have shown that various berry extracts that have several pharmacological actions, such as antibacterial, antifungal, antiviral, antiulcerogenic, cardioprotective, antiallergic, hepatic, and antidiarrheal effects are maintained.