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Jamonline / 2(2); 2012 / 6–13 Madhu Babu K & Bikshal Babu K

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Review Article

Journal of Atoms and Molecules An International Online JournalAn International Online JournalAn International Online JournalAn International Online Journal ISSN ISSN ISSN ISSN –––– 2277 2277 2277 2277 –––– 1247124712471247

A REVIEW ON BRAZILIAN PEPPER PLANT: SCHINUS MOLLE

Madhu Babu Kasimala1*, Bikshal Babu Kasimala2, 1Department of Allied Sciences, College of Marine Science and Technology, Massawa, Eritrea.

2 QC department. RV labs, Guntur, Andhra Pradesh, India. Received on: 11-03-2012 Revised on: 01-04-2012 Accepted on: 16–04–2012

Introduction:

Schinus molle L. (Anacardiaceae), also known as Brazilian pepper tree, is a tree which is short and

has thin, long leaves and it is often used in subtropical climates for landscaping. Schinus spp. has

been traditionally used as medicine by indigenous people throughout the tropics (Erazo et al.,

2006). Recent research show that extracts obtained from S. molle can be used as an analgesic (pain-

reliever), anti-inflammatory and anti-tumorous agent (Yueqin et al., 2003; Diaz et al., 2008). It also

possesses potent antibacterial, antiviral, antifungal, insecticidal and repellent properties (Dikshit et

al., 1986; Chopa et al., 2006; Ferrero and Gonzales, 2006; Ferrero et al, 2007; Padin et al., 2007).

Taxonomy:

Kingdom : Plantae

Subkingdom : Tracheobionta

Superdivision : Spermatophyta

Division : Magnoliophyta

Class : Magnoliopsida

Subclass : Rosidae

Order : Sapindales

Family : Anacardiaceae

Genus : Schinus

Species : Schinus molle L.

* Corresponding author

Madhu Babu K,

Email: [email protected]

Tel: 00291 – 7251105



S.molle plant Bark of S.molle Pinnate leaf of S.molle

Fruits of S.molle ripened fruits of S.molle dry fruits of S.molle



Schinus molle is widely cultivated in tropical

and subtropical countries (Huerta et al.,

2010). It is widely spread outside their

original geographical ranges, grows in North

and Central America, Africa, Middle East and

is cultivated around Mediterranean in

Southern Europe. In Argentina, it is widely

used as an urban tree because of its resistance

to pollution, easy and economical spread and

little need for irrigation. (Chamorro et al). It

is an evergreen tree with weeping foliage,

usually grow up to 6-8 m tall, on good sites

up to 15 m; trunk is short with dark brown,

deeply fissured and flaking bark, when the

bark is damaged it exude a sticky latex.

Leaves are compound with pinnate

arrangement and 15-30 cm long, with 15-41

leaflets; leaflets are yellowish-green, 2-5 cm

long, lanceolate with entire or serrate margins.

The leaves have a peppery smell when

crushed. Flowers are unisexual, small and

pale yellow, in 10-15 cm long panicles.

Female and male flower grows normally on

different trees, within the area of natural

distribution flowering occurs in September to

December and fruits are ripe in December-

January. In East Africa fruits are collected in

March. All fruits do not mature at the same

time and within a cluster the fruits will often

be at different stages of maturity. (Orwa et al;

2009)

Fruits are small, round drupes, 5-9 mm in

diameter, bright red when mature, later

turning black. The pulp is thin and leathery; it

has a sweet taste and contains aromatic oils.

There are one or two seeds per fruit. Seeds are

2-4 mm in diameter, round, brown-black,

furrowed when dry. There are 30,000-40,000

seeds per kg.

Distribution and habitat

The area of natural distribution is the Andes

region, mainly Peru. It is found at altitudes up

to 3900 MSL, in areas with 300-700 mm

rain/year. It tolerates high temperatures and

once established it is extremely drought

resistant; it is resistant to frost but not for long

periods. A fast growing pioneer species is

typically found in roadsides and on

agricultural lands. It grows well on stony sites

and slopes. Prefers sandy, well-drained soils

but is tolerant to most soil types and also to

salinity and alkalinity. Introduced to Central

and North America, Europe and Africa and in

some places it has become naturalised. (Orwa

et al; 2009)

Local names:

Amharic (qundo berbere); Arabic (felfel-

kazib, filfilrafie); English (pepper tree,

California pepper tree, Chilean pepper tree,

mastic tree, molle, pepper berry tree, weeping

pepper, Peruvian mastic, pink pepper,

Peruvian pepper tree); French (faux Poivrier

du Perou, poivre rosé); German

(Brasilianischer pfeffer, rosé-pfeffer, rosa

pfeffer, Peruanischer pfeffer); Italian (Albero

del pepe, Pepe del Peru,Schino); Spanish

(pirul, pimienta, arveira); Swahili (mpilipili);



Swedish (rosépeppar); Tigrigna (berebere-

tselim, berbere-tselim).(Orwa et al; 2009)

Pharmacology

Pharmacological studies carried out with

extracts from Schinus molle showed that this

plant has hypotensive (Bello et al., 1996),

antitumoral (Diaz et al., 2008), antifungal

(Schmourlo et al., 2005), antibacterial (Erazo

et al., 2006), anti-inflammatory (Yueqin et

al., 2003), analgesic (Barrachina et al., 1997),

and antidepressant (Machado et al., 2007)

properties, but there is no evidence of any

effect against plant pathogens. Methanol

extracts of the different species of Schinus

showed an inhibitory effect on conidial

germination of Fusarium solani. Leaf extracts

of Schinus showed a high level of

antimicrobial effect against the bacterial

strains and the best results were obtained with

S. molle against Agrobacterium tumefaciens

and Bacillus subtilis (Rhouma et al., 2009).

Leaf juice is used to treat ophthalmia and

rheumatism; a bark extract infusion is used

for diarrhoea, and resin of the bark is a

dangerous purgative. Other known medicinal

properties of the tree include using it as an

astringent, a balsamic, diuretic, expectorant,

masticatory, stomachic, tonic and vulnerary.

The ailments it is known to treat include

amenorrhoea, bronchitis, gingivitis,

gonorrhoea, gout, tuberculosis, tumour, ulcer,

urethritis, wart, wounds, and urogenital and

venereal diseases. (Orwa et al; 2009)

The oil of S. molle was the most effective,

inhibiting the animal pathogens completely

and exhibiting moderate activity against the

storage fungi. The minimum fungistatic

concentrations of S. molle oil were 300, 200,

and 200 ppm against M. gypseum, T.

mentagrophytes, and T. rubrum, respectively.

The minimum fungicidal concentrations were

900 ppm against T. mentagrophytes and 400

ppm against T. rubrum. M. gypseum was

completely resistant to the fungicidal action of

S. molle oil, even at concentrations of 900

ppm. The minimum fungistatic concentrations

of S. molle oil were 60, 75, and 55 times more

active against M. gypseum, T.

mentagrophytes, and T. rubrum, respectively,

when compared with Multifungin. In terms of

minimum fungicidal concentrations, S. molle

oil was 125 times more effective than

Multifungin against T. rubrum and 55.5 times

more effective against T. mentagrophytes .

Physicochemical properties of the oil were

determined. Of 50 components resolved by

gas-liquid chromatography, 14 were found

above 1% (vol/vol); however, only 10

components could be identified. (Dikshit et

al; 1986); (Deveci et al 2010).

Insect Repellence:

Leaves are an insect repellents. All materials

showed repellency in varying degrees against

Oriental cockroach ( Blatta orientalis). All the

doses of essential oils of S.molle were found

to be more effective, while the fruit oils and

leaf extracts were not effective. (Deveci et al,



2010). The essential oils of ripe fruit has high

repellency and leaf extracts of S.molle do not

have repellency against German cockroach

(Chopa et al, 2006).

Essential oil:

The plant extracts and essential oils can be

obtained from different parts like leaves,

unripe fruits and ripe fruits. Essential oil of

leaf contained 24 components; mainly delta-

cadinene (11.28%) and alpha-cadinol

(10.77%) Germacrene D (20.77%) and Beta-

ceryophyllene (13.48%).(Deveci et al 2010).

The composition may differ by season and the

region that the plant material was collected.

(Abdel-sattar, 2010). The major components

identified in the essential oil of S. molle of

Resistencia city were α- pinene (11.5%), β-

pinene (14.71%), limonene (9.17%), α-

ocimene (3.1%), germacrene D (3.6%), γ-

cadinene (6.9%), δ-cadinene (4.9%) and epi-

bicyclosesquiphelandrene (18.6%), as shown

in the Figure 1. However, the composition of

these oils differ in their main components

compared to data reported from other sources,

such as Liguria (Italy), whose main

components are α-phellandrene (30%) and

elemol (13.25%) (Maffei & Chialvo, 1990),

Uruguay with 30% of Biciclogermacreno

(Menendez et al., 1996), state of Rio Grande

do Sul in southern Brazil with 40% of

limonene (Barroso et al., 2011) and Santa Fe

(Argentina) whose major component is

limonene (40%) (Guala et al., 2009).

(Chamorro et al.,)

Fig. 1. Chromatogram of essential oil from

Schinus molle. Components: α-pinene (1), β-

pinene (2), limonene (3), α-ocimene (4),

germacrene D (5), γ-cadinene (6), δ-cadinene

(7) and epi- byciclosesquiphelandrene

(18.6%).(Chamorro et al.,).

Poisonous nature of plant:

The hanging strings of little pink berries of

this attractive ornamental tree are reputed to

be moderately poisonous, particularly the

seed.. The pollen, on contact or when inhaled,

can cause dermatitis and asthmatic reactions.

The tree also has antimicrobial, antifungal,

piscicidal and viricidal properties. (Orwa et

al; 2009)

Wood

Heart wood is a dull, light red, deepening

upon exposure and becoming more or less

purplish and rather oily looking; the specific

gravity (air – dry) is 0.54 – 0.68, it is very

easy to work and durability is high. Wood is

termite resistance and therefore suitable for



posts. Bark is used as tanning of skin. (Orwa

et al; 2009). The degree of solubility of the

wood of S. molle in ethanol is comparatively

low and the content of extractible substances

of the wood of S. molle, 7.3%, is relatively

low in comparison with the species that have

been used in the pulp industries. (Rutiaga;

2001). The content of holocellulose 67.3%

and lignin is 22.2%, inorganic material 3.2%,

in the wood of S. molle (Mejia Diaz and

Rutiaga Quinoes ; 2008)

Conclusion:

Schinus molle contains anti microbial activity.

It controls many microorganisms which are

pathogenic in nature. It is also used for the

repellent of certain insects. It contains many

natural products in its essential oils. The

further research can be carried out by

isolation and identification of the natural

products, quantitative and qualitative studies

of the natural products present in the essential

oils of the Schinus molle.

Acknowledgement:

The authors are extending their gratitude to

Dr. P.Ashok Kumar, Department of Marine

Biotechnology, College of Marine Science

and Technology, Massawa, Eritrea for his

help in the collection of literature.

References:

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Journal of Atoms and Molecules - jam online · Journal of Atoms and Molecules ... piscicidal and viricidal properties. (Orwa et ... J. Med.plants Res. Jamonline / 2(2);