Calamus draco

Calamus draco
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Monocots
Clade:	Commelinids
Order:	Arecales
Family:	Arecaceae
Subfamily:	Calamoideae
Tribe:	Calameae
Genus:	Calamus
Species:	C. draco
Binomial name
	Calamus draco; Willd.
Synonyms
	Calamus draconis Oken; Daemonorops draco (Willd.) Blume; Daemonorops rubra (Reinw. ex Blume) Mart.; Palmijuncus draco (Willd.) Kuntze;

Calamus draco is an Asian species of rattan plant in the family Arecaceae; its native range is from peninsular Thailand to western Malesia.^[1]^[2] It is a source of the red resin known as dragon's blood, which is a pigment with medicinal uses.^[3] The compound 4'-demethyl-3,9-dihydroeucomine (DMDHE), derived from the resin of Daemonorops draco, the homotypic synonym for Calamus draco, is a natural bitter-masking substance. This compound, which masks the bitter taste, suggests the importance for the food, beverage, and pharmaceutical industries to improve the taste and acceptability of foods and medicines.^[4]

Description

Calamus draco has stems in clusters forming individual rattan stems climbing up to 15 m., with sheaths to 30 mm diameter. Leaf fronds are described as cirrate (with a cirrus: extension of the rattan leaf tip armed with grappling hooks), produced from leaf-sheaths, which are bright green, bearing chocolate-coloured indumentum when young: they are 2.5 m long including petiole (up to 300 mm and armed with groups of short lateral spines to 6 mm long); the cirrus is about 1 m long. About 20 regularly arranged leaflets are on each side of the rachis. The mature fruit are more or less ovoid, 28 x 20 mm, covered in 16 vertical rows of scales and may be heavily encrusted with the "dragon's blood".^[2]

References

^ Willdenow CL (1799) Species Plantarum. Editio Quarta. Berolini [Berlin], ed. 4 2(1): 203.
^ ^a ^b "Calamus draco Willd". Plants of the World Online. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Retrieved 11 January 2022.
^ Gibbs A; Green C; Doctor VM. (1983). "Isolation and anticoagulant properties of polysaccharides of Typha augustata and Daemonorops species". Thromb. Res. 32 (2): 97–108. doi:10.1016/0049-3848(83)90021-X. PMID 6658717.
^ Sonja Sterneder, Joachim Seitz, Johannes Kiefl, Eric Rottmann, Margit Liebig, Maria Blings, Stephan Seilwind, Yijun Zhou, Jianbing Wei, Haifeng Guan, Qianjin Zhu, Johanna Kreißl, Kai Lamottke, Jakob P. Ley, Veronika Somoza (2024-09-25), "Identification of 4′-Demethyl-3,9-dihydroeucomin as a Bitter-Masking Compound from the Resin of Daemonorops draco", Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, vol. 72, no. 38, pp. 20991–20999, doi:10.1021/acs.jafc.4c04583, ISSN 0021-8561, PMC 11440488, retrieved 2024-09-29{{citation}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)

[1] Willdenow CL (1799) Species Plantarum. Editio Quarta. Berolini [Berlin], ed. 4 2(1): 203.

[POWO_665061-1-2] "Calamus draco Willd". Plants of the World Online. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Retrieved 11 January 2022.

[Gibbs_anticoagulant-3] Gibbs A; Green C; Doctor VM. (1983). "Isolation and anticoagulant properties of polysaccharides of Typha augustata and Daemonorops species". Thromb. Res. 32 (2): 97–108. doi:10.1016/0049-3848(83)90021-X. PMID 6658717.

[4] Sonja Sterneder, Joachim Seitz, Johannes Kiefl, Eric Rottmann, Margit Liebig, Maria Blings, Stephan Seilwind, Yijun Zhou, Jianbing Wei, Haifeng Guan, Qianjin Zhu, Johanna Kreißl, Kai Lamottke, Jakob P. Ley, Veronika Somoza (2024-09-25), "Identification of 4′-Demethyl-3,9-dihydroeucomin as a Bitter-Masking Compound from the Resin of Daemonorops draco", Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, vol. 72, no. 38, pp. 20991–20999, doi:10.1021/acs.jafc.4c04583, ISSN 0021-8561, PMC 11440488, retrieved 2024-09-29{{citation}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)

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