Garcinia kola Heckel - Clusiaceae - bitter kola, false cola, Bitterkola, Falsche Kola

Evergreen monoecious tree, about 12m high; native to the rain forests of West Africa (Cameroon to Angola); leaves opposite, simple, elliptic, 5-10cm long; female flowers yellow, fleshy, globose; fruits orange, smooth, elliptically shaped (to 6cm in diam.), pulp yellow-orange; seeds 2-4, brown. The seeds are traded as 'false cola nuts', they own an aromatic bitter taste. Phytochemical components include triterpenes like cycloarterenol and 24-methyl cycloarterenol, xanthone derivatives and kolanone. Seeds and preparations thereof are used in African folk medicine to treat headache, cold, colic and diseases of ĺiver and bladder.
[Hagers Handbuch der Pharmazeutischen Praxis, Springer 2010]

The major components of the volatiles isolated by distillation-extraction from an oleoresin from a commercial sample of seeds of G.kola grown in Nigeria were 6-methylhept-5-en-2-one (16%), (E,E)-farnesol (14%), 5-ethenyldihydro-5-methylfuran-2-one (=lavender lactone, 12%) and linalool (11%).
[Lavender lactone and other volatile constituents of the oleoresin of Garcinia kola seeds., Onayade, O.A., Scheffer, J.J.C., Baerheim Svendsen, A., Gbile, Z.O., Pl. Med, 57, 1991, A86-A87]

„Medicinal uses include purgative, antiparasitic, antimicrobial. The seeds are used in the treatment of bronchitis and throat infections. They are also used to prevent and relieve colic, cure head or chest colds and relieve cough. Also the plant is used for the treatment of liver disorders and as a chewing stick.“
[New antimicrobials of plant origin. Perspectives on new crops and new uses., Iwu, M.W., Duncan, A.R., Okunji, C.O., ASHS Press, Alexandria, VA, 1999, 457-462] https://hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/proceedings1999/pdf/v4-457.pdf

„Kolaviron is a fraction of the defatted ethanol extract, containing Garcinia biflavonoids GB1, GB2, and kolaflavanone. Several studies have demonstrated the protective effects of kolaviron against hepatotoxicity and oxidative stress induced by 2-acetylaminofluorene, carbontetrachloride, aflatoxin B1, potassium bromate-induced nephrotoxicity and dibutylphthalate-induced testicular oxidative stress in animal model. Furthermore, kolaviron has been shown to exhibit potent antioxidant and metal chelating activities in vitro as well as inhibition of carcinogen-induced genotoxicity in human liver-derived HepG2 cells. However the molecular mechanisms underlying the hepatoprotective and other chemopreventive/chemoprotective effects of kolaviron remain largely unknown. In the present study, we report that kolaviron inhibits DMN-induced liver injury in rats by suppressing COX-2 and iNOS expression via NF-κB and AP-1.“
[Kolaviron inhibits dimethyl nitrosamine-induced liver injury by suppressing COX-2 and iNOS expression via NF-κB and AP-1. Farombi, E. O., Shrotriya, S., Surh, Y. J., Life sciences, Vol.84(5), 2009, 149-155]

„Topical Garcinia kola 0.5% aqueous eye drops are as effective as timolol maleate 0.5% eye drops in lowering IOP in newly diagnosed glaucoma and ocular hypertensive patients. The mean IOP reducing efficacy after six months of use was similar in both groups. Garcinia kola extract may represent an alternate topical medication for patient with open angle glaucoma and ocular hypertensives in a resource limited population.“
[Efficacy of Garcinia kola 0.5% aqueous eye drops in patients with primary open-angle glaucoma or ocular hypertension. Adefule-Ositelu, A. O., Adegbehingbe, B. O., Adefule, A. K., Adegbehingbe, O. O., Samaila, E., Oladigbolu, K., Middle East African journal of ophthalmology, Vol.17(1), 2010, 88] http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2880381/

Journal of botany, British and foreign [B.Seemann], vol.13 p.65, t.160 (1875) [W.G.Smith]
http://plantgenera.org/species.php?id_species=452914