Ailanthus excelsa Roxb. in India: A multipurpose “tree of Heaven” for semi-arid regions

ABSTRACT

Ailanthus excelsa, family Simaroubaceae is a deciduous, perennial, and fast-growing multipurpose tree commonly known as Tree of Heaven and is widespread in the semi-arid to temperate region of central India, southern India and Sri Lanka. Its leaves are used as fodder for cattle, goats, sheep, and camels. The tree has been widely explored in the ancient Indian traditional medicine system of Ayurveda to cure asthma, dysentery, pile, and leucorrhea. The plant has many pharmacological properties, viz. antihelminthic, antiamoebic, antiplasmodial, anti-inflammatory, antidiarrheal, antifertility, antioxidant, and antimicrobial. The plant is also known to have many phytochemicals such as alkaloids and flavonoids besides proteins, fatty acids, and carbohydrates. The present review first presents the state of knowledge regarding the geographical distribution, ecology, morphology, propagation methods, growth performances, and genetic diversity, of Ailanthus excelsa. It then summarizes what is known regarding its phytochemical components and their pharmaceutical properties. It finally explores the various uses (traditional medicine, bio-remediation, biofuel, feed-fodder, timber) of A. excelsa reported in the literature as well as its potential as an agroforestry tree crop. We believe this review will be useful for researchers aiming to develop a comprehensive understanding of this important tree species and for those wishing to explore more specific characteristics of the tree or/and of its uses.

KEYWORDS:

• Agroforestry
• livelihood
• bioremediation
• fodder
• ethnomedicine
• distribution
• pharmacological

Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to Dr. Ramesh Chandra Poonia, Professor, Department of Computer Science, CHRIST (Deemed to be University), Bangalore for his help in improving this manuscript. The authors are grateful to Dr. Manoj Kumar, Assistant Professor, Amity University Rajasthan, Jaipur for his valuable input towards the improvement of the language of this manuscript. The authors also acknowledge the support of Dr. N. Bala, Scientist G, Forest Research Institute, Dehradun.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).