Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jun 18, 2026

Picralima

Picralima is a plant genus in the family Apocynaceae, first described as a genus in 1896. It contains only one known species, Picralima nitida, native to tropical Africa.

Last revised
Jun 18, 2026
Read time
≈ 2 min
Length
528 w
Citations
14
Source
Wikipedia ↗
Picralima
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Embryophytes
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Spermatophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Gentianales
Family: Apocynaceae
Subfamily: Rauvolfioideae
Tribe: Hunterieae
Genus: Picralima
Pierre
Species:
P. nitida
Binomial name
Picralima nitida
(Stapf) T.Durand & H.Durand
Synonyms1
  • Tabernaemontana nitida Stapf
  • Picralima klaineana Pierre
  • Picralima macrocarpa A.Chev.

Picralima is a plant genus in the family Apocynaceae, first described as a genus in 1896. It contains only one known species, Picralima nitida (aka Picralima Klaineana), native to tropical Africa (Benin, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Nigeria, Gabon, Cameroon, Cabinda, Central African Republic, Republic of Congo, Zaire, Uganda).12345

Picralima nitida, the akuamma, is a tree. The dried seeds from this plant are used in traditional medicine throughout West Africa, particularly in Ghana as well as in the Ivory Coast and Nigeria. The plant produces the alkaloids pericine and akuammine, among others.67 Alkaloids discovered in this plant8 also include picraline [2671-32-1].9

Several of these alkaloids were shown to bind to opioid receptors with weak affinity in vitro, and two compounds, akuammidine and ψ-akuammigine, were found to be μ-opioid agonists, although not particularly selective.1011 More recently, it has been shown that an additional constitutive analog, acuammicine, has potent activity as a kappa opioid receptor agonist.12

formerly included in genus1
  1. Picralima elliotii (Stapf) Stapf = Hunteria umbellata (K.Schum.) Hallier f.
  2. Picralima gracilis A.Chev. = Hunteria umbellata (K.Schum.) Hallier f.
  3. Picralima laurifolia A.Chev. = Hunteria simii (Stapf) H.Huber
  4. Picralima umbellata (K.Schum.) Stapf = Hunteria umbellata (K.Schum.) Hallier f.
References

References

  1. Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families
  2. Harris, D.J. (2002). The vascular plants of the Dzanga-Sangha Reserve, Central African Republic: 1-274. National Botanic Garden (Belgium), Meise.
  3. Akoègninou, A., van der Burg, W.J. & van der Maesen, L.J.G. (eds.) (2006). Flore Analytique du Bénin: 1-1034. Backhuys Publishers.
  4. Sosef MS, et al. (2006). "Check-list des plantes vasculaires du Gabon". Scripta Botanica Belgica. 35: 1–438.
  5. Figueiredo, E. & Smith, G.F. (2008). Plants of Angola. Strelitzia 22: 1-279. National Botanical Institute, Pretoria.
  6. Ama-Asamoah R, et al. (1990). "Picratidine, a New Indole Alkaloid from Picralima nitida Seeds". J. Nat. Prod. 53 (4): 975–977. doi:10.1021/np50070a032.
  7. Neuwinger HD (1996). African Ethnobotany: Poisons and Drugs: Chemistry, Pharmacology, Toxicology. CRC Press. pp. 119–126. ISBN 978-3-8261-0077-2.
  8. Henry, T. A. (1932). "415. The alkaloids of Picralima Klaineana, pierre. Part II". Journal of the Chemical Society (Resumed): 2759. doi:10.1039/jr9320002759.
  9. Britten, A. Z.; Smith, G. F. (1963). "715. Akuamma alkaloids. Part VI. The reactions of picraline". Journal of the Chemical Society (Resumed): 3850. doi:10.1039/jr9630003850.
  10. Lewin G, Le Ménez P, Rolland Y, Renouard A, Giesen-Crouse E (Mar 1992). "Akuammine and dihydroakuammine, two indolomonoterpene alkaloids displaying affinity for opioid receptors". Journal of Natural Products. 55 (3): 380–4.
  11. Menzies JR, Paterson SJ, Duwiejua M, Corbett AD (May 1998). "Opioid activity of alkaloids extracted from Picralima nitida (fam. Apocynaceae)". Eur J Pharmacol. 350 (1): 101–8. doi:10.1016/s0014-2999(98)00232-5. PMID 9683021.
  12. Creed SM, Gutridge AM, Argade MD, Hennessy MR, Friesen JB, Pauli GF, van Rijn RM, Riley AP (2021). "Isolation and Pharmacological Characterization of Six Opioidergic Picralima nitida Alkaloids". Journal of Natural Products. 84 (1): 71–80. doi:10.1021/acs.jnatprod.0c01036. PMC 7932029.
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