Bituminaria bituminosa

Bituminaria bituminosa, the Arabian pea or pitch trefoil,[1] is a perennial Mediterranean herb species in the genus Bituminaria.

Bituminaria bituminosa
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Plantae
(unranked):
Angiosperms
(unranked):
Eudicots
(unranked):
Rosids
Order:
Fabales
Family:
Fabaceae
Tribe:
Psoraleeae
Genus:
Bituminaria
Species:
B. bituminosa
Binomial name
Bituminaria bituminosa
(L.) C.H.Stirt.
Subspecies

Bituminaria bituminosa var. albomarginata (Canary Islands): Albo Tedera
Bituminaria bituminosa var. crassiuscula (Canary Islands): Teide Tedera
Bituminaria bituminosa var. bituminosa (Canary Islands): Tedera and (Mediterranean basin): Arabian pea; Pitch trefoil; Engraisse mouton
Bituminaria bituminosa var. hulensis (Hula Valley, Israel): שרעול שעיר

Synonyms

Psoralea bituminosa L.
Aspalthium bituminosum (L.) Kuntze
Bituminaria bituminosa (L.) Stirton

The pterocarpans bitucarpin A and B can be isolated from the aerial parts of B. bituminosa.[2]

It has several potential uses: (i) forage crop, (ii) Phytostabilization of heavy metal contaminated or degraded soils, (iii) Synthesis of furanocoumarins (psoralen, angelicin, xanthotoxin and bergapten), compounds of broad pharmaceutical interest.

It is easily recognizable by the characteristic smell of bitumen from its leaves. This strong tar-like characteristic aroma appears to be the result of a combination of several substances such as phenolics, sulphurated compounds, sesquiterpenes and probably short-chain hydrocarbon. Total polyphenols content was < 2% and the condensed tannins was <0.8% in a dry weight basis.

See also

References
  1. "BSBI List 2007". Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland. Archived from the original (xls) on 2015-01-25. Retrieved 2014-10-17.
  2. Pterocarpans from Bituminaria morisiana and Bituminaria bituminosa. Dedicated to the memory of Professor Jeffrey B. Harborne. Luisa Pistelli, Cecilia Noccioli, Giovanni Appendino, Federica Bianchi, Olov Sterner and Mauro Ballero, Phytochemistry, Volume 64, Issue 2, September 2003, Pages 595-598, doi:10.1016/S0031-9422(03)00190-0
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