Khaya senegalensis (A.Juss) is an evergreen tree that belongs to the Meliaceae family and is better known as African Mahogany. It is 1 metre in diameter and can reach a height of about 30 metres.

What it is used for and where

Medical

In traditional medicine, the pulverised bark was used as a remedy against fever, syphilis and to facilitate digestive processes.

Industrially, in our day, Khaya senegalensis is mainly used to produce gum and extracts from its bark for pharmaceutical and industrial uses.

The gum is used as a sustained-release agent in medicinal tablets and its seeds have demonstrated, isolated and studied in vitro, antimicrobial activity against Gram-negative bacteria (1). As a whole, this tree has a considerable flavonoid and phenolic acid content, but the quality of the extract, with regard to its demonstrated antioxidant activity, depends closely on the extraction methods (2).

Cosmetics

Khaya senegalensis extract was included in the formula as a preservative. In 2016, a study was submitted in France in support of a patent (3) for the cosmetic use of an extract of Khaya senegalensis to maintain or increase collagen expression and other skin benefits.

Khaya senegalensis studies

References________________________________________________________________________

(1) Jiang YH, Jiang TJ, Lv XF, Yu XF, Chi WQ. Antimicrobial mexicanolide limonoids from the seeds of Khaya senegalensis. J Asian Nat Prod Res. 2021 Sep 28:1-7. doi: 10.1080/10286020.2021.1972981.

(2) de la Luz Cádiz-Gurrea M, Sinan KI, Zengin G, Bene K, Etienne OK, Leyva-Jiménez FJ, Fernández-Ochoa Á, Del Carmen Villegas-Aguilar M, Mahomoodally MF, Lobine D, Ferrante C, Segura-Carretero A. Bioactivity assays, chemical characterization, ADMET predictions and network analysis of Khaya senegalensis A. Juss (Meliaceae) extracts. Food Res Int. 2021 Jan;139:109970. doi: 10.1016/j.foodres.2020.109970. 

(3) https://patentimages.storage.googleapis.com/f7/ce/d2/80bb990d4cab27/FR3049859A1.pdf