Grewia asiatica L., a food plant with multiple uses.

Grewia asiatica L., is a species native to south Asia from Pakistan, east to Cambodia, cultivated primarily for its edible fruit and well-reputed for its diverse medicinal uses. Fruits are a rich source of nutrients such as proteins, amino acids, vitamins, and minerals and contain various bioactive compounds, like anthocyanins, tannins, phenolics and flavonoids. Different parts of this plant possess different pharmacological properties. Leaves have antimicrobial, anticancer, antiplatelet and antiemetic activities; fruit possess anticancer, antioxidant, radioprotective and antihyperglycemic properties; while stem bark possesses analgesic and anti-inflammatory activities. This review focuses on the botanical description, phytochemistry, nutritional studies and pharmacological properties of this plant.

[Anatomical and water physiological plasticity of Grewia biloba var. parviflora leaf and secondary xylem].

Based on the anatomical observations of leaf and secondary xylem as well as the measurements of leaf water physiological parameters, this paper studied the anatomical and water physiological plasticity of Grewia biloba var. parviflora growing in different succession stage communities. The results showed that G. biloba var. parviflora leaf was characterized by thin bifacial with thin cuticle and few stoma, indicating that it was mesophyte anatomically, while the secondary xylem had typical xeromorphic traits, such as short and thin vessel, high vessel frequency, low percentage single pores, and short fibers and rays. G. biloba var. parviflora had high plasticity in the anatomical structure and water physiological features of leaf and secondary xylem, and the plasticity index was in the order of secondary xylem anatomical structure (0. 24) > water physiological traits (0. 19) > leaf anatomical structure (0. 18). Compared with those growing in mixed forest and Platycladus orientalis forest, the individuals of G. biloba var. parviflora in shrub communities had the xeromorphic traits in the aspects of (1) their secondary xylem had shorter vessel elements, higher vessel frequency, less single porous percentage, lower rays, higher relative conductivity and lower vulnerability index, and (2) their leaf had lower water potential, lower water content and free water content, higher bound water content, high ratio of bound to free water content, and less specific leaf area. The phenotypic plasticity, both anatomical and physiological, made G. biloba var. parviflora tolerate to the drought at earlier succession stages and better adapt to the mesophytic condition at later stages, and consequently, become a widely distributed and dominant species in mixed forests.