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''Lonchocarpus'' is a plant genus in the legume family (Fabaceae). The species are called lancepods due to their fruit resembling an ornate lance tip or a few beads on a string. ''Cubé'' resin is produced from the roots of ''L. urucu'' and namely 'L. utilis'' (''cubé''). It contains enough of the toxic rotenoids rotenone and deguelin to be used as an insecticide and piscicide. As these are naturally occurring compounds, they were formerly used in organic farming. Since it is highly unselective and kills useful, as well as pest, animals, it is considered harmful to the environment today. Also, chronic exposure to rotenone and deguelin seems to increase the risk of Parkinson's disease even in mammals, for which these compounds are less acutely toxic than for fish and insects.〔Caboni ''et al.'' (2004)〕 On the other hand, deguelin might be useful in cancer therapy if it can be applied directly into tumors,〔Udeani ''et al.'' (1997)〕 and ''Lonchocarpus'' root is used to a probably insignificant extent by indigenous peoples as an aid in fishing, e.g. by the Nukak who call it ''nuún''. The bark of ''L. violaceus'' (''balché'' tree) is traditionally used by the Yukatek Maya version of the mildly intoxicating mead, ''balché'', which was held in the highest esteem in antiquity and considered sacred to the god of intoxication. It is still drunk today and was, after the Spanish conquest of Yucatán, considered a less harmful alternative to the alcoholic beverages imported by the Europeans. It is not quite clear if roots were also used to produce ''balché'', and to what extent toxic isoflavones are also present in ''L. violaceus''. The potency of ''balché'' may be increased by using honey produced from ''L. violaceus'' nectar gathered by the Maya's traditional stingless bees. Some insects have evolved the ability to deal with ''Lonchocarpus'' toxins and feed on these plants. They include a possible new taxon in the two-barred flasher (''Astraptes fulgerator'') cryptic species complex which seems to have acquired this ability only quite recently and is found at least on ''L. costaricensis'' and ''L. oliganthus''.〔Hébert ''et al.'' (2004), Brower ''et al.'' (2006)〕 ==Selected species== * ''Lonchocarpus bussei'' Harms * ''Lonchocarpus calcaratus'' * ''Lonchocarpus capassa'' Rolfe * ''Lonchocarpus chiricanus'' * ''Lonchocarpus costaricensis'' * ''Lonchocarpus domingensis'' * ''Lonchocarpus glaziovii'' Taub. * ''Lonchocarpus kanurii'' * ''Lonchocarpus laxiflorus'' * ''Lonchocarpus miniflorus'' * ''Lonchocarpus molinae'' * ''Lonchocarpus monilis'' * ''Lonchocarpus nelsii'' (Schinz) Heering & Grimme * ''Lonchocarpus oliganthus'' * ''Lonchocarpus phaseolifolius'' * ''Lonchocarpus phlebophyllus'' * ''Lonchocarpus retiferus'' * ''Lonchocarpus sanctuarii'' * ''Lonchocarpus santarosanus'' – ''chapelno blanco'' * ''Lonchocarpus trifolius'' * ''Lonchocarpus urucu'' – ''barbasco'' * ''Lonchocarpus utilis'' – ''cubé'', common lancepod * ''Lonchocarpus violaceus'' – Balché tree * ''Lonchocarpus yoroensis'' 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Lonchocarpus」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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