Forest Treasure from the Land of Hornbills
Series 3
MOUNT Singai, located in the Bau district approximately 25km southwest of Kuching City, has become a well-known place for tourists and an attractive leisure spot for the public, especially during weekends and holidays.
Its beautiful story begins with the settlement by the Bisingai tribe for almost 300 years before they moved downhill to 14 villages some 40 years ago.
In the past, the Bisingai tribe actively gathered forest products. They also planted crops in their clearings at the mountain. The foothills and the surrounding area have already been explored for agriculture to form a secondary forest. Yet, this mountain is still covered with forest, and lowland dipterocarp forest trees are widely scattered on the top.
Mount Singai recorded more than 50 species of macrofungi. These fungi include agaric mushrooms, polypore fungi, boletes, bird’s nest fungi, coral fungi, cup fungi, and jelly fungi. They have been a primary source of medicine among folks starting 200 years ago.
This mountain consists of 1,178 plants belonging to 69 families, 123 genera, and about 200 species. The ‘spike moss’ (Selaginellaceae — 16.6 per cent) family dominates this area while the Begoniaceae family (8.2 per cent) and ‘Candlenut tree’ or ‘Indian Walnut’ (Euphorbiaceae — 6.4 per cent) are distant second and third, respectively. These plants include fruit trees, ferns, medicinal herbs, shrubs, palms, bamboo, and epiphyte.
Apart from their ecological role, almost all plants have uses for man. About 16 per cent can be used for landscaping or ornamental value, while 10 per cent for other uses (timber, cultural, and handicrafts), followed by seven per cent, which have medicinal value.
These 83 plants include ‘Kacip Fatimah’ (Labisia pumila), ‘Engkala’ (Litsea garciae), ‘Sireh’ (Piper betle), ‘Baid’ (Piper canium), ‘Tongkat ali’ (Eurycoma longifolia) and ‘Seladah paya’ (Santiria rubiginosa). However, about 67 per cent have overlapping or combining uses for food, medicine, and landscaping.
It is interesting to note that the orchid (Coelogyne mayeriana) is surviving at the summit, in addition to a few other plants, such as ‘Ubat resdung’ (Chionanthus cuspidatus), ‘Tingom’ (Homalomena sagittifolia), ‘Mudor’ (Caryota mitis), ‘Jambolan’ (Syzygium sp.), Engkabang (Shorea sp.), Bamboo (Bambusa spp.), and Pandan (Pandanus sp.).
In the experiments, Professor Dr Khong Heng Yen and her team revealed that six fungi have great potential to be developed into pharmacological products.
The mushroom (Ganoderma austral) is the most anti-oxidative compared to the other fungi, which may be due to the high content of alkaloids. Meanwhile, all 16 studied medicinal plants exhibited good antimicrobial properties against five bacteria.
Furthermore, Lemba (Curligo latifolia), snowy orchid-tree (Bauhinia accuminata), Rhaphidophora foraminifera, Bauhinia species, and Giant Mahang (Macaranga gigantea) also demonstrated good antioxidant properties.
These positive results warrant further studies to develop into a potential drug in the pharmaceutical and dermatological industries.
Mount Singai is also an important habitat for various species of insects, birds, small mammals, amphibians, and reptiles. Thus, we shall protect and conserve this rich biodiversity while enjoying the beauty of this mountain.
Jom, let’s do it together! — DayakDaily
Professor Dr Khong Heng Yen is a professor at UiTM Sarawak under the university’s Faculty of Applied Sciences. Her expertise include bioassay-guided fractionation and isolation of bioactive constituents from medicinal plants, standardisation of Malaysian medicinal plants, and essential oils extraction and identification.
‘Forest Treasure from the Land of Hornbills’ is a column that will be contributed periodically by UiTM Sarawak.
