Large in stature, Peachwood, also known as Palo Brasil, grows predominantly in southeast Mexico. The common names also include “corteza de Brasil”, “palo de tinta” and “palo tinto”. The name for the wood comes from the word baza, translated as “fiery red”. It is not connected with the region of Brazil or brazilwood (Craig et al., 1965).
In Mexican traditional medicine the bark has been used for mouth, kidney, stomach, diabetes, kidney, and ulcer ailments. Locally, the bark is made into tea or water infused with the bark and used for tonifying and strengthening blood and helping circulation.
The bark is also placed in the water underneath the steamer in a pot where a type of tamale, called corundo fotos are steamed in order to impart a beautiful red color onto the leaf.
The plant polyphenols are theorized to be the active substances (Argueta, et al, 2005) that exert an antimicrobial effect on 8 microorganisms (Rivero-Cruz, J., 2008) E. coli and anti-fungal against Candida albicans.
Argueta et al., 1994 V. Argueta, A. Cano and M.E. Rodarte, Atlas de las plantas medicinales de la medicina tradicional mexicana, Instituto Nacional Indigenista, México, D.F. (1994) pp. 772.
Craig, J. C., Naik, A. R., Pratt, R., Johnson, E., & Bhacca, N. S. (1965). Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectra and Stereochemistry of the Antibacterial Principle from Haematoxylon braziletto. The Journal of Organic Chemistry, 30(5), 1573–1576. https://doi.org/10.1021/jo01016a058
Heredia et al., 2005 N. Heredia, M. Escobar, C. Rodriguez-Padilla and S. Garcia, Extracts of Haematoxylon brasiletto inhibit growth, verotoxin production, and adhesion of enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli O157:H7 to HeLa cells, Journal of Food Protection 68 (2005), pp. 1346–1351.
Rivero-Cruz, J. F. (2008). Antimicrobial compounds isolated from Haematoxylon brasiletto. Journal of Ethnopharmacology, 119(1), 99–103. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jep.2008.06.005