Status of Maiden Hair Tree-Ginkgo biloba; Living Fossils Becoming Endangered

Abstract

Ginkgo biloba is known as ‘living fossils’ as it is the only surviving member of ancient trees. Ginkgo fossils are being known from rocks as old as two hundred million years. This plant is native to China and scattered in broad leaved mixed-mesophytic forest up to 1,100 m and it is located on the border of the Yangtze River valley and on the hill country. The wild population is confined to the Zhejiang province, China. Some other parts also have wild population but those are not up to sufficient numbers. Flavonoids and terpenoids-lactones such as Ginkgolides and bilobalide are the active components and these are unique to the Ginkgo. Plants are used for bladder inflammation and pulmonary disorders, heart abnormalities, skin infections and neurodegenerative disorders. A Ginkgo product by the name of Tebonin is a leading herbal medicine in market. So the consumption of this plant worldwide is very high due to which plant is facing great threats towards its extinction. Ginkgo biloba is listed as endangered plant in the IUCN red list of threatened species. There is hardly any wild population of Ginkgo exists, majority of the trees are existing in the cultivated form and million of the dollar industry has cashed in based on the medicinal properties of the leaves. Resultantly it is possible that this living fossil will survive the short of time. A recommendation for its preservation is that there should be some steps to increase the size of wild populations.

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Nova Journal of Medical and Biological Sciences Page: 1
Nova Explore Publications
Nova Journal of Medical and Biological Sciences
Vol. 3(4), 2014:1-3
PII: S2292793X1400021-3
www.novaexplore.com
Review Article
Status of Maiden Hair Tree-Ginkgo biloba; Living Fossils Becoming
Endangered
Humma Mehreen Sadaf 1, Yamin Bibi1, Muhammad Arshad1, Muhammad Shoaib Amjad1
1Department of Botany, PMAS, University of Arid Agriculture Rawalpindi, Pakistan
Corresponding Author: Muhammad Shoaib Amjad, Department of Botany, PMAS, University of Arid Agriculture Rawalpindi,
Pakistan, E-mail: malikshoaib1165@yahoo.com
Abstract
Ginkgo biloba is known as ‘living fossils’ as it is the only surviving member of ancient trees. Ginkgo fossils are being known from
rocks as old as two hundred million years. This plant is native to China and scattered in broad leaved mixed-mesophytic forest up to
1,100 m and it is located on the border of the Yangtze River valley and on the hill country. The wild population is confined to t he
Zhejiang province, China. Some other parts also have wild population but those are not up to sufficient numbers. Flavonoids a nd
terpenoids-lactones such as Ginkgolides and bilobalide are the active components and these are unique to the Ginkgo. Plants are used
for bladder inflammation and pulmonary disorders, heart abnormalities, skin infections and neurodegenerative disorders. A Ginkgo
product by the name of Tebonin is a leading herbal medicine in market. So the consumption of this plant worldwide is very high due
to which plant is facing great threats towards its extinction. Ginkgo biloba is listed as endangered plant in the IUCN red list of
threatened species. There is hardly any wild population of Ginkgo exists, majority of the trees are existing in the cultivated form and
million of the dollar industry has cashed in based on the medicinal properties of the leaves. Resultantly it is possible that this living
fossil will survive the short of time. A recommendation for its preservation is that there should be some steps to increase t he size of
wild populations.
Keywords: Ginkgo biloba, conservation, endangered, threats, uses.
Introduction
Ginkgo biloba is known as ‘living fossils’ as it is the only surviving member of ancient trees. A German surgeon, Englbert Kaempfer,
first time used the term “Ginkgo” in 1712 and Linnaeus termed it Ginkgo biloba in 1771 (Gertz and Kiefer 2004).
It is the only member in its family, order and class. No other living individual has such distinction. Ginkgo fossils are being known
from rocks as old as two hundred million years. This plant was planted in temple grounds in China and later on it spread to J apan.
Single tree may live as long as thousands of the years (Bown, 2001).
Kingdom
Phylum
Class
Order
Family
Genus
Species
Plantae
Tracheophyta
Ginkgoopsida
Ginkgoales
Ginkgoaceae
Ginkgo
Biloba
Table 1.Taxonomic and Morphological Description
Maiden hair tree is a dioecious plant having almost 7 m broad trunk and 30 m tall while some individuals in China reach up to 50 m in
height. Young trees are slender and sparsely branched. The crown becomes broader with the age of the tree. The tree is deep rooted
which make it resistant to the wind. Ginkgo grows in the well-drained environment. The leaves are very distinctly fan out into two
lobes hence the name is given biloba (two lobes). Leaves resembles to maiden hair fern due to which it is called as maiden hair tree.
(Mckenna et al., 2001).
Male plants contain the microspore in the microsporangiophore which is loosely arranged in microstobilli. Female plants do not
produce cones. Two pendulous ovules borne on the shoots and after pollination, one or both of them develops into the seeds. The seed
is approximately 1.5–2.0 cm long. The outer layer of seeds is light yellow-brown. Fruit is soft and rich in butyric acid and it produce
smell like rancid butter when fallen (Raven et al., 2005; Plotnik, 2000).
The fertilization of seeds takes place via motile sperm, just like cycads. Sperm of the Ginkgo were first time discovered in 1896 by the
Japanese scientist Sakugoro Hirase. The sperm have multi-layered structure and several thousand flagella form at the base. These
flagella make the sperm motile which help in fertilization (Vanbeek, 2000; Hirase, 1896; Dallimore, 1967).
Distribution
This plant is native to China and scattered in broad leaved mixed-mesophytic forest up to 1,100 m and it is located on the border of the
Yangtze River valley and on the hill country (Wang, 1961; Zheng, 1992).
The attractive maidenhair tree has been widely planted as an ornamental, and cultivated individuals exist around the world. Trees were
traditionally planted in temple gardens in Japan and China. Fossils records show that there were at least 16 genera of the family

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ginkgoaceae contributing a significant part of the vegetation of the world. Now it is represented by a single species Ginkgo biloba
(Willis and McElwain, 2002).
The wild population is confined to the Zhejiang province, China. Some other parts also have wild population such as Guizhou,
Sichuan and Guangxi Provinces but these populations are not up to sufficient numbers (Liang, 1993).
Figure 1: Distribution of Ginkgo
Active Components
The therapeutic benefit of the plant is mainly because of two active group of constituents flavonoids and terpenoids-lactones such as
Ginkgolides and bilobalide which are unique to the Ginkgo (Smith and Luo, 2004). Ginkgolides are diterpenes with 5 types A, B, C, J,
and M while Bilobalides are sesquiterpene trilactone. Other minor active constituents include proanthocyanidins, various orga nic acids
and sugars. (DeFeudis and Drieu, 2000).
Traditional Uses
Nuts of the Ginkgo in roasted form are served in Japanese bars as frills to drinks. Fresh or pre-soaked dried nuts are used in soups. The
nuts yield edible oil Fruit of the tree prepared by cooking and fermentation and used as delicacy in weddings. The tree because of its
ornamental value is also grown in the many part of the Europe. The plant is surprisingly resistant to the pollution and insect diseases
due to which it is preferably grown in the urban areas. This plant also has fire resistance properties (Mabberley, 1998; Bilia, 2002).
Medicinal Uses
Nuts used for the treatment of bladder inflammation and pulmonary disorders such as cough and asthama. Leaves are used to tre at
lungs and heart abnormalities and for the treatment of skin infections also (Mahady, 2002). Leaf extract have the potential to treat
neurodegenerative disorders including cardiovascular diseases Alzheimer’s, age -related macular degeneration, stress, cancer, ,
memory loss and psychiatric disorders (Ramassamy et al., 2007). Ginkgo leaf extract also have antidepressant activity (DeFeudis and
Drieu, 2004). Extract of the Ginkgo leaves reduces ROS accumulation and the neuron apoptosis which is consider as the main source
of the neurodegenerative disorders (Ergun et al., 2005; Ahlemeyer and Krieglstein 2003; Bastianettoet al., 2000).
Ginkgo supplements are usually taken in the range of 40–200 mg per day. In 2010, a meta-analysis of clinical trials has shown Ginkgo
to be moderately effective in improving cognition in dementia patients[39] 40][41]
Side Effects
Some adverse effects of the Ginkgo extract have been reported which is mainly due to the over consumption. These includes
dizziness, allergic skin reactions, gastrointestinal disturbances, excessive bleeding, headaches (De Smet, 2002; Benjamin et al., 2001;
Vale, 1998; Kleijnen and Knipschild, 1992; Skogh 1998).
Conservation Status
This is the only species in the genus. It is long-living and has an ancient geological record, appearing in the Jurassic. Ginkgo was
believed to existing only in cultivated form until wild populations were discovered late in the 20th century. According to IUCN
criteria, Ginkgo biloba is listed as endangered plant in the IUCN red list of threatened species (Endangered B1+2c ver 2.3) that’s why
this plant must receive the conservation measures (Fu and Jin, 1992).
Threats of its Extinction
There is hardly any wild population of Ginkgo exists and majority of the trees are existing in the cultivated form. This is mainly
cultivated in the Japan, China, South Korea and North Korea. The consumption of this plant worldwide is very high. 1.5-2.0 million
kg of the Ginkgo Leaves are harvested per year for the medicinal purpose. A third part of which is consume by Germany (WWF
Journal, 2000).

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A Ginkgo product by the name of Tebonin is a leading herbal medicine in market. This is a famous herbal medicine product in
Europe. It is one of the top ten best selling herbs in the United Kingdom. It is also utilized for timber in China which is a serious
threat. Female trees are not preferred for its cultivation because of its foul smell produced by seeds (Behrens, in prep).
There was only a single wild population of Ginkgo located in Tianmushan (Zhejiang Province). In 1984, 244 individuals of Gink go
population were reported in the Tianmu. Seedlings of Ginkgo were quite rare. Ginkgo is thought to be "pioneer" species in its local
environment (Del Tredici et al., 1992). According to a survey conducted in 1989 it contained only one hundred sixty seven (167)
individuals (Del Tredici et al., 2002). So there was a great decline in the population. Nevertheless, three additional wild populations
have been reported: Longchou (Guangxi Province), Wuchuanshan (Guizhou Province) and Dahong (Hubei Province) (Zheng et al.,
2004).
Conservation Measures
The Ginkgo biloba has been extensively growing in cultivation form for several centuries. In Pakistan, NARC has set up an herbal
garden in which Ginkgo biloba is growing in cultivated form (Marwat and Shinwari, 1996). It is doubtful whether the species still
present in the wild or not. Currently there are no projects for conservation in place. Although cultivated trees are present all over the
world but million of the dollar industry has cashed in based on the medicinal properties of the plant. Resultantly it is poss ible that this
living fossil will survive the short of time. A recommendation for its preservation is that there should be some steps to increase the
size of wild populations.
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