Pong pong (Cerbera odollam)

Bintaro or pong pong (Cerbera odollam) is a plant species in Apocynaceae, a medium-sized tree with circular branches around the trunk, non-woody, gummy white, highly poisonous and the leaves are used for bioinsecticide, seeds are used as biodiesel material and often used for ornamental plants.

C. odollam is less than 17 meters tall, grows upright, has low and sideways branches to form an umbrella canopy, the bark is thin and dark brown, lots of white sap, the whole stem has traces of circular petioles.

Leaves have large stalks with thick strands, inverted or elongated ovoid, 4.5-7 cm wide, 15-30 cm long, blunt base, sharp tip, a large bone in the middle with sideways veins, dark green and shiny upper surface, the lower surface is lighter.

The white flower is located at the end of the stem and long stalk. Trumpet-shaped crown with five tongues, tube 1.5-2 cm long, white with yellow tunnels and a few yellow hairs.

The fruit is round, green in color with a green fibrous shell enclosing an ovoid core measuring approximately 2x1.5 cm and consisting of two matching white fleshy halves. The white kernels turn purple when exposed to sunlight, then dark gray and finally brown or black.

The kernels contain cerberin, digoxin-type cardenolide and cardiac glycoside toxins that block calcium ion channels in the heart muscle, causing heart rate disorders. The dose of the fatal poison contained in the seeds causes death in humans within 1-2 days.

The stems, leaves and fruit are used for making bioinsecticides and deodorants. Seeds are used as raw material in biodiesel production. The pong pong tree is often used for ornamental plants and shade trees in agricultural land and roadsides.

Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Tracheophyta
Subphylum: Angiospermae
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Gentianales
Family: Apocynaceae
Subfamily: Rauvolfioideae
Tribe: Plumerieae
Subtribe: Thevetiinae
Genus: Cerbera
Species: Cerbera odollam

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