Acer truncatum

Acer truncatum Bunge: A Comprehensive Reference on Botanical Identity, Traditional Use, Phytochemistry, and Scientific Evidence

1. Identity and Botanical Description

1.1 Taxonomy and Common Names

Acer truncatum, commonly known as the Shantung maple, Shandong maple, or purpleblow maple, is a maple native to northern China, occurring in the provinces of Gansu, Hebei, Henan, Jiangsu, Jilin, Liaoning, Inner Mongolia, Shaanxi, Shandong, and Shanxi, and also to Korea. It is classified as a diploid monoecious tree species (Acer truncatum Bunge, 2n = 2x = 26) of the family Aceraceae. In more recent botanical classifications, the plant is placed within the family Sapindaceae. The species is commonly known in Chinese as yuanbaofeng or yuanbaoqi, a tree species of the genus Acer. In China, this tree species is referred to as 'yuan bao feng' because of its gold ingot‐shaped fruits.

1.2 Morphology and Distribution

It is a medium-sized deciduous tree growing to 15 metres tall with a broad, rounded crown. The bark is smooth on young trees, becoming shallowly ridged with age. The leaves are opposite, palmately lobed with five lobes, 5 cm to 12 cm long and 7 cm to 11 cm broad, with a petiole of 3 cm to 10 cm; the lobes are usually entire, but occasionally with a pair of teeth on the largest central lobe, and the margin is often wavy. The petiole bleeds a milky latex when broken. It is a versatile oil-producing woody tree that is a native species widely distributed in northern China, Korea, and Japan, but it has also been identified in Europe and North America.

1.3 Commercial Forms and Preparations

A. truncatum enters commerce primarily in the following forms:

• Seed oil (ASO — Acer truncatum seed oil): Cold-pressed or supercritical CO₂-extracted oil from the dried seeds, used in dietary supplements and food products.
• Nervonic acid extract: A concentrated extract from the natural Acer truncatum plant, with commercially available specifications of 90%, 95%, 97%, and 98% purity nervonic acid (CAS 506-37-6) by HPLC.
• Leaf extract and maple tea: It is customary to drink A. truncatum leaves as an herbal tea in northern China, and they are used as a medicinal herb in Inner Mongolia. The Chinese government has approved the utilization of Acer truncatum leaves as a raw material for food.
• Novel food resource: Acer truncatum Bunge seed oil (ASO) was approved as a novel food resource by the People's Republic of China's Ministry of Health in 2011.

2. Traditional and Historical Use

A. truncatum has been used as a traditional herbal medicine for centuries in northern China. Polyphenols, organic acids, lipids and other compounds have been isolated or identified from different parts of the plant.

It has traditionally been used to prevent cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases and treat skin trauma by different linguistic groups including Mongolian, Tibetan, and Korean. It has traditionally been used for medicinal, edible, and ornamental purposes in northern China for many centuries. Different parts of the plant including leaves, fruits, and bark are mainly used as herbal medicine to treat hyperpiesia, hyperlipidemia, bruises, back pain, and related conditions.

Traditionally, the leaves of A. truncatum are decocted and used by Chinese Mongolians, Koreans, and Tibetans to treat skin itching, dry cracks, and other skin ailments. In the nomadic areas in northern China, A. truncatum leaves are traditionally used to treat skin itching and wounds.

The leaves have been traditionally used in Inner Mongolia as a form of anti-aging medicine. Besides being used as traditional medicine, A. truncatum has important edible value. Its leaves have been used as medicinal herbs and as the raw material for maple tea in China, and there is a tradition of directly eating its fried seeds.

Scholarly systematic review of the ethnobotanical literature found that there are 289 articles related to the traditional use, chemical composition, pharmacological activity, and safety of A. truncatum. The earliest available documents were published in 1949, while the latest covered sources through February 2023.

3. Key Constituents and Active Compounds

3.1 Seed Oil Fatty Acid Profile

A total of 288 compounds in A. truncatum, including polyphenols, organic acids or lipids, and biological volatile organic compounds, have been isolated or identified by phytochemical studies.

Acer truncatum Bunge seed extract (ASO) is an important woody oil, whose nutritional and economic value predominantly depends on its fatty acid composition. Notably, ASO serves as a primary botanical source for the large-scale production of nervonic acid (C24:1, Δ15, cis-15-tetracosenoic acid, NA), constituting 3–7% of its composition.

A fatty acid composition analysis of the seed oil found the following major fatty acids: linoleic acid (C18:2ω-6, 28.2%), oleic acid (C18:1ω-9, 21.8%), erucic acid (C22:1ω-9, 20.0%), cis,cis-11-eicosenoic acid (C20:1ω-9, 8.6%), nervonic acid (C24:1ω-9, 8.0%), and palmitic acid (C16:0, 3.6%). ASO comprises long-chain monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFAs), long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs), and saturated fatty acids (SFAs).

Acer truncatum Bunge seed kernel is the main material for fat and protein, with a fat content as high as 47.88%. Studies have shown that Acer truncatum Bunge oil is non-toxic and edible, containing 4%–6% nervonic acid. Maple seed oil has been described as an excellent edible oil because it contains a large percentage of unsaturated fatty acids (92%) and NA (6.22%).

3.2 Nervonic Acid — The Principal Active Constituent

Nervonic acid is particularly abundant in the white matter of animal brains and in peripheral nervous tissue where nervonyl sphingolipids are enriched in the myelin sheath of nerve fibers. This acid is among the group of cerebrosides, which are fatty acids of the glycosphingolipids group, which are components of muscles and the nervous system, accounting for approximately 40% of the total fatty acids in sphingolipids. It is classified in the subgroup of very long-chain fatty acids (VLCFA), which includes molecules containing more than 20 carbon atoms. It has specifically a 24-carbon backbone, and the sole C=C double bond originating from the methyl end is in the n-9 or omega-9 (ω-9) position.

Because only a few plant species contain nervonic acid, and the nervonic acid on the international market primarily comes from deep sea fish, Acer truncatum (purpleblow maple) is considered to be a new sustainable resource for obtaining nervonic acid.

Acer truncatum (purpleblow maple) is a woody tree species that produces seeds with high levels of valuable fatty acids, especially nervonic acid. A combined genomic, transcriptomic, metabonomic, and cell ultrastructural analysis has provided new insights into the biosynthesis of very long-chain monounsaturated fatty acids. Three KCS genes were found that may contribute to regulating nervonic acid biosynthesis.

3.3 Leaf Polyphenols and Flavonoids

The kernels are rich in protein and contain 9 essential amino acids; the leaves also have high developmental value, containing a variety of ingredients such as flavonoids, vitamins, terpenes, phenols, sugars, mineral nutrients, proteins, amino acids, tannins, cardiac glycosides, and organic acids. Among them, the flavonoid content is the highest, with the main active ingredients being quercetin, kaempferol, isorhamnetin, chlorogenic acid, and catechins.

Twenty-two phenolics have been identified in A. truncatum leaf extract obtained under optimized conditions, indicating that gallates, gallotannins, quercetin, myricetin, and chlorogenic acid derivatives are the main phenolic components. A gallotannins pathway in A. truncatum leaves from gallic acid to penta-O-galloylglucoside has been proposed.

A. truncatum leaves contain a variety of active ingredients, such as chlorogenic acid, quercetin, myricetin, succinic acid, glycyrrhizin, and azelaic acid. Quercetin glycosides identified in the leaves include hyperoside (quercetin-3-O-galactoside), isoquercetin (quercetin-3-O-glucoside), quercitrin (quercetin-3-O-rhamnoside), and rutin (quercetin-3-O-rutinoside), as confirmed by UPLC-QTOF-MS/MS characterization.

In leaves, total flavonoids, chlorogenic acid, and gallic acid reached their highest levels in May (5.62% ± 0.1%, 3.38 ± 0.31 mg/g, and 6.87 ± 0.14 mg/g, respectively). Quercetin was highest in June (1.80 ± 0.17 mg/g), whereas vitamin C and free amino acids peaked in September (38.73 ± 1.40 and 85.76 ± 0.56 mg/g, respectively).

Studies have investigated the dynamic variations in the contents of total polyphenols, flavonoids, and chlorogenic acid from Acer truncatum leaves across different months and their inhibitory activities on fatty acid synthase. All leaves picked from May to November demonstrated inhibitory effect. The contents of polyphenols in leaves of July appeared to be higher than in other months, and consequently exhibited stronger inhibition against FAS. A positive correlation between the content of polyphenols in leaves extract and the inhibitory efficacy on FAS was established.

4. Mechanisms of Action

4.1 Nervonic Acid: Myelin Synthesis and Neuroprotection

Nervonic acid (NA) combines with sphingosines via an amide bond, forming nervonyl sphingolipids, an important component in the white matter of brains and myelinated nerve fibers. Nervonic acid (NA) (C24:1n-9) is another molecule essential for the growth and maintenance of brain physiology and peripheral nervous tissue; it bonds to sphingosine, forming sphingomyelin, a necessary component of myelin.

It plays a part in the biosynthesis of myelin and is found in sphingolipids of white matter in the human brain. In diseases involving demyelination, such as adrenoleukodystrophy (ALD) and multiple sclerosis (MS), there is a marked reduction from normal in the nervonic acid levels in sphingolipids.

The low intake of essential lipids for sphingomyelin synthesis in the human diet may account for increased demyelination and the reduced efficiency of the remyelination process. Research on lipid profiling in an experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis brain revealed that during acute inflammation, nervonic acid synthesis is silenced, which is the effect of shifting the lipid metabolism pathway of common substrates into proinflammatory arachidonic acid production.

Abnormal NA levels are tightly correlated with a high risk of developing neurological disorders or mental illnesses such as psychosis, schizophrenia, or attention deficit disorder, and supplementation with oils rich in EPA/DHA/NA reduces the clinical symptoms of these diseases.

4.2 Seed Oil: Synergistic Fatty Acid Mechanisms in Cognition

Acer truncatum Bunge seed oil (ASO) is rich in ω-9 (53.93%) and ω-6 (30.7%) fatty acids and is characterized by 3–7% nervonic acid (NA, C24:1ω-9). Evidence suggests that ω-9 FAs such as NA participate in processes of cognitive improvement; however, their mechanism remains under investigation. Lipid profiling showed alterations in a wide range of metabolic features after ASO administration, in which sphingolipids in the serum and glycerophospholipids in the brain were regulated significantly. The changes in the fatty acids in the serum and brain showed synergetic effects of NA, erucic acid (EA), oleic acid (OA), and DHA, where NA, EA, and OA exhibited similar change trends. These results suggest synergistic effects of ω-9 FAs and that their conversion into each other may result in enhanced cognition.

4.3 Fatty Acid Synthase (FAS) Inhibition

Pharmacological research showed that A. truncatum has various bioactivities such as acetylcholinesterase inhibition, antibacterial, antioxidant, antitumor, and fatty acid synthase inhibition effects. The polyphenol fraction of the leaves — particularly chlorogenic acid and quercetin derivatives — appears to be responsible for FAS inhibition, as the polyphenol content in leaves of July was higher than in other months, and consequently exhibited stronger inhibition against FAS; a positive correlation between polyphenol content and FAS inhibitory efficacy was established.

4.4 Anti-inflammatory Mechanisms

ASO intervention has been shown to inhibit the proliferation of microglia and astrocytes, and decrease the levels of IL-1β, IL-6, and TNF-α in the hippocampus and serum in animal models. In skin cell research, when the skin surface is stimulated by chemical substances, the release of pro-inflammatory factor IL-6 in keratinocytes increases, and the increased expression of IL-6 can promote the release of PGE2. When MAPK and NF-κB signaling pathways are activated through signal transduction, the expression of pro-inflammatory mediators is induced. A. truncatum leaf extracts have been studied for their capacity to modulate these pathways in vitro.

4.5 Antioxidant Mechanisms

Studies have shown that the total flavonoids of A. truncatum strongly scavenge oxygen free radicals, and the rate of inhibition is proportional to the concentration of total flavonoids within a certain range. Chlorogenic acid, a major constituent of the leaves, regulates lipid and glucose metabolism, has immunomodulatory and antioxidant effects, and is widely used in the food, chemical, and pharmaceutical healthcare industries.

5. Scientific Evidence by Area of Use

5.1 Neurological Health and Cognitive Function

Evidence strength: Predominantly preclinical (animal and in vitro). Very limited human data.

Animal studies — learning and memory in aging: To investigate the effects of Acer truncatum seed oil on cognitive deficits of aging mice, the Morris Water Maze (MWM) test was used. During the training phase, the latency of aging control mice searching for the hidden platform was significantly longer compared with young control animals. However, Acer truncatum seed oil treatment significantly induced the aging mice to spend less time finding the platform.

Animal studies — short-term memory in healthy rats: After ASO was administered to rats for one, three, and seven days, their capacity for learning and memory significantly increased as measured by the MWM test.

Animal model of Alzheimer's disease (2026): A 2026 study in Frontiers in Nutrition aimed to clarify the neuroprotective effect of Acer truncatum Bunge seed oil (ASO) and its interactions with the gut microbiota in transgenic mice with 5× Familial Alzheimer's disease (5×FAD). The AD-transgenic mice were fed a standard diet supplemented with 4% ASO from one to six months of age. The results showed that ASO intervention could alleviate learning and memory impairment, enhance motor coordination and endurance, and reduce Aβ deposition in the brains. It also inhibited the proliferation of microglia and astrocytes, decreased the levels of IL-1β, IL-6, and TNF-α in the hippocampus and serum. ASO increased the Chao1 index and Shannon index, altered the gut microbiota composition, specifically enhancing the growth of gut bacteria correlated with the production of short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs). This is a controlled mouse study and cannot be directly extrapolated to human disease.

Neonatal hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (animal): Acer truncatum Bunge seed extract (ASO) can potentially alleviate brain injuries in neonates affected by hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy exposed to high-altitude conditions by protecting the nervous system and improving motor and cognitive abilities, according to a multi-omics study published in Communications Biology (2023). This evidence is entirely preclinical.

Nervonic acid and demyelinating disease (mechanistic/cell studies): Clinical studies as well as animal models of disease have revealed that NA can be a marker of neurodegeneration and that its intake can improve brain development. However, direct clinical trials testing A. truncatum-derived nervonic acid specifically for demyelinating diseases in humans remain limited.

Despite these promising findings, robust clinical evidence in humans remains limited. Most available studies are preliminary, and further research is necessary to substantiate the claimed health benefits and to better understand the mechanisms of action.

5.2 Cardiovascular and Metabolic Health

Evidence strength: Preliminary; mostly in vitro and animal data.

Pharmacological studies have found that A. truncatum leaf extracts have antioxidant, antitumor, and fatty acid synthase inhibitory activities, and seed oil has antitumor and antibacterial activities. ASO has also been reported as a healthcare oil with various health benefits, including antioxidant effects, antitumor properties, antibacterial effects, and hypolipidemic properties.

Nervonic acid has been of interest in cardiovascular contexts; however, the seed oil's significant erucic acid content (discussed in the safety section below) introduces a complicating factor in cardiovascular risk assessment.

5.3 Anti-Obesity / Lipid Metabolism

Evidence strength: In vitro only at present.

Research published in PMC examined the inhibitory effect of Acer truncatum Bunge seed coat extract on fatty acid synthase activity and lipid accumulation. Most of the pharmacological activities of A. truncatum have been reported, showing its potential in the development of new drugs or health products. The FAS inhibitory activity of leaf polyphenols suggests a potential mechanism for lipid-lowering effects, but no controlled human trials have confirmed this.

5.4 Anti-Inflammatory and Dermatological Applications

Evidence strength: In vitro; supported by traditional use.

A. truncatum Bunge (Sapindaceae or formerly Aceraceae) is a tall deciduous tree native to China. Traditionally, the leaves of A. truncatum are decocted and used by Chinese Mongolians, Koreans, and Tibetans to treat skin itching, dry cracks, and other skin ailments, which indicates A. truncatum leaves may have a potential inhibitory effect on various skin inflammations.

The compounds in A. truncatum leaves show various activities such as anti-inflammatory, anti-bacterial, anti-oxidant, hypoglycemic, and antitumor properties. A 2023 in vitro study published in Frontiers in Pharmacology (PMC10050454) modeled dermatitis using SLS-induced HaCaT cells to examine protective effects of A. truncatum leaf extract, evaluating cell viability, apoptosis, reactive oxygen species, IL-6, and PGE2 levels. These are cell culture findings and do not constitute clinical evidence.

5.5 Antitumor Activity

Evidence strength: In vitro; no human clinical data.

Studies on A. truncatum have confirmed its antioxidant, antimicrobial, antitumor, anti-inflammatory, and neuroprotective properties in preclinical contexts. One of the main active components of A. truncatum leaves plays a key role in FAS inhibitory activity and the growth inhibitory activity of various cancer cells. All antitumor findings to date are from cell-based assays; no human oncology trials have been conducted with this plant.

5.6 Aging / Longevity

Evidence strength: Single invertebrate model study.

The leaves have been traditionally used in Inner Mongolia as a form of anti-aging medicine; however, the specific mechanism responsible for the anti-aging properties of Acer truncatum leaves remains unidentified. A 2025 study in Scientific Reports used the fruit fly (Drosophila melanogaster) model to investigate an aqueous leaf extract, finding effects on amino acid metabolism and gut microbiota, but this evidence is highly preliminary and does not translate directly to humans.

5.7 Acetylcholinesterase Inhibition

Evidence strength: In vitro enzyme assay data only.

Pharmacological research showed that A. truncatum has various bioactivities, including acetylcholinesterase inhibition. Research on the seed oil residue (ASR), a by-product of seed oil extraction, aimed to optimize conditions for ultrasound-assisted extraction (UAE) using a response surface methodology to obtain high acetylcholinesterase (AChE) inhibitory components from ASR and to tentatively identify the active metabolites using non-targeted metabolomics. This inhibition is relevant to Alzheimer's disease research but has not been demonstrated in human studies.

6. Body Systems Associated with Acer truncatum

• Central nervous system / neurological health: Primary research focus; nervonic acid is a structural component of myelin sheaths and is studied in the contexts of cognitive aging, demyelinating conditions, and neurodevelopment.
• Cardiovascular system: Traditional use for cardiovascular and cerebrovascular disease prevention; preclinical hypolipidemic and antioxidant data.
• Integumentary system (skin): Traditional topical use for skin itching, wounds, and inflammatory skin conditions; supported by in vitro anti-inflammatory findings.
• Metabolic / hepatic system: Fatty acid synthase inhibition related to lipid accumulation and obesity mechanisms; chlorogenic acid studied for glucose metabolism.
• Gastrointestinal / gut-brain axis: Emerging research in 2026 identifies modulation of gut microbiota composition and short-chain fatty acid production as a mechanism through which ASO may affect brain health.
• Immune system: Anti-inflammatory and immunomodulatory activities attributed to leaf polyphenols.

7. Dosage Forms and Doses Reported in Studies

The following dosages appear in peer-reviewed preclinical publications. No standardized human clinical dosage for A. truncatum seed oil or nervonic acid has been established in published clinical trials identified during this review.

• 4% ASO dietary supplementation (mouse study, AD model): AD-transgenic mice were fed a standard diet supplemented with 4% ASO from one to six months of age.
• Rat cognitive study (MWM, short-term): ASO was administered to rats for one, three, and seven days, after which their capacity for learning and memory was assessed. Specific mg/kg dosages were not captured in the accessible portions of the source.
• Nervonic acid extract purity for supplemental use: Commercial nervonic acid (CAS 506-37-6) is produced at specifications of 90%, 95%, 97%, and 98% purity. Dosages used in human supplementation contexts are not established by clinical trials in the literature reviewed.

8. Safety Considerations

8.1 Regulatory Recognition

In 2011, the seed oil was approved as a New Resource Food by the National Health and Family Planning Commission of the People's Republic of China, with potentially important implications for the fields of food and medicine. This approval indicates that the safety status of Acer truncatum has been recognized by the authority. As the active ingredient in Acer truncatum, nervonic acid is believed to be safe and no serious adverse effects have been reported.

8.2 Erucic Acid Content — Key Safety Concern

The most significant and documented safety concern associated with A. truncatum seed oil is the presence of erucic acid. There is a significant positive correlation between NA and erucic acid content, which indicates that increasing NA content is accompanied by increasing erucic acid. Earlier studies have shown that diets rich in erucic acid were associated with myocardium fibrotic changes and increased blood cholesterol levels and are therefore undesirable for human consumption. The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the World Health Organization (WHO) stipulate that the amount of erucic acid should be limited to less than 5% by weight.

Chronic exposure to high concentrations of erucic acid appears to result in poor mitochondrial beta-oxidation of this fatty acid in the heart muscle, leading to myocardial lipidosis, reduced contractility, and eventually tissue damage. Because of the structural similarity and co-occurrence of erucic acid and nervonic acid in A. truncatum seed oil — erucic acid and nervonic acid differ in structure by only two carbons, making separation difficult — the erucic acid content of the intact seed oil is a relevant consideration in assessing safety for repeated human consumption.

8.3 Absence of Detailed Toxicological Data

Detailed information on the molecular mechanisms, metabolic activity, and toxicology of active components is limited. Further comprehensive research to evaluate the medicinal properties of A. truncatum will be necessary.

8.4 Evidence Gaps and Research Limitations

Previous studies on A. truncatum have mainly focused on the extraction and isolation of chemical components and their biological activities. Controlled clinical trials in human populations are absent from the published literature identified in this review. Despite promising findings, robust clinical evidence in humans remains limited. Most available studies are preliminary, and further research is necessary to substantiate the claimed health benefits and to better understand the mechanisms of action.

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