Acacia catechu also commonly called Mimosa catechu, is a deciduous, thorny tree which grows up to 15 m (50 ft) in height. The plant is called khair in Hindi, and kachu in Malay, hence the name was Latinized to "catechu" in Linnaean taxonomy, as the type-species from which the extracts cutch and catechu are derived. Common names for it include catechu, cachou, cutchtree, black cutch, and black catechu. The Acacia catechu is found in Asia, China, India and the Indian Ocean area.
A wood extract called catechu is used in traditional medicine for sore throats and diarrhea. The concentrated aqueous extract, known as khayer gum or cutch, is astringent.
From the aqueous extract of Acaciacatechu, two new phenolic compounds (3R,4R)-3-(3,4-dihydroxyphenyl)-4-hydroxycyclohexanone (1) and (4R)-5-(1-(3,4-dihydrophenyl)-3-oxobutyl)-dihydrofuran-2(3H)-one (2) were obtained.