புளியமரம்
Tamarind (Tamarindus indica)
It is indigenous to tropical Africa.
particularly in Sudan, where it continues to grow wild; it is also cultivated in Cameroon, Nigeria and Tanzania. In Arabia, it is found growing wild in Oman, especially Dhofar, where it grows on the sea-facing slopes of mountains. It reached South Asia likely through human transportation and cultivation several thousand years prior to the Common Era.[2][3] It is widely distributed throughout the tropical belt, from Africa to South Asia, Northern Australia, and throughout South East Asia, Taiwan and China.
Today,
South Asia and
Mexico remain the largest consumers and producers of tamarind.
[edit]Description
The tamarind is a long-lived, medium-growth,
bushy tree, which attains a maximum
crown height of 12.1 to 18.3 metres (40 to 60 feet). The crown has an irregular,
vase-shaped outline of dense
foliage. The tree grows well in full sun in
clay,
loam,
sandy, and acidic
soiltypes, with a high drought and aerosol
salt (wind-borne salt as found in coastal area) resistance.
Leaves are
evergreen, bright
green in color, elliptical ovular, arrangement is alternate, of the pinnately compound type, with pinnate venation and less than 5 cm (2 inches) in length. The
branches droop from a single, central
trunk as the tree matures and is often
pruned in human
agriculture to optimize tree density and ease of fruit
harvest. At night, the leaflets close up.
The tamarind does flower, though inconspicuously, with red and yellow elongated flowers. Flowers are 2.5 cm wide (one inch), five-
petalled, borne in small
racemes, and yellow with orange or red streaks.
Buds are pink as the four
sepals are pink and are lost when the flower
blooms.
The
fruit is an
indehiscent legume, sometimes called a pod, 12 to 15 cm (3 to 6 inches) in length, with a hard, brown shell.
[5][6][7] The fruit has a fleshy, juicy,
acidulous pulp. It is mature when the flesh is coloured brown or reddish-brown. The tamarinds of Asia have longer pods containing six to 12 seeds, whereas African and West Indian varieties have short pods containing one to six seeds. The seeds are somewhat flattened, and glossy brown.
As a tropical species, it is frost sensitive. The pinnate leaves with opposite leaflets give a billowing effect in the wind. Tamarind
timber consists of hard, dark red
heartwood and softer, yellowish
sapwood.
Tamarind is harvested by pulling the pod from its stalk. A mature tree may be capable of producing up to 175 kg (350 lb) of fruit per year.
Veneer grafting,
shield (T or inverted T) budding, and
air layering may be used to propagate desirable selections. Such trees will usually fruit within three to four years if provided optimum growing conditions.
[edit]Etymology
When British sailors first visited the coasts of Oman enroute to India, they enquired of the fruit - packed as dark brown slabs of sticky paste - in the markets that looked similar to the ripe dates from the area, they were told by the locals there that it was
thamer hind; literally meaning "dates from India". This was recorded by the English as "tamarind".
[citation needed]
[edit]Alternative names
Tamarindus leaves and pod
Globally, it is most numerous in South Asia, where it is widely distributed and has a long history of human cultivation. Many South Asian regional languages have their own unique name for the tamarind fruit. In Sanskrit, it is called
tintidior "Aamlika". In
Assamese, it is called
teteli. It is called
tetul (তেঁতুল) in
Bengali. In Oriya, it is called
tentuli, in
Hindi it is called
imli (इमली); in
Rajasthani it is known as
Aamli(आम्ली); in
Gujarati the
amli, and
Marathi and
Konkani the
chinch; in
Kannada it is called
hunase (ಹುಣಸೆ),
Telugu chintachettu (tree) and
chintapandu (fruit extract. In
Tamil speaking regions as such in Tamil Nadu and northern areas of Srilanka the Tamarind is known as
puli(புளி). In
Malayalam it is called
vaalanpuli (വാളന്പുളി) and In
Pakistan in
Urdu, it is known as
imli. In
Sri Lanka in
Sinhala, it is called
siyambala; In the
Cook Islands in
Cook Islands Maori Māori Kūki Āirani or
Rarotonganis language
Tamarindus is called
tamarene. In
Thailand it is called
má kăam (มะขาม).
In
Indonesia and
Malaysia, tamarind is known as the
asam (or
asem)
Jawa (means
Javanese asam), which in the
Indonesian and
Malaylanguages, translates as
Javanese sour [sic: fruit] (though the literature may also refer to it as
sambaya). In the
Philippines, tamarind is referred to as
sampaloc, which is occasionally rendered as
sambalog in
Tagalog and
sambag in
Cebuano. The
Vietnamese term is
me. In Taiwan, it is called
loan-tz. In
Myanmar, it is called
magee-bin (tree) and
magee-thee (fruit). The tamarind is the provincial tree of the
Phetchabun province of
Thailand (in Thailand it is called
ma-kham). In Laos it is called ໝາກຂາມ (
maak-kham. In
Malagasy it is called
voamadilo and
kily.
In
Ghana, it is called
dawadawa. In Malawi, it is called
bwemba. In Turkey, it is called "demir hindi". In Nigeria (Hausa language),it is called "Tsamiya"
Tamarind (
Tamarindus indica) should not be confused with "Manila tamarind" (
Pithecellobium dulce), which is a different plant native to
Mexico and known locally as
guamúchil. It is also of
Fabaceae.
[edit]Cultivation
Seeds can be
scarified or briefly boiled to enhance
germination. They retain germination capability after several months if kept dry.
Although native to
Sudan and tropical
Africa,
Asia and
Mexico are the largest consumers and producers of tamarind.
Three-day-old tamarind seedling
The tamarind has also long been
naturalized in
Indonesia,
Malaysia, the
Philippines, and the
Pacific Islands.
Thailand has the largest plantations of the
ASEAN nations, followed by Indonesia,
Myanmar, and the Philippines. In India, extensive tamarind
orchards produce 275,500 tons (250,000
MT) annually. The pulp is marketed in northern
Malaya. It is cultivated all over India, especially in Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.
In the
United States, it is a large-scale crop introduced for commercial use, second in net production quantity to India, in the mainly
Southern states due to tropical and semitropical climes, notably South Florida, and as a shade and fruit tree, along roadsides and in dooryards and parks.
Tamarind pulp is high in calcium, phosphorus, potassium, iron, thiamine, riboflavin, and niacin.
In traditional Asian medicines, tamarind is used to treat inflammation, arthritis pain, sore throats, sunstroke, certain kinds of poisoning, and drunkenness.
[edit]Basically there are three types of tamarinds - the East Indian, the West Indian and a third variety. While the East Indian variety of tamarind has long pods enclosing six to 12 seeds, the West Indian type of this species have comparatively shorter pods each having about four seeds. The pods of the third variety of tamarind enclose an exquisite rose color pulp. The West Indian variety of tamarinds are generally exported in a syrup form after removing the outer shell of the fruits, while the East Indian type is exported in a solid black mass of legumes along with their shells. The third type of tamarind is generally conserved in a syrup form.The tamarind leaves are occasionally used in sub-acid infusions, while a decoction prepared with the leaves is believed to eliminate worms in children. In addition, the decoction is also effectual in treating jaundiceand useful as an external wash for tender eyes and ulcers. In the West Indies, people prepare a punch with the fruit and blend it with a decoction prepared with borage to alleviate the burning sensation during urination. Tamarind whey can be prepared by stewing one ounce of the fruit pulp in one pint of milk and filtering the liquid. This serves as a cool laxative drink. Interestingly, the tamarind fruit has also been found to be useful in healing some types of sore throat conditions. In Mauritius, the Creoles blend salt with the tamarind pulp and use it as an ointment to treat rheumatism. In addition, they also prepare a decoction with the bark of the tamarind tree to treat asthma. The Bengalis, on the other hand, use the tamarind pulp to cure dysentery. Moreover, when food is scarce, they also use tamarind as a food by boiling the fruit pods in water or grinding them after removing the dark brown outer shell.
physicianpackiam
Thanks Herbs2000com
(30)
[
