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Sweet and sour surprise

It is not usually seen in the market, but Manila Tamarind has several medicinal uses

EDIBLE PULP Manila Tamarind

Kodukkapuli, a not-so-common fruit in marketplaces, is often sold by vendors going around the streets and is relished by school kids. Native to South America and the West Indies, it is referred to as Manila Tamarind, as its sour taste resembles tamarind.

Pithecellobium dulce, as it is known botanically, is a fast growing, evergreen, glabrous, spiny tree with a crooked trunk, bearing small branchlets armed with short, straight, sharp, stipular spines, arising near the base of the leaves. The leaves are leathery, pale greyish green with oblique leaflets. The minute, dull white flowers are borne in small, dense, clusters at the ends of the twigs. The constricted pods are curved into a circle or a helical coil and are reddish brown when ripe, containing about 6-10 shining black seeds, enveloped in a massive pink to whitish pulpy edible aril, fondly eaten by monkeys as well. Because of the resemblance of the fruits to the Indian sweet jalebi, the plant has been given the name jungli jalebi.

The generic name Pithecellobium is derived from the Greek word `pithekos' meaning an ape and `lobos' referring to a pod and the species name `dulce' in Latin means `sweet' in allusion to the edible pulp of the pod. Pithecellobium dulce followed the Spanish galleon route through the Pacific and Asia to Africa. It is now common and naturalised in India, especially in Chennai where it is grown to produce impenetrable fences.

The tree can resist drought very well and can also withstand pruning, lopping and browsing by animals. Flowering occurs from January to March and the fruits ripen from April to July.

Drought-resistant species

The hard reddish brown timber is used for general construction, packing cases, fence posts, cart building and agricultural implements. The tree is recommended for growing as shelterbelts and as windbreaks. Since the tree is capable of growing even in waste and denuded lands, ravines, pure sandy soils and along the coastal areas, it can be grown to reclaim saline and alkaline soils and wastelands. Pithecellobium dulce is also very popular in the plant sculpturing technique topiary.

The pods contain a thick, sweetish, acidic pulp that is eaten raw or made into a drink similar to lemonade. The plant is reported to be a folk remedy for convulsions, dysentery, ear ache, leprosy, peptic ulcer and tooth ache.

This almost forgotten yet affordable fruit can be recommended for good health. The well-known adage `An apple a day... ,' may be modified thus: `A Pithecellobium a day may indeed keep pain away!'

RIDLING WALLER & PAULINE DEBORAH

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