MPdb: Melghat Plant Data Bank
MT118 : Limonia acidissima Linn. |
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| Melghat's Flora's Serial No. : |
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| Plant Location in Melghat : | only around villages | |||||||||||||
| Plant Category : | Tree | |||||||||||||
| Plant's Current Status : | ||||||||||||||
| Plant Family : | RUTACEAE | |||||||||||||
| Plant Common Name : | Wood Apple • Hindi: Kaith • Gujarati: Kotha • Telugu: Velaga • Bengali: Katbel • Kannada: Belavu • Marathi: Kovit • Sanskrit: Kapitha | |||||||||||||
| Synonym : | Feronia elephantum Feronia limonia Schinus limonia |
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| Description : | an erect, slow-growing tree with a few upward-reaching branches bending outward near the summit where they are subdivided into slender branchlets drooping at the tips. The bark is ridged, fissured and scaly and there are sharp spines 3/4 to 2 in long on some of the zigzag twigs. The deciduous, alternate leaves, 3 to 5 in long, dark-green, leathery, often minutely toothed, blunt or notched at the apex, are dotted with oil glands and slightly lemon-scented when crushed. Yellowish green flowers, tinged with red, 1/2 in across, are borne in small, loose, terminal or lateral panicles. The tree is mostly known for its hard woody fruit, size of a tennis ball, round to oval in shape. The pulp is brown, mealy, odorous, resinous, astringent, acid or sweetish, with numerous small, white seeds scattered through it. Fl. Per.: March-May. | |||||||||||||
| Curated Medicinal Use / Activity : | It is used mainly as a liver tonic to stimulate the digestive system. The fruit is also astringent, especially when unripe, and a cardiac tonic. The pulp of the fruit, especially when unripe, is used in the treatment of Diarrhea and dysentery. The fruit is also seen as an effective treatment for hiccough, sore throat and diseases of the gums. Both the fruit pulp and the powdered rind can be poulticed onto bites and stings of venomous insects. They are astringent and are used internally, often combined with milk and sugar, in the treatment of indigestion, flatulence, Diarrhea, dysentery (especially in children) and haemorrhoids. The powdered gum, mixed with honey, is given to overcome dysentery and Diarrhea in children. The spines are crushed with those of other trees and an infusion taken as a remedy for menorrhagia. The bark is chewed with that of Barringtonia and applied on venomous wounds. | |||||||||||||
| Plant's Phytochemicals : | beta-amyrin Angelical Auraptene Bergapten Dictamnine Estragole Isoimperatorin linolenic acid Luvangetin Marmin Nodakenetin oleic acid Orientin palmitic acid palmitoleic acid Psoralen Scoparone Suberosin Ursolic acid Vitexin Xanthotoxol |
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| Reference : | ~ Prabha Y. Bhogaonkar and Pankaj A. Dhole; "Checklist of Flora of Melghat"; Chief Conservator of Forest & Field Director, Melghat Tiger Project, Camp, Amravati
(2018 - 2019); Book PMID : ~ Omesh Bajpai, Jitendra Pandey and Lal Babu Chaudhary; "Ethnomedicinal Uses of Tree Species by Tharu Tribes in the Himalayan Terai Region of India"; Research Journal of Medicinal Plant (2016); 10(1): 19-41 PMID : |
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