Tamarind is a tropical evergreen leguminous tree, a member of the Fabacaea family, native to Africa and India, and today is widely distributed in the tropics. It is long living, grows in a variety of soil conditions and is highly resistant to salt so thrives in coastal areas. Tamarind trees produce an abundance of long curved brown pods filled with seeds surrounded by a sticky pulp that dehydrates to a sticky paste. It has important medicinal properties (cardiac and antidiabetic pharmaceuticals have been produced from this plant), as well as significant industrial uses.
The name tamarind derives from the Persian “tamar-I-hind”, translating as Indian date. Tamarind arrived in Asia in the fi rst millennium BC and it was cultivated in Egypt by 400 BC.
The traditional uses for tamarind include relief from constipation (laxative), abdominal pain, helminth infections, wound healing, malaria and fever, inflammation, cell toxicity, eye diseases, skin rashes (poultice) and neutralising snake venom from bites.
Active Ingredients
The seeds contain catechins, procyanidins, caffeic acid, ferulic acid and the polyphenols myricetin, quercetin, apigenin and kaempferol.
Tamarind is rich in nutrients and plays an important role in human nutrition, particularly in developing countries. Nutritionally, the seeds contain 7.6 per cent protein, 51 per cent polysaccharides, 1.2 per cent fibre, 7.6 per cent oils (oleic acid, linoleic acid (46.5 per cent) and saturated fatty acids (26.4 per cent), along with linolenic, lauric, myristic, palmitic and stearic acids. Tamarind contains B vitamins (particularly B1), choline, Vitamin C and A, and the minerals copper, magnesium, calcium, potassium and iron. Tamarind also contains high levels of tartaric acid (citrus contain citric acid), a powerful antioxidant.
Parts Used
The unripe fruit pulp is used in cooking as a souring agent (tartaric acid) in savoury dishes, and as a pickling agent. The ripe pulp is used as a flavouring for chutneys, curries, rice and drinks. It is very popular in India and Pakistan. In the Middle East tamarind is common in meat dishes and often combined with dried fruits (sweet-sour taste). In the Philippines, the whole fruit is made into a soup, sometimes with leaves as well, and the fruit pulp is made into traditional candies. Indonesia makes tamarind soup and mixes the pulp with palm sugar and liquid to make tamarind juice. In Mexico and the Caribbean, drinks and various candies are made from tamarind pulp. In Western cuisine tamarind pulp is found in Worcestershire sauce, HP sauces and barbeque sauce.
Therapeutic Uses
Overall tamarind is antidiabetic, antimicrobial, anti-venom, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory antimalarial, anti-asthmatic, antihyperlipidaemic, antiulcerogenic, wound healing, laxative and hepatoprotective. Every part of the p