Desert fruits


Desert fruits
The hostile environment in the Thar desert has been home to one of the finest biodiversity in India
BOTANICAL NAME LOCAL NAME PARTS USED MEDICINAL USE
Zizyphus nummularia Jhadbar Fruit edible; leaves used as fodder; wood as fuel Fruit as astringent; dried leaves for treating
Zizyphus mauritiana Boradi Fruit edible; wood used to make farming tools       -
Cordia dichotoma Gonda/lasora Unripe fruit edible; used to make pickles; ripe fruit fermented to make liquor; leaves used to make fibres; wood used as fuel and to make farming tools, furniture, combs As diuretic and anthelminthic
Cordia gharaf gondi Fruit edible       -
Capparis decidua ker Fruits used as pickle; twigs as fooder; wood as fuel and to make tools, cart wheels and ploughs Tender branches used to relieve toothache
Salvadora oleoides Pilu Fruit edible; seeds used to make candles and soaps Leaves and fruit used to treat enlarged spleen, rheumatism and fever
Salvadora persica mustard Fruit edible; leaves used as a vegetable, tender shoots as salad; wood used to repel mosquitoes Lead decoction used to treat asthama and cough; a poultice of leaves is used to treat painful tumors and piles, stem used for dental care
Prosopis cineraria Khejri Unripe pods used as vegetables; bark mixed in flour during famine; leaves used as animal fodder, wood used as firewood and to make farming tools Flowers used to prevent miscarriage
Acacia senegal Kumat Gum from the bark used in food and beverage, pharmaceuticals and confectionar; seed to make curry; leaves as fodder Gum used to treat inflamed surfaces; root to treat dysentery, gonorrhoea and nodular leprosy
Grewia tenax Gangeran Fruits edible; leaves used as animal fodder Decoction of wood is used for treating cough
Grewia villosa Gangeti Fruits and leaves used for making walking sticks and bows Root used to cure diarhoea and small pox
Rhus mysorensis Dansaro Fruit and leaves edible; leaves used as fodder; bark and leaves used for tanning leather; wood used as fencing and making tool handles       -
Source: O P Pareek and S Sharma, 1994

Publication Date: 
30/08/1998
Down to Earth
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