140 



[Feb. 1908. 



TIMBER. 



TAMARINDUS IND1CA. 

 (TAMARIND.) 

 [Dictionary of Economic Products,] 

 Vol. VI., Pt. III. T. 28—50. 

 The Uses and Composition of Tama- 

 rind Seeds. 

 (By David Hooper, f.cs.) 



Tamarind Seeds Widely Used as a 

 Famine Food. 

 During an enquiry conducted in 

 1903-01 by the Reporter on Economic 

 Products to the Government of India 

 on foods used in time of scarcity 

 and famine, the seeds of the tamarind 

 tree were submitted as articles of general 

 consumption from no less than sixty 

 localities. It has been known for many 

 years that the seeds are occasionally 

 eaten by the inhabitants, but it was left 

 for a systematic enquiry undertaken in 

 all parts of India to reveal the extent 

 and importance of the use of these seeds 

 as an article of diet. In continuation of 

 Agricultural Ledgers No. 7 of 1902, Nos. 

 4, 5 and 6 of 1904, and No, 2 of 1900, and pre- 

 paratory to the publication of a complete 

 list of Indian Famine foods, the present 

 Ledger deals with the description and 

 composition, in this connection, of the 

 abovenamed seeds. The tamarind is one 

 of the most beautiful of the common 

 trees of India, and is frequently planted 

 in avenues and topes. It flowers pro- 

 fusely in April and May ; and the fruit 

 ripens in the ensuing cold weather. A 

 large tree yields five or six maunds (411? 

 —493? lbs.) of fruit. This is largely 

 consumed, being a favourite ingredient 

 in curries and chutnies and sauces, and is 

 exported in bulk for medicinal purposes 

 as East Indian tamarinds. The fruit is 

 a large flat pod, from four to six inches 

 in length, tilled with acid pulp, seeds 

 and stringy fibrous matter. As sold in 

 the bazaar, the fruits contain, in one 

 hundred parts, the following proportions 

 of pulp, ^eeds and fibre :— 



Pulp ... ■■• ••• 55 



Seeds ... - ... 33*9 



Shell and fibre ... ... Il l 



DESCRIPTION OP SEED. 

 It is thus evident that whenever the 

 pulp is prepared for culinary purposes 

 a large quantity of seed is removed, and 

 in many of the town residences it is 

 rejected as useless. The following is a 

 description of the seeds taken from 

 the " Pharmacographia " :— " The seeds 

 are flattened and of irregular outline, 

 being round, ovate or obtusely four-sided 

 and about 6-10ths of an inch long by 3-10ths 



thick, with the edge broadly keeled- 

 or more often slightly furrowed. The 

 testa is of a rich brown, marked on the 

 flat sides of the seed by a large scar or 

 areole of rather duller polish than the 

 surrounding portion which is somewhat 

 radially striated. The seed is exalbumi- 

 nous with thick, hard cotyledons, a short 

 straight included radicle and a plumulo 

 in which the venation of the leaves is 

 easily preceptible. The testa of the seed 

 abounds in tannin, and after long boiling 

 can be separated, leaving the cotyledons 

 soft. The latter have a bland mucilagi- 

 nous taste." One hundred seeds weigh 

 75 "88 grams ; the average weight of a 

 seed is therefore 117 grains. 



USES. 



Tamarind seeds are universally eaten 

 by the poorer people of India during 

 times of scarcity and famine, and 

 are occasionally eaten by others at 

 ordinary times. The seeds have been 

 received from the following places as a 

 famine food. 



WHERE CONSIDERED A FAMINE FOOD. 



Madras : — Anautapur, North Arcot, 

 Bellary, Bhadrachalum, Ohinleput, 

 Coimbatore, Cuddalore, Cuddapah, Gan- 

 jam, Godavari, Kistna, Kurnool, Nilgiris, 

 Vi/.agapatam, and Yellavaram. Central 

 Provinces : Nagpur. 



Central India : Bhopal, Bhopawar, 

 Gwalior, Jhalawar, Malwa, Merwar, and 

 Shahpur. 



Bengal: Hughli, Monghyr, Manhum, 

 Mursliidbad, Ranchi, and Singbhum. 



It would appear that as a food tama- 

 rind seeds are mostly consumed in the 

 Madras Presidency and Central India. 

 Kistna is the only place where it is 

 reported that they are sold ; the price 

 given is six pies (id) for a bag of about 

 20 lbs. 



PREPARATION FOR CONSUMPTION. 



They are in great demand for the 

 fruits by the Telesjus of the Godavari 

 district, and for this reason the tree is 

 very valuable. For edible purposes they 

 are first roasted or soaked and boiled in 

 water to remove the outer skin. After 

 soaking in water, the brown skin is ea'sily 

 removed as in the blanching of almonds ; 

 and the white kernel is tolerably pala- 

 table. The kernels are dried in the sun, 

 or roasted over fire, and ground into 

 flour. This flour may be at once made 

 into cakes or chupattis, but when other 

 cereal flour is available they are mixed 

 in some suitable proportion before being 

 baked into bread. In Ranchi the seeds 

 and rice are fried and powdered and 

 made into balls and eaten by the poorer 



