84 



BULLETIN 77, HAWAII EXPERIMENT STATION 



TAMARIND 



( Tamarind us indica) 



Description: The fruit of the tamarind tree consists of a brittle 

 brown pod, varying from 2 to 6 inches in length and from to 1 inch 

 in width. This encloses a very sticky, acid pulp surrounding from 1 to 

 12 shiny brown seeds. This edible pulp shrinks slightly from the pod 

 in maturity. 



History: The tamarind is believed to be a native of tropical Africa 

 and perhaps southern Asia, where it has long been popular (50, p. 433). 

 It was early introduced into tropical America and from there was prob- 

 ably brought to Hawaii. One of the first tamarind trees in Hawaii was 

 planted in 1797 by Don Marin at Little Greenwich in Paoa Valley (22). 

 It was a favorite tree of the early settlers and is found on many of the 

 old homesteads. An avenue of tamarind trees grew in the palace 

 grounds until King Kalakaua, who did not like the fruit, had the trees 

 removed. In more recent years, the fruit has lost its popularity, partly 

 because of the small beetle which infests most of the pods and partly 

 because of the availability of other fruits. 



Nutritive value: Our analyses and those of others (51) (63) indi- 

 cate that tamarinds, as compared with all other fruits, have an unusually 

 high acid and high sugar content. The acid is reported to be largely 

 tartaric and a small amount of undetermined acids. The acid of the 

 sample analyzed in the nutrition laboratory was calculated as 14.24 

 percent tartaric acid or 12.16 percent as citric acid. The metabolism of 

 tartaric acid has been discussed under "grapes" (page 31). 



One investigator reports for tamarinds an invert sugar content of 

 41.2 percent (51), and our analyses show a carbohydrate by difference 

 of 45.8 percent. 



The calcium and phosphorus content are also unusually high ; the 

 value of 0.113 percent for calcium is the highest reported in the litera- 

 ture for any fruit and is equivalent to that reported for some vegetables. 



Though some people find the highly acid taste objectionable, many 

 children like tamarinds well enough to strip the trees of the fruits 

 wherever they have the opportunity. Perhaps those children who have 

 a low calcium intake could increase it considerably by eating tamarinds 

 during the fruiting season, but additional experimental work is necessary 

 before we can decide if it is a practice to be especially recommended. 

 At any rate, it is probably not a detrimental one. 



Tamarinds are an excellent source of vitamin B but have little or 

 no vitamins A or C. Preliminary tests indicate that they are probably 

 a good source of vitamin G (page 126). 



The 1932 Medical Research Council report on vitamins (29) lists 

 dried tamarinds as having a low antiscorbutic value but states that the 

 dried fruit is much esteemed as an antiscorbutic by natives of India. 

 The results of our experiments (page 123) seem to justify a statement 

 that tamarinds are a poor source of vitamin C. 



