This tropical herbal plants is very well known by the people in tropical country, because it is commonly used as a cooking spice. Seed of this herb used as a cooking spice because of the unique taste of sourness.
Binomial Name: Tamarindus indica L
Shady and dense leafy canopy, wide and rounded. Even pinnate compound leaves, 5-13 cm long, located alternate, with leaves like ribbons reruncing leverage. Narrow oblong leaflets, 8-16 pairs, each measuring 0.5-1 × 1 to 3.5 cm, flat-edged, base skewed and somewhat round, tip round to slightly grooved.
The leaves are always green and all will fall by the spring time comes, leaving only the tree and the branches, after that the flowers will come out, followed by leaves and buds.
Binomial Name: Tamarindus indica L
Family: Leguminoceae
Description:
The characteristic of this tropical herb is its big wooded plant. Their tree can reach a height of 30 m and a diameter at the base of the trunk up to 2 m. The color is grayish brown, the appearance is rough, cracked and grooved-vertical.
Shady and dense leafy canopy, wide and rounded. Even pinnate compound leaves, 5-13 cm long, located alternate, with leaves like ribbons reruncing leverage. Narrow oblong leaflets, 8-16 pairs, each measuring 0.5-1 × 1 to 3.5 cm, flat-edged, base skewed and somewhat round, tip round to slightly grooved.
The leaves are always green and all will fall by the spring time comes, leaving only the tree and the branches, after that the flowers will come out, followed by leaves and buds.
Flowers of this tropical herbs are arranged in tenuous bunches, located in the axillary or sometimes on the end of branches, sized up to 16 cm in length. Butterfly-shaped flowers with four petals and each petals give 5 pieces of fruit, the flower has a unique fragrant. Whitish yellow colored petals with red-brown veins, size up to 1.5 cm. The fruit pods are bulging, almost cylindrical, bent or straight, has up to 10 grain seed, often with a constriction between two seeds, fruit skin (eksokarp) hardened scaly brown or gray, with veins of clay hardened and similar threads. Fruit pulp (mesocarp) greenish white when young, becoming red-brown to black when very riped, sweet and sour cling. Seeds dark brown, shiny and hard, somewhat square.
Uses
Although it has been widely known, but rarely do people who know the usefulness of this tropical herbal plant. Some uses of this herbs are the young leaves of tamarind (Jw. sinom) used with turmeric and other ingredients to make a traditional Javanese herbal medicine (JAMU SINOM) which is herbal drinks for freshness, herbal (JAMU GEPYOK) consumed for streamline and increase breast milk and can also be used as a poultice (applied or affixed to the surface of the skin surface of the skin) to reduce inflammation and pain in the joints, in the wound or the pain of arthritis. Young leaves are boiled to treat cough and fever.
Pounded bark of this tropical herbal plant then used to heal wounds, ulcers, boils and rashes. The bark of the plant toga Tamarind is also used as a tonic. Flour seeds to treat dysentery and diarrhea.
