Tamarindus indica Seeds | Tamarind
LATIN NAME: Tamarindus indica
COMMON NAME: Tamarind
Plant Profile
Tamarindus indica is the tree that gives sourness to a hundred cuisines, and the pod is the reason it is grown. The tree reaches twenty metres with a dense, spreading crown and a short, thick trunk, and the leaves are pinnate with small, fern-like leaflets that close at night. The pods are thick, brown and brittle, and inside them the pulp is sticky, dark and sharply acid.
The species is native to the dry savannas of tropical Africa, and it was carried to India and to South-East Asia so long ago that the Indian subcontinent is often given as its origin. It is now grown throughout the tropics, and it is one of the most common village trees in India, planted for shade as much as for fruit.
Science & Biotechnology
The acidity is mostly tartaric acid, which is unusual in a fruit and which gives tamarind its particular sourness, distinct from the citric acid of lemon. The pulp also contains sugar, pectin and a small amount of volatile compounds, and it is used as a souring agent, as a meat tenderiser and as a metal polish in some districts.
The tree is a legume and fixes nitrogen, and it is slow-growing and long-lived. It is also salt-tolerant and drought-tolerant, which is why it is planted along coasts and in dry regions. The seed contains a polysaccharide gum that is used as a stabiliser in food and in textiles, and the kernel is roasted and eaten in some districts.
Uses & Benefits
The pulp is used in curries, in chutneys, in drinks and in confectionery, and it is one of the main souring agents of Indian, Thai and Mexican cooking. The seed gum is used in food and in industry, and the timber is hard, dark and durable, used for furniture and for mortars.
In Ayurveda the pulp is used as a digestive and as a mild laxative, and the bark and the leaf are used for fever and for skin complaints. The tree is planted for shade, for windbreak and for soil conservation, and the pod is used as a metal polish and as a fixative in dyeing.
Growing from Seed
Seed needs scarification or a period of soaking. Nick the coat or pour hot water over it, leave it overnight, then sow at 25 to 30 degrees; germination is in one to three weeks. The seedling is slow but hardy.
The tree wants full sun and a well-drained soil, and it tolerates drought, salt and poor ground. It is tender below about zero. It grows slowly and lives for centuries, so plant it where it can stay, and do not plant it beside a driveway, since the pods and the sticky pulp make a mess underfoot. Prune only to remove dead wood.
Our Take
A village tree with a sour pod, a hard timber and a tolerance for bad ground, and one that outlives everyone who plants it.
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