Diospyros peregrina

Diospyros peregrina (Gaertn.) Gurke (Ebenaceae)

(2n = 30)








Syn : Diospyros embryoteris Pers., D malabarica (Oeser.) Kost.

English names: Gaub Persimmon, Wild Mangostein.

Sanskrit names: Kalaskardha, Krishnasara, Tinduka.

Vernacular names: Ben and Hin : Gab, Kata Gab; Kan : Holetupari; Mal: Panachi; Mar: Tender; Ori : Dhusarokendu, Kendu; San: Makar kenda; Tam: Katlati, Tumbi; Tel : Tinduki.

Traditional use: SANTAL : (i) Root: in gravel; (ii) Bark: in cholera; (iii) Fruit: in dysentery and menorrhagia; TRIBES OF ABUJH-MARH RESERVE AREA (Madhya Pradesh) : Fruit: in dysentery and as tonic; TRIBES OF BASTAR (Madhya Pradesh) : Fruit: in blister in mouth, diarrhoea.

HARIT SAMHITA : Bark: in gastro-enteritis; BAGBHATTA : Juice of unripe fruit: in restoring normal skin colour after burn; BHABAPRAKASA : Aqueous extract of green fruit: in healing burn-wound; BANGASENA : Powder of dried fruit with honey: licking is beneficial in hiccup in children.

AYURVEDA : (i) Bark extract: in chronic dysentery; (ii) Aqueous extract of green fruit: in menorrhagia, excessive salivation.

Modern Use: EtOH (50%) extract of stem and leaf: anticancer, diuretic; EtOH (50%) extract of stem bark: antiprotozoal, antiviral, hypoglycaemic.

Phytography : Middle­sized, profusely branched tree; stem and branches black, branchlets glabrous; leaves alternate, petioles ±0.6 to ±0.8 cm long, lamina thick, leathery, oblong, veines slightly elevated above; male flowers in few or many-flowered short cymes, flowers tubular, 0.8 cm long, lobed, calyx black, silky; female flowers solitary or few together, subsessile or cymose, larger than male flowers, ovary 8-celled; fruits usually solitary, subglobose, 2.5-5.0 cm in diameter, brick­coloured when young, yellowish when mature, persistent calyx lobed, accrescent 4- to 8 ­seeded.

Phenology: Flowering and Fruiting: Summer to rainy season, fruits take 4-5 months to mature.

Distribution Throughout India; Bangladesh, Malaysia and other South-East Asian countries, also in Australia.

Ecology and cultivation: Throughout India, abundant in Bengal; cultivated near habitational sites; occasionally found as ferals; Sri Lanka.

Chemical contents: Root: glycerides; Bark: myricyle alcohol, saponin, triterpenes; Stem: β-sitosterol, α leuconanthocyanin; Leaf: triterpenes; Fruit pulp: alkenes, triterpenes; Seed: betulinic acid, β-amyrin, fatty oil, unsaponified matter.

Adulterants: Often it is confused with Garcinia mangostana and Strychnos nux-vomica. Remarks: Santals use bark in treatment of rinderpest.

Rural people of North Bengal and Bangladesh consume the leaves as vegetable. Fruits are eaten by Bhoxas, Lodhas, Monpas, Santals and Bengalees.

Tribes of Bastar consume the seeds.

Boatmen rub the fruit-juice on the undersurface of boats to protect the wood from rotting, and fishermen use the same in their fishing net for the same purpose.