Plant Name Dillenia pentagyna
Common name: Karmal, Dog Teak, Dillenia, Nepali elephant apple
Marathi: Motha Karmal/ Karwal
Hindi: Karmal
English: Dillenia, Nepali elephant apple
Jawhar: Motha Karmal
Identification guide
General
Dillenia pentagyna is a deciduous tree growing up to 25 metres tall. The bole is usually rather crooked, it can be free of branches for up to 12 metres and up to 100cm in diameter
Trunk, bark
Thick bark, grey surface molted with white, stout branchlets with prominent 'V' shaped leaf scars.
Leaves
Simple
Large, spirally arranged, clustered at the tip of the branchlets.
Flowers
Bisexual, yellow, fragnant, solitary or clusters in terminal racemes, bracts, Calyx 5 toothed, spreading, enlarged and fleshy in fruit. Corolla 5 lobed, free stamens, carpels 5-20, borne on a conical receptacle, numerous ovules.
Fruits
Aggregate of berries, drooping, drooping, subglobose, fleshy, yellow, orange or red, seeds numerous, ovoid, black, glabrous.
Habit / Habitat
Deciduous tree
Western Ghats , Moist Deciduous Forests and Grasslands
Occurrence
- It vis widely distributed in Asian countries .i.e. from China to Indo-Malaysia
Edible parts
World wide use Flower buds, Fruit
Used by tribal community in Jawhar Flowers
Method of consumption
Jawhar tribal Flowers are steamed and cooked as a vegetable
Nutritional and medicinal information
Nutritive Significance
Literature review:
Nutrition parameters of flowers
Nutritive value 3440.36+/- 8.60 kcal/kg
Minerals Composition (mg/kg)
Na 815+/- 27.0
K 33150+/- 110
Ca 13330+/-70
Mn 104+/- 0.03
Fe 162+/-0.04
Cu 38+/-0.02
Zn 168+/-1.7
Pharmaceutical significance
Literature review:
A study conducted by Ashish Kumar Singha et al, 2013, suggested that the crude plant extract contain some compounds which have antimicrobial activity, more potent antioxidant activity as well as α-glucosidase inhibitory activity.
Harvesting and preserving
A plant of the moist, lowland tropics, where it is found at elevations up to 900 metres. It grows best in areas where annual daytime temperatures are within the range 30 - 42°c, but can tolerate 7 - 47°c. It prefers a mean annual rainfall in the range 1,000 - 3,000mm, but tolerates 750 - 5,000mm, growing mainly in areas with a distinct dry season.
Propagation and Storage
Seed
Other uses
Dominant tribal communities in Madhya Pradesh, use cook fruits of Dillenia as a vegetable and make 'Chutney'. Root decoction is given to cure body pain whereas, the bark powder is used to cure diabetes, diarrhoea and dysentery. Leaf paste is applied on wounds and cures many other diseases.
The plant is most commonly used as traditional anticancer medicinal plant by the Mizo tribe in Mizoram state, India.
Classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Division: Spermatophyta
Sub-division: Angiospermae
Class: Dicotyledonae
Sub-class: Polypetalae
Series: Thalamiflorae
Order: Ranales
Family: Dilleniaceae
Genus: Dillenia
Species: pentagyna
References
- http://www.toxicologycentre.com/English/plants/Botanical/kodappunna.html
- http://indiabiodiversity.org/species/show/10097/?max=8&offset=0&classification=265799&taxon=4031&view=grid
- http://nopr.niscair.res.in/bitstream/123456789/6357/1/NPR%208(5)%20546-548.pdf
- https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Gabriel_Rosangkima/publication/234616493_Effect_of_Dillenia_pentagyna_extract_on_the_level_of_sialic_acid_and_lipid_peroxidation_in_Dalton's_lymphoma-bearing_mice/links/0912f50febb4393a6c000000.pdf
- http://docsdrive.com/pdfs/academicjournals/ajpnft/0000/38643-38643.pdf
- http://innovareacademics.in/journals/index.php/ajpcr/article/view/521