MEDICINAL PROPERTIES OF WOOD APPLE
English it is Wood Apple; in Sinhala Divul . It is a common fruit and Delicious cool drink. It belong to the family of Rutaceae. The botanical name is Feronia limonia. In Sanskr it is named Kapta or Kapipria. It is means dear to monkeys.There are about ten names in Sanskrit for the wood apple. This tree is an endemicTree. The fruit have a rough woody , hard white shell. It also called Elephant Apple because the fruit is edible and is like an elephant’s skin.
The medicinal properties and the uses of the wood apple are very similar to beli. The half ripe fruit is very astringent and prescribed in case of dysentery to be
Taen with bees’ honey.The pulp of the frut is useful in salivation , sore thort and infections of the gum,throt and mouth.
The pulp of the unripe very tender fruit can be ground and squeezed in to The eye when it is injured a thorn. I have seen it is a wonderful remedy to remove Daluk(Euphorbia antiquorum) milk from eye. Daluk is a highly poisonous plant found often grown on village fence. When clear their fence they are careful when chopping the branches of the tree. Once the milk gets in to the eye, it is extremely painful. When the tender wood apple juice is squeezed into the eye the Daluk milk collcct in one place and is easily removed.Divul juice helps to remove any Foreing body in the eye. The ripe fruit is refreshing ,aromatic, astringent , carminative, a tonic and antidote. It is aiso given as a medicine for scurvy as an a stimulant in disease of children.
The sherbert prepared it is not only a cool drink, but also a remedy for dysentery. In the trdditional Ayurvedic book it is mentioned that a Churana is Prepared with unripe fruits.This is administered for chronic dysentery, and diarrhea. For dysentery , the sherbert is prepared with bee’s honey and milk Is not used. This is found to be very helpful in bowel complaints after a prolonged Attack of dysentery
