Artocarpus heterophyllus/Jak

 

                                    JAK IS NUTRITIOUS

   Jak  (Artocarpus heterophyllus) . Soft (vala) and hard (waraka). The waraka or hard jack is more popular than      the soft.

  The bark is used mainly for medicinal purposes. It is widely used for sprains and fractures.

   Jack when tender is called polos. This is a delicious curry among the Sinhalese and Tamils. In the diet chart of the ancient kings of Sri Lanka This polos curry was never absent. Nursing mothers are given polos curry and even boiled jack to increase their milk. Plos is given as a curry To patient from diarrhoea. This helps to settle the stomach.

   The king’s menu was a well  balanced diet. It was arranged by educated Vedaralas who served the king.

    Polos is a curry that is relished by expectant mothers. The curative value of polos is digestive, nutritious and helps to enrich breast milk.

    The vala or the soft ripe fruit is eaten by the villages even on an empty stomach. It is a laxative. It helps to clear the bowels and to digest the food. Vala is

Given to  children suffering from bronchitis. This is given in the “Kema” it is not possible to prove scientifically how the 'kema act, but all we know is that the answer the problem. The  vala bulb are kept dew, dipped in bees’ honey and Early in the morning patients are given the juice.

    They are given one bulb every morning to be taken on empty stomach. Vala and waraka are now available as canned fruits.

   The waraka tree has a difference medicine value. Waraka   barks are  specially used for  sprains.

The waraka leaves are dried, powered and poured like coffee. This coffee is used by diabetic patient.

In the standard work on indigenous medicine “Sarasansepa” the following prescription for diabetes is given.

“Pakuwanan  Moshapatran Chrunan Tavilana Tenayat Pramehan Sakalan Sigran Masaya Muttra Sanasayah”

    The meaning of above is as follow: pound of well the ripe leaves(of the jack tree) Fry it in gingelly oil. Take and diabetes will undoubtedly    vanish forthwith The dosage is two tablespoonsful twice a day. One can hardly imagine that so simple a remedy have such marked result on this diseases. It look too simple a remedy to cure so formidable a  disease but the fact it is mentioned in a standred work on medicine, shows that it has been an effective remedy.

    History has indicated that fruit have been remedies of the higest effcecy in quite a long lisr of diseases. Fruit cures are coming in to great favour in medical Institution and among practitioners in Western countries. In these cures the patient are placed on an excelusive ftuit diate for a period of several days.TheParticular fruit to be eaten are determined by the nature and requirement of the  Condition under treatment.

 

Attikka/Ficus racemosa

 

 

FIG TREE: MANY USES AND LONG HISRORY

       Ficus Glomerata , or Ficus Racemosa is the botanical  Name for the fig tree. In sinskrit , it known as ‘Anjira” or “Udumbara’. This tree belong to the family of Vanaspati or Moraceae.

      If there is one tree that can be said to belong to the history of humanity, it is certainly the fig tree. It shares with the vine and the olive the honor of beingThe most frequently  mentioned in the Bible.

      It is thought by some, that Adam and Eva used the leaves cover their nakedness.

     The Egyptians believe that its fruits followed the acorn as the food of their distant ancestors.They also held the fig tree in veneration making use of it several remedies.

     The Hebrews, the Greeks and the Romans cultivated the fig tree. According to historians many wars have been fought to conquer lands producing this delicious fruit.

      Eaten all the year round , fresh or dried in the sun by Mediter-ranean people, the fig or Attikka fruit was also used by them as a valuable general remedy. The Old Testament tell us that it was used as poultices to cure abscesses on the gums inflammation of the mouth.

      Plato has called the fig the philosopher’s friend, because it is said to strengthen the intelligence. Recent discoveries have shown Attikka or figs as a protection Against possible poisoning.

      Eating figs is nourishing and fattening. It is said  that 100 grams of fresh fig give 100 calories and 100  grams  of dried figs give 250 calories.

      Fig taken with dates and raisin in the form of a decoction  constitute a remedy for coughs, persistent colds, lung disease in general and also for throat conditions.

        For throat irritations, inflammation of the mouth , dental abscesses, gargal or wash the mouth with a hot decoction by boiling 5 or 6 figs in to cups of water or milk for a few minuts. For constipation, wash five or six figs, put them in aboel and cover with lukewarm water, leave to soak overnight and eat the figs first thing in the morning; also drink the water. The fig seeds or pips , are the part of the fruit that have a stimulant and laxative action on the bowel.

          For pulmonary complaints ,coughs, chronic bronchitis , whooping  coughs and Catarrh drink the same decoction in the course  of the day. An infusion of thefresh Attikka leaves can be used as a cough remedy and act on the circulation of blood.They ease difficult menstruation.

         For the haemorrhoids, rost some Attikka fruit , crush to powder and mix with honey to make an ointment which should be applied lightly to the affected Glands This powder used like coffee, is also prescribed for pulmonary complain.

          There is another decoction prepared with  the  Attika bark for bleeding piles.Take four kalandas each of bark, young king Coconut flowers, Madan bark(Syzygium cumin) and boil in 8 cups of cold water and simmer it down to one cup.Dosage:1/3 cup of the infusion in two dose, twice a day.

        Fig makes a good hair wash.Lice drop off and they cleanse the sclp and keep away dandruff.

       Attikka fruits are boiled and eaten for cooling the system. The attikka is a very Effective  herb for disorders in blood circulation. Attikka act as an effective herb binding stools. There are many decoctions which include Attikka as aherb for dysentery and diarrhoea.

        Take a 4 kalands of tender coconut flowers ,kalanduru(Cyperus rotundus), Attkka bark and make  a decoction boiling all together in 8 cup of cold water. Simmer it down to one cup.Dosage:half a tea cup in case of diarrhoea.

     Attikka or figs are astringent and carminative.  The dried fig is given in dose of 21/2 kalandas  with honey in diarrhea during pregnancy.

      The external uses of figs are many. When the milky sap (that runs out when a branch is broken or bent) is applied morning and evening on warts and corns and it helped to remove them.

      It is a popular local  application for momps and other glandular swellings, rheumatic joints and pains in the chest. The fig leaves are soaked in milk And applied with honey to prevent pitting in small pox.

       It is a large spreading tree without aerial roots. The leaves are oblong and dark green. Figs grow in clusters on short leafless branches, This tree grow  wild in Sri Lanka, especially close to area where water flows. This nice and shady tree, though known as wild tree has many  curative properties which are not known to many.

HERBAL FOOD and MEDICINE in SRI LANKA

Dr. Seela Fernando

 

 

 

 

Feronia limonia/Divul/ Eood apple

                                  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