Ambada / अंबाडा / Indian Hog Plum / Spondias mombin

Other Names

  • Local Name: Ambada / अंबाडा
  • Common Name: Hog Plum
  • Botanical Name: Spondias mombin

Status & Habitat

  • Habitat: Small Deciduous Tree
  • Occurrence: Forests
  • Season of Availability: July to September
  • Geography: Tropical Americas, Africa, India & other parts of Southeast Asia
  • Method of Propagation: Seed propagation
  • Part used for Propagation: Seeds

Edible Parts

  • Edible Parts: Leaves, Fruit, Flower & Bark
  • Can be Eaten Raw: Yes

Method of Consumption

  • Raw: Yes
  • Ripe: Yes
  • Both Raw & Ripe: Yes
  • Dangerous Form to Consume: N/A
  • As Food: Fruit is brined in salt water; fruit puls is made into fruit leather and pickle
  • As Medicine: Fruit acts as a diuretic. Flowers and leaves are use to brew a tree for stomach ache and inflammation. Bark is astringent and used for diarrhea and dysentry
  • Cooking Without Prior Boiling: Yes
  • Boiling Before Cooking: No
  • Pickling: Yes 
  • Brining: Yes
  • Fermenting: Yes
  • Drying for later Consumption: Yes
  • Overall Method: Eaten mainly as pickles and fruit leather

Nutritional & Medicinal Benefits

  • Nutritional Benefit: Considered diuretic.
  • Medicinal Benefit: Gastric disorders, Inflammation

Tribal Wisdom

  • Tribal Wisdom: Tea brewed from Leaves and Flowers is used to help cure stomachaches and inflammation in body. A bark decoction is used as an astringent

Recipes / Usage

  • Tribal Recipe / Usage: Fruit Leather is made by extracting the Hog Plum pulp and dring

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