Sweet inga (Pithecellobium dulce)

Sweet inga (Pithecellobium dulce) is species of flowering plants in Fabaceae, many branches, irregular canopy, green, 10-15 m, thorny stems, drought and dry soil resistant at altitude up to 1,500 m.

P. dulce has compound leaves, 4-10 cm panicle stems, 7.5 mm leaf stalks, asymmetrical ovate leaves with pointed to round edges, double pinnate bones, shiny dark green on top and light green on bottom surface and 1.5-3.5x1-2 cm.





Greenish-white flowers in panicles containing 1520 items, fragrant and 12 cm long, smooth hair and 1-2 cm long stems. The petals are tubular and 1.5 mm long, the crown is tubular and 3.5 mm long. White flower stalks.

Flowers produce green pods that turn pink and black when ripe and open to release pink or white aryl, sweet and edible. The pods are flat, curled and 1 cm wide. Aryl contains asymmetrical flat seeds, shiny black, 9x7x2 mm.

The tree growing from seeds takes 5-8 years to produce fruit. Seeds need 2 weeks to germinate. Flowering in April-June and pods mature in June-August. Seed oil can also be eaten, while seed flour is for animal feed.

This species grows at an elevation of 0-1500 meters with rainfall of 140-2200 mm/year, temperature of 18-35C, tolerates nutrient-poor soil, drought and pH up to 8.3. Prefers moist, well-drained loam and full sun.

Plants contain alkaloids, anthraquinones, flavonoids, cardiac glycosides, tannins, terpenoids, olein, quercetin, kaempferol, dulcitol, saponins, catechol, campesterol, pitheduloside, ellagic acid.

Often used to treat diabetes, inflammation, cancer, kidney disorders, fever, colds, sore throats, malaria, pain, eczema, leprosy, tooth and gum pain, chronic diarrhea, dysentery, constipation, tuberculosis, wounds, boils, spasms, antimicrobial, antioxidant, antihyperlipidemic, antiseptic, and antibacterial.

TAXON

Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Tracheophyta
Subphylum: Angiospermae
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Fabales
Family: Fabaceae
Subfamily: Mimosoideae
Tribe: Ingeae
Genus: Pithecellobium Mart. in Flora 20(2 Beibl.): 114 (1837)
Species: Pithecellobium dulce (Roxb.) Benth. in London J. Bot. 3: 199 (1844)

HOMOTYPIC SYNONYMS

Albizia dulcis (Roxb.) F.Muell. in Select Pl.: 12 (1872)
Feuilleea dulcis (Roxb.) Kuntze in Revis. Gen. Pl. 1: 187 (1891)
Inga dulcis (Roxb.) Willd. in Sp. Pl., ed. 4. 4: 1005 (1806)
Mimosa dulcis Roxb. in Pl. Coromandel 1: 67 (1798)
Zygia dulcis (Roxb.) A.Lyons in Pl. Nam., ed. 2: 503 (1907)

HETEROTYPIC SYNONYMS

Acacia obliquifolia M.Martens & Galeotti in Bull. Acad. Roy. Sci. Bruxelles 10(2): 317 (1843)
Feuilleea bertolonii (Benth.) Kuntze (1891)
Inga camatchili Perr. in Mém. Soc. Linn. Paris 3: 122 (1825)
Inga javana DC. in Prodr. 2: 436 (1825)
Inga lanceolata Blanco in Fl. Filip., ed. 2.: 370 (1845)
Inga leucantha C.Presl in Abh. Königl. Böhm. Ges. Wiss., ser. 5, 3: 495 (1845)
Inga nitens M.Martens & Galeotti (1843)
Inga pungens Humb. & Bonpl. ex Willd. (1806)
Mimosa monilifera Bertol. in Nuovi Ann. Sci. Nat. 3: 142 (1840)
Mimosa pungens Poir. in Encycl., Suppl. 1: 36 (1810)
Pithecellobium bertolonii Benth. in Trans. Linn. Soc. London 30: 588 (1875)
Pithecellobium littorale Britton & Rose ex Record in Trop. Woods 11: 15 (1927)

PUBLICATIONS

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VERNACULAR NAME

Arabic: غاف البحر - لوز هندي
Bengali: জিলাপি - খোইয়া বাবলা Jilapi, Khoiya babla
Burmese: အမ် ခ်မ် ဆတ် M hkam saat
Chinese (simplified): 金龟树 - 牛蹄豆
Chinese (traditional): 金龜樹 - 牛蹄豆
English: Madras Thorn, Monkeypod tree, Blackbead, Sweet inga, Manila tamarind, Inga javana
Finnish: Meksikonapinanpalko
French: Tamarin d'inde
Gujarati: Bakhai ambli, Goras amali, katra, Vilayati ambli
Hebrew: נזם-קוף מתוק
Hindi: जंगल जलेबी - विलायती बाबुल - विलायती इमली - जंगले-जलेबी - कटैया - विलायते इमली Jungle jalebi, Vilayati Babul, Vilayati imli, Jangle-jalebi, Kataiya, Vilaayatee imalee
Hong Kong: 牛蹄豆
Ilokano: Damortis, Kamantiris
Indonesian: Asam belanda, Asam cina
Java: Asem cino, Asem londo
Kannada: Dora hunase, Sime hunase, Seeme hunase, Korakaapuli, Kottaampuli, Parmunche kaayi mara
Khmer: Plaeh umpel tek, Meak kham the t
Kongu: Kona puliyangai
Lao: ໝາກຂາມເທດ Makkham thed
Lithuanian: Saldžioji beždžionpupė
Madura: Asem cino
Malagasy: Madirokarany
Malayalam: Kodakapuli, Korukkapuli
Marathi: Vilayati chinch, Vilayatichinch, vilayati cinc, Cinc bilai, Cheese bilai
Nepali: जङ्गला जलेबी Jaṅgala jalebi
Odia: Sima kaiyan
Oria: Simakoina
Pashto: جنګل جلیبي Jangal jalibi
Portuguese: Mata-fome
Russian: Питецеллобиум сладкий
Sindhi: Achi gidamiri
Sinhala: කොඩුක්කප්පුලි - කරපිල්ලි - කරපිලි - කොඩුක්කාපුලි - කොඩුක්කාපුලි - කොඩුක්කායිපුලි - කොඩුක්කායිපුලි Kodukkappuli, Karapilli, Karapilly, Kodukkapuli, koḍukkapuli, Kodukkaaipuli, Koḍukkayipuli
Slovak: Dažďovec sladký
Spanish: Chiminango, Guamá americano, Guamúchil, Jina extranjera, Pinzán
Sunda: Asam koranji
Tagalog: Kamachile
Tamil: கரப்பில்லி - கொடுக்காபுளி - கொடுக்கைப்புலி - கரப்பில்லி - கொடுக்காப்புலி Karapilly, Kodukkapuli, Kodukkaaipuli, Karapilli, Koṭukkapuli
Telugu: Simachinta
Thai: มะขามเทศ
Urdu: جنگل جلیبی Jangl jalibi

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