Asem or asam jawa or tamarind (Tamarindus indica) is a plant species in Fabaceae as the only species in Tamarindus, a large tree and always green, fruit has a sour or sweet taste that is commonly used as a seasoning mixture in many dishes and flavorings for a variety of drinks.
T. indica has a height of up to 30 m, stem diameter up to 2 m and sturdy. The bark is grayish brown, rough, cracked and in vertical grooves. Shady canopy and leafy, widened and rounded.
The leaves are compound and pinnate even, 5-13 cm long, sitting side by side with the supporting leaf like a tapered ribbon. Minor leaves are oval shaped and narrow, 8-16 pairs each measuring 0.5-1x1-3.5 cm, flat edge, base tilted and rounded, tip rounded until slightly curved.
The flowers are arranged in a loose bunch at the armpit of the leaf or at the end of a branch, up to 16 cm long. Butterfly-shaped flower with four petals, five crowns and fragrant. Leucorrhoea yellow crown with red brown veins and size up to 1.5 cm.
Fruit in pods that are distended, somewhat cylindrical, curved or straight, 1-10 seeds with constriction between chambers. The exocarp is brown or gray in color and scaly with hardened and viscous veins.
Mesocarp is greenish white when young, brownish red to blackish when very ripe, sticky and has a sour or sweet taste. The seeds are blackish brown, shiny, somewhat square and hard.
Tamarind grows wild in tropical forests and savanna, altitude up to 1,500 m, sandy soil and clay, especially in areas that have a long dry season and are very adaptive.
The fruit is very popular and is used in various ingredients, syrup, jams, sweets and herbs. Young fruit is very sour and is usually used as a vegetable seasoning or salad mixture. Ripe fruit lasts long after peeling and drying in the sun.
Fruit is also used to eliminate fishy fish. The fruit is processed into tamarind honey by drying in a closed place until blackish brown liquid comes out to treat thrush. The seeds are eaten after being soaked and boiled or roasted, also used as flour to make cakes or bread.
Young leaves are used for fresh drinks, smooth and increase breast milk, reduce inflammation and pain in the joints, coughing and fever. Mashed bark to heal wounds, ulcers and rashes. Seed flour for treating dysentery and diarrhea. Bark is astringent and tonic.
Reddish brown wood, heavy, hard, dense, durable and fine-textured that is often used to make furniture, handicrafts, carvings and sculptures. Seeds are also often used for children's play materials. Tamarind tree is usually planted on the roadside as a shade.
Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Tracheophyta
Subphylum: Angiospermae
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Fabales
Family: Fabaceae
Subfamily: Detarioideae
Tribe: Amherstieae
Genus: Tamarindus
Species: Tamarindus indica
T. indica has a height of up to 30 m, stem diameter up to 2 m and sturdy. The bark is grayish brown, rough, cracked and in vertical grooves. Shady canopy and leafy, widened and rounded.
The leaves are compound and pinnate even, 5-13 cm long, sitting side by side with the supporting leaf like a tapered ribbon. Minor leaves are oval shaped and narrow, 8-16 pairs each measuring 0.5-1x1-3.5 cm, flat edge, base tilted and rounded, tip rounded until slightly curved.
The flowers are arranged in a loose bunch at the armpit of the leaf or at the end of a branch, up to 16 cm long. Butterfly-shaped flower with four petals, five crowns and fragrant. Leucorrhoea yellow crown with red brown veins and size up to 1.5 cm.
Fruit in pods that are distended, somewhat cylindrical, curved or straight, 1-10 seeds with constriction between chambers. The exocarp is brown or gray in color and scaly with hardened and viscous veins.
Mesocarp is greenish white when young, brownish red to blackish when very ripe, sticky and has a sour or sweet taste. The seeds are blackish brown, shiny, somewhat square and hard.
Tamarind grows wild in tropical forests and savanna, altitude up to 1,500 m, sandy soil and clay, especially in areas that have a long dry season and are very adaptive.
The fruit is very popular and is used in various ingredients, syrup, jams, sweets and herbs. Young fruit is very sour and is usually used as a vegetable seasoning or salad mixture. Ripe fruit lasts long after peeling and drying in the sun.
Fruit is also used to eliminate fishy fish. The fruit is processed into tamarind honey by drying in a closed place until blackish brown liquid comes out to treat thrush. The seeds are eaten after being soaked and boiled or roasted, also used as flour to make cakes or bread.
Young leaves are used for fresh drinks, smooth and increase breast milk, reduce inflammation and pain in the joints, coughing and fever. Mashed bark to heal wounds, ulcers and rashes. Seed flour for treating dysentery and diarrhea. Bark is astringent and tonic.
Reddish brown wood, heavy, hard, dense, durable and fine-textured that is often used to make furniture, handicrafts, carvings and sculptures. Seeds are also often used for children's play materials. Tamarind tree is usually planted on the roadside as a shade.
Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Tracheophyta
Subphylum: Angiospermae
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Fabales
Family: Fabaceae
Subfamily: Detarioideae
Tribe: Amherstieae
Genus: Tamarindus
Species: Tamarindus indica