Ashok Sharma
Nature has blessed this beautiful planet with all that the living beings need for their survival.There is water, the elixir of life, air containing oxygen, essential for animals and carbon dioxide needed by the plants to prepare their food.Then there are trees bearing delicious and nutritious fruit,having rich quantities of various vitamins and minerals,herbs and shrubs having medicinal properties for man and other animals.One of the commonest part of edible part of trees and shrubs is the fruit which has rich quantities of micronutrients including vitamins and minerals.But as a result of deforestation and rapid urbanisation, many fruit yielding trees have either vanished or their number reduced drastically with the result that the young people are losing craze for wild fruits which were relished traditionallySome of the traditional fruits which are rarely savoured these days are Traditional etc. Kimb(Citrus medica) is a citrus fruit which used to be very popular among both the tural and the urban people .It was peeled off,stuffed with salt, pepper chilly ,cut into small pieces and then savoured,especially with neighbours or guests on a sunny day in the winter season.The pickle of galgal (citrus aurantium) is very tasty and its juice and the juice of jhambhiri(Citrus aurantifolia) is often used to add sour taste to the fruit chat or the vegetable chat of radish or added to make the ‘khati dal'(sour pulse).The use of other citrus fruits such as lemon, orange, kinnow, mausami(Citrus sinensis) is too well known to need mention.They are eaten raw for they are a rich source of vitamin C, minerals, fibre etc. and they are still in great demand.All the citrus fruits are a rich source of ascorbic acid ( vitamin C) which helps in preventing scurvy which causes bleeding of gums.The fig plants such as Ficus palmata (phagara) which is one of the tastiest fruits and which grows in wastelands was relished in summer.Its raw fruit was also used as vegetable by the villagers. Ficus roxburghi(trimble) which is pear shaped with a small opening on the outward end used to make jams and the ripe fruits were eaten raw for their taste and rich carbohydrate content.I rememeber as a child getting up early in the morning and going for picking up the phagares and trimbles(figs) well in time lest someone else should pick them before me.But these tasty fruits are rarely eaten these days even by the people living in villages.
The ‘phalse'(Grewia asiatica) which have sour and sweet taste and a hard core( guthli)were picked up from the the broad leaved trees in doonas -a type of bowl made from the leaves of the camelfruit(malungar) tree and a little black salt was added to them and what a tase they provided to those who savoured them!The phalsa juice has been recently prepared by Indian Institute of Integrative Medicine(IIIM) Jammu and sold in tetra packs by Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board(SMVDSB) and it is getting tremendous response from the consumers, especially the tourists visiting the holy Shrine of Mata Vaishno Devi ji.Then there are ‘garne'(Carrisa opaca) which are small red or black wild berries growing on thorny shrubs amidst sharp thorns .They are rich in vitamin C and have also traces of calcium, magnesium and phosphorus.’Kakoas'(Flacourtia indica) which grow on thorny trees having hard wood,were very popular and we,as children, ate a lot of them while coming from and going to school.Then there is amla which is a rich source of vitamin C, besides having antioxident properties.It is eaten in many forms, such as pickle, jams, powder, candies or its juice extracted and drunk.It has a detoxifying effect on the body, besides being a rich souce of Vitamin C.It has many references as to its importance in Ayurvedic treatises. Bel (Aegle marmelos) is another wild fruit which is a rich source of minerals and vitamins.It grows on a sacred tree the leaves of which are offered to Lord Shiva as part of a prayer.It may be eaten raw or used with water and sweetened to make a delicious drink called ‘sharbat’.It also finds uses as laxative and in respiratory ailments.Naakh(Pyrus species)and Beyi(Pyrus cedonia) are other fruits which were very popular in the past but which are now rarely savoured.The seeds of ‘beyi’ are much valued for their medicinal properties.’Kainth’ ,’batte’, mulberry (Morus nigra) etc too were eaten for their delicious taste when their season came though their excessive use causes loose motion.’Aakhey'( wild strawberry), too used to be eaten whenever they appeared in the yellow and other colours.Jamun( Syzygium cumini) is another important fruit which has lost its craze in the modern times.Its fruits ranging from half an inch to one and a half inch are oval in shape and purple in colour.The Jamun fruit is useful in curing pyorrohea and its stone is ground to prepare powder which is used to control Diabetes.The seeds of the camel foot tree((Bauhenia verigata) were extracted and eaten raw or after being roasted.Their leaves too were extensively used for making ‘doona pattal’-disposable bowl and plate, widely used by the rural people at times of marriage,community lunch( bhandaras) and other religious and social functions for serving food.This tree is rarely visible these days in the rural areas.The ‘tews'(Artocarpus lakoocha) has been known for its use in making delicious pickle whereas the fruit of kathal(Atrocarpus species)was cherished by being eaten raw. The wild berries,such as ‘bers’ (Zizifus zijuba) and ‘kaimbloo’ too were very popular in the days gone by but I wonder whether children nowadays even know their names.’Saris’and ‘khowaanis'(Prunus species) were also popular for their sweet and sour taste but are relished these days only by elderly people.Palm dates from the top of the palm tree used to be picked with great effort as there are thorns all around.The very young palm plants were pulled out and their pulp was eaten with great joy and charm.
But alas!these nutritious and tasty fruits once relished so joyfully by the children and the elders alike,are rarely savoured these days in the midst of hybrid varieties of mango, apple, peach, guava, and other fruits which are easily available throughout the year.But in doing so, we are impoverishing ourselves by not taking the minerals, vitamins and other nutrients which these traditional and seasonal fruits were rich in.Thus, the need of the hour is that the Department of Horticulture should be entrusted with the task of preparing the saplings of these fruit trees,especially those growing at fast pace,and take steps to promote their plantation on the vast expanse of barren lands in the villages by encouraging the farmers to cover their barren and uncultivated lands with more and more such trees.Moreover,efforts must also be made to explore possibilities of the commercial use of these fruit as has been done to prepare a delicious and nutritious drink from Leh berries and phalsa fruits.Farmers should be supplied the saplings of the trees such as amla, bel, Jamun and other fruits free or on nominal price and made aware about the commercial importance and marketing techniques. Parents too need to encourage their children to relish wild fruits alongwith mangoes, oranges, papaya,guava etc.and thus popularise these fruits which are the source of so many nutrients
(The writer is serving as lecturer in English,in Government Hr.Sec. School (B) Udhampur)
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