Spondias mombin – Nutritional Value, Health Benefits, Recipes

Spondias mombin, also known as yellow mombin or hog plum is a species of tree and flowering plant in the family Anacardiaceae. It is native to the tropical Americas, including the West Indies. The tree was introduced by the Portuguese in South Asia at the beginning of the 17th century. It has been naturalized in parts of Africa, India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, The Bahamas, Indonesia, and other Caribbean islands. It is rarely cultivated except in parts of the Brazilian Northeast.

The mature fruit has leathery skin and a thin layer of pulp. The seed has an oil content of 31.5%.^[rx]

Spondias mombin, also known as yellow mombin or hog plum is a species of tree and flowering plant in the Anacardiaceae (Sumac family). The plant is native to lowland moist forests of the Amazon in Peru, Brazil, Venezuela, Bolivia, Colombia, the three Guianas, as well as southern Mexico, Belize, Costa Rica, and the West Indies. The tree was introduced by the Portuguese in South Asia in the beginning of the 17th century. It has been naturalized in parts of Africa, India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, The Bahamas, Indonesia, and other Caribbean islands. It is rarely cultivated except in parts of the Brazilian Northeast. The plant has been around forever, secretly flourishing in our backyards and enhancing our health and meals with its medicinal value and sweet-sour tangy flavor.

Hog plum, Jamaica-plum, Yellow mombin, Ambarella, Ashanti plum, Golden apple, Hog plum, Jamaica plum, Spanish plum, Thorny hog plum, True ambarella, True yellow mombin, Yellow mombin, gully plum, java plum, and hog-plum tree are some of the popular common names of the plant. The plant is used medicinally in traditional medicine against lower back pain, rheumatism, digestive tract problems, angina, sore throat, malarial fever, diarrhea, urethritis, gonorrhea, stomach pain, colds, dysentery, laryngitis, ophthalmia, and many others. Root ashes are used in making soap. The wood is used for posts, boxes, matches, general carpentry, tool handles, etc. Seeds are also edible. The pulp can be eaten fresh or made into desserts or juice. The young leaves are consumed raw or cooked.

Hog Plum Facts

Plant Description

Hog plum is a small, elegant, deciduous tree with a dense and spreading crown and grows up to 20 m (66 ft.) tall and at least 1.5 m (4.9 ft.) in trunk diameter. Its bark is greyish-brown, thick, rough, often deeply grooved, with blunt, spine-like projections. When slashed, it is pale pink, darkening rapidly. Branches are low and branchlets are glabrous. The plant is found growing along roadsides, fence rows, and pastures, forests in the coastal, moist limestone, lower mountain regions, evergreen lowland forest, or semi-deciduous forest. The plant prefers medium to the heavy, well-drained, fertile soil.

Leaves

Leaves are alternate, compound, comprising five to nine pairs of leaflets, once pinnate with an odd terminal leaflet. Stipules are absent and rachis is about 30-70 cm long. Leaflets are elliptic, oblong or oblong-lanceolate, broadly acuminate, glabrous about 5-11 cm long, and 2-5 cm wide. Apex is long acuminate, asymmetric, truncate or cuneate. Margins are entire, glabrous, or thinly puberulous.

Flower

The inflorescence is branched, terminal panicle with male, female and hermaphrodite flowers.  About 5 sepals are present and are shortly deltoid, 0.5-1 cm long. About 5 petals are white or yellow, oblong, 3 mm long, valvate in bud, becoming reflexed; stamens 10, inserted beneath a fleshy disc; ovary superior, 1-2 mm long while styles are short and erect. Flowering normally takes place between January to May.

Fruits

Fertile flowers are followed by an ovoid or ellipsoid drupe, 3-4 cm long and 2-2.5 cm in diameter. They are initially green turning to dull light orange to yellow or brown as they mature. The fruits are found in clusters of 1-20. Epicarp is thin, enclosing a juicy orange or yellow mesocarp about 3-6 mm thick; endocarp is large, with a soft, fibrous, grooved coat surrounding about 4-5 small seeds. The fruits have a sharp, somewhat acid taste and are edible. Fruits appear in between July to September. The seed has an oil content of 31.5%.

Ethno-medical Information on Hog plum (Spondias mombin)

Health benefits of Hog Plum

Hog plums known as June plums, Yellow Mombin or Monkey Mombin are a juicy fruit of hog plum tree found in tropical countries and come diverse ranges of colors. There are lots of essential vitamins and nutrients present in hog plums that help fight against some free radicals that might be harmful to human health. Some of the nutritional benefits of these fruits include the following:

1. Enhances Bone Health

Hog plum is a fat-free, sodium-free, cholesterol-free fruit and is considered as a good source of vitamin K that helps in proper bone health.

Vitamin K not only helps in blood clotting, but it also helps to improve the bones by making them strong, thus helping in the prevention of bones health conditions like bone fractures, etc., its effects on osteoporosis has not been proven medically, though most people take it for this cause.

Research also indicates that hog plums consist of copper that maintains the bone and other connective tissues in the body system and is also needed for proper assimilation of vitamin C.

2. Promotes Muscle Strength

Thiamine is one of the vitamins which could be found in hog plum, it has a lot of functions it performs in the body with one of them being its ability to help in muscle contraction and conduction of nerve signals. Its deficiency can lead to numerous symptoms such as muscle weakness which could even lead to confusion in most cases. Sufficient consumption of this fruit can help in eliminating the chances of this condition.

3. Good for Digestive Health

Hog plums consist of a good amount of dietary fiber which plays a key role in maintaining a healthy digestive system. The fiber content helps in improving the general functions of the digestive health, and as well prevents any form of issues that could arise as a result of poor digestion and other digestive health conditions like bloating and gas.

4. Improves Hemoglobin Production

Hog plum is a good source of minerals such as iron which helps in the production of hemoglobin and myoglobin which helps to transfer oxygen throughout the body systems.

Iron content in the fruits helps in improving the Hemoglobin which is the iron and oxygen-binding proteins located in the blood; it also helps in the improvement of the iron and oxygen-binding proteins also in the muscles which are known as Myoglobin. Iron is a vital micronutrient that is essential to the body and functions great in preventing anemia and other blood conditions.

5. Serves as Diuretic and Febrifuge

Consumption of hog plum fruits or their juice is medicinal and may treat several health conditions. It helps the body to successfully and adequately remove fluids (water) from the body through urine, which is to mention that it helps in reducing the quantity of salt (sodium) within the body thus decreasing the danger of high vital signs.

It also acts as a febrifuge, within the sense which will function as a substitute for fever medications, because it can help within the reduction and treatment of fever/malaria which has been used locally in many tropical areas thanks to its properties like flavonoids, anthraquinones, sesquiterpenes, quinoline and more.

6. Role in weight control

Hog plum consists of a lot of fiber or dietary fiber. Every 100 grams of hog plum consists of 29 calories. So hog plum helps in weight loss. Hog plum helps prevent indigestion and constipation.

7. Treat anemia

To eliminate anemia, you need to eat hog plum. Pomegranates are rich in iron which helps in keeping the hemoglobin level at the right level. As a result, it plays an effective role in preventing anemia.

8. Keep skin healthy

Hog plum fruit helps in maintaining good health of skin, hair, and nails. To reduce skin acne, hog plum is very useful to keep the skin bright. Hog plum consists of a lot of vitamin C which is very essential to keep the skin bright. So hog plum can be eaten regularly to keep the skin healthy and radiant.

9. Protects Against Heart Disease

Researchers found that hog plums were naturally high in antioxidants, which they compared to heart medication. The research found that hog plums help to reduce overall cholesterol levels and that their antioxidant effect on heart health. The conclusion was that hog plums may be beneficial for overall heart health, but longer-term research is needed.

10. Treat Dysentery

The leaves and bark of this tree consist of several flavonoids, saponins, and tannins. The content is very useful to cure dysentery and cough cure. To make herbal potions to cure dysentery we simply take Redondo bark about 5 gm., select the skin fresh and clean. After it was sliced in the form of small pieces and boiled with 2 cups of water until the remaining half. Then set aside to be warmer, then strain and drink the water. It is considered one of the best cures for dysentery.

11. Common Diseases

Leaves of hog plums are used to make antiseptic soap, and it helps to treat a sore throat, cough, malaria, and other common diseases. The leaves of hog plums are traditional herbal product, and it’s used for alternative medicines.

Traditional uses and benefits of Hog Plums

• It is used in traditional medicine against lower back pain, rheumatism, digestive tract problems, angina, sore throat, malarial fever, diarrhea, urethritis, gonorrhea, stomach pain, colds, dysentery, laryngitis, ophthalmia, and many others.
• The bark is used as a remedy for gonorrhea, diarrhea, coughs and colds, hemorrhages, stomachaches and to alleviate fatigue.
• Plant extracts exhibit antibacterial properties, and a decoction of the bark or root bark is considered antiseptic.
• An infusion is used to treat dysentery.
• Leaf decoctions are used to treat diarrhea, dysentery, colds, fevers, and gonorrhea.
• Decoction of the leaves and young stems is used as eyewash in ophthalmia.
• A decoction is used in the treatment of laryngitis, ophthalmia, and children’s diarrhea.
• It is stewed and eaten to cure diarrhea.
• In South American herbal medicine systems as well as in other parts of the world ubos leaves are widely used for female reproductive tracts issues.
• It is a common midwife’s remedy to help induce labor, reduce bleeding and pain during and after childbirth, to bring on the flow of breast milk, and as a vaginal wash to prevent or treat uterine or vaginal infections after childbirth.
• Leaves are also a common remedy for various digestive problems including stomachaches, diarrhea, dyspepsia, gastralgia, colic, and constipation.
• Leaves are considered to be antiviral, antibacterial, anti-candidal, and antiseptic and used in numerous microbial problems including colds and flu, cystitis, urethritis, sore throats, herpes, yeast infections, gonorrhea, eye, and ear infections, and used externally for infected wounds, cuts, burns, and rashes.
• Leaves are also considered to be an excellent vermifuge and anthelmintic and are often used for intestinal worms and parasites in humans as well as their livestock.
• The bark is widely used as a contraceptive and abortive, as well as for ovarian and uterine cancer.
• It is considered analgesic and antispasmodic and used for arthritis, rheumatism, muscle and joint pain, injuries, and inflammation.
• Bark consists of a lot of astringent tannins and is usually prepared in decoctions for diarrhea and dysentery, menorrhagia, hemorrhoids, and internal and external wounds and bleeding.
• The bark is also used for tonsillitis, laryngitis, malaria, fever, erysipelas, bladder and kidney stones, snakebite, and intestinal ulcers.
• The bark is also considered to be a good topical antiseptic and healing remedy for all types of wounds, rashes, psoriasis, dermatitis, leishmaniasis, leprosy, and other skin problems.
• Flowers are typically prepared in an infusion and used for eye infections and cataracts, as a soothing tea for sore throat, laryngitis, and mouth sores, as well as a heart tonic.
• The root is used as an antimicrobial for tuberculosis, diarrhea, and vaginal infections.
• Leaves serve as antiseptics as they are also used in making antiseptic soaps, treating sore throat, cough, malaria, and another related sickness.
• Barks, juice, and fruit have therapeutic benefits that make them useful to traditional herbalists for alternative medicines.
• It has been used in many parts of Africa for alleviating many health conditions like pain, cough, indigestion, fever, inflammation, convulsions, and lots more.
• Fruit decoction is used to bathe wounds and heal sores in the mouth.
• Syrup prepared from the fruit is taken to overcome chronic diarrhea.
• The astringent bark decoction is a remedy for mange, ulcers, dysentery, and for bloating caused by intestinal gas in infants.
• The sap of the bark is used to treat stomatitis in infants in the Philippines.
• The juice of the fresh leaves is a remedy for thrush.
• An infusion of shredded leaves is valued for washing cuts, sores, and burns in Southwestern Nigeria.
• Gum-resin of the tree is mixed with pineapple or soursop juice for treating jaundice.
• Tea made from the flowers and leaves is taken to relieve stomach ache, biliousness, and urethritis, cystitis, and eye and throat inflammations.
• Decoction of the young leaves is a remedy for diarrhea and dysentery in Belize.
• Juice of crushed leaves and the powder of dried leaves are used as poultices on wounds and inflammations.
• The gum is used as an expectorant and to expel tapeworms.

Culinary Uses

• The pulp can be eaten fresh or made into desserts or juice.
• Seeds are also edible.
• Fruit can be consumed raw or cooked.
• It is also used for making jams, ice cream, etc.
• Unripe fruits are pickled and used like olives.
• Young leaves can be cooked and used as a vegetable.
• The shoot tastes like cassava and can be eaten raw or boiled.
• When freshwater is unavailable, water from the roots of this tree can be drunk.
• Sap from the roots has been drunk in place of water when the latter was not available.
• The fruit pulp is either eaten fresh or made into juice, concentrate, jellies, and sherbets.
• In Thailand, this fruit is called mark and is used in som tam as a secondary ingredient.

Other Facts

• Wood is used for posts, boxes, matches, general carpentry, tool handles, etc.
• The tree is occasionally planted to provide shade for coffee plants.
• Ashes from the roots have been used in making soap.
• The heartwood is cream to buff in color; it is not demarcated from the sapwood.
• Trunks are occasionally used for dugouts and the stems for posts, boxes, matches, general carpentry, tool handles, millwork, utility plywood, and furniture components.
• Logs need to be promptly processed to minimize deterioration from insect attacks.
• The wood is suitable for fuel.
• It is commonly used for living fence posts, in farmlands, and shelter by artisans.

References

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