It is also called the “Sugar Palm Fruit” that comes with benefits.
The Palmyra Palm Fruit is a tall, unbranched palm that grows to the height of 12 to 20 meters. It grows solitarily and with a stout trunk of 30 to 60 cm diameter. There may be 25-40 fresh leaves on each trunk which are leathery, grey-green, fan-shaped, 1-3 metres wide and are edged with hard spines.
It grows wild from the Persian Gulf to the Cambodian-Vietnamese border, is commonly cultivated in India, Southeast Asia, Malaysia and in some warm regions including Hawaii and southern Florida. Indian farmers plant it to serve as a windbreak on the plains. It is also used as a natural shelter by birds, bats and wild animals.
Each palm usually bears 6-12 bunches of about 50 fruits per year.
The coconut-like fruits are three-sided when young, they become rounded or oval. The outer covering is smooth, thin, leathery, and brown, turning nearly black after it is harvested. Inside the fruit is a juicy mass of long, tough, coarse, white fibres coated with yellow or orange pulp. Within the mature seed is a solid white kernel that resembles coconut meat but is much harder. When the fruit is very young, this kernel is hollow, as soft as jelly, and clear like ice. It is accompanied by a potable watery liquid which is sweet hence the christening – Sugar Palm Fruit.
It is said that the Sugar palm comes with benefits which include;
Healthy diet:
This fruit has 93 per cent of water content and also contains gelatin which provides a sense of fullness after its consumption. It helps to control appetite which is awesome for people who are watching their weight.
Treatment for arthritis:
There are claims that intake of about 100 grams per day of the fruit, could gradually heal arthritis.
Improved digestive health:
The Palmyra Palm Fruit has a high content of fibre which makes it effective for treating constipation. Consuming 5 to 10 grains of Palm Fruit per day helps to avoid constipation and also other digestive disorders.
Relieve Itchiness:
The sap obtained from the tree is helpful in providing relief from the itch.
Prevention of Osteoporosis:
The Palmyra Palm Fruit has 91 milligrams of calcium so, the intake of this fruit fulfils the calcium requirement and prevents the chances of osteoporosis.
Asides from that, the young plant is said to relieve biliousness, dysentery, and gonorrhoea. The ash of the spadix is taken to relieve heartburn and enlarged spleen and liver. The bark decoction, with salt, is used as a mouth wash, and charcoal made of the bark serves as a dentifrice. Sugar made from this sap is said to counteract poisoning, and it is prescribed in liver disorders. When turned into candy, it remedies coughs and various pulmonary complaints.
This is a wonder in a fruit. So, when next you see the Palmyra Palm Fruit, appreciate it.
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