40.

Eggplant
(Solanum melongena) Family: Solanaceae Sanskrit name: Vrintaka Hindi name: Baigun Native to India, where its culinary and medicinal value had been recognized for centuries, the eggplant was taken by Arab traders to the Mediterranean in the fourteenth century, joining the European food vocabulary as the aubergine. The alkaloid properties of the fruit can occasion allergies, but those properties are considerably diminished by marinating or roasting it, a knowledge reflected in the multitude of different ways in which this favorite Indian plant is cooked. To name only three popular Indian methods, the eggplant is marinated in turmeric, then deep-fried in mustard oil in eastern India; marinated in salt, sauted, then simmered in yogurt in central India; roasted over a flame, then mashed with chopped ginger, green chilies, and fresh coriander leaves in northern India. The fruit of this plant varies in shape from the large and spherical to the elongated and berrylike, and is either purple or white in color. In Bengali folklore this purple has been likened to the color or the summer sky at nightfall, and the white to the color of the summer sky at dawn. Among the first fruits used by Ayurvedic doctors, the eggplant was prescribed as a heart tonic, an appetite stimulant, and a mild laxative and diuretic. It was also considered to help with dullness or vision, and Charaka recommended the external application of its baked pulp as a cure for inflammations and swellings. The white eggplant is known by Ayurvedic physicians to be particularly good for people suffering from diabetes, but whether white or purple, recent clinical tests have shown the eggplant is anti-carcinogenic, anticonvulsant, and valuable in reducing cholesterol.

41.Drumstick
(Moringa oleifera) Family: Moringaceae Sanskrit name: Sigru Hindi name: Sahajan Earth spreads her summer sari languidly beneath trees, yet drumsticks dangle still And mango flowers. Come. Come. too soon

there will be little left of these. Rabindranath Tagore, The last Honey (1892) . . . the plant is called the Drum-stick-tree, from the shape of the long slender fruit, which is used as a vegetable, or in a curry, or made into a native pickle. . . . Col. Henry Yule and A. C. Burnell, Hobson-Jobson glossary of colloquial Anglo-Indian words and Phrases (1886) Members of the priestly class, who once believed that drumsticks excited the libido and confused the intellect, discouraged scholars or those trying to achieve an intellectual and austere life from eating this delicious fruit. Fortunately, such holy prohibitions were ignored, and in its natural habitat of south India the many-seeded pods of the drumstick continue to be a popular ingredient in curries, lentil dishes, and vegetable dishes. The flowers and the leaves, rich in vitamins, are also included in curries. All parts or the drumstick are used in Ayurvedic medicine. The leaf, considered an important eye nutrient, is particularly rich in vitamin A, used as an aphrodisiac. And in this century drumsticks have been confirmed as a natural antibiotic and antifungal agent. Pterygospermin, which clinical tests seem to confirm is anti-tubercular, has been isolated in the drumsticks root, although Ayurvedic medicine uses the root for liver disorders. Medicines made from drumsticks are also gynecological valuableboth to induce abortions, and in childbirth as an aid for difficult deliveries. Externally, applications compounded from drumsticks are used for leg spasms, while the seeds are ground and administered for unblocking nasal catarrhs.

42. Tamarind