Wood Apple

Nutrition

A hundred gm of fruit pulp contains 31 gm of carbohydrate and two gm of protein, which adds up to nearly 140 calories. The ripe fruit is rich in beta-carotene, a precursor of Vitamin A; it also contains significant quantities of the B vitamins thiamine and riboflavin, and small amounts of Vitamin C

The Wood Apple is a fruit bearing tree native to the Indian sub-continent – Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka. The Wood Apple is a hard round fruit with a sweet/sour fragrant pulp.

Nutritional Value of Wood Apple
A hundred gm of fruit pulp contains 31 gm of carbohydrate and two gm of protein, which adds up to nearly 140 calories. The ripe fruit is rich in beta-carotene, a precursor of Vitamin A; it also contains significant quantities of the B vitamins thiamine and riboflavin, and small amounts of Vitamin C. Wood apple is rich in oxalic, malic, citric acid and a concentrated tannic acid. The leaves produce a volatile oil.

Health Benefits of Wood Apple

1. Wood Apple ensures regular smooth bowel habits.
2. Regualar intake of wood apple by women drastically reduces breast cancer.
3. Wood Apple cures the infertility problems in women as it is proved to increase the progesterone hormone levels.<
4. Approximately 90 grams of the sap of the fresh bark, 2 corns of pepper, a few drops of pure cow`s ghee and a dessertspoon of honey, forestalls any post-partum snags. It is had twice everyday, just after childbirth.
5. It helps in the treatment of Urticaria. ( Urticaria is a skin disease)
6. The fully ripen flesh of wood apple cures stomach upset in children.

How to eat wood apple:Break the outer pericarp by hitting it with a hammer.Scoop the flesh into a bowl. Add sugar to it and mix it well into a paste.The delicious wood apple is ready to be tasted.

Spiritual Values of the Wood Apple(Bael):
The Yajur Veda mentions the bael tree, but the Charaka Samhita, an Ayurveda treatise from the 1st millennium BC, was the first book to describe its medicinal properties. Hindu scriptures abound in references to the bael tree and its leaves. The devotees of Lord Shiva commonly offer bael leaves to the deity, especially on Shivaratri; this probably explains why bael trees are so common near temples. Hindus also believe that ghosts live on bael trees. Another belief associates its leaves to goddess Lakshmi.

Wood apple names in different Languages
English: Wood Apple, Elephant Apple, Monkey Fruit or Curd Fruit.
Odia: Kaitha
Kannada: Belada Hannu / Byalada Hannu
Telugu: Vellaga Pandu(వెలగ పండు), mArEDu panDu(మారేడు పండు)
Tamil: Vilam Palam (விளாம் பழம்)
Bengali: Koth Bel (কৎ বেল)
Hindi: Kaitha (कैथा) or Kath Bel.
Gujarati: Kothu.
Sinhalese: Divul.
Marathi: KavaTH (कवठ).