Prosopis juliflora (Sw.) DC.

വന്നി

Family : FABACEAE/LEGUMINOSAE (Subfam.: Mimosoideae)

Synonym : Mimosa juliflora Sw.

Common Names : Sali, Vanni, Velvet mesquite, Algaroba

Flowering Period : October-February

Distribution : Northern South America, C. America to Mexico and Antilles, widely naturalised in Tropical Asia

Habitat : Planted as fuel wood tree

Uses : Seedpods edible - raw or cooked. They can be roasted, chewed or ground into a powder. Mature seeds can be soaked overnight and then baked like kidney beans. The seeds are rich in protein (they contain around 29% protein, 48% carbohydrate and 14% fat) and have potential for use as a human food. The seeds do contain antinutritional factors, including trypsin inhibitors, phenols, alkaloids and haemagglutinin, but these are not present in high enough concentration to constitute a major nutritional problem. These antinutritional factors are soluble in saline solutions and can be removed by soaking or during cooking. A syrup prepared from the ground up pods has various medicinal values. It is given to children showing weight deficiency or retardation in motor development. The leaves are used in the treatment of oral infections, painful and frequent urinationThe powdered leaves are brewed in water and the liquid applied to the eyes to treat irritations, conjunctivitis etc.

Key Characters :

Trees, to 10 m high, bark deeply wavily fissured, yellowish-brown, spines straight. Leaves bi-pinnate, alternate; pinnae 2-4, even pinnate; leaflets 22-36, opposite; lamina 6-23 x 1.5-5 mm, oblong or linear-oblong, margin entire. Flowers bisexual, 1.5 mm across, greenish-yellow, subsessile, in axillary spikes; calyx campanulate, glabrous, 5-toothed; petals 5, ligulate; stamens 10, free, slightly exserted; anthers with an apical gland; ovary superior, stipitate, pubescent, ovules many; style filiform; stigma minute. Fruit a pod, 20-30 x 1.5 cm, pale yellow, glossy, smooth, flattened; seeds ovoid, brown, embedded in pulpy mesocarp.