Kaphal, fruit with anti-oxidant values, floods market

Dushyant Singh Pundir

Tribune News Service

Mandi, June 7

Kaphal, a wild fruit, has flooded the markets of the district. Nearly 15-20 tonnes of the fruit worth Rs 25-30 lakh is sold in various markets of the district every year.

“Kaphal is not cultivated at all, but is still sold in large quantities in the market in the state,” said horticulture expert Dr Chiranjit Parmar.

Kaphal grows in the forests of the mid-Himalayan region at altitudes ranging between 1,300 and 2,100 metres. The fruits are small, seedy, bright deep red in colour, turning nearly purple at full maturity.

It has a very pleasant sweet and sour taste, but like most other small fruits, it does not keep for very long and its shelf life is just two days.

The fruit begins arriving in the market around mid-May and lasts for nearly 30 days. In Mandi district, it is found in abundance mostly in hilly areas of Chail Chowk, Janjheli, Kamrunag, Karsog, Barot etc and at present, it is being sold for Rs 120 per kg.

While Myrica nagi is the scientific name of kaphal, it belongs to the Myricaceae family. In India, it is commonly known as Bay-berry in English, kaifal in Hindi, kathphala in Sanskrit, kaiphal in Urdu and kaphal in Himachal.

Kaphal has a long history of use in traditional medicine to treat various ailments. In Ayurvedic and other traditional practices, the plant has been used to treat diseases such as fever, cardiac debility, typhoid, diarrhoea and dysentery.

Dr Om Raj Sharma, Assistant Director, Regional Research Institute, Ayurveda, Mandi, said, “Kaphal is an important medicinal tree, which is safely and effectively used to treat various disorders in Ayurvedic system of medicines since ancient times.”

“There is a wide scope for utilisation of this species, as bioactive compounds of the tree have several pharmacological properties such as anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, antihelmintic, anti-microbial, anxiolytic, chemopreventive, mast cell stabilising, hypertension, hepatoprotective, antibacterial, antifungal and anti-asthmatic,” Dr Sharma added.

Studies showed that kaphal had a good nutritional value so it could be used in a specific quantity for human beings’ nutrition and adequate protection could be obtained against diseases arising from malnutrition, he said. He added that the nutritional parameters were found for percentage ash value, moisture, crude fat, crude protein, crude fiber and carbohydrate. “The fruit also contains many minerals such as Sodium, Potassium, Calcium, Manganese, Copper, Iron and Zinc,” he said.

“Kaphal is an important constituent of Ayurvedic formulations such as Pushyanuga Churna, Katphaladi Churna, Khadradi Gutika, and Usheeradi Churna,” said Dr Sharma.

Dr Parmar said, “Kaphal, which already has a large market, certainly has the potential for cultivation. Himachali orchardists require new fruit crops in view of the declining profitability of the existing fruit crops.”

“The trees grow only in forests whose area is continuously shrinking. So, the natural population of this fruit tree is also declining. There is no programme going on in’ the state under which new plants of kaphal are being planted,” he added.

He said the main problem in growing kaphal at home was non-availability of the planting material. “Kaphal seeds are slow to germinate and seedlings do not grow fast. The germination is not much. These factors probably discourage the nurserymen when it comes to raising plants of this wild fruit,” he added.

He said researcher Yourmila Thakur at Dr YS Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry at Nauni in Solan district had achieved success in vegetative production of the plant. “And now, new plants can be grown and promoted as orchard plant,” he added.