Therapeutic, phytochemistry and pharmacology of Tamarindus indica: A review

Tamarindus indica is a long lived, large sized, famous and common tree of India. It is cultivated throughout India and Burma. It is commonly used in Indian dietary. It is very beneficial for people of hot area and near to equator. Its fruit is salted and stored in almost every house. Deccan people largely eat it and said that ‘life is very ticklish in absence of Imli’. It is also used largely as a flavour, stabilizer and binder in food preparations. People used Imli to make curries, jam, pickles, sauce, syrup or sherbet and to prepare majoon and jawarish. Jam of red Imli is very delicious. Virtually every part of the tree is utilized either as food flavouring agent or as medicine. One year old Imli is best for the use of medicinal purposes. The seeds are fried and eaten by poorer classes. Its leaves are used as fodder for domestic animals. Keeping in view the medicinal importance of the tree in Unani medicine (Tibb-e-Unani) and other traditional systems of medicine, an attempt has been made to review the available literature on therapeutic uses, phytochemical and ethno-pharmacological properties of different parts of Tamarindus indica.