Tamarind: A diet‐based strategy against lifestyle maladies

• Main Authors: Muhammad Sajid Arshad, Muhammad Imran, Aftab Ahmed, Muhammad Sohaib, Azmat Ullah, Mehr un Nisa, Gule Hina, Waseem Khalid, Hafiza Rehana
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Wiley 2019-11-01
• Series: Food Science & Nutrition
• Subjects: anticancer; antioxidant status; health perspectives; tamarind; tamarind kernel powder
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.1002/fsn3.1218

Abstract The modern‐day review article is an exquisite attempt to demonstrate the extreme therapeutic potential of tamarind fruit (Tamarindus indica), particularly its pulp, seed, and leaf extract, against lifestyle‐related chronic disorders. The rapid transition in the diet patterns and also the varying lifestyle of the people has made its way forth, a momentous upsurge in a number of chronic as well as degenerative diseases. An excess of foods having functional and nutraceutical significance has come into view recently. These foods have emerged as effective therapeutical remedies against these disorders owing to their natural phytochemical constituents present in them, in abundance. Tamarindus indica serves as a proverbial herbal medicine in each and every part of the world that is known to mankind. Also, the tamarind kernel powder (TKP) is of immense commercial significance in some of the major, leading industries of the World. The derivation of an important gel‐forming substance (polysaccharide), named as “jellose,” from the decorticated seed kernels of tamarind fruit has led to the manufacture of pectin. It is used in industrial scale in the preparation of various products like jams, jellies, and most important in the preparation of cheese. It plays an evident role as a stabilizer of commercial significance, and it has also been greatly recommend by the scientists to be used as a potent ingredient in a range of pharmaceutical products. The leaves of tamarind plant are also used as part of the daily diet in several countries where they are readily consumed in fresh form and especially during drought season.