An Overview of The Tamarind (Tamarindus indica L.) Fruit: A Potential source of Nutritional and Health Promoting Phytoconstituents

Abstract

The Tamarind fruit is an arboreal fruit of the Tamarind plant (Tamarindus indica), an unconventional fruiting tree that grows mostly in the wild. The fruit contains phytoconstituents with important food and therapeutic applications. The fruit extract has been shown to possess antimicrobial and health-promoting activities such as antioxidative, antidiabetic, hepatoprotective, and hypolipidemic properties. It is an important flavoring agent in food and beverage processing due to the aroma of its flavor constituents. The fruit is a potential source of readily available, affordable, natural nutritive, and medicinal components that can be exploited as a healthpromoting food for the developing world.

Keywords: Antioxidative, Antidiabetic, Antinutrients, Hepatoprotective, Hypolipidemic, Medicinal, Nutritional, Phytoconstituents, Tamarind, Unconventional.