Health Benefits of Jamun (syzygium Cumini) Fruit

JAMUN FRUIT

SOURCE:

Jamun tree is an evergreen tropical tree which belongs to the flowering plant family of Myrtaceae. It is native to India, Pakistan and Indonesia. It is also widely cultivated in southern and southeastern Asia including the Philippines, Myanmar, and Afghanistan. A Jamun trees flowers from March to April. The flowers are fragrant and small, about 5 mm in diameter. The fruits develop by May or June and are very much like large berries in appearance. The fruit is oblong, ovoid, and green in the initial days, but turns to a crimson black as it matures. The fruit has a sweet, mildly sour and astringent flavour and lends a purple tinge to the tongue when eaten.

BOTANICAL SOURCE

Family: Myrtaceae

Botanical Name: Syzygium cumini

VARIETIES OF JAMUN FRUIT

The most commonly found variety of jamun fruit is often oblong and has a deep purple to bluish colour. The pulp of the fruit is grey to pink in colour, and has a seed in the centre. The other variety which one can find is a seedless variety ranging in colour from purple to white.

CHEMICAL CONSTITUENTS

Constituents of Syzygium cumini seeds are fatty oils (30g/kg) including lauric (2.8%), myristic (31.7%), palmitic (4.7%), stearic (6.5%), oleic (32.2%), linoleic (16.1%), malvalic (1.2%), sterculic (1.8%) and vernolic acid (3%) and pytosterols such as β-sitosterol. Further constituents are tannins (6%) predominantly corilagin, ellagitannins, ellagic acid, galloyl-galactoside, and gallic acid. Additionally, phenolic components like quercetin, ferulic acid, veratrole, guajacol, and caffeic acid have been identified as a constituents of Syzygium cumini.

http://www.ema.europa.eu/pdfs/vet/mrls/067999en.pdf

NUTRITIONAL VALUE OF JAMUN FRUIT:

Jamun Fruit

Nutritive Value per 100 gm of Jamun Fruit

Protein: 0.7 gm

Fat: 0.3 gm

Minerals: 0.4 gm

Fiber: 0.9 gm

Carbohydrates: 14 gm

Energy: 62 kcal

Calcium: 15 mg

Phosphorus: 15 mg

Vitamin C: 18 mg

Sodium: 26.2 mg

Potassium: 55 mg

Oxalic Acid: 89 mg

Carotene: 48 mg

HEALTH BENEFITS OF JAMUN:

The whole tree of jamun is known for its medicinal properties. It is therefore used very extensively in traditional methods of medicine like Ayurveda and Unani.

** The bark, leaves, fruit and seeds are commonly used for treatments of various disorders.

** The bark of jamun has astringent, carminative, diuretic, digestive and constipating properties.

** It is good for sore throat, bronchitis, asthma, thirst, dysentery, blood impurities and ulcers.

** The fruits of jamun are used to prepare vinegar which is very good carminative.

** The ash from burnt leaves is good for gums and teeth.

** Many research studies have shown that jamun is one of the best medicines for treatment of diabetes and also other various ailments.

** For diarrhea the dried powder of jamun seeds is mixed with mango seed powder and jaggery.

** The paste of jamun leaves is very good to dry the pus-filled wounds.

** The diabetic patient can include jamun fruit and its dried seed powder to control the blood sugar level.

http://india4indians.com/health/2010/01/07/jamun-what-is-jamun-fruit-what-are-the-health-benefits-of-jamun-fruit-varieties-of-jamun-fruit-uses-of-jamun-fruit-nutritional-value-of-jamun-fruit-2/

CLINICAL EVIDENCES FOR HEALTH BENEFITS OF JAMUN

Antidiabetic activity:

Fundam Clin Pharmacol. 2009 Aug;23(4):501-7.

Syzygium cumini inhibits adenosine deaminase activity and reduces glucose levels in hyperglycemic patients.

Bopp A, De Bona KS, Bellé LP, Moresco RN, Moretto MB.

Departamento de Análises Clínicas e Toxicológicas, Centro de Ciências da Saúde, Universidade Federal de Santa Maria, Santa Maria, RS, Brazil.

Abstract

Syzigium cumini (L.) Skeels from the Myrtaceae family is among the most common medicinal plants used to treat diabetes in Brazil. Leaves, fruits, and barks of S. cumini have been used for their hypoglycemic activity. Adenosine deaminase (ADA) is an important enzyme that plays a relevant role in purine and DNA metabolism, immune responses, and peptidase activity. ADA is suggested to be an important enzyme for modulating the bioactivity of insulin, but its clinical significance in diabetes mellitus (DM) has not yet been proven. In this study, we examined the effect of aqueous leaf extracts of S. cumini (L.) (ASC) on ADA activity of hyperglycemic subjects and the activity of total ADA, and its isoenzymes in serum and erythrocytes. The present study indicates that: (i) the ADA activity in hyperglycemic serum was higher than normoglycemic serum and ADA activity was higher when the blood glucose level was more elevated; (ii) ASC (60-1000 microg/mL) in vitro caused a concentration-dependent inhibition of total ADA activity and a decrease in the blood glucose level in serum; (iii) ADA1 and 2 were reduced both in erythrocytes and in hyperglycemic serum. These results suggest that the decrease of ADA activity provoked by ASC may contribute to control adenosine levels and the antioxidant defense system of red cells and could be related to the complex ADA/DPP-IV-CD26 and the properties of dipeptidyl peptidase IV (DPP-IV) inhibitors which serve as important regulators of blood glucose.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19709327