OUT OF WILDERNESS

The wild seasonal fruit tendu is nutritious and must be mainstreamed with supporting policies and technologies

- VIBHA VARSHNEY

GREEN GOLD. That is what the tendu tree or East Indian ebony is usually referred to because of its economic importance as a non-timber forest produce (NTFP). During the lean summer months, when agricultural or other income-generating activities are limited, the tree, found abundantly in the deciduous forests of central India, provides an assured seasonal income to hundreds of thousands of tribal communities. Its large, pliable leaves are in demand for making beedis (indigenous leaf-rolled cigarettes). Though the tendu tree can grow up to 25 metres tall, forest-dependent communities usually prune the trees for easy harvesting of leaves. But from the unpruned branches, small fruits of golden hue begin to drop as the summer progresses.

For the forest-dependent communities, these fruits are a prized catch. The fibrous pulp, which is sweet in taste with a hint of astringent and earthy flavour, remains encased in a thin shell. But unlike most other fruits, tendu fruit takes almost a year to ripen. Though a mature tree can yield 80-100 kg of tendu fruit in a year, the actual harvest collected from the forest floor is much lesser as the fruit spoils quickly. However, the silver lining is that the fruits fetch a good price in local markets. In Bundelkhand region, for instance, 250 g of tendu fruits is sold for ₹30. Since the fruit has a short shelf life of around five days, some tribal households dry and powder the extra harvest and save it for the rainy season, when it is used to prepare a soup.