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The goodness of curry leaves!

G.K. Nair

KOCHI, July 20

MURRAYA koenigii (Linn.) spreng, widely known as curry leaf and extensively used in South India for flavouring and seasoning of food stuff and vegetable dishes, has good medicinal value.

It has been used in ayurvedic and unani prescriptions. Besides its medicinal value,leaves are packed with minerals, vitamins A and B, and rich sources of carbohydrates, proteins, amino acids, alkloids. Its bark are acrid, cooling, alexcteric, anathematic and analgesic and they cure piles, allay heat of the body and are useful in leucoderma and blood disorders, according to scientists at the horticulture division of the University of Agricultural Sciences (UAS), Dharward.

Curry leaf is an important constituent of curry powder, which is being exported, of late, in substantial quantity, they said. Fresh leaves yield a volatile oil on steam distillation, which is used as fixative for heavy type perfumes. Fertification with a queous curry leave extract (0.5 per cent) is stated to improve the shelf life of tomato juice, a finding that deserves commercial exploitation, they pointed out.

Though having so much medicinal preservative and antioxidant values until recently there were no identified varieties in curry leaf, they said. However, UAS had developed a variety under the name ``Suwasini'' which is known its strong aroma, dry matter c ontent, essential oil and resistance to leaf spot disease. Release of Suwasini resulted in great demand for genuine planting material for cultivation. Increase in demand had led to increase in area under this crop now, they said.