Little-known ways to use sour plums to treat illnesses.

Many people love and use this fruit regularly, but not everyone has a thorough understanding of its benefits.

The tree known as the Spondias mombin has the scientific name Dracontomelon duperreanum Pierre and belongs to the Anacardiaceae family.

The Spondias mombin tree is large, reaching up to 30 meters in height, and is evergreen. Its small branches are angular and covered with grayish, velvety hairs. The leaves are alternate, with oval leaflets that are pointed at the tip and rounded at the base; they are tough, smooth, and have prominent veins on the underside. The inflorescence is a raceme at the top or near the top of the tree; the flowers are small, greenish-white, and covered with soft hairs. The fruit is a slightly flattened spherical drupe, about 2 cm in diameter, turning dark yellow when ripe.

The sấu tree (a type of fruit tree) flowers in spring and summer and bears fruit in summer and autumn, harvested about two months after the tree starts bearing fruit. The sấu season usually lasts about 2-3 months (from June to September each year).

According to Colonel, Master of Science Hoang Khanh Toan, Head of the Traditional Medicine Department at Military Central Hospital 108, ripe sấu fruit contains 80% water, 1% organic acid, 1.3% protein, 8.2% carbohydrates, 2.7% cellulose, 0.8% ash, 100 mg% calcium, 44 mg% phosphorus, trace iron, and 3 mg% vitamin C.

This fruit has a cooling effect and functions to strengthen the stomach, generate fluids, aid digestion, quench thirst, relieve cough, and clear phlegm. It is used to treat many ailments such as dry mouth and thirst, itchy throat, sore throat, nausea due to pregnancy, hangover, rashes, swelling, and itching very effectively.

During the season of the sấu fruit, a popular dish that helps cool the body and stimulate digestion is boiled water spinach with sấu fruit. In addition, sấu fruit is also used to make sour soup with minced lean meat, jam, sauce, and pickled in sugar.

Little-known uses of sour plums

Besides the common ways of consuming sấu (a type of fruit) as described above, Dr. Hoàng Khánh Toàn stated that sấu also has many medicinal uses. Specifically, these include:

For women experiencing nausea due to pregnancy: Cook the fruit of the sấu tree with crucian carp or duck meat in a soup and eat it to recover quickly.

For symptoms of dry mouth, thirst, itchy throat, and sore throat: Take 4-6 grams of dried sấu fruit pulp and boil it with 2 bowls of water until only half a bowl remains. Drink this after breakfast. Alternatively, steep 8 grams of sấu fruit pulp in boiling water and drink throughout the day. Use for one week. Or, you can mash ripe sấu fruit with salt or sugar and eat it throughout the day.

To cure hangovers: Steep 10g of sấu fruit pulp in boiling water and drink the infusion every 30 minutes.

Treatment of sores and ulcers: The leaves are boiled to make a decoction for washing and treating necrotic ulcers and sores.

Treating coughs: Soak 15g of fresh sấu fruit pulp in a little salt, and suck on it 3-5 times a day, preferably in the morning and evening before bed. Alternatively, boil 25g of sấu pulp in 250ml of water until only 100ml remains, divide into two doses, and add sugar when drinking. Drink for 3 days. For children, steam sấu flowers with honey and give it to them a few times a day for effective relief.

Treatment of burns: The bark of the sấu tree is used as a medicine to treat burns and uterine bleeding… In Yunnan, China, crushed sấu fruit is also used to treat itching, sores, and indigestion, while the root bark is used as a medicine to treat breast swelling in women.

Stimulates digestion: Steam the sấu fruit with sugar to make a refreshing drink to consume throughout the day. Alternatively, use fresh sấu fruit to make sour soup.

Contraindications for use

Doctor Hoang Khanh Toan noted that because the sấu fruit is sour, especially when unripe, people with hyperacidic peptic ulcers or those who consume it on an empty stomach should avoid it.

Additionally, other groups such as pregnant women and children under 12 months old should also limit their consumption of this fruit.

According to Zing.vn