Ice Apple Fruit: Refreshing Summer Fruit of India
Mention this fruit, Ice Apple during winters, it will definitely sound out of season. Ice Apples are summer fruits. It is refreshing and full of health benefits. You will find them in roadside markets and small shops but never in departmental stores. It is a seasonal fruit, locals set up small shops during summers.
During my road journey through Chettinad in May 2014, when the summer was at its peak, I spotted this woman selling the edible jelly seeds of palm fruit. The white kernel can be eaten raw. It is juicy and has a light sweet taste. Gulping down a few of them soothed and cooled my mind and body completely.
Ice Apple fruit is also known by the names: the Borassus Flabellifer, the Asian Palmyra Palm, Palmyra, Toddy Palm and Sugar Palm.
The lady tried to remove these jelly seeds from the ice apple fruit carefully without slashing them. The way she was wielding the big knife to carve out the soft seeds was amazing. Her children were assisting her in her work. She tried to keep the place as neat as possible, but then the flies seemed adamant.
Thursday Challenge: Fruit
Meet her children here:
Faces of India – 200 Faces of India – 207
Ice Apple Summer Fruit
Ice apple is a low-calorie fruit providing 43 calories per 100 grams ,11 grams of carbohydrates and rich in calcium and phytonutrients. It also contains a minimal amount of fibre, protein, vitamin C, A, E, K, B7 and iron which confers you with a host of healing health benefits.
Ice Apple Tree
Ice apple fruits grow in palm trees, taal gaach, as it is known in Bengali. Ice apple tree had fascinated Nobel Laurate Rabindranath Tagore so much that he had written a beautiful children’s poem based on it. Read here: Taal Gachh, the Palm Tree
Some of the benefits of ice apple are:
Ice apple acts as an excellent coolant and naturally cools the body in the summer and regulates the body temperature. It quenches the thirst and provides energy to stay active throughout the day. Ice apple is packed with good amount of minerals sodium and potassium which helps in maintaining the fluid and electrolyte balance in the body. This property of ice apple works best in preventing dehydration fatigue in summer. It is a natural remedy for several stomach ailments and digestive issues, ice apple helps in relieving constipation and promotes bowel movements.
Ice apple relieves acidity and stomach ulcers. Ice apple eases minor stomach ailments and nausea that often occur during pregnancy. The presence of several phytochemicals in ice apple possesses strong antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties that are beneficial in slowing down the process of ageing and reducing the risk of health problems such as heart disease and cancer.
Skin problems such as heat rashes and prickly heat are very common in summer. Applying the flesh of ice apple on the affected areas relieves the itchiness and provides a soothing effect. Ice apple is loaded with potassium and helps in cleansing the toxins out of the body and promotes the liver health. A low-calorie watery fruit ice apple is an ideal deal to lose weight. The presence of water keeps you satiated for a long time and help in losing the weight naturally.
Caution: Just a word of caution- overripe ice apples may cause stomach aches. The fruit is highly perishable and should be consumed within a day.
Talibonda! I wish to go to my native now!
Nice post 🙂 We call this as "tadgola" in marathi. Me and my granny absolutely love this 🙂
remembering my childhood. have had a lot of them in those days.
Wonderful post.
Good old "Taal Sash" as said in Bengali. My favorite in Summer.
Nice photo documentation of removing of the jelly seeds. Its quite an effort.
taala sajaa…love this stuff
It's been ages since I've had these.
I love des fruits..miss eating them now
Taal shansh!!! I love these !
I remember when a guy used to sell them during summer nights, trust me I had no idea what they called them in English until today ! They are excellent in taste and were a favorite during childhood, but its been so many years since I had a chance to eat them again 🙁 Can hardly find anyone selling them at my place. Brings back memories. Plus the way she carefully removes seizes to amaze me too!
My daughter loves them!
nice pictures
creative post… fruit seems to be healthy as well as juicy..
If I have recognised it right then it looked like rounded brinjal( to me) and I thought it to be a vegetable ! Guess its the same.
I love this fruit. I used to eat it in my childhood in Calcutta. It isn't available in Delhi.
Interesting fruit to eat, healthy as well.
And doing brisK business !
This time the fruit has made its appearance early in Coimbatore – have been seeing it here since December 2014.
nice pictures , the fruit reminds me at a coconut..looks to me that the taste is good
Hello Indrani!!
Very interesting post!!
I don't know this fruit!It sounds yammy!Lovely photos!Have a happy day!!
Dimi…
Nice photos…
It is locally called 'Nonku' in malayalam & tamil
Hello Albert the fruit is the Borassus flabellifer, the Asian Palmyra palm, toddy palm or sugar palm.
Nice pictures, but please tell us the name of this fruit. Greetings Albert and Mara from the South of Spain.
interesting!