Prof R.D. Gupta
Phalsa is a fruit of Southern Indian origin, but now is grown in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Srilanka, Thailand, Loas, Cambodia and Vietnam (Gupta and Bansal, 2014). In the dryland areas, especially in the kandi belts of Jammu, Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh, where either growing of farm crops is not possible or their yields are below the economic thresh hold due to lack of water as a constraint. In such areas, drought resistant fruit trees like phalsa, ber, jamun can be grown. However, in the Indian subcontinent, phalsa is highly sought in the hot summer months as its fruits can be considered to be the third favourable fruit after mango and peach.
Medicinal Values
Unripe fruit relieves inflammation and is used to treat respiratory, heart and blood affliction as well as in fevers. Root bark is used in treating rheumatism. Ripe fruit is well known to assist in preventing coughs and colds. Ripe fruits also act as antioxidants and have been proved useful in cancer risks, removes pimples, headache, acidity, leucorrhea, anaemia, burning sensation in the body and skin dryness.
Leaves of phalsa fruit trees, help to relieve all kinds of inflammations of the skin and are also utilized in skin eruptions. For this purpose soak the leaves in water overnight and make a paste to apply on the affected areas as they are known to have antibiotic action.
Juice of the fruits of Phalsa is employed to treat liver and gall bladder problems as well as to purify blood and control blood pressure and cholesterol level. It also normalizes heart rate and maintains blood pressure, diuretic, removes thirst, protects against heat stroke vomiting and nausea.
Sharbat of phalsa is proved very useful to help sunburn victims to treat sunstroke.
Other uses
Bark of the phalsa tree is used in purifying sugar cane juice in sugar processing. It is because the bark of the phalsa tree is characterized by its mucilaginous nature.
Wood of the phalsa tree is fine grained, cream coloured, strong and flexible, and is used in making archers bows, spear handles, poles and baskets and harvested for fuel.
Botanical Description
A large, scraggy shrub or small tree, having 4.5 m height or more. The phalsa has long slender, dropping branches densely coated with hairs. The alternate, deciduous widely spaced leaves, are broadly heart shaped or ovate, pointed at the apex, oblique at the base up to 20 cm long and 16-25 cm wide and coarsely with a slight whitish bloom on the underside, small, orange yellow flowers and borne in dense cymes in the leaf axils. The round fruits, on 2.5 cm peduncles are produced in great numbers in open, branched clusters. Largest fruits are 1.25 to 1.6 cm wide.
Cultural Practices
Climatic requirement: Phalsa is a fruit of tropical to subtropical climatic areas. Before 1947, phalsa used to grow abundantly in subtropical areas of Jammu, especially in Kandi Belt of Jammu, having annual rainfall range of 1000-1200 cm annually. Soil requirement: Falsa can be grown in any kind of soil. However, sandy loom, sandy clay types of soils are found to be the most suitable for its cultivation
Propagation: Seeds are usual means of propagation and they germinate wit 15 days. Ground layers, treated with hormones, have been 50 percent successful, air layers, 85 percent cuttings are difficult to root.Seedlings are transplanted from seedbeds into well prepared holes when a year old and are usually spaced 3-4.5 m apart. Fruiting will commence 14to 15 months. Annual pruning to a height of 0.9 -1.2 m encourages new shorts and better yields than more drastic trimming.
Harvesting and Yield: Summer is the fruiting season. Only a few fruits in a cluster ripe at any one time, so continuous harvesting is necessary. The fruits keep poorly and must be marketed within 24 hours. Average yield pertree is 9 to 11 kg per season.
(The author is Ex-Associate Dean Cum Chief Scientist KVK-Jammu,SKUAST-J).
