Falsa hit fruit shops, but with exhorbitant price

HYDERABAD: Falsa, a much awaited and very popular fruit in summers and known for use as a coolant fruit in scorching heat, has arrived in the market with heavy demand it was being sold on exhorbitant prices.

According to a survey conducted by APP on Wednesday, the season of Falsa began as it was avilable at many of the fruit markets, streets and chowks of the city.

However, at present, Falsa is available at a rate not easy to buy by common man,as it is being sold at Rs. 180 to 250 per kilo gram in different areas of Hyderabad.

The mouth watering fruit with a tangy and sometimes sweet and sour taste is not only eaten raw but juices, syrups, sherbets and squashes are also prepared from the pulp by mixing it with sugar and used as an astringent, stomachic and cooling agent to fight the heat and cool oneself.

With a botanical name, "Grewia asiatica", this small tangy and sweet flavored dark purple fruit surrounding one or two small hard seeds grows in Pakistan, Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam while it was also being cultivated in other tropical countries.

According to nutritionists, 100 grams of Falsa fruit contains 80.8 grams of water, 1.3 grams protein, 0.9 grams of lipid fats, 14.7 grams carbohydrates and 1.2 gram fiber while it is a good source of calcium, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, sodium, copper and vitamin C.

Due to its rich mineral contents, the fruit is helpful in treatment and prevention of diseases like cancer, cold and coughs, liver and gall bladder problems, digestive problems like excess acidity and indigestion, asthma, bronchitis and shortness of breath.

It also purifies blood, regulates blood pressure and cholesterol levels. It is considered good for sunburn victims and those who suffer from a heat stroke.

Not only the fruit is very tasty and beneficial but also the other parts of the tree have their own advantages as the bark of falsa tree is used in sugar (gur) making, its leaves have an antibiotic effect and are also used as cattle fodder, oil from falsa seeds is used to treat fevers and diarrhoea.