Tamarind
Arabic tamr hindī, “Indian date”
- Known today as
- The pod pulp of Tamarindus indica.
- Kind
- Plant, in 2 older authorities
- Constituents
- tartaric acid, invert sugar, pectin and fibre, and 1 more
- Earliest authority here
- The Arab physicians
- In other databases
- Plants of the World Online search · GBIF search · Wikidata search
Revised October 1, 2026: Tradition, lore, modern assessment, and sources extended. Version 1, first published September 25, 2026.
Tamarind: what was it used for?
A cooling, gentle purge for choleric fevers, in the lenitive electuaries.
Tamarind: what does modern science say?
A mild laxative food. The pulp is rich in tartaric acid and in pectin, and is a mild laxative food; it has no European herbal monograph, and its seed is the source of the food thickener tamarind gum.
Pharmacognosy & Toxicology
- Constituents
- tartaric acid ChEMBL8–18 per cent of the pulp, the sour
- invert sugar ChEMBL
- pectin and fibre
- potassium bitartrate ChEMBL
- Mechanism
- The pulp’s fibre, sugars, and acid salts hold water in the bowel, a gentle osmotic and bulk laxative, which with its sourness made it the “cooling” purge for fevers; no drug action beyond.
- Toxic dose
- A food; 10–50 g of pulp moves the bowel.
- Standing
- A food of the tropics; in the lenitive electuary of the London Pharmacopoeia; the seed gum is a food thickener.
- Bhadoriya, S. S., et al. (2011). “Tamarindus indica: extent of explored potential.” Pharmacognosy Reviews 5. Verified against its record · doi:10.4103/0973-7847.79102
The abstract of each source, beneath its citation. For Club members. About the Club or sign in.
Constituent names open the compound’s record at PubChem, and “ChEMBL” beside a name opens its record at ChEMBL, the European Bioinformatics Institute’s database of bioactive molecules. Where a mechanism line was checked against ChEMBL (ChEMBL 37, read 1 October 2026), the check is shown with the measured value and its source paper, or says plainly that nothing has been measured. Doses are as the references give them, for description only; this is not medical advice. Each source carries the result of its check against Crossref, PubMed, or the authority’s page: see Verification.
Tamarind: what lore surrounds it?
In India the tree is said to be haunted and its shade unwholesome, so that no one sleeps beneath it; its pulp sours the curries of the south and the chutneys of the north, and Worcestershire sauce.
Used in These Compounds
Tamarind is an ingredient of 2 compound medicines in the database. For Club members. Create a free account or sign in.
Tamarind: what did the older authorities say?
- The Arab physicians
- Brought it from India to the Mediterranean pharmacy as tamr hindī, the Indian date, a cooling laxative for bilious fevers and thirst, and Mesue gives it in the lenitive electuaries where Canale found it.
- Garcia de Orta
- Describes the tree and the trade in his Colloquies of 1563 from Goa, and corrects the Europeans who thought the fruit a kind of date.
Sources
- Culpeper, N. (1653). Pharmacopœia Londinensis. Read in full · the text read
- Garcia de Orta (1563). Colóquios dos simples e drogas da Índia. Book, seen in reviews
Verification
- Checked
- October 1, 2026
- Passes
- Every sentence read against its sources, in the pass over the remaining 343 entries
- The Standing line checked against the authority it names (EMA, WHO, FDA, CITES, Commission E)
- Every dated or regulatory claim checked by category across the database
- Sources
- 3 cited: 1 read in full, 1 verified against its record, 1 book, seen in reviews. 1 with the abstract on file.
- Corrections
- said it is "in the European monographs for constipation." There is no EMA tamarind monograph; removed.
What was checked, how, and what was found is set out on the Verification page. A checked source is one whose record was found; it does not make the entry medical advice.
Cite This Entry
Version 1 · first published September 25, 2026 · last revised October 1, 2026
- Chicago
“Tamarind.” In Materia Medica, edited by B. C. P. Statema. Version 1. The Thinking Press, 2026–. Last modified October 1, 2026. https://thethinkingpress.org/materia-medica/tamarind.
- MLA
“Tamarind.” Materia Medica, edited by B. C. P. Statema, version 1, The Thinking Press, 1 Oct. 2026, thethinkingpress.org/materia-medica/tamarind. Accessed 8 Oct. 2026.
- APA
Tamarind. (2026, October 1). In B. C. P. Statema (Ed.), Materia medica (Version 1). The Thinking Press. Retrieved October 8, 2026, from https://thethinkingpress.org/materia-medica/tamarind
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See Also
Sharing tartaric acid
Drawing on the same sources: Culpeper
Toadflax · Species Pleris Archonticon · Tormentil · the bibliography →
Nearby in the alphabet
Tansy (Tanacetum vulgare) · Sweet woodruff · Tea (The dried leaves of Camellia sinensis) · Sweet flag (Acorus calamus) · Teasel (Dipsacus fullonum) · Sweet almond, oil of (Oil pressed from sweet almonds) · Teonanácatl (Small brown mushrooms that stain blue when bruised) · Sumac
Historical description, not medical advice.