The Orchid Tree (aka. Mountain Ebony, Kachnar; Bauhinia variegata) is popular as an ornamental tree in subtropical and tropical environments, with its large showy scented flowers and attractive bi-lobed foliage.
In an ethnobotanical study of the people in the Lesser Himalayas and Pakistan, Orchid Tree (“Kachnar” locally) was reported as the third most cited wild plants consumed as food or medicine.
In many Pakistani and Indian recipes, the buds of Orchid Tree are used, especially for making a curry, as a stir-fried vegetable or pickled.
The young leaves and fruits are also consumed; boiled and then eaten as a vegetable or pickled. The seed is also enjoyed as food.
Other parts of the plant are useful, as the bark is used as a source of tannins and for a natural brown dye, as well as for making cordage.
The wood is brown, somewhat hard and used for household construction and making tools.
Also edible is the tree’s resin and the seeds are pressed for their oil, as it has a high content of linolenic and oleic fatty acids and tocopherols.
The Orchid Tree leaves have also been reported to make good fodder for livestock with a protein content of 12%.
In Nepal, the bark is used medicinally, for its astringent, tonic, anthelmintic and alterative properties. The dried buds are used for hemorrhoids, diarrhea, worms and dysentery; the juice of the flowers for diarrhea, dysentery and digestive disturbances, and the root for snake bites and for indigestion.
In animal studies, The Orchid Tree was effective against both type I & type II diabetes, as it significantly decreased plasma glucose, as well as cholesterol, triglyceride, creatinine and blood urea nitrogen levels. It also resulted in a decrease in the necrotic changes in the pancreatic tissue through histopathological study.
Other studies have found Orchid Tree to exhibit antibacterial, antioxidant, analgesic, antipyretic, anti-inflammatory and anticancer activities.
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