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Caralluma Fimbriata is essentially a vegetable of
daily use in tribal India. It is eaten in several forms.
It is cooked as a regular vegetable with spices and
salt. It is used in preserves like chutneys and pickles
and is even eaten raw. Indian tribals chew chunks of
Caralluma Fimbriata to suppress hunger when on a day’s
hunt. This succulent is used amongst the labor classes
in South India to suppress appetite and enhance
endurance.
In south part of India Caralluma Fimbriata is a
vegetable used daily and is used in pickles and chutneys
also. It is also used as a thirst quencher. Often,
tribesmen would pack only a bag of Caralluma Fimbriata
to sustain themselves during long journeys.
The key phytochemical constituents of the herb are
Pregnane Glycosides, Flavone Glycosides, Megastigmane
Glycosides, Bitter Principles, Saponins etc.
In keeping with the holistic approach, native
populations of India consume several locally growing
medicinal plants as part of their diets. This edible
succulents grow wild all over India and is a part of the
daily diets of several native populations. The Caralluma
genus is one such genus of edible succulents, which
includes several species, many of which grow across
India.
Caralluma Fimbriata is the most prevalent of these
species and it flourishes in large parts of interior
India. It grows wild in urban centers as well and is
planted as a roadside shrub and as a boundary marker in
gardens.
Considering Caralluma’s widespread use as a vegetable
and its use in Folklore medicine, no toxicity has been
reported in literature. Caralluma cactus is non-toxic
and regarded as safe.
It finds use as a famine food and appetite suppressant &
its property is well known to Indian tribals and
hunters. Indian folklore records its use as a potent
appetite suppressant and weight-loss promoter.
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