Curry Tree

This article is about Murraya koenigii, an aromatic leaf often used in Indian cuisine. For Curry Plant, see Helichrysum italicum. For the dish or sauce, see Curry.

Curry Tree
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
(unranked):	Angiosperms
(unranked):	Eudicots
(unranked):	Rosids
Order:	Sapindales
Family:	Rutaceae
Genus:	Murraya
Species:	M. koenigii
Binomial name
Murraya koenigii (L.) Sprengel[1]

The curry tree (Sinhala: කරපිංචා, Tamil:கறிவேப்பிலை(curry), Kannada:ಕರಿಬೇವು Telugu:కరివేపాకు Malayalam: കറിവേപ്പില, Oriya: ଭୃସଙ୍ଗ ପତ୍ର Hindi: करीपत्ता, मीथ णीम, मीथ नीम पत्ता, Marathi: कढीलिंब, Gujarati: મીઠો લીમડો) (Murraya koenigii; syn. Bergera koenigii, Chalcas koenigii) is a tropical to sub-tropical tree in the family Rutaceae, which is native to India. The name itself in Tamil is pronounced 'kariveppilai' (literally "curry" (kari) "neem" (veppu) "leaf" (ilai)). It is present in almost all the dishes of Tamil Nadu. Often used in curries, the leaves generally go by the name "curry leaves", though they are also called "sweet neem leaves". The Kannada name means "black neem", since the appearance of the leaves is similar to the unrelated bitter neem tree. Similarly in Gujarati it is known as "limdo" or "meetho leemdo" (meaning "sweet neem").

Description

The small flowers are white and fragrant.

Ripe and unripe fruits

Jayanti in Buxa Tiger Reserve in Jalpaiguri district of West Bengal, India.

It is a small tree, growing 4–6 m tall, with a trunk up to 40 cm diameter. The leaves are pinnate, with 11-21 leaflets, each leaflet 2–4 cm long and 1–2 cm broad. They are highly aromatic. The flowers are small, white, and fragrant. The small black shiny berries are edible, but their seeds are poisonous.^{[citation needed]}

The species name commemorates the botanist Johann König.

Uses

The leaves are highly valued as seasoning in southern and west-coast Indian cooking, and Sri Lankan cooking, especially in curries, usually fried along with the chopped onion in the first stage of the preparation. They are also used to make thoran, vada, rasam and kadhi. In their fresh form, they have a short shelf life, and they don't keep well in the refrigerator. They are also available dried, though the aroma is largely inferior.

The leaves of Murraya koenigii are also used as a herb in Ayurvedic medicine. They are much valued as an anti-diabetic,^[2] antioxidant,^[3] antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, hepatoprotective, anti-hypercholesterolemic etc. They also contain iron.

Although most commonly used in curries, leaves from the curry tree can be used in many other dishes to add flavor. In Cambodia, Khmer toast the leaves in open flame or roasted it to a crunch and crushed it into a soured soup dish called Maju Krueng.

Propagation

Seeds must be ripe and fresh to plant; dried or shriveled fruits are not viable. You can plant the whole fruit, but it's best to remove the pulp before planting in potting mix that is kept moist but not wet.

Stem cuttings can be also used for propagation.

Anticancer compounds

Recently syam et al 2011 reported that girinimbine, a carbazole alkaloid isolated from this plant, inhibited the growth and induced apoptosis in human hepatocellular carcinoma, HepG2 cells ^[4]www.mdpi.com/1420-3049/16/8/7155/.

References

1. ^ "Murraya koenigii information from NPGS/GRIN". www.ars-grin.gov. http://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/html/taxon.pl?24703. Retrieved 2008-03-11. 
2. ^ Arulselvan P, Senthilkumar GP, Sathish Kumar D, Subramanian S (Oct 2006). "Anti-diabetic effect of Murraya koenigii leaves on streptozotocin induced diabetic rats". Pharmazie 61 (10): 874–7. PMID 17069429. 
3. ^ Arulselvan P, Subramanian SP (Jan 2007). "Beneficial effects of Murraya koenigii leaves on antioxidant defense system and ultra structural changes of pancreatic beta-cells in experimental diabetes in rats". Chem Biol Interact. 165 (2): 155–64. doi:10.1016/j.cbi.2006.10.014. PMID 17188670. http://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0009-2797(06)00342-5. 
4. ^ Syam S, Abdul AB, Sukari MA, Mohan S, Abdelwahab SI, Wah TS: The Growth Suppressing Effects of Girinimbine on Hepg2 Involve Induction of Apoptosis and Cell Cycle Arrest. Molecules 2011, 16(8):7155-7170.

External links

• Gernot Katzer's Herb Pages on curry leaves
• Plant Cultures: botany, history and uses of curry leaf plant