Cydonia oblonga Health Dictionary

Mill.

Synonym: C. vulgaris Pers.

Family: Rosaceae.

Habitat: Cultivated in Punjab, Kashmir and the Nilgiri hills.

English: Quince Fruit.

Ayurvedic: Amritaphala, Paatalaa, Simbitikaa.

Unani: Bihi, Bihidaanaa.

Siddha/Tamil: Shimaimathala.

Action: Fruit pulp and seeds— soothing and demulcent; used in irritable bowel syndrome, diarrhoea, dysentery, constipation, and in irritable conditions of the mucous membrane. Leaf, bud and bark—astringent. Fruit— expectorant. Mucilage—used externally for scalds, ulcers and burns.

The seed kernel contains the gly- coside amygdalin, tannin, mucilage (about 22%), ash (1.3%) and fatty oil (l4-19%).

In Greece, a tea prepared by boiling dry seeds in water is given in cystitis. The major water-soluble polysac- charide in the mucilage of seeds contains a high proportion of glucuronic acid residues.

The fruit contains pectin (yield 0.53% fresh weight) and is similar to that of apple. Ionone glycosides, along with octadienoic acid and its diol, have been isolated from the fruit.

Fruit juice contains thiamine, riboflavin, nicotinic acid, vitamin B6, inositol, pantothenic acid, folic acid and biotin.

The essential oil also gave a number of ionone-related compounds. The buds contain a cyanogenetic glycoside. The bark and shoots yield hydrocyanic acid on distillation.