Where the salamander tree grows. Composition and useful properties of fruits, contraindications for use. How berries are eaten, what can be cooked from them.
Useful properties of the fruit of the salamander tree
Currently, the healing properties of the salamander tree are being actively studied. Pharmaceuticals intended for the treatment of diarrhea, constipation, peptic ulcer disease have already been tested in rats and have proven their effectiveness in patients of control groups.
Biga's benefits:
- Prevents the development of anemia due to the high iron content, helps women recover from heavy periods, quickly replenishes blood loss.
- It has an antioxidant effect, isolates free radicals circulating in the bloodstream.
- Reduces blood pressure, has a calming and sedative effect.
- Increases the digestibility of food, stimulates the production of enzymes in the pancreas and stomach, has a pronounced choleretic effect.
- Accelerates peristalsis, reduces manifestations of flatulence, removes toxins and toxins from the intestines.
- Strengthens the skeletal system and muscle tissue, prevents cracking of tooth enamel and brittle nails.
- It has a mild diuretic effect, dissolves and removes calculi from the kidneys.
- Normalizes heart rate, increases the elasticity of the walls of blood vessels.
- Helps to quickly recover from physical activity, strengthens the immune system.
- Has antimicrobial effect against pathogenic bacteria.
- When applied externally in the form of lotions and compresses, due to its antiseptic properties, it prevents the development of purulent-inflammatory processes.
To stop the increased arousal, it is enough to eat a handful of fresh ripe berries. Parents of young children give their toddler 1-2 tablespoons of juice to help them fall asleep faster.
Traditional healers with the help of berry-leafy tincture treated syphilis, and also made an antidote for snake bites from the fruit.
Contraindications and harm biga
Interestingly, bignai allergies are inherited, just like citrus or dairy products.
The salamander tree can cause harm during flowering. The scent of flowers is so bright, heavy and sweet that many people experience headaches, nausea, and dizziness.
Fruits are carefully introduced into the diet with hypotension, urolithiasis or gallstone disease.
Absolute contraindications for use are presented in the table:
| Conditions and diseases | Causes |
| Pregnancy and lactation | High risk of allergy |
| Age up to 3 years | Insufficiently formed intestinal flora |
| Peptic ulcer, erosive gastritis | Stimulates the secretion of hydrochloric acid and bile, aggravates the condition |
| Stomatitis | Aggressive effect on the inflamed oral mucosa |
When making mixtures from bark and leaves, it is necessary to accurately observe the dosage - they contain a poisonous alkaloid.
How the fruits of the salamander tree are eaten
Salamander fruits can be substituted for cranberries or black currants in recipes. Locals add bignai to sauces for fish and meat, squeeze them into juices, make tinctures and wines, make jams, jams, confitures, canning, make marmalade and marshmallows. Pectin is used for gelling, if you add gelatin to recipes, the dessert will become bitter.
Young leaves have a sour taste. They are used to flavor stews and are served with rice. Slicing adds piquancy to vitamin salads. When you watch how Indian children eat bignai - "drooling". They put a handful of ripe berries in their mouths at once, and the sweet juice flows down the chin. An unaccustomed person should not try this method. A not quite ripe berry will probably fall into a handful, and acid will appear in the mouth and an unpleasant bitter aftertaste will remain.
In addition, the transparent juice quickly thickens in the air, and if a stain appears on the clothes, it will be almost impossible to wash it off - the material will be painted in a thick purple color, like from ink. It will be difficult to wash the cheeks and lips, the teeth will turn blue - even to remove the blackness from the bird cherry faster.
Therefore, adults can be advised to feast on ripe berries at home and after a snack, rinse your mouth with water acidified with lemon. This will help neutralize the purple dye.
Bignai recipes
During the ripening of the harvest, locals add berries to literally all dishes: they mix with rice, boil sauces, add them to cereals and salads.
Delicious bignah recipes:
- Sauce for meat and vegetables … They choose only ripe fruits - you need so many berries to get 700 g of juice with pulp, cut the tails. Wash, remove excess moisture. Squeeze out the juice. Allow to stand for 4-5 hours, separate the precipitate. Cane sugar is mixed in a saucepan - 100 g, a glass of tomato paste, 3-4 crushed garlic cloves, 3 teaspoons of coriander and half a teaspoon of pepper mixture - black, white, pink and allspice peppers. You can purchase a ready-made mixture. Combine the ingredients, add juice, beat with a whisk. Bring to the desired taste with wine vinegar. The standard rate is 50 ml, but if this is not enough or a lot, they try. Chill before serving.
- Fish sauce … The berries are ground in mashed potatoes - you need to get 700 g. Immature fruits are removed first. Give the berry puree to a boil, add 5 g of clove powder, 2 g of crushed black and allspice, 0.5 teaspoon of salt, 0.5 kg of sugar, transferred garlic - 5 cloves. Boil for 20 minutes, stirring constantly, pour in apple or wine vinegar just before turning off. According to the recipe, half a glass, but a little less is possible. Poured into jars, rolled up with lids, cooled. Then put it in the refrigerator.
- Roast with bigna … Pork, 300 g, moderately fat, cut into cubes. 5-6 carrots are chopped by hand or grated on a coarse grater. Onions, 2 pieces, cut into half rings. Pork is fried in vegetable oil until golden brown, add onions first, then carrots, stew for 5 minutes, stirring constantly. Pour in water - 700 ml, pour in washed rice, 600 g, and cook until the water is almost completely evaporated and the meat is cooked. Then add bignai, 60-80 g, and bring to full readiness, stirring constantly. At this time, add some salt, pepper and add those spices that they consider necessary. Sliced salamander leaves can be added to the dish before serving.
Bigeye drinks recipes
When preparing drinks from the berries of the salamander tree, you should be very careful with the containers where the liquid is drained. You need to get rid of the sediment, it is pronounced bitter. Therefore, everything needs to be carefully defended. Even a large amount of sugar will not get rid of the bitterness.
Salamander Fruit Drink Recipes:
- Pouring … Berries, 1.5 kg, are poured into a jar, pour 1.5 liters of vodka or moonshine with a strength of 45 °. Do not need anymore. It is not necessary to put it in a cold place to infuse. Store at room temperature is sufficient. A month later, the liquid is carefully drained, and the berries are boiled for 10 minutes, pouring 1.5 liters of water, 15 minutes. Without removing from the heat, add sugar - 800 g, and wait until it dissolves completely, stirring. Remove the container from the heat, pour in the tincture, pour it into the jars. They are cleaning again for a month. When the drink matures, it is filtered, re-poured into cans, allowed to settle for a day and filtered again.
- Juice … The berries are sorted, trying to remove completely green ones. Wring out in the usual way, through cheesecloth. The juicer does not fit - then the bones choke. Allow to settle for a day, gently filter to completely remove the sediment. To improve the taste, honey or sugar is added.
- Syrup … It is better to cook it not from berries, but from juice. For 1 liter of juice, you need to prepare 800 g of sugar and 5 g of pectin. The latter is first mixed with sugar and after that everything is poured into a saucepan with a boiling drink. Cook for no more than 5 minutes. Poured into jars hot.
Bignoy juices have a tart taste. It is better to prepare nectar so that the kids do not give up on the "vitamin" drink. To do this, the juice is diluted in 1/3 with the juices of sweet berries or apples.
Interesting facts about the salamander tree
In East Asia and India, the plant is called differently: wuni, buni, pani-heloch, amati, Chinese laurel, Queensland cherry.
The plant sprouts easily. It is grown from seeds, cuttings, buds and by grafting. The last breeding method is the most popular. When using cuttings, rooting occurs after 95 days. The grafted plants can be harvested after 2-3 years, and those grown from cuttings or seeds - only after 4-6 years.
The wood of the tree is dense, of a beautiful red hue, but is of little use for the construction of structures or furniture, as it absorbs moisture from the air. If it is used, then it is for the manufacture of souvenirs. But the bark is specially collected - strong ropes are made from it.
Currently, the plant is being actively studied and trying to cultivate. The goal is to create conditions under which fruiting, stretching for 2 months, will become uniform, and it will be possible to harvest healthy and tasty berries.
The fruit extract is already included in the composition of medicines for the treatment of intestinal cancer and hypertension.
Tea "Bignai" is used for medicinal purposes. Contains bark and dried leaves. It is recommended to brew for anemia, diabetes mellitus, to reduce cholesterol levels and lose weight. The tea leaves can be purchased in online stores or at the Health Shop. Watch a video about beignals:
Surprisingly, you can try the fruits of the salamander tree in Siberia and the Urals by planting the plant in open ground. True, the harvest will not be as plentiful as in the natural growing area, and the berries will turn out to be much sour. But juice and jam can still be cooked - just add twice as much sugar.
