09/28/2020
Growing Kamias and Its Many Uses
Kamias (Averrhoa bilimbi) is a mall tree growing 5 to 12 meters high. Leaves are pinnate, 20-60 cm long, with hairy rachis and leaflets. Leaflets are opposite, 10 to 17 pairs, oblong, 5 to 10 cm in length. Flowers, about 1.5 cm long, and slightly fragrant. Fruit, green and edible, about 4 cm long, subcylindric with 5 obscure, broad, rounded, longitudinal lobes.
In Malaysia, it is called belimbing asam; in Indonesia, it is belimbing besu; in Thailand, it is taling pling, or kaling pring. To the French it is carambolier bilimbi, or cornichon des Indes. Filipinos generally call it kamias but there are about a dozen other native names.
Medicinal Uses: In the Philippines, the leaves are applied as a paste or poulticed on itches, swellings of mumps and rheumatism, and on skin eruptions. Elsewhere, they are applied on bites of poisonous creatures. Malayans take the leaves fresh or fermented as a treatment for venereal disease. A leaf infusion is a remedy for coughs and is taken after childbirth as a tonic. A leaf decoction is taken to relieve re**al inflammation. A flower infusion is said to be effective against coughs and thrush.
In Java, the fruits combined with pepper are eaten to cause sweating when people are feeling “under the weather”. A paste of pickled kamias is smeared all over the body to hasten recovery after a fever. The fruit conserve is administered as a treatment for coughs, beri-beri and biliousness. A syrup prepared from the fruit is taken as a cure for fever and inflammation and to stop re**al bleeding and alleviate internal hemorrhoids.
Traditional Uses “Folkloric Uses”
- Skin diseases, especially with pruritus: Reduce the leaves to a paste and apply tolerably warm to areas of affected skin.
- Post-partum and re**al inflammation: Infusion of leaves.
- Mumps, acne, and localized rheumatic complaints: Paste of leaves applied to affected areas.
- Warm paste of leaves also used for pruritus.
- Cough and thrush: Infusion of flowers, 40 grams to a pint of boiling water, 4 glasses of tea daily.
- Fever: Fruit as a cooling drink.
-The fruit has been used for a variety of maladies: beriberi, cough, prevention of scurvy.
-Infusion of leaves also drank as a protective tonic after childbirth.
-In Malaysia, leaves are used for venereal diseases.
-In Indonesia, leaves used for boils, diabetes, mumps, fever.
-In French Guyana, fruit decoction or syrup use for hepatitis, diarrhea, fever and other inflammatory conditions.
- Because of high oxalic acid content, fruit used to remove stains from clothing and for washing hands, removing rust and stains from metal blades.
Studies
- Effects of Averrhoa bilimbi leaf extract on blood glucose and lipids in streptozotocin-diabetic rats: Study showed that AB extract has hypoglycemic, hypotriglyceridemic, anti-lipid peroxidative and anti-atherogenic properties in STZ-diabetic rats.
- Antioxidant And Antimicrobial Activities Of Averrhoa carambola L. Fruits: The scavenging of NO by the extract was dependent on concentration and stage of ripening. Extracts showed antimicrobial activity against E coli, Salmonella typhi, staph aureus and bacillus cereus.
See more at http://www.mixph.com/growing-kamias-and-its-many-uses/
Why You Should Grow Bilimbi Tree or “Kamias”
Bilimbi Facts
* The fruit juice has a high concentration of oxalic acid which is useful for cleaning and bleaching.
* The fruit is generally regarded as too acid for eating raw so are used extensively in soups, sauces, curries etc.
* There is a sweet variety of bilimbi in the Philippines where the sour bilimbis are called kamias, while the sweet variety is called balimbing.
* The fruits are available throughout the year.
* The tree bears hundreds of fruits per year.
* Bilimbi is preserved by sun-drying, the sun-dried bilimbi is called asam sunti.
Medicinal benefits in Bilimbi
* The leaves of bilimbi are used as a treatment for venereal disease.
* The leaf decoction is taken as a medicine to relieve from re**al inflammation.
* The fruit seems to be effective against coughs and thrush.
* It fights against cholestrol and is used as a tonic and laxative.
* The fruit is also known to control internal bleeding in the stomach.
* The leaves serve as a paste on itches, swelling, mumps or skin eruptions.
* Syrup made from Bilimbi is a cure for fever and inflammation.
* It is also used to stop re**al bleeding and alleviate internal hemorrhoids.
Read more at http://happyhouseandgarden.com/reason-why-you-should.../
Propagation and Planting.
Kamias and balimbing may be propagated by seeds but asexual propagation by grafting and budding is highly recommended. Standard plant spacing is 6 m x 6 m (227 trees/ha) for both species. Adjust spacing of balimbing based on growing conditions, from 160 trees/ ha in favorable areas to 500 trees/ ha in subtropics and at higher elevations.
To plant, prepare holes sufficiently large to accommodate the ball of soil of the planting material. Remove the plastic bag, set the plant at the center of the hole, and fill the extra space with the previously dug top soil.Plant at the start of the rainy season
Care and maintenance. Water the plants regularly especially when rains is irregular. Water is critical during the first dry season after planting. Mulching may be practiced to limit water stress.
Prune to restrict tree size but avoid heavy pruning because this suppresses flowering.
Bag and thin excess fruitlets to produce high quality fruits.
Pests and diseases.
The common diseases are leaf spot and pink disease but postharvest rots are more serious especially in balimbing. Avoid even the slightest blemish because this invites fungal infection.
Caterpillars attack flowers and young leaves. The fruit suffers most from fruit fly maggots and fruit piercing moth.
To prevent infestation, wrap the fruits with plastic or paper bag.
Harvesting and Postharvest Handling
Seedling trees of kamias and balimbing will start bearing fruits four to six years after planting while asexually propagated plants are expected to bear fruits earlier.
Kamias fruits are considered mature when they have attained their full size or when they turn yellowish green.
Harvesting of kamias is done by hand or by using bamboo pole with a wire hook and a basket or net at the end to catch the fruits. Place the fruits in baskets lined with banana leaves or dried straw to prevent injury to the fruits. The harvested fruits are immediately brought to the market or to the processors. These should be utilized
soon after harvesting since the fruits do not last very long. Kamias, however, can be dried and stored for quite some time.
The fruits when picked as soon as it start to turn yellow can be stored at 5oC-10oC in a room with high humidity for four weeks
Source: http://vicarp.vsu.edu.ph/.../E%20-%20Kamias-Balimbing%20... See Less
