AMLOOK

(Diospyros lotus)

A tree of amlook

English name: Date plum.

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Amlook grows, mostly wild, in north-western Himalayas.   It bears globose or ovoid fruits, 1.5 to 2.0 cm in diameter.  The fruits are green in the beginning and then turn yellow at maturity.  The fruits ultimately become

 deep purple or black at ripening.  The shape of fruits is like dates and the colour is purple like some varieties of plum.  That is this fruit is called a date plum.

            The amlook tree is deciduous.  It can grow upto a height of 15 metres.  Amlook is a very long lived tree is reported to be productive for centuries.

    Unripe fruits

            Amlook fruits are sweet in taste.  These are eaten fresh as well as dried.  They are also sometimes used in the preparation of sherbets.

             The fruit contains tannic acid, invert sugar (11.25%) and malic

 acid (0.38%).  Exposure of unripe fruits to ethylene for 72 hours reduces the tannin content. 

            The wood is grayish, close grained and moderately hard.  It can be used as timber.

Ripe fruits

            Amlook is used as a rootstock for raising grafted plants of Japanese persimmon in India. 

            Amlook is still not cultivated in India.  Nor the fruits are commercially marketed.