Abelmoschus moschatus

Abelmoschus moschatus
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
(unranked): Angiosperms
(unranked): Eudicots
(unranked): Rosids
Order: Malvales
Family: Malvaceae
Genus: Abelmoschus
Species: A. moschatus
Binomial name
Abelmoschus moschatus
Medik.
Synonyms[1]

Abelmoschus moschatus (Abelmosk, ambrette seeds, annual hibiscus, Bamia Moschata, Galu Gasturi, muskdana, musk mallow,[2] musk okra,[2] musk seeds, ornamental okra, rose mallow seeds, tropical jewel hibiscus,[2] Yorka okra) is an aromatic and medicinal plant native to India in the Malvaceae family.

Characteristics

The seeds have a sweet, flowery, heavy fragrance similar to that of musk (hence its specific epithet moschātus, scientific Latin for ‘musk’).

Despite its tropical origin, the plant is frost-hardy.

Uses of the plant

Musk mallow seed oil was once frequently used as a substitute in perfumes for animal musk; however this use is now mostly replaced by various synthetic musks due to its high cost.

Culinary uses

It has many culinary uses. The seeds are added to coffee; unripe pods ("musk okra"), leaves and new shoots are eaten as vegetables.

Medicinal uses

Different parts of the plant have uses in Ayurveda herbal medicine.[3]

Other uses

In industry the root mucilage provides sizing for paper; tobacco is sometimes flavoured with the flowers.

References

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Thursday, July 31, 2014. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.