Ecology, Environment and Conservation Paper

PERCEPTION OF WOOD APPLE (LIMONIA ACIDISSIMA L.) CONSUMPTION AMONG DIABETIC SUBJECTS

S. Anitha, Geeta Dandin, Umadevi S. Hiremath, Savita Hulimani and Charis K. Ripnar

Abstract

Wood apple (Limonia acidissima) is a tropical fruit native to Southeast Asia. The main aim of the study was to find the awareness and therapeutic benefits of wood apple. To know the consumption of wood apple in their life style, the questionnaire was developed and data was recorded, by randomly selected diabetes subjects. Subjects were belonged to the age group of 50-60 years (66.6 percent) and 30-40 years (33.34 per cent). Among the selected subjects 66.7 percent were suffering from diabetes since past 1-5 years, 13.3 percent had from 5-10 years and remaining 20 percent had from more than 10 years. Among the selected subjects eight were non-vegetarians (53.3%), 2 are vegetarian and 5 are ova-vegetarians (33.3%). Majority of the subjects follows three meals per day (73.3%) and another 4 subjects followed four meals per day (26.7%). Among the selected subjects eight were non-vegetarians (53.3%), 2 are vegetarian and 5 are ovavegetarians (33.3%). Majority of the subjects follows three meals per day (73.3%) and another 4 subjects followed four meals per day (26.7%). Along with their life style they also had the habit of consuming alcohol (26.7%), smoking (33.3), and chewing tobacco (26.7%). It is evident from the results that, majority of respondents (60 percent) consumed wood apple for the consumption for dysentery/ diarrhea followed by 20 percent for control of heat and 20 percent as a refreshing drink. The wood apple fruit pulp contains functional and bioactive compounds such as carotenoids, phenolics, alkaloids, flavonoids, terpenoids, and other antioxidants which may help to protect against degenarative diseases.