Cinnamomum tamala, Indianbay leaf, also known as tezpat, tezapatta, Malabar leaf, Indian bark, Indian cassia, or malabathrum, is a tree in the family Lauraceae that is native to India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, and China. It can grow up to tall. Its leaves have a clove-like aroma with a hint of peppery taste; they are used for culinary and medicinal purposes. It is thought to have been one of the major sources of the medicinal plant leaves known in classic and medieval times as malabathrum.
Characteristics
The leaves, known as tēzapattā or tezpatta in Hindi, tezpat in Nepali, Maithili and Assamese, tezpata in Bengali, vazhanayila/edanayila in Malayalam, and tamalpatra in Gujarati, or in Marathi and in original Sanskrit, are used extensively in the cuisines of India, Nepal, and Bhutan, particularly in the Moghul cuisine of North India and Nepal and in tsheringmaherbal tea in Bhutan. It is called biryani aaku or bagharakku in Telugu. The Lepcha of Sikkim call it naap saor koong. It is often used in kumbilappam or chakka-ada, an authentic sweet from Kerala, infusing its characteristic flavor to the dumplings. They are often labeled as "Indian bay leaves," or just "bay leaf", causing confusion with the leaf from the bay laurel, a tree of Mediterranean origin in a different genus; the appearance and aroma of the two are quite different. Bay laurel leaves are shorter and light- to medium-green in color, with one large vein down the length of the leaf, while tezpat leaves are about twice as long and wider, usually olive green in color, with three veins down the length of the leaf. There are five types of tezpat leaves and they impart a strong cassia- or cinnamon-like aroma to dishes, while the bay laurel leaf's aroma is more reminiscent of pine and lemon.
The bark is sometimes used for cooking, although it is regarded as inferior to true cinnamon or cassia. Methanolic extract of C. tamala leaves fed at 10 mg/kg to alloxan-induced diabetic rats for 15 days resulted in significant reduction in blood glucose level, blood glycosylated haemoglobin, LPO, serum AST, and ALT, and significant increase in the antioxidant enzymes such as CAT, GSH, and SOD. C. tamala could be used as an adjunct therapy in diabetes.
Etymology
had been traditionally used to denote the west coast of Southern India that forms the present-day state of Kerala and adjoining areas. The wordmala or malaya means "mountain" in the Tamil and Malayalam languages, as also in Sanskrit. The word "malabathrum" is thought to have been derived from the Sanskrit tamālapattram, literally meaning "dark-tree leaves".
