A taste to remember!

By Ishara Jayawardane

Tibbatu is another intelligent choice when it comes to Lankan Cuisine. A vegetable high in protein it too has many medicinal benefits. Garden Talk speaks to District Agriculture Instructor, the Office of the deputy provincial Agriculture Director (Extension) Colombo, Thanuja Jeewandara on this vegetable that is excellent for health.

“Belonging to the family Solanaceae, Tibbatu comes in two varieties. One is Thitta Tibbatu or otherwise known as Katu Tibbatu (botanical name being Solanum Indicum) and the other variety is Rata Tibbatu also known as Hen Tibbatu/ Goni Tibbatu/ Ela Tibbatu (botanical name being Solanum Violaceum Ortega),” said Jeewandara.

Tibbatu belongs to the same family as Chili and Tomato.

“When comparing Thitta Tibbatu and Rata Tibbatu, the canopy size of Thitta Tibbatu is less than Rata Tibbatu. Thitta Tibbatu has a diameter of 2 – 2 ½ meters while Rata Tibbatu has a diameter of 3.5 diameters. Both trees, however grown up to 1 ½ – 2 meters.

The leaves of Thitta Tibbatu are dark green. It is thorny on the underside of the leaves and has more thorns than that of Rata Tibbatu. The flower of Thitta Tibbatu is purple. Rata Thibbatu flowers are yellow. The fruit of Thitta Tibbatu has a diameter of 12mm. The fruit is yellow/greenish. When it ripens it takes on a color of reddish/orange,” stated Jeewandara.

Rata Tibbatu also has its unique characteristics.

“The color of the leaves of Rata Tibbatu are light green. The color of the flowers is white. When you take the size of the fruit of Rata Tibbatu it has a diameter of 16mm. It has thorns, but compared to Thitta Tibbatu it is less. It is a little bitter but when comparing the plants, Thitta Tibbatu is bitterer,” pointed out Jeewandara.

A popular vegetable

Commercially famers opt for growing Rata Tibbatu.

“There is a bigger harvest with the bigger canopy, the fruits are larger and the bitterness is very much less. So the preference is for Rata Tibbatu. So consumption of this fruit has spread from the village and to the towns now. Now cultivated on large scale, the habit of consuming Tibbatu has become extremely popular,” added Jeewandara.

Tibbatu is now cultivated in Pollonnaruwa, Moneragala, Anuradhapura, Kurunegala and Hambantota.

“However it can also be grown in home Gardens in Colombo. Two or three plants are quite sufficient for a household. What was initially found in the wilds is now grown in villages. It is ideal for the dry zone, however it can be grown in the Wet Zone. It is tasty and has a high nutritional value,” added Jeewandara.

“It is a Perennial crop. It can be grown as a mixed crop with other crops, or as a mono crop. So, two or three plants in a home garden is more than enough. It is enough for our daily needs. Tibbatu can be grown as seedlings or stem cuttings. But the yield is more from seedlings, so more farmers use seedlings. Stem cuttings produce a relatively low yield. So commercially it is recommended to use seedlings,” explained Jeewandara

Soil preparation

When planting you need to prepare the soil.

“Before planting, when obtaining the seedlings you need to pick a ripe fruit and then you need to bring the seed out of their dormancy period. It does not get planted immediately. So they need to be treated. They can either be soaked in water which removes the Gell, or we can place them in a cow-dung solution for one or two days – 100g of Cow Dung mixed with water. That will break the dormancy.

When growing at home we can use a polythene bag filled in with Organic Manure and top soil and plant the seeds in it. When transferring to the hole made in the garden, the hole should be filled in with Organic Manure and top soil (prior to planting). Then a hole the size of the polythene bag is created in the hole (containing the soil medium), then the polythene bag is stripped apart and the soil mound containing the plant is inserted,” explained Jeewandara

On a commercial scale it can be grown in a nursery bed (with top soil and organic manure).

“After planting the seedlings, in about 10 – 12 days the plant appears and it takes about a month for four to five leaves to appear. However this is not immediately transferred to the field. Then they are removed and planted in individual pots. We keep them in individual pots until they grow to a height of 10 – 15cm. This all take around 2 months for the plants to grow, and it is this plant that we transfer it into the hole in the field. (When growing in a nursery bed, it is transferred without disturbing or damaging the roots system.)

The soil in the hole should have a good drainage system. It should be mixed with chemical fertilizer, organic manure and top soil and then the plant is planted. The hole should be 1 ½ , 1 ½ , 1 ½ in height, width and long,” said Jeewandara. Also then the plant needs a bit of shading.

“If the plant does not die then we know it has been established there. After that chemical fertilizer is applied every four weeks, or we simply maintain it with organic manure/ fertilizer. To get a good harvest you ‘water irrigate’ every week. However to get the first harvest it takes four to five months. Flowers appear in two or three months.

The fruits come in bunches and you need to be careful not to damage the tree. So you need to use a knife. One bunch contains 35 – 40 fruits. But only 80 – 85 percent are fully ripened.

Every year from a hectare we can reap 10 – 12 metric tons. So the farmer gets a really good income. So from that you can see that two or three plants in a home garden will be quite adequate for the family,” explained Jeewandara.

Tibbatu can be mixed into Parippu, or used as a curry, or with dried fish. It can even be used for cutlet mixture

“If grown in your home garden, from one tree you can reap 150g. So with a few trees at home you can reap 250g – 500g,” summed up Jeewandara

NUTRIENTS in 100g

Water ……………………………………………. 75g
Energy ………………………………………….. 39 calories
Protein …………………………………………. 3.1g
Fat ………………………………………………… 0.8g
Carbohydrate ……………………………… 4.8g
Calcium…………………………………………10 Milligram
Phosphorus ………………………………… 90 Milligram
Iron ……………………………………………….1.2 milligram

MECDICINAL VALUES

* It is described in indigenous medicine
* It is good for respiratory illnesses – asthma
* It purifies the blood
* It increases the palatability
* It is good for skin diseases
* It is good for heart diseases