Paul FernandesPanaji: Goa’s markets and roadsides in summer stir old memories, as vendors showcase some tangy fruits ranging from the popular kandam and churnam to assaim and zamblam. However, bhedsam, well known for its medicinal properties, was as usual missing from this fruit basket.Foraging through shrubs on hill sides, these fruits with unique taste and flavour were easily available in days bygone. The joy of hunting, plucking, and chewing on them made for sweet memories.Some of them can still be found in isolated hilly and green areas. People now barely search for them, instead relying on vendors to cater to their needs for a small price. The visibility of these summer delights in the market place, however, is progressively decreasing year after year.Bhedsam or bhendsam, known by their scientific name syzygium caryophyllatum—and its tree, a provider of ecological services and much more—have slipped to a more dangerous status in the IUCN red list due to severe anthropogenic pressures, habitat loss, and other factors.“Currently, the IUCN red list records them as vulnerable while data from previous years, 2011 to 2014, had categorised them as endangered (EN),” said botanist and author Maria Fonseca.This present status emphasises its significant conservation importance in Goa’s landscape. “Its declining population in the state could be due to ecological and anthropogenic factors, such as encroachment, conversion of forest margins into agricultural or development land,” said Fonseca.Their populations in patches along major highways, forest edges, and the state’s sandy coastal areas make it difficult for lateral expansion of their tree cover. “The lack of continuous forest corridors makes natural seed dispersal difficult,” the botanist said.In Goa, bhedsam populations are restricted to sandy coastal areas, sacred groves, and evergreen and semi-evergreen forests. “Their distribution is in isolated areas in foothills and near water bodies of green areas in Chinchinim and coastal areas like Cavelossim,” said Mabel Menezes, a local biodiversity management committee member.The tree grows to an average height of about 6m, produces small white flowers in clusters between February and June. This round berry changes colours during ripening from green to dark purple and is consumed by locals, birds, insects, and others alike.“Bhedsam contributes to soil stability and nutrient cycling, and helps maintain microclimate and water balance,” said Fonseca.“I have seen it fruiting in the monsoon and even found scat, probably jackal scat, with the berry seeds,” said ecologist and PhD scholar at the Indian Institute of Human Settlements, Bengaluru, Malaika Mathew Chawla.Though its vulnerable status is surprising, it grows quite well in the grasslands in Sirlim, she said.The tree has a good tradition of use in medicinal and traditional purposes in the western ghats, though not much in Goa. “Much like its relative, the jamun (Syzygium cumini), the bark and fruits of bhedsam are traditionally used to manage diabetes,” said Fonseca.Its use is good in gastrointestinal health for diarrhoea, ethanolic extracts of its leaves for antibacterial efficacy against pathogens, and the pulp of its berries is rich in antioxidants.Conserving bhedsam helps protect the unique genetic diversity of the western ghats hotspot. Native species like bhedsam can act as buffers for extreme weather events as they are more resilient to climate change in local conditions.Considering its importance as local biodiversity, potential economic, cultural and scientific value, its conservation is inevitable, Fonseca said. Loss of traditional knowledge is another critical aspect.“Without conservation efforts, such lesser-known native species may disappear unnoticed,” she said.
