For Goan youngsters, summer is a time that’s brimming with delicious, juicy, wild fruits such as kantam, a berry which is a deep purplish-black when ripe.
Kantam (which translates to ‘thorn’ in English), is a popular berry found in Goa during summer, and goes by the botanical name Carissa carandas, while the common English name is Bengal Currant.
In English, it is also known as ‘Christ's Thorn’ since the plant bears pointed thorns resembling the crown of thorns, placed on the head of Christ during His crucifixion.
Ironically, the plant is related to the soft-stemmed adenium (which also belongs to the Apocynaceae family) and not to other thorny plants such as bougainvillea or citrus.
adenium
MAKE IN INDIA
While many plants were brought into Goa by the Portuguese, the Bengal Currant is certainly not one of them! This native of India also flourishes in Maharashtra and Karnataka.
Carissa carandas has medicinal properties, and finds extensive use in ayurveda, unani and homoeopathic medicine.
Carissa carandas | ayurveda
BERRY GOOD
Like other dark-coloured berries, such as blueberries, blackberries, acai berries and elderberries, karonda, too, contains anthocyanin pigment, which is an antioxidant.