The milk tree (photo). Why is it so called?

On Earth, there are many amazing plants that are known only in those areas where they grow. Surely you've heard of sausage or breadfruit. But today the theme of our article will be a dairy tree. Why is it called? Does it give a lot of milk? What is its use? With these and many other questions we will try to understand.

In South and Central America there are huge groves of mighty trees with shiny, polished leaves. Their fruits can not be eaten. Nevertheless, the locals appreciate these trees very much.

Milk tree: description

This tree, which is called dairy or cow (Brosimum galactodendron), belongs to the mulberry family.

Dairy tree grows to a height of 30 meters. He has one-piece leaves, flowers are ladder, with a multitude of stamens in the head-shaped inflorescences. A dairy tree grows in South America. Like other representatives of the family, the spike secretes milky juice. However, unlike other milky plants, it is not only not poisonous, but also quite edible, and even useful and very tasty. Local people use this delicious and flavorful juice as a substitute for cow's milk. They often call this plant a tree-cow.

This large tree belongs to the family of nettles, the subfamily Artakarpov, or the baker. Their trunk can be up to one meter in diameter.

The milk tree gives the juice that the local population calls milk. Indeed, it tastes very much like this drink, habitual for us since childhood. Therefore, the inhabitants of South America drink it constantly, and now many Europeans have found it extremely tasty. The juice expires quite actively - within half an hour you can fill it with a bottle.

How to get juice

As a rule, for this, a small hole in the trunk is drilled. In some cases, the juice is extracted from a felled tree, which gives it for several weeks.

Where does such a tree grow?

It must be said that the dairy tree is an unpretentious plant. It can grow on the scant soil, but from this taste qualities of "milk" do not change - it is always nutritious and very tasty. It grows in the hot countries of South America. In addition, the dairy tree is successfully cultivated in tropical Asia.

Fruit

The dairy tree has fruits about the size of an apple. They are considered inedible, but at the same time they contain a juicy and extremely palatable core. In any case, they say so, who managed to try it. True, the fruit of a dairy tree is not as valuable as its juice.

Composition of milky juice

Juice of the milk tree contains water, sugar, vegetable wax and a few pitches. In appearance, it is a thick and viscous liquid. It is thicker than real milk and has a balsamic flavor. By its composition is very close to the milk of the cow, but it tastes like cream with sugar.

A logical question arises: "What role does lacteal play in plant life?". As scientists have found, quite a variety.

Milky vessels cover all the tissues of the tree. They are filled with an emulsion of milky color. Cow's milk is also an emulsion. Or, in other words, a liquid in which particles of other substances are contained. In the milky juice of trees and other plants, proteins, fats, sugar and starch are found. The organic substances that form in the leaves accumulate in the vessels of the plant. During the ripening of seeds, milky juice develops its reserves for their development. At this time it becomes watery and liquid.

Use in Cooking

Juice of the milk tree does not deteriorate for seven to ten days, even in the tropics, does not fold when mixed with water. Milky juice has a taste and a kind of cow's natural milk. He is completely harmless. This is confirmed by the fact that local people feed them ore babies. If the juice is boiled, then it turns into a tasty curd mass.

The thick juice of white color flows abundantly from the cut into the set dishes. Many believe that the color and density of milk juice is more like good cream, and if it were not for an unusual smell, one could decide that it is cream that has just been brought from a dairy. After a short stay in the air, the juice becomes very thick, and it is eaten like cheese. If you add a little water to this "cheese mass", then for a long time it will remain liquid.

The natives of South America drink it like ordinary milk, dipping maize bread into it. In addition, they consume it with chocolate, coffee and tea. For many, this juice seems tastier than real cream. The fact is that it has a pleasant smell of cinnamon.

The juice of this amazing tree is very much in demand throughout the tropical part of South America. In whatever quantities it is used (although dieticians advise not to get carried away with this product), the juice does not cause harm to human health, and therefore it can be considered that the dairy tree is an unusual and useful gift of generous nature.

In addition to a delicious and healthy beverage from milky juice, the American Aborigines receive a special substance, in consistence and composition, reminiscent of wax. From it they make candles.

ethnoscience

From this tree a medicinal product is made, which has proved itself in the treatment of asthma.

American nutritionists recommend it for baby food and to maintain the strength of the elderly.

Where else does milky juice

The local population evaporates the juice and gets a thick substance of yellow color, which is very similar to beeswax. It has found wide application in the economy - it is used for repairing dishes, for hermetic sealing of vessels. In addition to milk from the milky juice of this tree, the American aborigines receive a special wax-like substance, from which they then make candles.

Recently, the export of dairy tree juice to other countries began.

Sorvera

In addition to the tree described above, other trees "giving milk" grow in the forests of South America. For example, a sorveyor. It is also called a pacifier tree. Scientists call it callophorus useful. It is enough to slightly cut the bark of this amazing miracle tree, as milk will flow from it.

This is not tropical exotic. On the contrary, the area of growth of this tree is quite extensive. Scientists and researchers argue that in the Amazonian lowland of such trees there are several million copies.

Each tree of the sorver at a time can yield up to 4 liters of milk. To do this, it is enough to make an incision on the trunk of a tree, and a dense white liquid will flow from it at once with a trickle, which resembles cow's milk in consistency.

Juice sorbents have a bit bitter taste. Therefore, for a long time it was considered poisonous. Today it has been scientifically proven that juice sorbents are not only completely harmless, but they are actually close in chemical composition to natural cow milk.

Recently, scientists from South America began to popularize woody milk. They are sure that the juice of a dairy tree can replenish a rather meager diet of the inhabitants of the tropics.

Milk galaktodendrona and sorvere in its appearance is similar to the milky juice of other plants, for example, milkweed, dandelion or celandine. Milky juice of poppy in frozen form is known as opium - the strongest remedy, used for a long time in medicine. The juice of rubber trees is used for the production of rubber. Of some types of trees-mlechniki receive raw materials for dyes. A juice galactodendron and sorbets, as it turns out, is used for food.