Gall Nut

GALLNUT are a kind of swelling growth on the external tissuesof plants or animals. Plant galls are abnormal outgrowths[1] of planttissues, similar to benign tumors or warts in animals. They can be caused by various parasites, from fungi and bacteria, to insects andmites. Plant galls are often highly organized structures and because of this the cause of the gall can often be determined without the actual agent being identified.

Names: 
Botanical Name: GALLNUT | English Name: GALLNUT | Hindi Name: GALLNUT | Tamil Name: MASIKKAI

Benefits: Plant galls are abnormal outgrowths of plant tissues caused by various parasites, particularly insects. Oak marble galls and Chinese sumac galls are galls on oak and Chinese sumac, respectively, which resemble nuts and are called "gallnuts" or "nutgalls". Oak marble galls, found on oaks in the Middle East, have long been used to make high-quality ink and for dyeing but most gallnut extract is now from Chinese sumac trees. It is now difficult to find oak galls, which were previously collected by hand in Turkey. However, the gallnut extract from Chinese sumac is very similar to oak gallnut and has the advantage of having a slightly higher concentration of tannin.

Uses:  Cooking, Medicinal Preparations, Extraction