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Herb library · Herb · Tamarindus indica

Tamarind (tambran)

A large tree with sour-sweet brown pods, eaten as fruit and made into drinks and candy. Only a few small studies in people exist. Imported tamarind candies have been linked to lead poisoning in children.

Traditional use

In Trinidad, where it is called tambran, the fruit and leaves are infused for high blood pressure, the most-cited use for the tree in a national survey, and the bark is boiled for diabetes and asthma. The pulp has long been used as a mild laxative and made into cooling drinks. In 1756 Browne wrote that most Jamaican families kept the fruit preserved in sugar or syrup through the year, and counted fruit and leaves alike as cooling.

Traditional energetics

What studies show

  • Limited

    Blood fats and blood pressure: in a small 4-week exploratory trial in 50 people living with HIV and high triglycerides, the stronger of two tamarind juices lowered triglycerides and the weaker one lowered systolic blood pressure. The authors say the trial was not large enough for firm conclusions.

Be careful of

Cautions

  • InteractionIn a small study of 6 healthy volunteers, a meal with tamarind fruit extract markedly raised blood levels of aspirin. If you take aspirin, ask your clinician before eating tamarind in large amounts or taking extracts.
  • NoteCDC reported children in California with lead poisoning linked to imported tamarind candies; high lead levels were found in some candies and in their wrappers. Be cautious with imported tamarind candy for children.
  • PregnancyNo safety information for medicinal amounts in pregnancy or breastfeeding was found in the sources used here. Talk with your clinician before using extracts.
  • Ask a clinicianTalk with a clinician or pharmacist before using this if you take prescription medicines, are pregnant or breastfeeding, or are giving it to a child.

From the old books

What herbals and dispensaries of the past printed. History, in their words.

“Its fruit and leaves are equally cooling: the latter are sometimes used in subacid infusions, but the other is most generally preserved with sugar or syrup, and kept in that state throughout the year by most families”
Patrick Browne, The Civil and Natural History of Jamaica (1756), p. 125. See the page of The Civil and Natural History of Jamaica, p. 125 (opens in a new tab) · Read the full passage from The Civil and Natural History of Jamaica, p. 125
“A good vinegar may be made from the fruit; a very agreeable cooling drink is made by simply mixing water with a few spoonfuls of it when preserved.”
John Lunan, Hortus Jamaicensis (1814), vol. 2, p. 224. See the page of Hortus Jamaicensis, vol. 2, p. 224 (opens in a new tab) · Read the full passage from Hortus Jamaicensis, vol. 2, p. 224
“This tree is exceedingly common in Jamaica, grows to a vast bulk, and thrives well in the savanna lands, but best in deep, rich, brick, mould.”
John Lunan, Hortus Jamaicensis (1814), vol. 2, p. 224. See the page of Hortus Jamaicensis, vol. 2, p. 224 (opens in a new tab) · Read the full passage from Hortus Jamaicensis, vol. 2, p. 224

Sources

  1. Childhood Lead Poisoning Associated with Tamarind Candy and Folk Remedies — California, 1999–2000 (MMWR, 2002) (opens in a new tab) · CDC · read September 25, 2026
  2. Effect of Tamarindus indica L. on the bioavailability of aspirin in healthy human volunteers (Eur J Drug Metab Pharmacokinet, 1996) — PubMed record (opens in a new tab) · NIH · read September 25, 2026
  3. Effect of tamarind (Tamarindus indica L.) on the cardiometabolic health of patients living with HIV and elevated triglyceride levels: a dose-response double-blind, randomized exploratory trial (Food Funct, 2025) — PubMed record (opens in a new tab) · NIH · read September 25, 2026
  4. An ethnobotanical survey of medicinal plants in Trinidad (J Ethnobiol Ethnomed, 2015) — full text on PubMed Central (opens in a new tab) · NIH · read September 25, 2026

Reviewed September 25, 2026.