Over 100-year-old rare Triloka Ber trees still bearing fruits in Bhopal

Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh) [India], February 2 : One of the rarest species of Ber fruit called Triloka Ber is being preserved at Fruit Research Centre situated at Intkhedi in the state capital Bhopal.
The centre claims that it is over a 100-year-old tree and there are only five trees of this Ber fruit in the country. All those trees are being nurtured at the research centre. This Trilok Ber has a huge demand across the country.
Principal Scientist of the Fruit Research Center, Dr R K Jaiswal said, "The pulp of this fruit is not sticky, it can be cut like an apple. One Ber fruit weighs about 40 to 50 grams and a tree bears up to 2.5 quintals of fruit (250 kg) at a time. This fruit is demanded in various cities which include Lucknow, Delhi, Chandigarh, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Kolkata and others."

According to Jaiswal, there are 125 varieties of plums in the country, but Triloka Ber is not named among them. He claimed that 100 years ago, Triloka Ber trees flourished naturally in a temple of Jagdishpur (Islamnagar) in the city. A research was done on trees. After this, its bud was brought to the research centre. Since the tree was in the temple, the villagers named it 'Triloka' Ber considering it as a prasad of Brahma, Vishnu, Mahesh (Tridev).
Talking about the benefits of the fruit, Jaiswal said, "The speciality of this fruit is that it removes depression and it is beneficial for the treatment of other diseases as well. 100 grams of this fruit contains Vitamin A 11 mg, 12 IU, Vitamin C 19.3 mg, Potassium 30 to 70 mg, Phosphorus 6 mg, Magnesium 3 to 5 mg, calories 22 and natural sugar ranges from 8 to 25 mg. Due to the high fibre, it keeps digestion good."
Another scientist, HI Sagar said, "Due to the climate of Bhopal, this tree is found here. Because of continuous cutting down of trees, their number has decreased, so we have preserved them here. The fruit can be kept in a normal room for up to 12 days, it does not spoil. The Ber remains hard even after ripening, as a result of which we can supply it to other states and even abroad also. If a farmer wants a tree, then we can provide them so that they can earn income from it."
It is also a speciality of Triloka Ber that it ripens a bit late as compared to other varieties, its fragrance reaches far away during the time of ripening. The fruit tastes very sweet. Besides, it contains very small kernels as a result there is more pulp in it, he added.