Karonda

Carissa carandas is a species of flowering shrub in the dogbane family, Apocynaceae. It produces berry-sized fruits that are commonly used as a condiment or additive to Indian pickles and spices. It is a very hardy, drought-tolerant plant that thrives well in a wide range of soils. Common names include Karonda (Devanagari :), Karau(n)da and Karanda

It is popularly planted as herb plant in Chhattisgarh. The natives plant it in home gardens and also it is under commercial cultivation.

Its fruits are used for pickles (Athan), jams and chutneys. As it is hardy plant and needs very less care, the agriculture experts are motivating the farmers of Chhattisgarh to plant this herb. The natives use Karonda as home remedy in treatment of many common diseases. The traditional healers also have in depth traditional medicinal knowledge about medicinal uses and properties of different plant parts of Karonda. They informed me that its consumption in any form is beneficial for health