Kusum cake (Schleichera  oleosa)

Common names: Ceylon oak, Lac tree, Gum lac tree, Indian timber

Local names: Hindi: Kusum, Telgu: Posku, Marathi: Kusumb, Gujarati: Kosumb, Tamil: Kumbadiri, Malayalam: Cottilai, Kannada: Cakota.

Kusum tree has a broad, shady crown, found widespread in tropical Himalayas (Punjab to Nepal), India, Ceylon, Burma, Thailand, Indo-China, Malaysia. The fruit is about the size of a small plum. It is a rich  source of  energy (TDN 79.62%) and a good source of protein (CP 20.9%).

Deleterious factor

The expeller processed cake contains cynogenic glycosides at a level of 6.12 mg HCN per 100 g. The solvent extracted cake contains only 2.14 mg HCN per 100 g of the cake (Punj, 1988).