Velvet tamarind is a common name for several trees in the genus Dialium and may refer to:

 

• Dialium cochinchinense, native to southeast Asia

• Dialium guineense, native to Africa

• Dialium indum native to south and southeast Asia

 

Dialium guineense, velvet tamarind, is a tall, tropical, fruit-bearing tree. It belongs to the Leguminosae family, and has small, typically grape-sized edible fruits with brown hard inedible shells.

 

It grows in dense forests in Africa along the southern edge of the Sahel. In Togo it is called atchethewh.

 

The velvet tamarind can be found in West African countries such as Ghana where it is known as Yoyi, Sierra Leone, Senegal, Guinea-Bissau where because of its texture is called "Veludo", Portuguese for velvet, and Nigeria where it is known as Awin in Yoruba, Icheku in lobo and Tsamiyar kurm in Hausa.

 

The bark and leaves have medicinal properties and are used against several diseases.

 

Each fruit typically has one hard, flat, round, brown seed, typically 7-8 millimeters across and 3 millimeters thick. The seed somewhat resembles a watermelon seed (Citrullus lanatus). Some have two seeds. The seeds are shiny, coated with a thin layer of starch.

The pulp is edible and may be eaten raw or soaked in water and consumed as a beverage. The bitter leaves are ingredients in a Ghanaian dish called domoda.

 

Wood is hard and heavy and used for construction. The wood is also used for firewood and charcoal production