Casava, Manioc ( Manihot esculenta Crantz; Euphorbiaeae)

The casava is one of the most cultivated food plants in the world. It is believed that the Casava starch has been used almost three centuries before Christ and remains to date one of the major sources of carbohydrates for millions of people living in the tropical zones.

Although a very popular food plant, improper manipulation and consumption of this plant can result in poisoning. The so-called sweet cassava has the poisonous cyanogenetic glucosides concentrated in the skin of the tubers while the bitter cassava has the poison incorporated in the tubers as well as in the skin. The toxin is destroyed by cooking and drying.

Parts used: Leaf, rhizome

Description:

Shrub with the stems reaching 2-3m high, thickened at the nodes and with a tuberous, edible rhizome. Leaves are deeply lobed. Inflorescence paniculate, very often located at the axis of the leaves; flowers not numerous.

Habitat:

Probably originating from Brazil, this plant is now widely cultivately in the tropics for its edible roots. It is commonly found in the Mascarenes.

Preparation and utilisation:

1. The oiled leaves are applied on the forehead of the patient suffering from headache.

2. In Madagascar, the powder obtained from the rhizome, is applied on abscess and furuncles.

3. The Manioc plant is a very common food plant in the tropics.

Tomato ( Lycopersicon esculentum L; Solanaceae)

The tomato is mentioned by both Gerald and Culpeper. There were once many other names for it: Apple of love, Pomum aureum,Poma amoris, Lycopersicum. Around 1830, Geiger, while reviewing past customs, reported that the fruit had once been credited with the ability to induce madness in the beloved!

The green fruit is very rich in: calories: 24; water:93%; proteins: 1.2%; lipids:0.2%; sugars:5.1%; fibre: 0.5%; calcium 13mg; phosphorus: 27mg; iron:0.5mg; carotene:162ug.

The extracts of the green fruit show antibacterial activity against the bacteria causing skin infections in man.

The presence of tomatine, one of the steroid alkaloids, present in the fruit inhibits the growth of the Candida Fungus.

This would justify to some extent the traditional uses of this plant.

Parts used: Leaf,Fruit.

Description:

Herbaceous erect plant reaching up to 1m in height, hairy and glandulous. Leaves dentate, flowers yellow; corolla 10-16mm. Fruit is a rounded drupe reaching 3-5cm in diameter.

Habitat:

This plant originates from tropical America but is now planted throughout the world as culinary plant.

Prepararion and utilisation:

1. The fruit is eaten cooked, and raw in salads.

2. The crushed leaves are applied as a poultice on burns.

3. The crushed green fruit and leaves are rubbed in the mouth during buccal candidiadis.

Sweet potato, Patate

The leaf extracts show anti microbial activity against a wide range of bacteria in vitro. This would help justify its use in traditional medicine for preventing secondary infections.

Parts used:

Leaf, rhizome.

Description:

Herbaceous perennial plant with a tuberous root and with prostrate stem. Leaves entire or lobed, 5-15cm long. Flowers are grouped in small numbers or on short peduncles; corolla funnel-shaped, pinkish-mauve or whitish-pink in colour. The fruit is rarely formed.

Habitat:

This plant most probably originates from Mexico. Nowadays it is an important food crop and several varieties have been cultivated in several parts of the world, especially in tropical regions.

Preparations and utilisation:

1. The root is highly appreciated as a food crop.

2. A leaf poultice is applied on furuncles and burns and on wounds.

3. In the Comoros, the leaf poultice is applied on second degree burn and it appears with some degree of success.

Artichoke, Artichant -( Cynara scolymus L Asteraceae; compositae)

The Artichoke was considered as an aphrodisiac plant in the XVIth century but its value as a choleretic agent has been known in the XXth century. It is now reported in the 10th century of the French Pharmacopoeia for its choleretic properties.

The leaves are reported to contain a bitter principle, the cynarine, as well as inulin- a carbohydrate which is well tolerated by diabetics.

Parts used:Leaf, Flower.

Description:

Herbaceous plant reaching up to 1.5m in height, somewhat spiny and with erect stems. Leaves deeply divided, soft and bearing a greyish tomentum underneath. Capitules large and having dark red flowers with oval-triangular bract, imbricate, fleshy and armed with a strong spine.

Habitat:

The plant originates from the Mediterranean region and was well-known to the ancient Greeks, Egyptians and Romans. It is now cultivated as a vegetable. It is a rather striking plant with its white and spiny leaves.

Preparation and utilisation:

1. An infusion of the 50-100g of the stem and leaves are made in 1L of water. 3 cups of this infusion is drunk before meals against biliary colics and also as a choloretic (stimulate liver functions). The fresh juice extracted from the leaves are also used.

2. The above mentioned infusion is also well-known for its hypolipidemic properties ;i.e. it lowers the cholesterol and other lipids in the blood.

3. An infusion made with leaves of Artichoke along with those of Chireta (Swertia chirata) and taken 2-3 times daily, is effective against fever.

Brede Malabar -( Amaranthus hybridus L. subsp.hybridus; Amaranthaceae)

This plant constitutes of a very good food plant. The whole plant along with the seeds are rich in carbohydrates and contains up to 14% amylose. The seeds are rich in proteins which contain amino acids such as lysine and methionine. The quality of the protein present is higher than the casein found in milk. The seeds are also rich in fatty acids: myristic(0,2%), palmitic(21,1%), stearic(5,4%), oleic(21,3%), linoleic(50,4%), linolenic(0,7%) and arachidic(0,8%).

Parts used: Leaf, root.

Description:

Annual herb reaching 1.50m high but generally smaller in size. Stem green and sometimes tinted red. Leaves oval, with a long petiole, cuneate at the base. Flowers in elongated terminal spikes. Seeds very small, dark reddish to black in colour.

Habitat:

This pantropical plant has become naturalised in Mauritius. It has now become a weed in cultivated lands. It is very common in Mauritius.

Preparation and utilisation:

1. The leaves are cooked as spinach.

2. A plant decoction is reported to be useful against fever.

Healthy Eating Initiatives 

Use of Medicinal plants.

Plants have been used for medicinal purposes for many centuries. To date, herbal products are being employed worldwide in a large variety of health care settings and as home remedies. 

In some developing countries, communities rely heavily on traditional practitioners and medicinal plants to meet their primary health needs and in many industrialised countries, plant products are gaining popularity as alternative and complementary therapies.

Healthy Eating Initiatives (or habits) has for purpose to improve the lifestyle of people through simple natural resources (plants) so as to maintain a healthy and efficient way of life.

Plants were once a primary source for all medicines in the world and continue to provide mankind with new remedies. Natural products and their derivatives represent more than 59% of all drugs in clinical use in the world.

The active ingredients in medicinal plants are chemical compounds that act directly or indirectly to prevent or treat disease and maintain health. The active compounds may be extracted from the plant in a pure form, after which it is identified and tested.