PUNCH
I do not like avocado pear; I guess it is because it is not sugary. I also dislike the sliminess of chia seeds when mixed with water.
During the heat wave this year, the only water that could quench my thirst was cold water from the refrigerator, but I noticed that every time I drank cold water, I felt nauseated.
I found a way around these issues. Avocados are great fruits that should not be avoided. What I do is blend them with plenty of water, or mix them with a fruit that is high in sugar.
For chia seeds, I add lime juice when I mix them with water to stop the sliminess. Adding lime juice to cold water before drinking also prevents nausea for me, which helped me stay hydrated during the heatwave.
Why am I sharing this? It is because we all have excuses for not eating or living healthily.
Rise above your excuses—healthy living is a necessity, not an option.
This week, in our visit to nature’s pharmacy, we will discuss African pear, popularly known as ‘Ube.’
It is botanically called Dacryodes edulis and belongs to the Burseraceae family.
The fruit, which can be eaten raw, cooked in salt water, or roasted, is widely consumed in various African regions and is used in soups, sauces, and stews.
African pear is rich in carbohydrates, proteins, crude fibres, and appreciable amounts of potassium, calcium, magnesium, and phosphorus. It also contains essential amino acids such as lysine, phenylalanine, leucine, and isoleucine.
It includes significant amounts of fatty acids like palmitic, stearic, oleic, and linoleic acids. Physicochemical analysis suggests that the seed has valuable functional attributes of industrial interest.
Gallic acid, an important natural product, is found in significant quantities in the seed of Dacryodes edulis. The seeds have reported vasomodulatory properties.
Pharmacological data show that D. edulis isolates contain secondary metabolites and other phytochemical groups, including terpenoids, with antimicrobial, anticancer, antidiabetic, anti-inflammatory, and hepatoprotective activities.
This highlights its pharmacological potential for treating diverse cancers, cardiovascular, and neurological diseases.
Phytochemicals and standardized extracts from D. edulis could offer safer and cost-effective chemopreventive and chemotherapeutic benefits or serve as alternative remedies for several human diseases.
Dacryodes species have a long history of medical efficacy and have been extensively used in ethnomedicine to treat various illnesses.
For example, D. edulis fruits, bark, leaves, resin, and other parts have been used in some African countries to treat ailments such as wounds, skin diseases, dysentery, and fever.
The extracts and secondary metabolites have shown biological activities such as antimicrobial, antioxidant, and anti-sickle cell anaemia.
The plant contains a wide range of chemical constituents like terpenes, flavonoids, tannins, alkaloids, and saponins.
The resin from the bark is used to treat parasitic skin diseases, jiggers, etc.
A bark decoction is taken, and powdered with maleguetta pepper, for anti-dysenteric purposes, anaemia, spitting blood, and as an emmenagogue.
The decoction is also used for gargles and mouthwashes to treat tonsillitis. The pulped bark is used as a wound cicatrizant and, combined with palm oil, is applied topically to relieve general pains, stiffness, and cutaneous conditions.
The leaves are eaten raw with kola nuts as an antiemetic. The leaf sap is instilled into the ear for ear troubles.
A leaf decoction is prepared as a vapour bath for treating feverish stiffness and headaches.
For those who find scientific studies dense due to terminology, here’s a simplified summary of some research on this plant:
In Southeastern Nigeria, herbal doctors include the mashed fruit of Dacryodes edulis in decoctions for diabetic patients.
Scientific research has confirmed that D. edulis hexane fruit extract possesses hypoglycemic and hypolipidemic activities, suggesting its validity in managing diabetes.
Another study tested the efficacy and safety of Dacryodes edulis plant parts in chicken diets. Phytochemical analyses of plant leaves, stems, and bark powder showed the plant’s potential as an additive in chicken diets.
Dacryodes edulis is traditionally used in cancer treatment, with studies reporting its antioxidant activity. Prostate cancer chemopreventive polyphenols have been found in D. edulis extracts. One study concluded that the aqueous extract of D. edulis leaves, due to its ability to inhibit tumour growth, could be considered a potential alternative for neoadjuvant treatment of estrogen-dependent breast cancer, indicating anti-cancer activities.
Another study found that the extracts are potential protective agents against cardiac damage and could also be recommended as antioxidants against heart tissue oxidative injuries, demonstrating cardio-protective activities.
The leaves are used to produce a dye and have anti-cancer, anti-oxidative, and anti-hyperglycemic potential.
The wood contains oil that, when extracted with petrol ether, is composed of fatty acids and their esters.
The bark is aromatic and yields a resin used in various ways—perfumery, as an adhesive for mending earthenware, waterproofing for calabashes, and can be burned as primitive lamp oil or bush candles.
The resin, under steam distillation, yields a peppery essential oil rich in sabinene, β-phellandrene, limonene, and a non-volatile fraction of crystalline canaric acid.
Benefits:
A study titled, Oil Extraction from Butter Fruit (Dacryodes Edulis) Seeds and its Optimization via Response Surface and Artificial Neural Network, by Adepoju et al., indicated that Dacryodes edulis seeds are rich in oil, which could be used in industries as raw material.
