OLUFUNKE FROM PUNCH
I have been on the hot seat since last week! Almost all the text messages I got had to do with why I do not include the pictures of the plants I discuss. I will like to address this. We were adding pictures before but we stopped. Moving this column forward is our collective responsibility; since I provide all the botanical names, you can go on Google, type them and the pictures will pop up. However, I am just a text away from you. I am readily available to send the pictures when you demand them.
People have started sending pictures of their olive oil bottles to me. We have been identifying the certification seals. I will be concluding discussions on Purslane this week but permit me to share something with you.
I once told you how I used to buy moi moi (bean pudding) in Plateau State, where I observed the one-year mandatory National Youth Service Corps scheme. I told you that the pepper sprinkled on it had a nice flavour and I was curious to know it. When I was told it was ginger, I rebelled because I was familiar with ginger while at home and it never smelt that way. I later got to know that it was dried ginger. So, this means your spices can have an entirely different flavour when dried. I decided to recall this story so that what I am about to say will sink in.
I have discovered that dried bitter leaf smells differently from the fresh one in soups. If you ever try it, you will not want to stop! Just get your bitter leaf, wash and squeeze as usual to remove the bitterness. Boil and dry it in the sun. Keep it in an air-tight container and start adding to your other vegetable soups when you cook them. I am eagerly waiting for you to share your experience with me.
Still in praise of Purslane, I would like to remind us that our bodies do not synthesise Omega-3 fatty acid; it must be consumed from a dietary source. Here, we are with Purslane having the highest level of alpha-linolenic, which is Omega-3 fatty acid essential for humans compared to any leafy green vegetable.
It is low in calories and rich in dietary fibre. It tops the list of plants high in vitamin E – it provides six times more vitamin E than spinach and seven times more beta carotene than carrots. It is also rich in vitamin C. Purslane has some B-complex vitamins like riboflavin, niacin and pyridoxine. It has trace amounts of dietary minerals such as iron, copper, magnesium, zinc, selenium, calcium, potassium, phosphorus and manganese.
It possesses a wide spectrum of pharmacological properties such as neuroprotective, antimicrobial, antidiabetic, antioxidant, antiulcerogenic and anticancer activities. In fact, its extracts have already been shown to be toxic to breast, lung, and cervical cancer. It also exhibited potent anticancer activity against prostate cancer cell lines. Other pharmacological roles it possesses include antibacterial, skeletal muscle relaxant, hepatoprotective, gastroprotective, neuroprotective and wound healing.
Last week, I talked about its benefits for the skin. I will like to say more so that you will know that Purslane is truly worth looking for to achieve a skin that is good from within. One skincare pioneer who put Purslane in a petri dish early on is Dr Barbara Sturm, the founder of the German brand Molecular Cosmetics and creator of the vampire facial and blood cream. She said, “I came across Purslane when I was formulating my MC1 blood plasma cream and working with scientists from the universities of Pittsburgh, Miami and Harvard, who had been studying the beneficial effects of topical and oral Purslane.”
She went on to say that Purslane is packed with nutrients and anti-ageing compounds, “which have dramatic anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidative, astringent and wound-healing properties, which accelerate the healing of damaged skin.” So impressed was Sturm by what she observed that Purslane is now to be found “in high doses” in every single product she created, from the cleanser, face mask and eye cream to the anti-pollution drops, anti-ageing primer and darker skin tones.
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