Bitter leaf is a popular vegetable in Nigeria. It is consumed especially in eastern parts of Nigeria as an exciting soup, but the health benefits of bitter leaves goes beyond its use in soup preparation.
Bitter leaf is called vernonia amygdalina, it belongs to the family compositae.It is popularly called Ewuro in yoruba land, Igbo call it Onugbu , while Hausa call it Shiwaka.
Several research were done on the medicinal properties of Bitter leaves based on ethnobotanical survey, listed below are some of the findings which are of immerse contributions to wellness of mankind.
1. Bitter leaves is a powerful antibiotic, little wonder our fore father use bitter leaves extracts for the treatment of skin disease.Its efficacy was tested against B.subtilis E. coli , and micrococcus lutea.
2. bitter leaves has been found to be effective against schistosomiasis
3. Bitter leaves has been found to be effective against cancer, especially prostrate cancer
4. Bitter leaves has been found to lower blood sugar dramatically, with apotential of repairing the pancreas if combine with other medicinal plants. Recently, DR Obyo Nelson, a nigerian scientist patented a drug having bitter leaves as its origin for the reversal of diabetics, see US PATENT number:6,531,461 .
Each time you see a bitter leaf plant, a wonder plant is available for your use.
contact, ajayi adekunle kelly for further information on bitter leaves.
