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Botany
Coarse, erect,
branched, annual herb, 0.6 to 1.5 meters hihgh. Leaves are long-petioled,
orbicular or orbicular-ovate, about 25 cm long; heart-shaped
base; margins, 3- to 5-lobed. Flowers are axillary and solitary;
corolla, large and yellow, and inside, deep purple at the base.
Fruit is elongated, 10-25 cm long, 1.5 - 3 cm in diameter, tapering
to a blunt point and containing rows of rounded, kidney shaped
seeds.
Medicinal
Properties
Demulcent, emollient,
sudorific, cooling, carminative, stimulang, cordial, antispasmodic
Distribution
Cultivated for
its edible fruit. Ubiquitous in market places.
Parts
utilized
· Roots,
leaves, young pods, seeds.
Nutrition
Contains vitamins A
and C. A good source of iron and calcium. Also contains starch,
fat, ash, thiamine and riboflavine.
Uses
Folkloric
· Decoction of roots
and leaves as a tea or for washing.
· Decoction of young fruit useful for catarrh, urinary problems.
· Syrup from mucilaginous fruit used for sore throat.
· Poultice of roots and leaves for wound healing.
· Young pods for fevers, difficult urination and diarrhea.
· Decoction of roots for headaches, varicose veins, arthritis,
fevers.
· Decoctions of leaves for abdominal pain.
· Leaves also useful as emollient poultice.
· Seeds used a coffee substitute. Paste of seeds, mixed with
milk, used for pruritic skin lesions.
· In Turkey, leaves used in preparation of medicine to reduce inflammation.
Studioes
• Anti-ulcer: Anti-ulcerogenic activity
of some plants used as folk remedy in Turkey: Five herbal remedies, including H esculentus, were studied for anti-ulcerogenic
activity. All extracts exhibited significant gastroprotective effects.
• Anti-H Pylori Adhesion: Glycosylated compounds from
okra inhibit adhesion of Helicobacter pylori to human gastric mucosa: A polysaccharide isolated from
the fresh juice showed strong inhibitory effects and an antiadhesive
activity with blocking of the Helicobacter
surface receptors.
• Antioxidant / Hepatoprotective:
(1) Antioxidant and hepatoprotective effect of the roots of Hibiscus esculentus
Linn: The ethanol extract
of HE roots showed excellent scavenging effect on free radicals and
hepatoprotective effects. (2) In antioxidant asays of five vegetables, strong activity was seen with okra fruit.
• Mucilage / Suspending Agent: Study showed that the mucilage of A esculentus may be used as a pharmaceutical adjuvant and as a suspending agent and other pharmaceutical applications, as a gelling, emulsifying or disintegrating agent.
• Reversible Male Reproductive Effects: Study results showed the oral administration of methanol fruit extract of A esculentus produced a reversible reduction in male fertility in rats. There was significant reduction of gross sperm motility, count and life/dead ratio with an increase in abnormal sperm cell in the semen sample.
Availability
Wild-crafted.
Perennial market produce.
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