Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Great Herbal Discovery (From an amateur gardener's experience)

I just have to share about this wonderful plant which I grow in my herbal garden. When it was planted, I knew it has great medicinal values, yet, I only knew it was good to treat diabetics and cholestrol level. Yes, another on of those home remedial source, one of my collection. But little did I know that I'm going to love this plant so much now, and so excited to have it in my herbal garden!

This plant was about one month old.

In english, this plant can be directly translated as 'Continue Life'...LOL! In Malay, its widely known as "Sambung Nyawa"! In wikipedia,it is classified as below;

Alam: Tumbuhan
Divisi: Magnoliophyta
Kelas: Magnoliopsida
Order: Asterales
Famili: Asteraceae
Genus: Gynura
Spesies: G. procumbens

Since its too scientific for me to explain, so I'll leave it at that, up to your discretion.

The leaves of this Sambung Nyawa is suprisingly and delightfully delicious, unlike other herbal medicinal plants. It has this tangy light smell and crunchy to every bites. I just love taking it raw with our local sambal belacan (shrimp paste chilies) with rice. I can just finish 5-6 leaves easily in a meal.

This plant, apparently is widely used in Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand. However, it is actually originated from Mynmar and China. It can be easily planted by cutting off its twigs. The leaves shaped like an oval with sharp edge and ridges at the sides.

This herbal plant chemiccally contains, flavonoid, glikosida kuersetin, fenoleat asid, triterpenoid, alkaloid, saponin and tannin. Thus, for what it is listed wth, it is said to be a great source for antineoplastik, treating high fever, skin diseases, lowering high blood pressure, sugar level in blood, antimicrobial, anticarsinogenic to cancer cells, hipertension, stroke, lungs, high cholestrol, diabetics, coughs and sinusitis, among others (jargons here..hahaha)


I replant these twigs so it can be given away to friends and relatives who is interested to either plant or consume it.

10 comments:

Chahya said...

I love ulams too, and this is one of the favourites.
Nanti bila yg kt dlm pot tu besar sikit, boleh la I minta ye hehehe.

Ydiana said...

Hi Chahya

Ok, if you interested, I can give you the anak pokok. :) Kita trade dengan kacang botol ye. He he..

Hey, that day I surfed your blog and see your fragipani. So nice! See my post at pianobyear.blogspot.com. I ada mention your fragipani there. ;)

Apa Kau Nak said...

wahh...now you can be officially called Malaysia's New Herbs Specialist, hehe :)

I never heard of the herb name...thanks for the information. It's good info :)

Ydiana said...

Hi Intan

He he..! A non-certified herbalist, rather. There are still lots to be discovered, like hempedu bumi, tunjuk langit, temu lawak, serai wangi, etc. Even the more common ones like senduduk, semangkuk pun belum discover lagi. Tak tahu rupa mana lagi.

As and when there are new discoveries, I will definitely share here. Stay tuned!

Lee said...

Hi YDiana, everytime I popped over here I learn something.
This sure one very interesting plant.
Wow! At the rate you going can soon write a book of herbal plants, ha ha.
I must find out whether we have it here as most tropical plants can survive here...indoors beside a bright window.

Have fun Ydiana, Lee.

Ydiana said...

Hi Lee

Glad to be of service! ;)

I am still learning Lee, a loooooo...nnng way to go..haha!

Good idea to keep this plant indoor, it can be a very handy ulam for appetiser and very good one for health too.

Have a great week ahead, Lee!

Ydiana said...

Lee

If you can't find the plant in Canada, go to this link http://nileherb.blogspot.com/2008/09/gynura-procumbens-lour-sambung-mjawa.html

I think he can ship the seed or seedlings to US and Canada. Good luck!

Unknown said...

Hi there, i think i'm taking such a leaf. When i was working in Ipoh, several people recommended me to take it as i have blood pressure problems. They call it "penyambung nyawa", i took some home, actually quite a bit and was taking it regularly and it does help stabilize my pressure. I tried growing it but failed both attempts. My father's house has a plant that has the same type of leaves but slightly different shaped plant, so i'm not sure if i'm taking the right one. Besides that both of the plant which i take the leaf from looks different from yours.

And now i'm confused, the only thing that is common, is the super bitter taste, and yes it does kinda taste sweet at the end.

Please advice me of the plant and where can i get some locally, i prefer not to take my medication.

Thanks

Ydiana said...

I'm not sure if you can find this in local nurseries, as I got this plant from my sis in law who brought it back from a herbal plantation in Langkawi. But if you have any friend who grow this, it's can be easily planted. Where do you stay?

Ydiana said...

Btw....the one that I have doesn't taste bitter at all. Nor does it leave any sweet taste. It's rather tasteless but slight tangy....but the crunch is what makes it very nice, like very fresh ulam.