Medicinal properties of morinda
Douglas Clapperton wants to plant trees of nutritional value on his ocean-front property in Satthahip. ''But apart from coconut palms we don't seem to have many options,'' he writes. The coconut is probably the best tree one can ever hope to plant on the seaside. Apart from giving shade and serving as a windbreak, every part provides many benefits but the fruit alone makes it worth planting.
There's nothing more relaxing than lazing the afternoon away in a reclining chair on your own piece of palm-fringed beach reading your favourite author and sipping the refreshing juice of a young coconut, with a loved one for company. Just make sure that the coconut you plant is of the dwarf nam hom (fragrant juice) variety, of which Sampran in Nakhon Pathom is famous, so you can pick the fruit easily.
Although coconut palms are often associated with beaches, actually there are many trees of nutritional value which can be planted along the sea. During a visit to Phuket last week, I saw a tamarind tree and a jujube (phutsa) growing by the sea at Cape Panwa.
Thais like to eat phutsa fruit but they do not normally plant the tree in their backyards because its name does not augur well. There's a Thai superstition that planting it will make their house collapse.
The young leaves and flowers of the tamarind can be used to flavour food, but Thais normally use the pulp of the ripe fruit for such dishes as kaeng som and massaman curry, among many others. Boiled with water then mixed with some sugar and ice, the ripe pulp also makes a very refreshing drink. Unboiled and mixed with a little salt, it is a laxative and used to treat constipation.
Another tree that tolerates saltwater is the Manila tamarind (Pithecellobium dulce or makham thet in Thai), a large, nearly evergreen tree that grows 20 metres or more in height. This attractive species with edible fruit is commonly planted along highways in the Philippines, but in Sudan, Tanzania and other dry areas of tropical Africa it is grown mainly in the coastal regions. It is fast growing even on poor soils.
Clapperton asked whether he could plant Moringa oleifera or marum on his property. Of course he can, as long as he plants it inland and not right on the sandy shore.
Another tree worth planting is Morinda citrifolia or yo in Thai, a small tree with thick, shiny, dark green leaves. Yo means ''flattery'' in Thai, and in the past Thais planted it for its name and as a source of food.
According to Thai Medicinal Plants published by the Medicinal Plant Information Centre, Mahidol University's Faculty of Pharmacy, morinda leaves can treat gout while the fruits are used for the treatment of gingivitis and as an appetite stimulant and blood purifier.
Nature's Choice to Wellness: Antioxidant Vegetables/Ulam, published by the Forest Research Institute Malaysia, adds that the fruit is traditionally used internally to treat swollen spleen, liver diseases, beri-beri, haemorrhage and cough, and is recommended for women after childbirth. The juice is prescribed for diabetes.
Thais eat the leaves cooked in hor mok (steamed minced fish curry in coconut milk). Tests found that every 100 milligrammes of morinda leaves contain twice the vitamin C found in limes and three times the calcium found in milk, in addition to high doses of vitamin A, iron and phosphorous.
Some years ago there was a rage in Thailand for imported Hawaiian and Tahitian ''miracle'' juice called noni, which cost between 1,500 and 2,000 baht a bottle. It was said to be medicinal although it was marketed as a supplementary food.
Noni is in fact morinda or yo, and you will save a lot of money by planting your own tree and extracting the juice from the ripe fruits. Yo is propagated by seed and thrives on well-drained soil.
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