What is Gnetum used for?

The leaves can be eaten raw or cooked. Fruit pulp, mature seeds, and tubers are edible as well. The leaves are laxative and used in the treatment of constipation, enlarged spleen, sore throat, piles, high blood pressure, nausea,warts, and boils. The stem can help to ease childbirth.

What are the uses of Gnetum Africana?

Primarily, Gnetum africanum leaves are used as a vegetable for soups and stews, commonly called eru soup or afang soup. The leaves of the vine are sold in markets throughout the year and may be used in soups and stews or eaten raw.

What are the health benefits of Gnetum Africanum?

Where are Gnetum found in Cameroon?

Like other NTFPs, Gnetum spp has food, medicinal and cultural values. The Center province, particularly the Lékié division is the 'storehouse' of Gnetum spp inCameroon. This area alone supplies local and external markets. The South-west is also a production area.

Is Gnetum a fruit?

Gnetum nuts are eaten boiled, roasted, or raw in most parts of Southeast Asia and Melanesia. The young leaves, flowers, and the outer flesh of the fruits are also edible when cooked and are eaten in Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand, Vanuatu, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, and Fiji.

Reproductive structures of Gnetum

What is Gnetum ovule?

Ovule or Female Flower:

The inner envelope elongates beyond the middle envelope to form the micropylar tube or style. The nucellus contains the female gametophyte. There is no nucellar beak in the ovule of Gnetum. Stomata, sclereids and laticiferous cells are present in the two outer envelopes.

Where is Gnetum found in India?

In India, Gnetum species grow naturally in evergreen forests of the Western Ghats, Eastern Ghats, in northeast India and Andaman and Nicobar Islands (Maheshwari & Vasil 1974, Sahni 1990, Singh & Mudgal 1997, Singh & Srivastava 2013, Khuraijam & Singh 2015, Singh et al. 2018).

Is Gnetum Africanum a vegetable?

Gnetum africanum (G. africanum) is one of the most popular green leafy vegetables in Nigeria, and it is gaining equal popularity as a delicious vegetable in other African countries such as Cameroun, Gabon, Congo and Angola[3].

Is Gnetum a Gymnosperm?

Gnetum is a genus of gymnosperms, the sole genus in the family Gnetaceae within the Gnetophyta. They are tropical evergreen trees, shrubs and lianas. Unlike other gymnosperms, they possess vessel elements in the xylem.

What does scent leaf cure?

Scent leaf mixed with bitter leaf is used in Nigeria as a potent treatment for malaria and fever. The dried leaf is a powerful mosquito repellent. Scent leaf will help you with your stomach aches, dysentery, diarrhoea and vomiting. It can help relief bloating and also help you digest your meals on time.

What is water leaf used for?

Waterleaf is a good source of vitamin A. Research indicates that eating a diet rich in vitamin C reduces the risk of developing Alzheimer's disease and slows age-related cognitive decline. Waterleaf is an excellent source of vitamin C, with about 31 mg for every 100 grams of vegetable matter.

What does Utazi leaf do in the body?

It balances circulation, normalises blood pressure, strengthens the heart and lowers high blood cholesterol and triglyceride levels. It prevents arteriosclerosis, platelet aggregation and blood clot formation within the blood carrying vessels. It also prevents angina pectoris, heart attacks and stroke.

What is Ukazi leaf called in English?

* Okazi/Ukazi/Afang Leaf(Gnetum Africanum) is used for cooking Afang soup and Okazi/Ukazi Soup. The leaves are tough(hard) and glossy and looks more like the leaves of an orange tree.

What is Okazi leaf called in English?

While the Western world refer to okazi leaf as wild spinach or wild vegetable, different African countries have different names for okazi leaf examples; Congo call it fumbua, KoKo; Nigerians call it afang, okazi, ukazi; Cameroonians call it okok, m'fumbua, or fumbua, eru.

What is the botanical name of waterleaf?

Botanically known as (Talinum Fruticosum or Talinum triangulare) and commonly known as Waterleaf; is a herbaceous annual and perennial plant with light green edible leaves.

Why Gnetum is regarded as highly advanced among the gymnosperms?

Gnetum is a Species of Gnetaceae family under the order Gnetales. Gnetales bear some Angiospermic characteristics. That's why it is considered as the most advanced group among gymnosperm.

What are three characteristics of Gnetum?

Gnetum species are characterized by such traits as decussate leaves, pinnate leaf veins, and the presence of vessels in stems, all of which resemble characters of angiosperms (Markgraf, 1930).

Why Gnetum is the most advanced Gymnosperm?

Gnetum (Gnetales) species are suggested to be unique extant gymnosperms that have acquired high photosynthetic and transpiration capacities as well as greater xylem hydraulic capacity and efficiency compared with all other extant gymnosperms.

Which type of pollination is shown by Gnetum?

Gnetum possesses morphologically bisexual but functionally unisexual reproductive structures that exude sugary pollination drops to attract insects. Previous studies have revealed that the arborescent species (G. gnemon L.)

What does Gnetum look like?

Gnetum bears remarkably angiosperm-like leaves, consisting of a broad, entire-margined lamina with pinnate-reticulate venation and multiple vein orders (Arber and Parkin, 1908; Markgraf, 1951; Rodin, 1966). The majority of Gnetum species are large woody climbers, producing xylem from multiple cambia (Carlquist, 1996).

Is Gnetum a flowering plant?

Taken together, their peculiar anatomy and intriguing pollination have led many to suggest that Gnetum are more closely allied to flowering plants than they are gymnosperms. Certainly it is easy to draw lines from one dot to another in this case but the real test lies in DNA.

Does Utazi reduce blood pressure?

UTAZI LEAF

It balances circulation: normalises blood pressure by strengthening the heart and lowering high blood cholesterol and triglyceride level. 2. It prevents arteriosclerosis, platelets aggregation and blood clot formation within the blood-carrying vessels.