Malaysian Herbs -Calotropis Gigantea-- (51)எருக்கஞ்செடி

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Calotropis gigantea (Crown flower) is a species of Calotropis

native to Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand, Sri 

Lanka, India, and China 

Calotropis gigantea.

Common names: Giant Milkweed, Crown Flower, Swallow Wort.

Plant: 2.4-3m.Common Hindi names: Aak, Alarkh, Madar, Sveta Arka.

Flower: 5.1cm across.

One of the two common species of Calotropis, native to India. The other being Calotropis procera (Rakta Arka).

Calotropis grows wild up to 900 meters throughout the country on a variety of soils in different climates, sometimes where nothing else grows.

Calotropis is used as a traditional medicinal plant with unique properties.
 Traditionally Calotropis is used alone or with other medicinals to treat common diseases such as fevers, rheumatism, indigestion, cough, cold, eczema, asthma, elephantiasis, nausea, vomiting,and diarrhea. According to Ayurveda, dried whole plant is a good tonic, expectorant, depurative, and anthelmintic. The dried root bark is a substitute for ipecacuanha.
The root bark is febrifuge, anthelmintic, depurative, expectorant, and laxative.
The powdered root used in asthma, bronchitis, and dyspepsia.
 The leaves are useful in the treatment of paralysis, arthralgia, swellings, and intermittent fevers. The flowers are bitter, digestive, astringent, stomachic, anthelmintic, and tonic. Calotropis is also a reputed Homoeopathic drug.

  A fermented mixture of Calotropis and salt is used to remove the hair from goat skins for the production of "nari leather" and of sheep skins to make leather which is much used for inexpensive book-binding.

 Fungicidal and insecticidal properties of Calotropis have been reported

                               எருக்கஞ்செடி

நீல எருக்கு,ராம எருக்கு என ஒன்பது வகையான எருக்குகள் இருக்கின்றன என சித்தவைத்தியர்கள் கூறுகின்றனர்.எருக்கஞ்செடி 12 ஆண்டுகள் மழையில்லாமல் இருந்தாலும் கூட,சூரிய ஒளியிலுள்ள தண்ணீரை கிரகித்து வளரும் தன்மை கொண்டது.அதன் பருவகாலத்தில் பூத்து,காய்த்து,வளர்ந்துவிடும்.இதில் விஷேச அம்சம் கொண்டதுதான் வெள்ளெருக்கு.இதை வீட்டிலும் வளர்க்கலாம்.இதன் பூவை வைத்து விநாயகருக்கும்,சிவனுக்கும் அர்ச்சனை செய்யலாம்.வெள்ளெருக்கம் பூ சங்கை பஸ்மமாக்கப் பயன்படுகிறது.வெள்ளெருக்கு பட்டையை நூலுக்குப் பதில் விளக்குத்திரியாக போட்டு வீட்டில் எரிக்க சகல பூதங்களும் விலகி ஓடும்.வெள்ளெருக்கு வடவேரில் மணிமாலை செய்யலாம்.விநாயகர் செய்து வழிபடலாம்.ஆகர்ஷணம் எட்டு வகைப்படும்.இதில் தன ஆகர்ஷணம் பண வரவை அள்ளிக் கொடுக்கக் கூடியது இந்த வெள்ளெருக்கு விநாயகர்..

       

BUSH TEMPALANG

Calotropis yields a durable fiber (commercially known as Bowstring of India) useful for ropes, carpets, fishing nets, and sewing thread. Floss, obtained from seeds, is used for stuffing purposes.

A poultice of the leaves is applied for rheumatism, filariasis, wounds, glandular swellings,   eczema, pigmentation, and other skin inflammations. The latex acts as a purgative, used in treating ascites of Kapha type and hepatosplenomegaly ascites. 

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Malaysian Herbs-Mentha diemenica-(50) MINT FAMILY

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TASMANIA'S  HERB

When   you note clearly You can see this herb through out  Malaysia 

Mentha dementia

About twenty-five species of Mentha are distributed worldwide, six being endemic to Australia. All have aromatic foliage, a characteristic of the Lamiaceae family, to which they belong. 

Mentha diemenica occurs in grassland and forest habitats from the Mt Lofty Ranges in South Australia, throughout Victoria and Tasmania, and north to the Blue Mountains of New South Wales. It is a strongly suckering plant that in cold, dry conditions may become dormant, but when growing vigorously, it forms a dense ground cover 10-15 cm high.

The dull green, opposite leaves are ovate to lanceolate and 4-12 cm long. They are usually entire, but occasionally obscure teeth are noticed on the leaf margins. Leaves may be sessile or have a short petiole.

Flowers are borne in the upper leaf axils from late spring to summer. Each axil bears one to four flowers at each node, giving two to eight flowers. They are usually mauve or lilac with four small petals each extending 2-3 mm beyond the tubular calyx.

In cultivation, M. diemenica grows well in a slightly damp site in either reasonably heavy shade or full sun. In good conditions in a rockery it may become invasive and thus should be contained in a rock pocket or regularly controlled by removing suckers. It is a desirable plant between drive strips or near stepping stones where its fragrant aroma is noticed when it is trodden on.

Propagation is easy from cuttings taken at any time when the plant is growing vigorously, or by division when rooted pieces may be removed and re-established in a new situation. These new plants must be kept moist after transplanting.

Mentha diemenica is frost hardy, but it is susceptible to a rust fungus causing small brown spots on the underside of the leaves. This may be controlled with a suitable fungicide.

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The leaves of this native mint may be used as a flavoring and garnish for cool summer drinks in a similar manner to the common introduced mint.

Text by John Wrigley, ANBG (1981)

Mentha diemenica

Mięta tasmańska

Design & Plant Use for Mentha dementia:

• Summer flowering herbaceous plant suitable for border planting
• Ideal for planting within the herb garden
• Herbaceous plant with culinary usage

Mięta tasmańska

rodzina: Lamiaceae – jasnotowate
pochodzenie: Australia (południowa część), Tasmania
stanowisko: słoneczne, półcieniste, cieniste; mokre, płytka woda
wysokość: 10-15 cm

Odmiana o drobniutkich, żywozielonych liściach z wigorem płoży się i szybko okrywa wolne, wilgotne miejsca  - pomocna przy okrywaniu nieatrakcyjnych brzegów, zacieraniu granicy między brzegiem i wodą. Roztarte w palcach lub nadepnięte liście wydzielają cytrusowy zapach – można wysadzać przy schodkach, ścieżkach. Aromatyczny dodatek do napojów w upalne lato; można ją także suszyć.

Mentha diemenica is known by the common name of slender mint. The species is named after Van Diemen's Land, which is now Tasmania.^[1]It is a mint species within the genus Mentha.



Wildly Grown In Austalia. Thanks to the Government of Australia
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Malaysian Herbs(49)-Ricinus Communis-ஆமணாக்குச்செடி

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Ricinus communis-ஆமணாக்குச்செடி

The castor oil plant, Ricinus communis, is a species of flowering plant in the spurge family, Euphorbiaceae. It belongs to a monotypic genus, Ricinus, and subtribe, Ricininae. The evolution of castor and its relation to other species are currently being studied using modern genetic tools.

Its seed is the castor bean which, despite its name, is not a true bean. Castor is indigenous to the southeastern Mediterranean Basin, Eastern Africa, and India, but is widespread throughout tropical regions (and widely grown  in Malaysia and elsewhere as an ornamental plant).

Castor seed is the source of castor oil, which has a wide variety of uses. The seeds contain between 40% and 60% oil that is rich in triglycerides, mainly ricinolein. The seed contains ricin, a toxin, which is also present in lower concentrations throughout the plant.

An unrelated plant species, Fatsia japonica, is similar in 

appearance and known as the false castor oil

The leaves have Anti-vatha properties.The leaves can either be given as decoction or surasam.

The leaves are made into small pieces,then fried in castoroil and used for formentation in case of arthritis over the swollen and painful areas.

The leaves are heated and applied over the breast as a bandage to induce milk secretion in case of lactating mothers.

For painful abdomen due to constipation , amenorrhoea etc ,castor oil is gently applied externally over lower abdomen.Also the heated leaves of this plant should be externally applied over this area.

The roots are crushed and prepared as decoction and given for 3-5 days in case of pricking pain over axilla and increased vatha condition , lumbago,diseases of abdomen,pain around urinary bladder,

The oil prepared from seeds is castor oil.This oil is used to induce purgation in case of constipation,intesinal worms in children,eczema and dermatosis.

The dried seed powder is given in dose of about 1 to 2 gm in rheumatism, lumbago, piles, constipation, diseases of liver, spleen and sciatica etc.

For increased iyam or kapha conditions,cough,bronchial asthma etc, 2 parts of castor oil and 1 part of honey is mixed well and given internally to induce purgation and produce relief.

Though The Us National National University has time to search about this medicinal plant. The Indian Siddha Medicine Has gone far away in using as Traditional Medicine

The ancient and modern medicinal uses of the castor bean plant, Ricinus communis L. (Euphorbiaceae), in about fifty countries worldwide, has been surveyed. The different medicinal uses are grouped separately in relation to their pharmacological action, whether real or presumed, within the various medical specialties. The results show an extensive use of this plant throughout the world and the authors suggest that further research should be carried out to determine the active principles present in the various parts of the plant.

The plant grows throughout the tropical areas of India. In tropical regions the tree reaches the height upto 10-12 metres, whereas, in temperate regions a slender, woody, branching bush reaches upto 1-2 metres in height. The leaves alternate, palmately lobed with seven serrate lobes. The flowers monoecious, male flowers shortly stalked and female ones, sessile. The fruits are blunt, greenish, tricoccus capsules. The seeds are ovoid, flattened, shining and pinkish-grey in colour.

The plant is classified into two types viz. white and red. The white variety is commonly used in medicine. The botanical name of  Castor Oil Plant  is Ricinus communis and it belongs to family Euphorbiaceae. The seeds contain 45% of fixed oil, which consists glycerides of ricinoleic, isoricinoleic, stearic and dihydroxystearic acids. The seeds have lipases and a crystalline alkaloid, ricinine. The leaves and the stem also contain ricinine. Detection of palmitic (1.2), stearic (0.7), arachidic (0.3), hexadecenoic (0.2), oleic (3.2), linoleic (3.4), linolenic (0.2), ricinoleic (89.4%) and dihydroxy stearic acids as esters in castor oil by GLC

 as esters in castor oil by GLC.

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Malaysian Herbs- OAK-QUERCUS ALBA (48)

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http://www.sidhhaherbs.blogspot.com            OAK TREE

Quercus alba

Oak wood has a density of about 0.75 g/cm³, great strength and hardness, and is very resistant to insect and fungal attack because of its high tannin content


White oak has served as the official state tree of Illinois after selection by a vote of school children. There are two "official" white oaks serving as state trees, one located on the grounds of the governor's mansion, and the other in a schoolyard in the town of Rochelle. The white oak is also the state tree of Connecticut and Maryland. The Wye Oak, probably the oldest living white oak until it fell because of a thunderstorm on June 6, 2002, was the honorary state tree of Maryland

Quercus alba, the white oak, is one of the pre-eminent hardwoods of eastern North America. It is a long-lived oak of the familyFagaceae, native to eastern North America and found from southern Quebec west to eastern Minnesota and south to northern Florida and eastern Texas. Specimens have been documented to be over 450 years old.

Although called a white oak, it is very unusual to find an individual specimen with white bark; the usual color is a light gray. In the forest it can reach a magnificent height and in the open it develops into a massive broad-topped tree with large branches striking out at wide angles.

Normally not a very tall tree, typically reaching 65–85 feet (19.5-25.5 m) at maturity, it nonetheless becomes quite massive and its lower branches are apt to extend far out laterally, parallel to the ground. The tallest known white oak is 144 feet (43 m) tall. It is not unusual for a white oak tree to be as wide as it is tall, but specimens growing at high altitudes may only become small shrubs. White oaks have been known to live up to six hundred years. The bark is a light ash-gray and peels somewhat from the top, bottom and/or sides.

Quercus alba

Quercus alba, the white oak, is one of the pre-eminent hardwoods of eastern North America. It is a long-lived oak of the familyFagaceae, native to eastern North America and found from southern Quebec west to eastern Minnesota and south to northern Florida and eastern Texas. Specimens have been documented to be over 450 years old.

In spring the young leaves are of a delicate, silvery pink and covered with a soft, blanket-like down. The petioles are short, and the leaves which cluster close to the ends of the shoots are pale green and downy with the result that the entire tree has a misty, frosty look. This condition continues for several days, passing through the opalescent changes of soft pink, silvery white and finally yellow green.

The leaves grow to be 5-8.5 inches long and 2.75-4.5 inches wide and have a deep glossy green upper surface. They usually turn red or brown in autumn, but depending on climate, site, and individual tree genetics, some trees are nearly always red, or even purple in autumn. Some brown, dead leaves may remain on the tree throughout winter until very early spring. The lobes can be shallow, extending less than halfway to the midrib, or deep and somewhat branching. The acorns are usually sessile, and grow to 0.5-1 inch in length, falling in early October.

Quercus alba is sometimes confused with the swamp white oak, a closely related species, and the bur oak. The 

Uses

White oak has tyloses that give the wood a closed cellular structure, making it water- and rot-resistant. Because of this characteristic, white oak is used for barrels for wine and whiskey production since it resists leaking. It has also been used in construction, shipbuilding, cooperage, agricultural implements, and in the interior finishing of houses.^[3]

It was a signature wood used in mission style oak furniture by Gustav Stickley in the Craftsman style of the Arts and Crafts movement.^{[citation needed]}

White oak is used extensively in Japanese martial arts for some weapons, such as the bokken and jo. It is valued for its density, strength, resiliency and relatively low chance of splintering if broken by impact, relative to the substantially cheaper red oak.

The acorns are much less bitter than the acorns of red oaks. They are small relative to most oaks, but are a valuable wildlife food, notably for turkeys, wood ducks, pheasants, grackles, jays, nuthatches, thrushes, woodpeckers, rabbits, squirrels and deer. They were also used for food by Native Americans. The white oak is the only known food plant of the Bucculatrix luteella and Bucculatrix ochrisuffusa caterpillars.

The young shoots of many eastern oak species are readily eaten by deer.Dried oak leaves are also occasionally eaten by white-tailed deer in the fall or winter. Rabbits often browse twigs and can girdle stems.

The USS Constitution is made of white oak, and reconstructive wood replacement comes from a special grove of Quercus albaknown as the "Constitution Grove" at Naval Surface Warfare Center Crane Division.

Woodworkers should be aware that ferrous metal hardware reacts with oak, causing corrosion and staining the wood. Brass or stainless steel fittings should be used instead.

Symbolism

The Old Charter Oak.

White oak has served as the official state tree of Illinois after selection by a vote of school children. There are two "official" white oaks serving as state trees, one located on the grounds of the governor's mansion, and the other in a schoolyard in the town ofRochelle. The white oak is also the state tree of Connecticut and Maryland. The Wye Oak, probably the oldest living white oak until it fell because of a thunderstorm on June 6, 2002, was the honorary state tree of Maryland.

Being the subject of a legend as old as the colony itself, the Charter Oak of Hartford, Connecticut is one of the most famous white oaks in America. An image of the tree now adorns the reverse side of the Connecticut state quarter.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Quercus alba

Chemistry

Grandinin/roburin E, castalagin/vescalagin, gallic acid, monogalloyl glucose (glucogallin) andvaloneic acid dilactone, monogalloyl glucose, digalloyl glucose, trigalloyl glucose, ellagic acid rhamnose, quercitrin and ellagic acid are phenolic compounds found in Q. alba.

Garden Uses

Large shade tree, street tree or lawn tree. Needs a large space in which to grow. 

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Malaysian Herbs-ACACIA GUM-(47)அரேபிக் கம்

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அன்பர்களே சஹாரா பாலைவனத்தின் செடிகளை அறிவீர்களா?

                       Gum Arabic      

அரேபிக் கம்

 Also known as acacia gum, chaar gund, char goond, or meska, is a natural gum made of hardened sap taken from two species of the acacia tree; Acacia senegal and Acacia seyal. The gum is harvested commercially from wild trees throughout the Sahel from Senegal and Sudan to Somalia, although it has been historically cultivated in Arabia and West Asia.

Gum Arabic is a complex mixture of glycoproteins and polysaccharides. It was historically the source of the sugars arabinose and ribose, both of which were first discovered and isolated from it, and are named for it.

Gum Arabic is used primarily in the food industry as a stabilizer. It is edible and has E number E414. Gum arabic is a key ingredient in traditional lithography and is used in printing, paint production, glue, cosmetics and various industrial applications, including viscositycontrol in inks and in textile industries, although less expensive materials compete with it for many of these roles.

While gum Arabic is now produced mostly throughout the African Sahel, it is still harvested and used in the Middle East. For example, Arab populations use natural gum to make a chilled, sweetened, and flavored gelato-like desseGum Arabic mixture of saccharides and glycoproteins gives it the properties of a glue and binder which is edible by humans. Other substances have replaced it in situations where toxicity is not an issue, as the proportions of the various chemicals in gum Arabic vary widely and make it unpredictable. Still, it remains an important ingredient in soft drink syrups, "hard" gummy candies such as gumdrops, marshmallows, M&M's chocolate candies, and edible glitter, a very popular, modern cake-decorating staple. For artists, it is the traditional binder used in watercolor paint, in photography for gum printing, and it is used as a binder in pyrotechnic compositions. It has been investigated for use in intestinal dialysis. Pharmaceuticals and cosmetics also use the gum as a binder, emulsifying agent and a suspending or viscosity-increasing agent. Gum Arabic has been used in the past as a wine fining agent.

It is an important ingredient in shoe polish and can be used in making homemade incense cones. It is also used as a lickable adhesive, for example on postage stamps andcigarette papers. Lithographic printers employ it to keep the non-image areas of the plate receptive to water. This treatment also helps to stop the oxidation of aluminum printing plates in the interval between the processing of the plate and its use on a printing press.

Powdered gum arabic for artists, one part gum arabic is dissolved in four parts distilled water to make a liquid suitable for adding to pigments.

A selection of gouaches containing gum arabic

Gum Arabic is used as a binder for watercolor painting because it dissolves easily in water. The pigment of any color is suspended within the acacia gum in varying amounts, resulting in watercolor paint. Water acts as a vehicle or a diluent to thin the watercolor paint and helps to transfer the paint to a surface such as paper. When all moisture evaporates, the acacia gum binds the pigment to the paper surface. After the water evaporates, the acacia gum in the paint film increases luminosity and helps prevent the colors from lightening. Gum arabic allows more precise control over washes, because it prevents them from flowing or bleeding beyond the brush stroke. In addition, acacia gum slows evaporation of water, giving slightly longer working time.

Photography

The historical photography process of gum bichromate photography uses gum arabic mixed with ammonium or potassium dichromate and pigment to create a colored photographic emulsion that becomes relatively insoluble in water upon exposure to ultraviolet light. In the final print, the acacia gum permanently binds the pigments onto the paper.

Printmaking

Gum Arabic is also used to protect and etch an image in lithographic processes. Ink tends to fill into white space on photosensitive aluminum plates if they do not receive a layer of gum. In lithography, the gum etch is used to etch the most subtle gray tones. Phosphoric acid is added in varying concentrations to the acacia gum to etch the darker tones up to dark blacks. Multiple layers of gum are used after the etching process to build up a protective barrier that ensures the ink does not fill into the whitespace of the image being printed.

It is also possible to print from black and white photocopies using a 50% Gum Arabic solution. This is carefully sponged onto the photocopy, and oil-based ink of any colour is rolled over the photocopy. The ink can be removed fairly easily from the white areas by carefully wiping with a damp sponge and the "paper plate" used to print using an etching press.

Pyrotechnics

Gum rabic is also used as a water-soluble binder in fireworks composition.

Physical properties

Effect on surface tension in liquids

Acacia gum reduces the surface tension of liquids, which leads to increased fizzing in carbonated beverages. This can be exploited in what is known as a Diet Coke and Mentos eruption.

Production

Acacia senegal from Paul Hermann Wilhelm Taubert's Leguminosae, in Engelmann (ed.): Natürliche Pflanzenfamilien. Vol. III, 3., 1891

Acacia seyal from Paul Hermann Wilhelm Taubert's Leguminosae, in Engelmann (ed.): Natürliche Pflanzenfamilien. Vol. III, 3., 1891

While acacia gum has been harvested in Arabia, Egypt, and West Asia since antiquity, sub-Saharan acacia gum has a long history as a prized export. The gum exported came from the band of acacia trees that once covered much of the Sahel region: the southern littoral of the Sahara Desert running from the Atlantic to the Red Sea. Today, the main populations of gum-producing Acacia species are harvested in Mauritania, Senegal, Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Nigeria, Chad, Cameroon, Sudan, Eritrea, Somalia, Ethiopia, Kenya and Tanzania. Acacia Senegal is tapped for gum by cutting holes in the bark, from which a product called Kordofan or Senegal gum is exuded. Seyal gum, from Acacia seyal, the species more prevalent in East Africa, is collected from naturally occurring extrusions on the bark. Traditionally harvested by seminomadic desert pastoralists in the course of their transhumance cycle, acacia gum remains a main export of several African nations, including Mauritania, Niger, Chad, and Sudan. The hardened extrusions are collected in the middle of the rainy season (harvesting usually begins in July), and exported at the start of the dry season (November). Total world gum Arabic exports are today (2008) estimated at 60,000 tonnes, having recovered from 1987–1989 and 2003–2005 crises caused by the destruction of trees by the desert locust. Sudan, Chad, and Nigeria, which in 2007 together produced 95% of world exports, have been in discussions to create a producers' cartel.^[4]

Political aspects

Senegambia

In 1445, Prince Henry the Navigator set up a trading post on Arguin Island (off the coast of modern Mauritania), which acquired acacia gum and slaves for Portugal. With the merger of the Portuguese and Spanish crowns in 1580, the Spaniards became the dominant influence along the coast. In 1638, however, they were replaced by the Dutch, who were the first to begin exploiting the acacia gum trade. Produced by the acacia trees of Trarza and Brakna, and used in textile pattern printing, this acacia gum was considered superior to that previously obtained in Arabia. By 1678, the French had driven out the Dutch and established a permanent settlement at Saint Louis at the mouth of the Senegal River, where the French Company of the Senegal River (Compagnie Française du Sénégal) had been trading for more than fifty years.^[5]

Moorish tribes meet to trade gum arabic at Bakel on the Senegal river, 1890 (illustration from "Côte occidentale d'Afrique du Colonel Frey", pl. en reg. p. 100)

For much of the 19th century, gum Arabic was the major export from French and British trading colonies in modern Senegal and Mauritania. France in particular first came into conflict with inland African states over the supply of the commodity, providing an early spur for the conquest of French West Africa. As the Atlantic slave trade weakened in the early 19th century, The Emirate of Trarza and its neighbors, in what is today southern Mauritania, collected taxes on trade, especially gum arabic, which the French were purchasing in ever-increasing quantities for its use in industrial fabric production. West Africa had become the sole supplier of world acacia gum by the 18th century, and its export at the French colony of Saint-Louis doubled in the decade of 1830 alone. Taxes, and a threat to bypass Saint-Louis by sending gum to the British traders at Portendick, eventually brought the Emirate of Trarza into direct conflict with the French. In the 1820s, the French launched the Franco-Trarzan War of 1825. The new emir, Muhammad al Habib, had signed an agreement with the Waalo Kingdom, directly to the south of the river. In return for an end to raids in Waalo territory, the Emir took the heiress of Waalo as a bride. The prospect that Trarza might inherit control of both banks of Senegal struck at the security of French traders, and the French responded by sending a large expeditionary force that crushed Muhammad's army. The war incited the French to expand to the north of the Senegal River for the first time, heralding French direct involvement in the interior of West Africa. Gum Arabic continued to be exported in large quantities from the Sahel areas of French West Africa (modern Senegal, Mauritania, Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger) and French Equatorial Africa (modern Chad) until these nations gained their independence in 1959-61.

Sudan

Although from the 1950s to the early 1990s, Sudan accounted for roughly 80% of gum Arabic production, today, that figure is under 50%. Hundreds of thousands of poor Sudanese are dependent on gum Arabic for their livelihoods. It is, however, still the world's largest single producer, and the production of gum Arabichttp:// is heavily controlled by the Sudanese government.

The connection between Sudan and Osama bin Laden brought the otherwise innocuous gum to public consciousness in 2001, as an urban legend arose that bin Laden owned a significant fraction of the gum arabic production in Sudan, and therefore one should boycott products using it.

This story took on somewhat significant proportions, mostly due to an article in The Daily Telegraph a few days after the September 11 attacks, which echoed this claim. Eventually, the State Department issued a release stating that while Osama bin Laden had once had considerable holdings in Sudanese gum Arabichttp:// production, he divested himself of these when he was expelled from Sudan in 1996.

In a press conference held at the Washington Press Club on 30 May 2007, John Ukec Lueth Ukec, Sudan's ambassador to the United States, threatened to stop the exportation of gum arabic from his country if sanctions were imposed. The sanctions proposed by the United States were a political response from the United States to the alleged connection between the government of Sudan and the Janjaweed militia group. Ukec made his speech surrounded by Coca-Cola products, although other sodas use acacia gum as an emulsifier, as well.

Ukec was quoted at the Washington press conference, "I want you to know that the gum Arabic which runs all the soft drinks all over the world, including the United States, mainly 80 percent is imported from my country," which he said after raising a bottle of Coca-Cola. According to the Washington Post, a reporter then asked if Sudan was threatening to "stop the export of gum Arabic and bring down the Western world." To which Ukec replied, "I can stop that gum Arabic and all of us will have lost this," and gestured to the Coke bottle.
THANKS, VIKI

Acacia gum has been used since 2650 BC, at the time of ancient Egypt, when it was used in the manufacture of bandages for mummies1 and for food. Its production area spreads far and wide across the “gum belt”, extending from Senegal to Eritrea, in dry and semi-arid areas of the south of Sahara.  

Acacia gum is a tremendous economic resource for poor populations of the Sahel. In these territories, around three million people can live their lives thanks to the acacia gum crop2. Acacia trees also represents a great asset for farming and local communities, as it can acclimatise perfectly to dry and desert areas.
Besides its economic interest for the poorest local populations, the harvest of acacia gum has a very positive impact on environmental protection. Acacia trees nourish the soil by fixing nitrogen and restoring fertility. They give shelter and shade to farmers and animals while producing Acacia Gum. They are a sustainable resource, and their harvest increases the productivity of other cultivations and prevent desertification.

Acacia trees are also protecting local biodiversity: In addition to supplying forage for cattle, acacias are a genuine home for several bird species. The root system of acacias can go down to the water table while avoiding soil degradation3. Acacias are able to hold available water, even from remote depths. The grass carpet created by the bush prevents water run-off and contributes to the reconstruction of water tables. In periods of drought, when the water runs out, acacias provide a much-needed water supply to wildlife and domestic species.   

Beyond the amazing natural properties specific to acacia gum5, it is interesting to know that the crop is also 100% organic. Acacia gum harvest can’t be mechanized. Acacia gum supplied by Alland & Robert, one the leading global suppliers well recognized by the largest food groups, is organic, GMO-free, and guaranteed without any pesticide6. Alland & Robert is involved in Africa with a policy of social, environmental, and economic responsibility.

physicianpackiam

http://www.sidhhaherbs.blogspot.com