Tag: Medicine

Begun last Thursday, this is the second part of a presentation I made on December 10 last year in Lagos at the training of URBAN GROWERS. These are women who are learning to promote the health and well-being of their families the natural way. They were brought together by organic farmers Mrs Sola Sowemimo, of Ope Farms and Mrs Yinka Odukoya, of Dasyooh Farms…

 

Plantain

Like banana planted around the house, plantain can provide food, gifts for the neighbours and fetch some money for house keeping when the surplus is sold. According to Rev. Father Anslem Adodo in his NATURE POWER, the leaves can be boiled and the extracts in the water drunk for blood sugar challenges. Fr. Adodo’s PAX HERBAL CENTER, well known in catholic churches nationwide,  sells a product named PS for plantain solution. This book speaks of the plantain:

“The leaves are evergreen. The trunk is soft and contains a lot of fluid…The whitish fluid that slows when plantain leaf is cut is effective for treating wounds, especially fresh wounds. The juice stops the flow of blood very quickly. Perhaps the most medicinal part of plantain is the sap. The sap is present in every part of the plant. By piercing any part of the plant, one can collect the sap. Cut the trunk of a plantain into pieces. Pound the pieces in a mortar. Then squeeze out the juice. What you have is a potent herbal juice  that can be used for a variety of illnesses. Mix one bottle of the juice with half bottle of honey. Henceforth, this preparation will be referred to as PS solution (plantain solution). This knowledge is one of the hidden treasures which many of our knowledgeable fathers and mothers keep close to their chest.

“The juice of plantain can be used for the following illnesses. (1) Nervousness. PS offers quick relief for nervousness and even hysteria. It calms the system and promotes sleep. Drink two desert spoons of PS twice daily. (2) Epilepsy. PS offers great hope for those suffering from epilepsy. It effectively hinders electric discharge in the brain, thus hindering epileptic fits.

The dosage is three desert spoons of PS thrice daily. (3) Dysentery.  Drinking two desert spoons of PS thrice daily will bring relief to those suffering from dysentery as well as diarrhoea, constipation and indigestion. (4) Ulcer. For intestinal ulcer, drink two tablespoons of PS twice daily.  For chronic external ulcers, use cotton wool to apply PS to the wound twice daily. (5) Skin infections. Apply PS to the skin in cases of burns, skin rashes and insect bites.”

All parts of plantain are useful. The root can be pulverised to extract its juice in water. Fr. Adodo calls the extract in a formula with honey Plantain Root Juice (PRJ). This is said to be useful for prostatitis, kidney problems, diabetes, gonorrhoea and syphilis,  staphylococus.

We come again to plantain peel which many people still dislike to include in their diet. Of the medicinal values of plantain peel, Fr. Adodo says:

“The peel of both ripe and unripe plantain is cure for stomach ulcer. Dry the peels and grind to ash. Mix one teaspoon of the powder with some honey, then lick. Do this twice daily.”

Many years ago, I reared pigs. While I was collecting plantain peels from a plantain seller for my pigs one day, one passer-by stopped and asked me if I was a herbalist. I was in a hurry and didn’t wish to start a conversation. So, I told her I wasn’t. Nevertheless, she told me that was what her herbalist used to eliminate her uterine fibroids. she cut plantain peels to pieces and burnt them to ash in an earthen-ware pot placed over a stove. she added the ash to water or pap or spread on food. I was later to discover that plantain peel is very rich in potassium, and that potassium deficiency in the body is a cause of growth or tumours, including uterine fibroids. Many Nigerian women suffer from uterine fibroids, they can help themselves by eating plantain peel for a cure or the prevention of this condition.

 

Balsam pear (Bitter melon)

It took me a few weeks to learn the botanical name of this creeping plant which has refused to stop growing in the flower beds of my house. It is called Mormodica charantia. Eventually, the name stuck whenever I remembered Prince Tony Momoh, my former editor at the Daily Times (now defunct) and former information Minister. Herbal literature speak eloquently about it. So, one day, I did an internet search and was shocked that a Chinese website recognised it as Ejirin the Yoruba name for this plant. The research work of great Nigerian botanists such as Prof. Fafowora and Prof. Olorode of the then University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University) featured prominently on this site.

From many accounts, this plant improves appetite and digestion and relieve gastric disorders and constipation. It has been used, also, for diabetes and uterine fibroids.

In www.stylecraze.com the following report appears:

“Respiratory disorders. The fresh pods are an excellent remedy for curing respiratory problems like asthma, cold, cough, etc. Also the paste of bitter melon leaves, along with the paste of tulsi leaves when taken with honey in the morning, is a good remedy.

“Liver tonic. Drink one glass of bitter melon juice daily to heal liver problems. Keep consuming this continuously for a week to see results.

“Immune system. Boil bitter melon seeds or fruit in water and consume it everyday to fight against infections. This also helps to build your immunity.

“Acne. Consuming bitter melon can help you get rid of acne, blemishes and deep skin infections. Bitter melon is useful in treating blood disorders like blood boils, scabies, itching, psoriasis, ringworm and other fungal diseases.

“Diabetes. Bitter melon juice benefits include helping to overcome Type 2 diabetes. It has been a part of the Chinese and Indian ancient medicine for a longtime, but only recent research has proven that it is no folk lore. Type 2 diabetes is caused partially due to the inability of a cell to absorb the sugar in the blood due to insufficient insulin or due to resistance to insulin. In both cases, the cells are unable to absorb the sugar due to the ineffectiveness of the insulin produced.

‘The absorbtion of sugar occurs due to the activation of ANP…Activated Protein Kinase in the cells. Bitter gourds activate these kinases due to which the absorbtion of sugar increases and, hence, aids in bringing diabetes under control.

“Constipation. Bitter melon helps in easy digestion as it contains fiber properties. The food is digested and the waste is thrown out of the body which helps in curing indigestion and constipation problems.

“Kidney and bladder. Bitter melon helps to maintain a healthy liver and bladder. It is also useful in curing kidney stones.

“Heart disease. Bitter melon is very good for the heart in many ways. It helps reduce the bad cholesterol levels which clog the arterial walls and, thereby, reduces the chances of heart attacks. Also, it is known to lower blood sugar levels that help in maintaining a good heart health.

“Cancer. Bitter melon can prevent cancer cells from multiplying.”

Bitter melon is praised, too, for weight loss and, energy enhancement and blood purification. I suggest that you visit this site for the many other benefits of Bitter melon for skin and hair health.

I feel nostalgic writing and speaking about Bitter melon. Years ago, I sold the encapsulated form to which chromium picolinate was added. It was a foreign product for diabetes. I also sold the Nigerian product called KARELA, the name indians call this herb. Karela was powder form of Bitter melon. I suggest today that you grow Bitter melon in your garden and make a powder herb of it. It grows well in my flower garden.

 

Bitter leaf

The Yorubas call it Igi Agba which translates as tree of the elderly. I do not know about what informed this eulogy. Bitter leaf is a bitter herb as the name suggests. It reminds us that there are five types of taste and that all five should be incorporated into our daily diet to avoid an imbalance which may be calamitous for health. These five tastes are (1) sweet (2) Bitter (3) Sour (4) Bland and (5) Salty. Many people go for only (1) the sweet and salty. And that’s why unsweetened or sour yoghurt, for example, is not popular in Nigeria, although it is the best yoghurt for promoting radiant health. Women in particular hate bitter medicines and herbs. When I prescribe a herb to a woman, I am ready for her next statement, a question: Is it bitter? They have passed this on to children of nowadays, who never wish to have anything bitter touch their tongues. I say nowadays children, as we often say, because, in my time as a child, no child had breakfast without having first put something bitter into his or her stomach. Today I eat bitter leaf and egusi (melon) soup in Igbo restaurants. But the bitter leaf is often overwashed, thereby reducing it’s medicinal effects as most of the bitter principles are lost in the squeezing and washing. At home, I sometimes prefer an evening dinner snack of banana thoroughly masticated with about two leaves of bitter leaf or some leaves of Bitter melon. Many years of tooth-brush cleaning of the teeth and mouth have robbed me of the capacity to chew bitter leaf stick as chewing stick.

I pray that, someday, someone will make a powder of Bitter leaves and the bark and stem for use in a toothpaste. This is available today in India and in the United States. If you make some today from the Bitter leaf in your garden, not only would you serve your family’s oral hygiene needs, you may have something to sell to your neighbour to beat the recession.

Bitter leaf is almost a cure-all from it’s many descriptions in herbal medicine literature. It is reported to be good for headaches, upset stomach, insomnia (sleep disorders), diabetes, memory loss, prostate troubles, weakness, strokes, bacterial and viral infections, hypertension, arthritis, skin infections, liver and kidney cleansing and afflictions.

 

Air Plant

The Air plant is also known as longevity leaf or Resurrection plant or everlasting plant. It is thick and hairy and grows about anywhere. If you keep it between two leaves of a book, it would begin to grow within a few days. It grows when kept on a table and, fastest, when thrown on the ground.

It is alkaline-forming and, therefore, good for all those health troubles caused by acidosis. Some people use it for asthma, some for hypertension. For hypertension, it is so potent that it is not advisable to chew more than two leaves a day. In eastern Nigeria and perhaps elsewhere, it is used to calm and cure earache in children and conditions associated with septic cord. I have observed one case in which an adult woman over 50years of age employed it to resolve a brewing case of umbilical hernia.

To be used medicinally, the leaf is placed over a dormant heat source such as the cover of a pot of food being cooked on a stove. The heat softens up the leaf to easily release it’s medicinal fluid content when it is pressed or crushed. The fluid or juice is eased into an aching ear or rubbed over the abdomen and the cord area if there is a problem in that area. The juice may also be pressed into a glass of water, stirred and drunk.

 

Chanka Piedra

This is an evergreen plant which the Yorubas call ehinbisowo or ehin olube. The ehin refers to the back of the plant where it parades it’s seeds. In Yoruba mythology, these seeds are seen as money symbols, and it is thought the plant helps to attract sales to a business premises sprinkled with water extracts from the herb at the beginning of the business day.

In herbal Medicine, it enjoys the reputation of being used for male sexual virility,  as an hypotensive, to lower blood pressure, as a diuretic, as an anti microbial, especially in the treatment of such conditions caused by staphylococus aureus and E. Coli, urinary tract infections and, above all, for the breaking of kidney and gall bladder stones. It is in this stone crushing activity that Chanka piedra got it’s name. Chanka piedra are Asian words which mean “Stone Crusher”. The botanical name of this plant is Phyllantus. There are many species of it. But the most commonly used medicinally are Phyllantus amarus and Phyllantus nuriri.

This plant grows everywhere. If it is not in your garden, you may pick it up from somewhere else and shred the seeds in you garden.

 

Aloe vera

I didn’t feel urged to write about Aloe vera because, like Moringa, almost every-one has heard about it. Besides, it takes about five years from when you plant it to when you can expect medicinal values from it.

Professor Oyeku Akibu Oyelami, who incorporates herbs into his practice, wrote a pamphlet on Aloe Vera in which he says:

“Aloe vera gel is made up of the following; water, 20 minerals, 12 vitamins,18 to 20 amino acids, 200 active plant compounds, phytonutrients which include enzymes, triterpenes (a phytonutrient that lowers blood sugar), glyconutrients and glycoproteins, polysaccharides, including Acemanam, Mannose-6-phosphate and polymanns; phenolic glycosides, including dehydrocouarins.

“This can be described in more details; Minerals, Sodium, Potassium, Calcium, Manganese, Copper, Zinc, Chromium and Iron are all found in the Aloe plant.

There is no doubt that Aleo vera is a powerhouse of nutrients and medicines.

Prof. Oyelami offers personal experiences in his practice. With the assistance of his wife and a dermatologist, he treated five scabies patients successfully with Aloe vera instead of Benzoylbenzoate “and the result was outstanding”, he says. He adds:

“After the initial success, we then went to do a comparative study in which we recruited 30 patients. These included 12 male adult with scabies from the Nigerian prisons, Ilesa, and 18 patients from the children’s welfare unit of the Wesley Guild Hospital, Ilesa, who had clinically proven cases of scabies because of their crowded nature. Secondly the inmates were undernourished and which invariably led them to weakened immune system. A healthy immune system is known to interfere with the reproductive cycle of scabietic mites as weak immune systems provide a more suitable breeding ground for the mites.

“The 30 patients recruited (both from the prison and from the hospital) were randomised for treatment with either Aloe Vera gel or Benzoylbenzoate lotion.

Among the 14 patients allocated to Benzoylbenzoate lotion, two were lost to follow-up and three were still itching at the conclusion of the study and, so, nine out of 12 patients (75.0percent) were successfully treated with Benzoylbenzoate. All the 16 patients who were treated with Aloe vera competed the treatment and only two of them were still itching at the conclusion of the story.  This preliminary result suggests that Aloe vera with a success rate of 87.5percent was more effective than Benzoylbenzoate in the treatment of scabies”.

The pamphlet explains how Aloe vera cures scabies. It addresses, also, how aloe vera cured other ailments in his practice. I recommend this pamphlet to all health lovers.

On December 10 last year, I was a guest speaker at a training programme in Lagos for women who wished to improve the health of members of their families, using herbs and medicinal food crops which grow in their gardens.

These women are called URBAN GROWERS. The group is the brainchild of Mrs Sola Sowemimo, of Ope Farms, and her friend, Mrs Yinka Odukoya, of Dasyooh Farms.

I remembered them all this morning while writing the introduction to this column. Two women had come to ask for permission to harvest some bitter leaves, which have overgrown their bounds in my flower beds, growing taller than the storey-building. Beside the Bitter leaf garden is a section where we grow plantain. The plantain, too, was due for a harvest. They were so big that everyone wondered how they came about. I have found myself explaining that we deposit all food wastes, including fish gills, at the flower bed. After a plantain plant has fruited, it replaces itself with many suckers. Then, we cut down the fruited plantain, cut the leaves and stem to pieces and leave them to form compost for the young suckers.

I hope that you, too, would become an URBAN GROWER after you read this series…

WOMEN are central figures in any home. Their husbands and children mill around them for about everything. When a man wishes to propose marriage to a woman, he wonders secretly or aloud if his life would be safe in her hands, and if she would be able to bring up their children the way he would like them brought up, if she would be a good manager of his finances, especially if they are small, if their home would be clean or tidy, if she would not cast out his friends and relations, if his marriage would not be a cage in which he is trapped…

Deep thinking men think often about the creature that woman is. I believe that deep-thinking women wonder, also, about this subject. When my male friends and I get together, say, over drinks or a meal, and our discussions enter the mode of men’s talk and some of them begin to say a man holds the last card or the joker card over a woman, I quickly remind them of the mighty power a woman weilds over a man… as a foetus, the future man lived in her womb for about nine months, as a baby he sucked her breasts for goodness knows how long, as a baby she strapped him on her back and, as a man she passed him on to another woman who would now look after him as an overgrown baby. That usually ends our men’s talk discussion about this subject. For those among my friends who share with me deep beliefs about life, I quickly add: haven’t we been educated enough that woman is the deciding factor in Creation?

What I have just said is a huge concept which is not the subject of this gathering. I leave it in the hands of the organiser of this meeting, Mrs Olusola Sowemimo.

But in a way, we cannot separate it from why we are here today. We are here to discuss how women can take better care of the health of their families with plant medicines that grow on the grounds of their homes, or that they can plant in their gardens for this purpose.

I wish to strengthen your interest in the work which, by now, you should have recognised was given to you by the Almighty Creator by briefly telling you about four women whose pictures keep flashing in my mind as I look at you and think about what you would do with this discussion when you return to your homes. The first woman is my maternal grandmother of blessed memory. She raised me from the age of nine when my mother died at childbirth to about the age of thirty when she herself left the flesh. If I was sick anywhere, anytime, I was sure to become well whenever I got home. Behind her earthen-pot of drinking water was always a bottle of gbogbonse epa Ijebu ( Ijebu-made all-purpose healing herbal potion). She taught us her grandchildren about REREN, that shiny, smallish green plant with small leaves which grows in the village around out-door bathrooms.  When a child develops high temperature, squeeze the leaves and rub the juice on the body. The heat is almost certain to subside immediately. As an adult, I used to eat these plant with banana or parboil it in a pot of rice on the stove after the heat has been turned off.

The second woman is Mrs Michelle Obama, wife of the outgoing American President. What she did at the White House, official residence of the American President, seems to me to be the opposite of what Mrs Hillary Clinton did when her husband was President. President Clinton left the white House suffering from coronary artery blockages. This meant that the arteries which supply his heart with blood were blocked by cholesterol or some other matter. His heart was almost failing, falling apart. The blockage was about 90percent.  He had to undergo a by-pass surgery to be able to continue to live. Today, he looks much, much older than his age. He made a remarkable statement after the surgery which touched me deep down my bones till this day. He said his regrets about his health when he was in the White House was that he didn’t “eat well”. His diet was largely meat pies, hamburgers, hotdogs and, of course, tea or coffee or soft drinks.

President Obama cuts a different picture from former President Clinton. Mrs Obama turned the flower gardens and lawns of the White House into gardens where she grew organic foods and herbs. She gave her husband organic foods. She got school children to participate in the cultivation of these gardens. Her goal in doing this was to inculcate in the young Americans the need to eat well. She believed that if this culture caught on, these children would take the message back home to their parents and, in due course, Americans would emerge from junk food eaters and a sickly people to a health-eating population and a healthy people. This is the role I believe our Creator gave to you women, which Mrs Sowemimo, through this programme,  is trying to remind you about.

Holda

You may not have heard about this woman, the fourth of four women i said earlier i would talk about. She was the wife of a leader of mankind in the early days of human existence on earth. The reports we have of her is that, while her husband went hunting for animals and fruits for food for his family and household, she spent her own time gathering herbs for the strengthening of their bodies and health. Her work suggests the back-up roles of caring and tending to which women should devote their time and energy.

So, which plants do I wish to suggest you grow in the garden and around the house for the health of your families health? One of them is…Carica Papaya.

Carica Papaya

The popular name for it in Nigeria is Pawpaw. Many years ago, I used to go out with my friends to enjoy goat meat or fish pepper soup. Goat meat or whole fish is a load of protein on the digestive system. We drank lots of beer which diluted the digestive enzymes, making it difficult for the protein to digest. Undigested protein ended up in sludges on which micro-organisms fed, producing gas, toxins, bloating, abdominal distention and pain, if not diseases of the digestive tract such as constipation, diverticulosis, colitis (inflammation) or piles. Some unlucky people end up with colon cancer. With all these possibilities at the back of my mind, I went out with the boys with pawpaw leaves in my pocket. These leaves, like the seeds of the pawpaw fruit or the sap from the unripe fruit or the tree trunk, contains an enzyme known as Papain. Papain chemically resembles Pepsin, the digestive enzyme in our stomachs which digests proteins there. So, eating pawpaw leaves with the goat meat or fish helped to digest the protein in them and keep my system clear.

American Indians discovered the power in pawpaw leaves a long time ago. If they killed some animals for food while hunting, they cut the body into pieces, pick pawpaw leaves and beat them to pulp to get them to ooze juice,  and then wrap the animal meat in these bruised and bleeding pawpaw leaves. The result was that the meat became tenderized or pre-cooked before they got home. Since the papain oozed digested proteins, it also digested any germ or micro-organism present in the meat because they, too, are made of proteins. With this knowledge, the food and other industries began to use papain as a tenderizer. About 80percent of the beer brewed in the United States is said to be treated with papain to keep it clear and germ-free. In your kitchens,  you can tenderize tough meat, if you still eat meat, with the sap of the unripe fruit,  or grind the seeds, which also contain papain,  and add the juice or paste to your cooking. This papain-rich paste can be added to honey or Blackstrap molasses and, added to water, taken with a meal or on empty stomach or in-between meals (the space between two meals) to aid digestion or kill germs, such as those of typhoid. In Europe, this sap is dried and sold as Papain tablets for these purposes.

There is no part of the pawpaw plant that is useless. When I was younger and had the energy for it, I grew plenty of carica papayas and harvested them all young before fruiting. I ground the leaves, flowers, stalk, trunk and roots to paste along with unripe pawpaw fruits from other sources. I dried the paste in a machine and made it all into a powder product called CARIPARLS, an acronym for Carica papaya roots, leaves and seeds. We are helped to understand the medicinal uses of this plant more by the website www.drugs.com:

“Papaya has been used widely in folk medicine for many ailments…the juice for warts, corns, cancers, tumors, and thickened skin. The roots or their extracts for cancers of the uterus, syphilis, the tropical infection, hemorrhoids, and to remove mineral concretions in the urine; the unripe fruit as a mild laxative or diuretic, and to stimulate lactation, labour. The ripe fruit for rheumatism and alkalinising the urine; the seeds for intestinal worms or to stimulate lactation, the leaves as a poultice for nervous pains and elephantoid growth, or smoked for asthma relief; and the latex for psoriasis, ring worm, indigestion or applied externally as an antiseptic or to heal burns and scalds, or applied to the cervix to contract the uterus.

The unripe fruit and the latex are contraindicated for pregnant women as they may induce abortion.”

The website adds:

“In developing countries, the traditional use of papaya is being investigated as an alternative treatment for a range of ailments. Carica papaya has a wide range of porported medicinal properties for treatment of diabetes,  as birth control, as an antiseptic,  anti-microbial, or diuretic,  to control parasite, reduce inflammation, lower blood pressure, and lower Cholesterol. While there are limited data to support most of these uses, there is some evidence for healing bed sores and other wounds and in treating intestinal worms in womans”.

Banana peel

Lately, I have found myself encouraging people to eat banana peel for its health benefits. One woman was complaining at a local food store that #300 plantain could feed only her three children with nothing left for herself and her husband. Another thought the change economy was too harsh on the pocket and the kitchen. I remembered that, in the United States and some European countries now, plantain and banana peels have been recognised to be nutritionally superior to the fruits they protect and are being eaten as such.

Every woman can grow banana sucker in a small space at the back of the house. I started with five suckers of banana and plantain which, over 10years, have not stopped regenerating themselves to provide me food and medicine.

The website www.stylecraze.com educates us:

“The flesh of the banana is rich in many nutrients and carbohydrates.  It is high in Vitamin B6, B12, Magnesium and Potassium. The sugar content is the highest when the banana peel turns black. Let us quickly see the top benefits of this gift of Nature.

“ONE…Sparkling teeth. Rub the banana peel everyday for a week on your teeth for about a minute. This actually results in teeth whitening, which can cost a lot of money otherwise.

“TWO…Removes warts. The banana peel helps in removing warts and eliminates the occurrence of new ones. For this, simply rub the peel on the affected area or tie the peel overnight on it. This is one of the simplest ways to use a banana peel for the skin.

“THREE…Eat them. Banana peels can also be eaten. You can find amazing Indian recipes that use banana peels. They are also used to tender chicken.

“FOUR…Cures pimples. Just massage banana peels on your face and body for five minutes everyday to cure pimples. The result should be visible within a week. Keep applying the peels until the acne disappears.

“FIVE…Reduces wrinkles. The banana peel helps to keep your skin hydrated. Add an egg yolk to a mashed banana peel. Apply this mixture on your face and leave it for five minutes. Wash off after five minutes.

“SIX…Pain reliever. Apply the banana peel directly on the painful area. Leave it for 30 minutes till the pain is gone. A mixture of vegetable oil and banana peel also helps in pain relief.

“SEVEN…Heals psoriasis. Apply the pell on the psoriasis-affected area. The banana peel has moisturizing properties and also reduces itchiness. It will quickly heal psoriasis and you will quickly see results within no time.

“EIGHT…Heals bites by bugs. Massage the peel on the mosquito bite to get instant relief from the itching and pain.

“NINE… Shoes, leather, silver polish. Rub the banana peel on shoes, leather and silver articles to make them shine instantly.

“TEN…UV protection. Banana peel helps in protecting the eyes from the harmful UV rays. Make sure you leave the peel under the sun before rubbing the banana peel on your eyes. It is also proven to reduce the risk of cataract.”

What interests me most is the food value of the banana peel. The website www.treehugger.com says of this:

“Americans eat 12 billion bananas a year: The most widely consumed food in America is the beloved banana-it is also a fruit that comes with a rather significant peel. And just imagine, billions of those banana peels end up in the trash…when they could be eaten instead. While that may come strange to those of us in the United States, people in other parts of the world have been eating banana peels all along. Yes, they are fibrous and a bit bitter but there are easy ways to get around that. And aside from sidestep ping some of that prodigious waste, banana peels also have nutritional appeal.  (The skin) contains high amounts of Vitamin B6 and B12, as well as Magnesium and Potassium. It also contains some fiber and protein.

‘Sandego-based nutritionist Laura Flores tells live Science.

‘Banana peel is eaten in many parts of the world, though it is not common in the West,’ she adds.

“An article in the Journal of APPLIED BIOCHEMISTRY AND BIOTECHNOLOGY,  also noted that banana peels have various bioactive compounds like Polyphenols, carotenoids, and others.”