The Miracle Fruit in the Philippines

The Miracle Fruit in the Philippines

Sa unang tingin mo palang you will think na it's a big grape fruit or kabugaw in our dialect. I have seen this a year ago infront of a house of a friend. I thought this is just a nonsense plant. Yon pala it's what they called the "Miracle Fruit".  Others still dont know the medicinal uses of this plant. The fruit sells at about 300 in other places but I can buy it in our town for just 50 pesos or they can give it to you freely if you know them. All I do is to open the fruit with a big knife then scrape the contents of the fruit and cook it 45 minutes. The white pulp will turn dark. Then when its cool I get the juice, put it in the ref and there I have my own miracle fruit juice. I drink half a cup everyday in the evening. I've tried to search it in the internet and I have found what this fruit is.

 Uses
Folkloric
• In India, used as a pectoral, the poulticed pulp applied to the chest.
• In the West Indies, syrup prepared from the pulp used for dysentery and as pectoral.
• In Rio de Janeiro, the alcoholic extract of the not-quite ripe fruit used to relieve constipation
• For erysipelas, the fresh pulp is boiled in water to form a black paste, mixed and boiled with vinegar, spread on linen for dermatologic application.
• The bark is used for mucoid diarrhea.
• Fruit pulp used as laxative and expectorant.
• In the Antilles and Western Africa, fruit pulp macerated in water is considered depurative, cooling and febrifuge, and applied to burns and headaches.
• In West Africa, fruit roasted in ashes is purgative and diuretic.
• In Sumatra, bark decoction used to clean wounds and pounded leaves used as poultice for headaches.
• Internally, leaves used as diuretic.
• In the Antilles, fresh tops and leaves are ground and used as topicals for wounds and as cicatrizant.
• In Venezuela, decoction of bark used for diarrhea. Also, used to treat hematomas and tumors.
• In Costa Rica, used as purgative.
• In Cote-d'Ivoire, used for hypertension because of its diuretic effect.
• In Columbia, used for respiratory afflictions.
• In Vietnam, used as expectorant, antitussive, laxative and stomachic.
• In Haiti, the fruit of Crescentia cujete is part of the herbal mixtures reported in its traditional medicine. In the province of Camaguey in Cuba, is considered a panacea.
• In Panama, where it is called totumo, the fruit is used for diarrhea and stomachaches. Also for respiratory ailments, bronchitis, cough, colds, toothaches. headaches, menstrual irregularities; as laxative, antiinflammatory, febrifuge. The leaves are used for hypertension.
 (Source: http://www.stuartxchange.org/Cujete.html)


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