These plants are easy to grow, very hardy and high in vitamins. Take away bottled drinks are one of the most expensive ways to enjoy a cold drink. Why not make your own medicinal drinks with healthy home-grown ingrediences.
Jamaican Sorrel is a little known plant that originated in tropical West Africa. It is use as a Festive Christmas drink in Jamaica and the West Indies and many other countries. The red sepals and calyx from the harvest are dried and then stored for making cordials and punches as well as jams and teas.
Botanical name: Hibiscus sabdariffa
Common names: Rosella, Indian Sorrel, Jamaica Sorrel, Jamaican Sorrel, Red Sorrel, Maleate, Vinagreira, Aced era de Guinea, Cabitutu, Rosa de Jamaica, Vinuela
Sorrel, as it is commonly known in Jamaica, is an annual plant, that germinates from seed and flowers and fruits in one year, then dies off.
It grows to a height of about six feet or more in good conditions, and is very hardy.
The flowers are a creamy yellow with a scarlet throat and look like small hibiscus flowers. The outer thick red sepals and calyx are what is used for culinary purposes.
Sorrel can be directly from seed at the beginning of the warmer weather. The seeds are about 3mm x 3mm and shaped like a small heart. When you crush the prickly fruit capsules they fall out.
Pour hot water over about a kilo of dried Rosella with about one fresh grated ginger root added. Leave this to steep overnight. Strain off the exquisite pink liquid the next day and add sugar syrup (sugar and water heated) to taste, lime juice and crushed ice. White Rum can also be added for a famous medicinal rum punch.
It takes about five good Rosella plants to harvest about two kilograms of dried Rosella. To harvest cut all the stems off, strip off the fruits and take the calyx and sepals off and throw them into a basket. Dry them in sunny dry spot in garden, when dried store in an air tight container. It can also be used for teas.
These plants are easy to grow, very hardy and high in vitamins. Take away bottled drinks are one of the most expensive ways to enjoy a cold drink. Why not make your own medicinal drinks with healthy home-grown ingrediences.
Jamaican sorrel is cultivated for its jute-like fiber, for its edible calyces, or sepals, and for medicinal purposes. Its calyces are edible raw or cooked with sugar into a sauce similar in taste and appearance to cranberry sauce.
Heart Health
Free radicals oxidize low density lipoproteins (bad cholesterols) which in turn results in atherosclerosis. Atherosclerosis is the leading cause of heart disease. PCA has been found to neutralize free radicals before they have a chance to oxidize LDL’s.
To make matters better, sorrel tea was found to reduce blood pressure in rats. Researchers concluded it did so through acetylcholine and histamine like mechanisms as well as through direct blood vessel relaxing activity. At the University of Medical Sciences and Health Services in Tehran, researchers found the same was true in human patients. 54 patients with essential hypertension experienced a reduction of both systolic and diastolic blood pressure as compared with a control while being treated with sorrel. Free Radical Scavenger
The free radicals floating around our bodies cause heart disease, cancer, arthritis and aging. Five separate studies found that Protocatechuic acid a polyphenol found in Sorrel to be a powerful free radical scavenger. Not merely a theoretic free radical scavenger, it was shown to prevent free radicals from damaging the body.
Anti-inflammatory
Free radicals are associated with inflammatory conditions like eczema and rheumatoid arthritis. PCA has been shown to neutralize these free radicals and thereby act as an anti-inflammatory in chronic inflammatory conditions.
Anti-Cancer Sorrel has been shown to have a multifaceted anti-cancer activity. Firstly, free radicals have been implicated in the conversion of normal cells into cancer cells. Research has shown sorrel inhibits free radicals from converting normal cells into cancer cells. In another study, sorrel was shown to inhibit mutation of colon cells into cancerous cells. Colon cells, exposed to cancer causing chemicals, did not become cancerous when pretreated with sorrel. Other researchers found that skin cancer causing chemicals did not cause skin cancer when test animals were first bathed in sorrel tea. Again, the conclusion was that sorrel inhibited the transformation of normal cells into cancer cells.
Heart Health Free radicals oxidize low density lipoproteins (bad cholesterols) which in turn results in atherosclerosis. Atherosclerosis is the leading cause of heart disease. PCA has been found to neutralize free radicals before they have a chance to oxidize LDL’s.
Sorrel reduced bad cholesterol levels of test animals fed high cholesterol diets. It was shown to have an inhibitory effect against many heart and blood vessel damaging enzymes.
Weight Loss Medical thinkers have come out and said products like Sorrel are a realistic aid in weight loss regimes. It has no toxicity and risks to health and may help people lose weight. Sorrel contains an acid which blocks the digestion and absorption of starch, a major source of calories and weight gain. Specifically, it contains an alpha-amylase inhibitor.
Liver Damage If you have ever drunk Rum Punch in Jamaica, you have drunk sorrel. Sorrel and ginger are key ingredients in this holiday beverage. Sorrel’s famous red color is due to compounds known as Hibiscus anthocyanin’s. These compounds have been established to prevent liver damage in animals. Lab animals, treated with liver destroying chemicals, did not develop liver damage when pre-treated with sorrel. Jamaicans say that by drinking sorrel with your rum you can avoid hangovers.
Cough and cold cure A traditional African treatment for flu, researchers have found there is something to this use. On top of stimulating immune function, it has been proven to reduce the fevers associated with infections. This herbal remedy is pleasant to the taste! Sorrel is as good for the kid and adults.
The traditional way of using sorrel is perhaps the best way. Add one cup of dried sorrel blossoms to 6 cups of water. Boil the mixture for 15 minutes, add Turbinardo sugar or Stevia to taste, strain, and refrigerate. Then pour yourself a cup of one of the healthiest, tastiest beverages ever known. Alternatively, drink regular cups of red zinger tea which is available at most grocery stores
Sorrel confusion The problem with herbal medicine is there are lots of plants with the same common name! This is the case with sorrel. There are actually two kinds of sorrel. There is the red sorrel (Hibiscus sabdiffera) and there is green sorrel Rumex acidosa. Despite sharing a name and a sour taste, the plants are totally unrelated.
Nutrition Sorrel is an excellent source of trace minerals and other nutritional elements essential to health. It’s rich in Chromium, Copper, Manganese, Iron, Selenium, and Phosphorus.
References
1 Liu et al. In vivo protective effect of protocatechuic acid on ter-butyl hydroperoxide induced rat hepatotoxicity. Food Chem Toxicol. 2002 May; 40(5):635-41.
2 Lee et al. Hibiscus protocatechuic acid or Esculentin can inhibit oxidative
Visit us at www.gardeningdirections.com for more information on Medicinal Herbs.
DoctorSchar.com
Read more: How to Grow Jamaican Sorrel | eHow.com
http://www.ehow.com/how_7818075_grow-jamaican-sorrel.html#ixzz1QarLrCe0