From as-is to kolong-kolong, local fruits may hold the key to harnessing antioxidants to prevent damage to cells.
Antioxidants fight the free radicals that damage cells, and chemists at the University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB) are looking at local fruits that include the batuan, bignay, kamansi, niyog-niyogan, paho, pili and sampinit.
Among the nine fruits, UPLB researchers said as-is, batuan and paho have the highest amount of phenolics, a collective term for phenols, flavonoids, lignin and tannins that are antioxidants.
Antioxidants have strong anti-cancer, anti-diabetic and anti-inflammatory benefits, among others.
The leaves and young shoots of as-is are favorite ingredients in Bicol.
They come from a small tree growing in thickets and second-growth forests at low and medium altitudes throughout the Philippines.
Batuan is a souring agent in some dishes in the Visayas. The fruit comes from a tree that grows up to 12 meters tall.
The paho looks like a miniature mango. It comes from a large tree, widely cultivated for its sour fruit.
Bignay is a berry, eaten raw or made into jam, wine and vinegar. It comes from a tree and is rich in terpenes which have pain-relieving and lipid-lowering properties.
The kamansi fruit resembles the langka or jackfruit or rima, also known as breadfruit. The kamansi tree is grown for its edible seeds within its fruit. Kamansi is sliced thinly and mixed with coconut milk to make a vegetable dish.
Niyog-niyogan is an erect shrub. In Bicol, the leaves are cooked in coconut milk.
Sampinit is the local wild raspberry that grows mostly in Quezon and Laguna.
Kolong-kolong is a sour fruit. It grows from a small, slender tree. The many seeded fruit has a white flesh that is sour.
Pili is the most popular among the nine fruits whose nuts fetch attractive prices.
Except for pili, the other fruits are underutilized or are not as widely cultivated as the more popular mango, banana and pineapple.
Considering the diverse fruit species in the country, there are many more fruits that can be potential sources of medicines, said Prof. Mariam Recuenco of UPLB’s Institute of Chemistry, writing in the Department of Science and Technology’s Philippine Journal of Science.
