Okra – Personal Discovery
June 19th, 2009
I remember when, as a child, we used to thrash okra shrubs with our toy bamboo swords, having thought them to be of no value. Today, there’s no a single okra shrub in my erstwhile stomping grounds, and okra has become a much sought-after vegetable, displayed prominently in market vegetable stalls
I thought of doing a personal discovery on okra after receiving an email from a friend about its curative properties.
Okra, where did it come from and where is it now?
Okra is called Lady’s Fingers outside the U.S., and gumbo in some parts of it and in English-speaking Caribbean, taken from the Portuguese word, “quingombo” which, in turn, is a corruption of the word “quillobo,” in some parts of eastern Africa.
“Okra” is of West African origin, thought to have come from the word “okuru,” in Igbo, a language spoken in Nigeria. Regardless of its etymology, Okra, or “Abelmoschus esculentus” is a flowering plant belonging to the mallow family making it cousins with cotton, cocoa and hibiscus, which is why it is occasionally referred to as “Hibiscus esculentos.”
Okra apparently originated in the Ethiopian Highlands, and its having found its way around the world is not as mysterious as the spread of the A(H1N1) virus. Good or bad, things have a way of being spread around.
Global use of okra:
Today, okra is widely used in the thick meat and vegetable stew found in Egypt, Greece, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey, Yemen and other parts of the Mediterranean. Making me wonder if it makes people war-like, considering that these okra-eating countries seldom have peace within their midst. .
Indians sauté it, Japanese serve it with soy sauce, deep fried in the U.S., taken as fish soup in the Caribbean.
Okra is global and it is widely used as a vegetable. But I still don’t eat it. It’s thick sap, mucilage, still reminds me of my runny-nose childhood.
In some countries, the seeds are of more interest than the pod. When ripe, they yield edible oil comparable in properties even to olive oil. The yield is high, at 40% and a hectare of okra can produce 794 kilograms of oil per year.
Like soybean, the seed provides an excellent source of protein.
In some parts of Africa, the ripe seeds of okra are roasted and ground and served as a substitute for coffee. During the American Civil War, southerners used it as coffee substituted during the blockades of the 1860′s.
Okra and health:
Okra is rich in many nutrients, including fiber, vitamin B6 and folic acid. An American nutritionist, Dr. Sylvia W. Zook, said that okra fiber helps stabilize blood sugar by curbing its absorption from the intestinal tract.
Okra seeds are rich in vegetable protein, trytophan and adequate sulfur-containing amino acids. It contains high levels of:
Unsaturated fats,
Most people take “fats” as unhealthy. Unsaturated fat is healthier than the general classification of fats and is a good dietary supplement for the prevention of prostrate cancer. Nevertheless, the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) recommends that the amount of unsaturated fat consumed is not to exceed 30% of a day’s caloric intake.
Oleic Acid:
This is thought to hinder the progress of ALD (Aderenoleukodystrophy), a fatal disease affecting the brain and adrenal glands and helps boost memory.
On the downside, it is also associated in the increased risk of breast cancer and may be responsible for hypotension (blood pressure reduction.
Linoleic Acid:
This may help in the prevention of cancer, cystic fibrosis (fatty acid deficiency), dermatitis and diabetes.
It has also some industrial uses which I would not lay down for extreme ennui with the industrial environment.
Gossypol:
This is a derivative from okra that has been tested as an oral contraceptive for males. It has also tested positive for its anti-malarial properties and probably anti-cancer as well.
On the downside, some test subjects showed a high level of hypokalemia (low blood potassium levels), 7% of them reported digestive system problems and 12% reported extreme fatigue.
Diuretic properties:
Helps in the removal of body fluid through unination.
How do I take to okra now?
I still don’t like to eat it.
