White Clover Blossom

 Clover, Available Around The World

Hay may be for horses, but clover is for people…well…. almost.

I was forever nibbling on clover blossoms when I was a kid. I suspect I did that because my mother did that. She did that because her mother did. I don’t know how far that habit stretched back, so I don’t know if the consumption it is by taste or by example.

White Clover, Trifolium repens

One of the more surprising sides of clover is that it’s in the pea family, and its blossom is actually a bunch of little pea-like blossoms, called ”wings and keels.”  Clover is also a native of Europe and western Asia but has been used as a pasture crop worldwide. And while there are few pasture in the Arctic, clover grows from the top of the earth to the bottom and all around, nearly every location on the rotation.  Though well-known as totally edible, from blossom to root, it is not choice “eating wild.” Some call it a survival food, and perhaps rightly so for only the blossoms are truly pleasant to human tastes. The leaves are an acquired or tolerated taste.

In reference to the blossoms, don’t select brown ones. You want young and fresh whether white or pink or red though white clover is the better tasting of them all.  Besides a tea you can pan roast the blossoms until nice and crispy. The leaves are another matter. Young ones are digestible raw in small amounts, half a cup or so. Older leaves should be cooked, but I think you’d have to be hungry to eat them. It is a survival or famine food. See Sweet Clover, or Melilotus.

While it may not be that good in taste, clover can be good for you. It is high in protein, has beta carotene,  vitamin C, most of the B vitamins, biotin, choline, inositol, and bioflavonoids. Clover does come with three words of warning, however: One is that quite a few people are allergic to it and don’t know it, so go easy at first until you know one way or the other. Secondly, NEVER …. did you see that word? NEVER ferment and eat any part of it. You want your clover either completely fresh or completely dried, Never in between. Lastly clover in warm climates can produce small amounts of cyanide. Here is the site address:   http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/10/071001151308.htm

The botanical name for white clover is Trifolium repens. (Trifolium tri-FOE-lee-um) means three leaves, and repens (REE-penz) means crawling but not rooting. Most of the plant crawls along, only the blossoms stand up. Now, one parting measure of how humanity is getting along with nature:  Clover is now legally discouraged in lawns and the like because it attracts bees and people might get stung. Frankly, I think we need less lawyers than less clover.

 Green Deane’s “Itemized” Plant Profile

IDENTIFICATION: An evergreen perennial growing to half a foot, famous for its three leaves, blossom can be white, pink and red.

TIME OF YEAR: Seasonal usually summer into fall

ENVIRONMENT: Likes sunny areas and moist soil. Usually found in lawns

METHOD OF PREPARATION: Numerous: Leaves – raw or cooked as a potherb, young leaves before flowering suitable in salads or soups, can be cooked and used like spinach. Dried seed pods and flowers ground into powder used as a flour, young flowers in salads. Cooked root edible. Dried flowers best known for making tea.  Dried leaves can have a hint of vanilla aroma.

Wild Watermelons, photo University of Wisconsin.

Citron Melons: Abandoned Preserves

Are they edible?

Even people who do not forage want to know if the little watermelons they see in citrus groves are edible. The short answer is no. The longer answer is yes.  What does that all mean? Well, that will take some explanation.

Tsamma melons (Citrullus ecirrhosus).

Usually non-bitter citron melons are used for preserves and are viewed by well-fed people as inedible raw. They are full of pectin so they are cooked up and used as jam and glaze and other sweet things. That said, in Africa, where folks are often not well-fed, melons are edible raw if they are not bitter. The tough pulp is pounded, the juice drank and the pulp eaten raw or cooked, preferably cooked.

So, if not bitter here in the American South it is viewed as something to be cooked for preserves and not edible raw. In dry, starving Africa if it is not bitter it is edible raw and cooked. What if it is bitter? If you have plenty of fuel and there is a famine you might be able to boil bitter melons in several changes of water and make them and their seeds edible. Starving people in Africa do that. The Beduins throw the entire melon onto the fire and cook it until it is totally dry. Then they grind it, make a paste out of it and smear it on a cloth, which they let dry. They don’t eat it but it will take a spark to light a fire.

By all rights, the bitter and the non-bitter ones should be two different species, Citrullus colocynthis and Citrullus lanatus var. citroides. But between the arguing of egotistical botanists, the multitude of names, and hybridizing, what a citrus grove watermelon is, is anyone’s guess. Let your taste guide you. Bitter bad, non-bitter useable at least in part.

Citrullus lanatus var. citroides is native to the Kalhari Desert in southwest Africa, so is the Citrullus colocynthis. Citrullus lanatus been in use for thousands of years and in cultivation for at least 4,000 years. Called Tsamma it its native range it is believed to be the ancestor of our common garden watermelon, Citrullus lanatus. We know watermelons were grown in the Nile Valley by 2000 BC, in India by 800 AD,  China in 1100 AD. They were in Cordoba by 961 AD and Seville in 1158 AD. They came to the New World with the Spanish in the 1500s or so. Now the fruit is naturalized from North Carolina to California. Locally it is seen in current, old and built-over citrus groves. In fact, in several places where there are hundreds of acres of now freeze-dead citrus trees, the citron melon is still surviving.

Also called the “pie melon” the edibility of the melon varies greatly because it hybridizes with cultivated watermelons. While it always smells like a watermelon the white pulp is often too bitter to eat but can also be fine to eat. I have found some quite edible in the field with no cooking needed at all.  Generally said, the smaller it is the more likely it is to be bitter. “Round” tends to be wild, “oblong” showing some cultivated genes. Also don’t confuse the Citron Melon with the Seminole Pumpkin,  Cucurbita moschata, which is found in old Indian campsites. Those are quite edible. What do those look like? Like a squash or a pumpkin you would grow in your garden or buy in the supermarket.

There is, as one might expect,  a lot of botanical fog with the citron melon. You will often read the flesh is inedible but the rind is, or all of it is edible, or all of it is inedible. That can be for different reasons. Some times it is bitter and not edible, other times it is just  tough and can be pounded up and made edible if it is not bitter. Some call these fruits Citrullus lanatus var citroides, others Citrullus colocynthis. Some want to call it Citrullus colocynthis var citroides. The Citroides is considered to be in between the primitive bitter watermelon — colocynthis — and the cultivated sweet watermelon — lanatus. Regardless, if bitter leave it alone, though it can have medicinal applications.

Beside eating or preserving the non-bitter flesh, the seeds are edible as well. They can be dried or roasted or ground into a paste and made into a meal with many applications. The leaves and flowers can be cooked and eaten as a vegetable. Citron melon leaves are palmate in the early stages of growth, and deeply lobed in later. They have a rough texture and visible white veins. It has solitary flowers with large with yellow petals. Tendrils are to the side of the leaves. The seeds are greenish with a pitted surface, and leaning towards being a C. colocynthis. However, depending upon its heritage the seeds can also fall into two other groups,  “wléwlé” which has glossy seeds with a tapered end or “bebu” which are flat and oval with rugged and thick ends. Harvest fruit when the vine starts to die back.

The next question is why are these things found in citrus groves? The answer is the grove is abandoned or not well care for.  Essentially, the citron melon came first as a cultivated crop, citrus fruit came second. From a melon’s point of view a grove is a great place to escape too… food, water, sun and other weeds kept out.  But, the melon is host to a bug that bugs citrus and a kept grove does its best to get rid of the opportunist melon. Where I personally see them a lot is in a pasture of well-fed cattle and horses. That tells me the citron melon there are either bitter or the livestock too well fed to eat them as large mammals do in Africa. Very few people raise the citron melon now so it is naturalized from centuries past, a reminder of when most folks still grew most of their food. More so, the melon was a the prime source of pectic to make jelly out of the low pectin fruit, such as oranges.

Citrullus (SIT-rhull-us) is the diminutive of the Greek word citrus and means little citron. The Latin species name lanatus  (lan-NAY-tus) means wooly and calls attention to the hairs on the stems and leaves. Colocynthis (kol-OH-sinth-iss) if from the Greek word kolokunthis (round gourd, such as a pumpkin)

Lastly, let’s dispense with the idea that you will confuse a soccer ball sized watermelon fruit on the ground with a small citrus fruit in a tree, both called citron.  I have no idea why internet sites think you will ever get those two mixed up.

Recipes

Take some fine citron melons; pare, core, and cut them into long broad slices. Weigh them, and to every six pounds of melon allow six pounds of fine loaf-sugar; and the juice and yellow rind (pared off very thin) of four lemons; also, half a pound of race (root) ginger. Put the slices of melon into a preserving-kettle; cover them with strong alum water, and boil them half an hour, or longer, till they are quite clear and tender. Then drain them, lay them in a broad vessel of cold water, cover them and let them stand all night. Next morning, tie up the race ginger in a piece of thin muslin, and boil it in three pints of clear spring or pump water, till the water is highly flavored. Having broken up the sugar, put it into a clean preserving-kettle, and pour the ginger water over it. When the sugar is all melted, set it over the fire, add the lemon parings, and boil and skim it, till no more scum rises. Then take out the lemon peel, stir in the juice, and put in the citron slices. Boil them in the syrup till they are transparent and soft, but not till they break. When done, put the citron slices and syrup into a large tureen, set it in a dry, cool, dark place, and leave it uncovered for two or three days. Then put the slices carefully into wide-mouthed glass jars, and gently pour in the syrup. Lay inside the top of each jar a double white tissue paper cut exactly to fit, and close the jars carefully with corks and seal.

Preserved Citron

Pare off the outer skin, cut into halves, remove the seeds, then divide each half into a number of smaller pieces. Put them in a stone jar, add a half-cup of salt to every five pounds of citron. Cover with cold water, and stand aside for five hours ; then drain, and cover with fresh, cold water. Soak two hours, changing the water three or four times. Dissolve a teaspoonful of powdered alum in two quarts of boiling water, add the citron, and bring to boiling point. Drain. Make a syrup from two and a half pounds of granulated sugar and one and a half quarts of boiling water, boil and skim. When perfectly clear, put in the citron and simmer gently until you can pierce it with a straw. When tender, lift the pieces carefully with a skimmer, place them on a large plate, and stand in the sun one or two hours to harden. Peel the yellow rind from one large lemon, add it to the syrup, then add the juice of two lemons, and a small piece of green ginger-root cut in thin slices. Boil gently for ten minutes, and stand aside until wanted. When the citron has hardened, put it cold into the jars, bring the syrup again to a boil, and strain it over the citron. Watermelon rind and pumpkin may be preserved in the same manner.

Citron Preserves

Citron melons (about 5 pounds), 5 pounds of sugar, lemons.

Cut the citron in slices, peeling outer skin. Remove all visible seeds. Add sugar pound for pound to the citron. Cover and put in cold place overnight. The next morning bring the mixture to a slow boil. Add sliced lemons according to taste. Cook several hours until it becomes thick, clear and yellow. The longer it is cooked, the thicker and darker it will become. Therefore, if one prefers it thick and dark, rather than liquid and light yellow, it should be cooked for a longer period of time. Place in a stone crock or in sterile jars and stores in a cool place. This recipe keeps very well in storage. We still have several jars in our basement which are several years old. This recipe is excellent when used as a replacement for maple syrup on pancakes, waffles and the like.

Citron

11 lbs. of citron, 7 lbs. of sugar, peel and remove seeds. Cut up citron and sprinkle with sugar. Add 1 lemon, a stick of margarine, simmer until clear, then bring to a boil. Allow citron to stand over cinnamon and a dozen cloves. Pour into jars and cover.

Watermelon or Citron Preserves

* 10 lbs. melon rind

* 10 lbs. sugar

* 1 cup cinnamon bark

* 1/4 lb. ginger root

* 1/2 oz. alum

* 1/2 cup salt

* 7 quarts water

Instructions

1. Peel melon rind, cutting off green and pink, and cut in any shape desired.

2. Put rind into 1 gallon water, adding salt and alum and let stand until brittle.

3. Drain and put in vessel with enough water to cover.

4. Add ginger and cook until tender.

5. Make syrup of sugar water and cinnamon.

6. Drain the rind and add to the syrup with ginger.

7. Cook until syrup is thick, from 30-60 minutes.

8. Put in jars, let cool, cover with paraffin and seal.

Citron melon preserves:

3 quarts prepared citron melon

8 cups sugar, divided

2 quarts water

1 cup thinly sliced, seeded lemon

Cut the melon in half and remove meat and seeds. Then cut the rind in ¾ inch slices, removing the peel and discarding it. Cut the rind into 1-inch pieces. Remove the seeds from the meat and cut into about 1-inch pieces. Add 4 cups sugar to water and bring to a boil. Add citron chunks and cook rapidly until tender. Cover and let stand overnight.

The next day, add remaining sugar and lemon to mixture. Boil gently until melon is transparent and syrup is thickened. Stir frequently to avoid scorching. Remove from heat. Skim foam if desired. Ladle hot preserves into hot jars, leaving ¼ inch of headroom. Wipe jar rims clean and place hot, previously-simmered lid on jar and tighten ring down firmly. Process for 15 minutes in a boiling water bath canner. If syrup becomes too thick, add a bit of boiling water; if it is too thin and the citron is cooked and tender, remove the citron and continue boiling syrup until thick, then re-add citron.

Green Deane’s “Itemized” Plant Profile

IDENTIFICATION: Looks like a round watermelon with jagged stripes, up to soccer ball size. Young leaves palmate, older leaves deeply lobed, rough texture, visible white veins, solitary flowers with large with yellow petals. Tendrils are to the side of the leaves. Seeds greenish, pitted surface, or glossy with tapered end or flat and oval.

TIME OF YEAR: Harvest fruit when the vine starts to die back.

ENVIRONMENT: Old groves, unattended margins of current groves, pastures, fields.

METHOD OF PREPARATION: If  not bitter, rind and flesh for preserving, if not bitter pulp can be pounded and eaten, raw or cooked, preferably cooked. If bitter, leave alone.  Young leaves if not bitter can be boiled like a green, the flowers, if not bitter, are edible cooked with pistils removed.

Maturing Coconuts

Coconut, An Equatorial Palm

Popular media and commercial production have made the coconut a common cultural item, even if you live thousands of miles away from where it grows. More so, the coconut is at the heart of nutritional controversy.

What could be controversial about coconut? The answer is coconut oil. It is a saturated fat in an age that tries to condemn saturated fats. Thus an oil that was once used in a multitude of products was banished to the economic hinterlands for several decades. However, advocates of the nut say the oil is a short-chain saturated fat, not like saturated fats from animal products, and thus, not harmful but actually extremely healthy and a disease preventative. This writer falls on the healthy side of the debate. I eat a lot of coconut and use the oil as my standard “hot” cooking oil along with olive oil, my “cold” oil. To date, now 70,  my blood lipids are excellent (and no, I am not a vegetarian but rather a low-carbing ..ah… meat-atarian.) I think I am the only person my age not taking statin drugs. In fact, I take no medications and work on keeping it that way.

Coconut from the store, husk removed

What moved me over into the coconut camp was the work of Dr. Mary Enig, a lipid researcher. She wrote one time that you could see a study done on coconut oil in which the data showed it was healthful yet the study’s conclusion would say it was not. I thought that rather silly if not doubtful until one day I read several reports exactly like that including a meta analysis. The reason given was that if the researchers wanted more research funds they had to have a summary conclusion that agreed with the nutritionally politically correct stance of their era, read anti-coconut. But enough of food politics and my fat opinion, what of the coconut palm?

It is found in tropical climates, from about 26 degrees north and south of the equator. It likes humidity so does not take well to warm desserts. It is common in south Florida but is also reported in isolated areas in South Carolina, California, Texas, Hawaii and in Puerto Rico. They can be found almost up to central Florida but look a bit ratty from the cooler winters.

Coconut in husk, drilled for sipping

Coconuts are probably native to the southwest Pacific. From there they found their way to Africa and from there to the New World. Another theory is that it came from Southeast Asia. In either case coconuts were first written about around 60 AD, in Africa, in an area or town called Rhapta (and here is why language is so important to botany.)  The natives there used coconut fibers to build their boats, actually sewing. In Greek “raftis” is a tailor and “rafto” to sew, a word that is similar in Arabic. The Portuguese were the first outsiders to see the boats sewn and from there the coconut spread.  Also, the coconut floats and the palm is salt tolerant, so it moved itself around the world as well.

Coconuts came to Florida by accident. On 9 January 1878, the ship Providencia wrecked off-shore at what is now Palm Beach carrying 20,000 coconuts. Unexpectedly liberated, the coconuts floated ashore and found Florida to their liking. They sprouted enmasse on the beach. That is how Palm Beach got its name (though Coconut Beach would seem more appropriate.)

The Providencia run around off now Palm Beach, Florida

The Providencia was a 175-ton square rigged brig. It was going from Havana to Cadiz, Spain. By all accounts the weather was excellent, the day pleasant, and it was never ascertained exactly why the ship wrecked where it did. Fortuntely it was carrying a lot of wine and cigars so a party soon developed on shore which reportedly lasted two weeks. A steamer later picked up the crew and took them to Key West which at the time was a large city in comparison.  It is speculated the crew wrecked the ship for insurance purposes. One of the first local residents to reach the ship was William Lanehart, see picture below left. He later bought the wreck and content for $20.80. A multitude of coconuts were collected and sold for 2.5 cent each to local residents. That tells me if he sold 100 coconuts he more than paid for the ship.

Coconut Collectors

Left is an early photograph of those who came to the Providencia’s “rescue.”  Second from left, Hiriam F. Hammon, a homesteader of the Palm Beach tract in 1873 containing 163 acres which is now just south of Royal Palm Way. He was one of the first settlers to reach the wreck of the Providencia (upper right.) Third from left, leaning on the sail boat mast, is George W. Lanehart. Standing in the boat is Richard B. Potter, MD, the first physician to settle in the Palm Beach area. The bearded man in the foreground is William Lanehart who bought the wreck. He homesteaded a tract that is the present day area of Vita Serena on Claredon Ave. He was also one of the first settlers to reach the wreck and spoke with the captain. (Photos courtesy of the Historical Society of Palm Beach County.)

A valuable tropical food and resource, the coconut has a fibrous outer husk covering a hard woody shell. The white meat (called copra) inside of the shell can be shredded and used in baking. It can also be eaten raw. When young it is very soft and hardens as the nut matures.  The meat can also be pressed for oil for use in cooking or baking. The nut often contains  “coconut milk.” Fresh coconuts aren’t that difficult to find in the wild but require a particular technique to open. Before the coconuts are formed, the spathe can be tapped for its sap which is rich in sugar and Vitamin B. It can also be fermented.

It takes a coconut about a year to reach maturity and collecting them off the tree can be a challenge. Picking them up off the ground is a better solution (around hotels with coconuts they are removed so they don’t injure guests when they fall.)  Harvesting off the tree is done by climbing with the help of a rope ring round the feet or ankles. Or you can use a ladder, depending on your insurance coverage. On reaching the top, you tap the nut in the lowermost bunch to test maturity. A hollow sound is better. Drop the nuts to soft ground or lower by rope. They are difficult to open in their natural husk.

If you opt to get a coconut from the grocery story, always shake them and buy the one that sloshes the most. It’s the freshest. You can tell by the sound. Once home I drill a little hole through the bottom, turn the nut over on a glass and drill another small hole through one of the three “eyes.” That drains out the “milk” actually coconut water which I enjoy then and there. I take a sledge hammer and crack the shell, opening it. Then with a DULL serving knife I pry the meat away from the shell. You’re all set. I like to slice the meat thin, sprinkle it with a little salt and roast until brown… it has a great flavor, close to bacon. Incidentally, raw coconut and scotch compliment each other extremely well. I’m surprised no one has made a formal drink out of the two flavors. Add 87% dark chocolate and heaven is upon you.

The thick outer husk is a source of a tough fiber called coir used to make doormats and brushes. The leaves are used in some areas for roofing thatch and basket weaving. If you burn the coconut shells expect small bursts of shooting flames. Apparently there are little pockets of oil in the shell and they ignite like gas jets spewing three-inch noisy flames, quite a surprise if  you are not expecting it.

Botanically the coconut is Cocos nucifera, KOE-koase noo-SIFF-er-uh. Cocos comes from the Greek word Kokkos, which means grain, particle or (contemporarily) coffee bean. Nucifera means nut bearing.

 Green Deane’s “Itemized” Plant Profile

IDENTIFICATION: Palm, 90 to 100 feet, single, slender trunk, bulge at the base with trunk usually curved or leaning. Leaves terminal rosette, feather shaped, 10- to 20 feet long, four to six feet wide, flowers, small, pale yellow, plume-like clusters. Blooms all year. Fruit, oval, 8 to 15 inches long, thick fibrous husk, green when young, brown when mature.

TIME OF YEAR: Year round

ENVIRONMENT: Humid tropical areas, salt tolerant  within 26 degrees of the Equator

METHOD OF PREPARATION: Numerous, nuts off the tree can be split on sharp object. Liquid is refreshing but can be laxative, immature meat eaten with spoon out of shell, mature chunks as are or grated. Can be boiled for oil. Removing tip of flower cluster will produce sap (neera) for making a sugar syrup also suitable of wine production.  Terminal bud edible but taking it kills the tree.  Spongy fluff that fills sprouting coconut is edible raw or sliced and toasted.  Spathe is tapped for sap.

HERB BLURB

Among many applications coconut water, which is sterile,  can be used as an intravenous fluid

Chrysobalanus icaco: Multi-Colored Fruit

Coco-plums are three quarters patriotic: They can be red, white, or blue ( and yellow.)

Actually, the “blue” is deep purple and the yellow more a cream. Trees near the shore tend to have light colored fruit that is round whereas a variation inland tends to be oval and red to dark purple.

White cocoplums can be pure white or have a pink blush

Look for the coco-plum in cypress swamps, low areas, tree islands, beaches, sand dunes, canals, riverside, oceanside thickets, hammocks, by lakes, ponds and in landscaping.  In reference to landscaping, don’t confuse it with the Natal Plum which also has an edible fruit but the Natal Plum is covered with intense thorns.

The Coco-plum has been introduced to tropical areas around the world.  In Florida it is found from the center of the state south. In the wild it grows up to 30 feet tall, but can be trained into a compact hedge as well.

Red coco plum, note round/oval leaves

Opinions vary on the value of the fruit. Some think the pulp tastes like astringent sweet cotton. I have always found it soft and sweet. Some will say the blue tastes great and the white tastes bad, where as I have found them to taste the same.  It’is made into jams and jellies. In Cuba it’s manipulated into a sweet preserve that’s served in Havana restaurants as a sobremesa or dessert. The large kernel removed from its shell is edible raw or cooked. Some think it has the faint flavor of almond. To me it tastes like granola. Many think the kernel is far better when the fruit and kernel are both pierced so the juice of the pulp is allowed to seep into the kernel.

The botanical name is Chrysobaloanus icaco (crease-oh-BAL-ah-nus eye-KAY-koh. In botanical accounts that haven’t a clue “Chrysobaloanus” is interpreted to mean “Golden Apple.”  In more informed but polite reports it is “golden acorn” which is getting closer to the truth. It really means “golden glans” (or the end of human penis.) Carl Linnaeus, the fellow who started giving plants scientific names, was the original dirty old man. The barnacle got the same name as well, Balanus. Icaco, the individual species name, is the modern version of Hicaco which was what the plant was originally called in Taino on the island of Hispaniola. It is said eye-KAY-koh, in the Roman, but  eye-KAH-koh is also common.

The oil in the kernel can be substituted for almond oil. The seed is about 21% oil by weight. In fact, the seeds can be strung on sticks and burned like a candle. The oil can also be used to make candles, soap, and axle grease. The kernels (and leaves) can also be used to make a black dye that helps fibers resist decay.

The Coco-plum has has many native medical uses (see Herb Blurb below.) The leaves and bark have been used to treat dysentery and diarrhea, diabetes, bladder problems and kidney issues. Tea from the leaves can make mice hypoglycemic.

With all that said, there is a second Coco-plum, Chrysobaloanus icaco var. pellocarpus (pel-oh-KAR-pus) meaning dark fruit with translucent spots.  The pellocarpus lives inland where it’s wet, and has smaller, dark purple fruit. New growth is reddish or yellow.

Green Deane’s “Itemized” Plant Profile

IDENTIFICATION:

Both a shrub to 30-foot tree, leaves alternate, egg-shaped though variable, indented at tip, 1.5 to 3 inches long, leathery, glossy, new growth can be yellow green or reddish. Flowers small and white, in clusters. Fruit white to yellow to red to purple, thin skinned.

TIME OF YEAR: Spring to fall but usually a large crop in late spring and another in late fall.

ENVIRONMENT: Mainland, keys, near the coast or hammocks, inland near bodies of fresh water

METHOD OF PREPARATION: Fruit and kernel raw and or cooked. Made into jelly, jam and syrup. Can be canned.

HERB BLURB

Chrysobalanus icaco; Plasmid pUC 9.1; Escherichia coli; Genotoxic potentiality of aquerous extract prepared from Chrysobalanus icaco L. leaves. .

Abstract:  Plants have been related to our lives, being used as medicine, regardless of scientific evidence of side effects. This work analyses the toxicological effects of Chrysobalanus icaco L. aqueous extract, used in different pathologies. It was studied through: (i) alteration of plasmid pUC 9.1 topology; (ii) survival of bacterial strains submitted, or not, to previous treatment with SnCl2; (iii) transformation efficiency of E. coli strain by the treatment with the plasmid pUC 9.1. In (i), the treatment of the plasmid resulted in DNA single-strand breaks (SSB). A decrease of the lethal effect induced by SnCl2 in presence of the extract was found, while no C. icaco bacterial survival reduction was observed. The transformation efficiency of the plasmid was also reduced. Results suggest that the extract could present a potential genotoxic effect, as demonstrated either by the induction of SSB in plasmid or in transformation efficiency experiments. Finally, it presents an antioxidant action.

Chrysobalanus icaco L. extract for antiangiogenic potential observation. Alves De Paulo S, Teruszkin Balassiano I, Henriques Silva N, Oliveira Castilho R, Coelho Kaplan MA, Currie Cabral M, da Costa Carvalho MG. Instituto de Biofisica Carlos Chagas Filho, Laboratorio de Controle da Expressao Genica, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Centro de Ciencias da Saude, Bloco C, Cidade Universitaria, CEP 21949-900, Rio de Janeiro, Brasil.

Angiogenesis is an important process in several physiological situations and it is also implicated in the development of some diseases such as diabetes and cancer. This study investigated the antiangiogenic potential of Chrysobalanus icaco methanol extract in the chicken embrionary tissue. Clinical trials for cancer treatment using drugs based on this mechanism are already in progress. Chorioallantoic membrane model (CAM) of chicken embryos, with C. icaco methanol extract in plastic diskes was used. The results showed an average of 44% angiogenesis inhibition in CAM areas with the plant extract compared to the controls. The data indicate that C. icaco methanol extract reduce the formation of new blood vessels in chicken chorioallantoic membrane.