Ginger

Ginger or “luya” as it is called locally, is an herbaceous root crop with a straight stem arising from a think aromatic rhizome. It may grow to about a meter high with long elongated leaves. It grows well in a sandy loam soil with good drainage.

Some Uses of Ginger

• “ Salabat” is made from fresh rhizome which is used as a stimulating drink.
• Fresh rhizome is used for flavoring food.
• Ginger in any of its three forms can be used in the preparation of confectionary, beverage, perfume and medicine.

Ginger as Prepared in Medicine

• Pound the leaves and apply to bruises.
• As an antirheumatic remedy, pound some pieces of rhizome and apply them on the affected part.
• Extract the juice from rhizome pieces and apply as cure for toothache and bleeding gums.

Ginger plants eat plenty of soil nutrients. It is essential, therefore, that these soil nutrients be replaced. Application of sufficient amount of organic materials such as well-rotted animal manure and “complete fertilizers” would favorably help the plants.

Black Pepper

Black Pepper is a perennial vine crop with a productive life of fifteen to twenty years or more. It is easy to grow black pepper. There is only one variety and several native strains of black pepper cultivated in the country.

The bushy black pepper bears fruit much earlier, usually as early as six months after planting.The seed - growth type, on the other hand,starts flowering after five to six years. That is why it is used only for breeding purposes.

Economic Value Of Black Pepper

* Black Pepper is the most widely used spice. The dried berries of black papper called Peppercorns are used as the major condiment in several food preparation.

* Peppercorns give aroma and flavor to food.

Medicinal Value Of Black Pepper

* The berriies are used externally as a rubefacient ( an externally skin application)in baldness and skin diseases.

* The decoction (solution caused by boiling the berries in water), when taken internally is used for dyspepsia, cough and intermittent fever.

* A water infusion of the corons( peppercorns) is used as a gargle in various infections in the throat.

* The roots are boiled in water and the solution is used as tonic, stimulant, cordial and anthelmintic ( expels intestinal worms).


The Black pepper may be propagated by waterspouts and runner stems. Waterspouts are succulent branches which arise from the main stem of primary branches.

Chico

Chico is a many-branched tree reaching a height of about 8 feet, more or less.It is commercially grown because of its edible fruits.The fruit is somewhat egg-shaped or rounded with a thin, brown skin. When ripe it is soft and sweet.

Nutritive and Economic Values

* The fruits which are sweet serve as a delicious dessert.
* The fruits are used as a good ingredient for ice cream.
* The Chico fruit is deficient in calcium but fair in iron.

Medicinal Value of Chico

* The seeds which contains saponins and quercetin are diuretic(helps the body dispose of excess water by increasing the amount of urine produced.)They contain 23% oil.

* The mature bark which contains tannin has a medicinal use in Cambodia where it is employed in the cure of diarrhea.

Chico tress may be propagated by seeds,marcotting and inarching. In orchards, plant chico tress about seven to eight meters apart.

Harvest only fully matured fruits.Immature fruits may ripen but the quality is poor, because the skin wrinkles and the taste is inferior.

Cashew ( Kasoy)

The cashew plant is a small to medium-sized tree. The trunk is gnarled and usually crooked.There are three types of cashew fruits;a group with big apples and small nuts;a group with small apples and big nuts; and a group with big apples and big nuts.

Medicinal Value of Kasoy

* For Diarrhea and Diabetes - Boil the bark;cool and drain solution before drinking.
* For ulcerations in the mouth - Boil the bark;cool and drain solution before using as mouth wash.
* For Dysentery - Pour boiling water on the leaves of kasoy placed in a container. Cool and drain before drinking.

Economic And Nutritive Values Of Cashew

* The juicy cashew apple,receptacle may be eaten when ripe and is used for sweet preserves.
* Wine, alcohol and vinegar can be made from the cashew apple.
* The meat of the cashew nuts are used in the preparation of confectionery and in the preparation of cakes, pastries,ice cream and candies.

The fruits are ready for harvest when the color of the cashew apples has became cream yellow and when the nuts are already hard and light brown in color.

Guayabano (Sour Sop)

Guayabano or sour sop is a small tree which was introduced into the Philippines from West Indies. It grows to about seven meters high.
It is grown for its fruit. The fruit is ovate is shape and weighs about 2 to 4 kilos. The skin of the fruit is covered with flexible green prickles.The pulp of the fruit is white, fibrous and contains several black seeds.It is soft,juicy, and has a sweet acid flavor when ripe.

Economic And Nutritive Values of Sour Sop

* The mature green fruit is used as a vegetable.
* The ripe fruit is eaten off hand or for dessert.
* The fruit juice is used for flavoring ice cream and sherbets and for the preparation of drinks.
* The ripe fruit is fair in Vitamin C content and has traces of Vitamin A.

Medicinal Value of Sour Sop

* The unripe fruit is prepared as remedy for dysentery.
* The above solution also relieves muscular pains or cramp.
* The ripe fruit is a good remedy for scurvy.
* The heated liquid extract from the leaves or flowers is used to induce sweating.

The Sour Sop tree is propagated by seeds. The seeds are sown in seedbeds.The seedlings should be set in the field 5 to 7 meters apart. The Sour Sop trees grow fast and attains a height of 4 to 7 meters. The bear fruit in about three years after planting.