Platycerium mounted and in pots

Platycerium mounted and in pots. The medium is coco fibre, sphagnum moss or both of these two.

Hoya and other plant collections are for sale on aleyagarden.com Plant care is available in various posts of this blog. Contact : aleyagarden@hotmail.com

Sea Almond, Terminalia catappa, the Tree of Life

Sea Almond, Terminalia catappa, Tree of life : " Leaves help good health take root " - Bangkok Post article
http://www.bangkokpost.com/print/358716/

http://www.naturia.per.sg/buloh/plants/sea_almond.htm
in picture : Terminalia catappa at Aleyagarden

Is Thanaka powder safe ?

Question and Answer About a Thanaka Order

 
Hello,
Thank you for the parcel, I received the Thanaka Powder - please can you confirm if this is pure powder? The colour is different to powder I purchased from another shop. Your one is more yellow and the other one was more red/brown in colour.
 I ask you to please be honest as I will be using it on the skin of my young baby who has very sensitive skin and I don't want to cause any harm to her.
 If it has been mixed with other things that is not a problem, but I will need to know what it is so I can be sure it is safe for my baby.
 I hope to hear from you soon.
 Many thanks,

Hello,

Young Limonia acidissima at Aleyagarden

Thank you for your message. We cultivate plants that we sell to some herbalists for their products, in return we get at good prices some products that they sell.  If we google " thanaka " we get two sorts of pictures : a light yellow powder and a darker, almost brownish one. it seems that you are referring to this second sort of powder. As you notice our thanaka is light yellow : it is the true product called Thanaka and traditionally used in Burma; it comes from ground logs of the tree Limonia acidissima which is grown in South East Asia.
You may wish alternatively to buy from aleyagarden the logs and grind them into powder.

The traditional grinding process uses a circular stone slab called kyauk pyin which has a channel round the rim for the water to drain into.

kyauk pyin

However an other species, Murraya paniculata, is reported to be used nowadays to make a powder of the  name Thanaka, so the texture and colors can be different. Also Curcuma can be added beneficially.


Thanaka powder and logs of Limonia acidissima, both sold by Aleyagarden

 

There are no additives of any sort in the making of Thanaka powder that we sell for at least two reasons : they would only add cost for nothing and pesticides or anti mites would be counter productive chemicals in closed bag of this kind of product, causing it do decay faster. Please notice that we have added for sale in our shop the logs of the wood for direct grinding by the consumers so anyone can be satisfied.

A press article has warned of lead found in some Thanaka bags, hypothesizing that the lead made tools to make the powder could be the cause of the contamination. But we don't see what tools made in lead, a very soft metal, could these be as the very fine Thanaka powder is obtained with a more sophisticated tool, the stone grinder in picture above. Lead contamination would probably result from the long storing of paste in lead containers. It is always best to do small batches of water and powder mixes and avoid storing. Thank you again for you message. www.kctv5.com/story/24081950/imported-makeup-gives-2-local-children-lead

Herbs, Hoya and other plant collections are for sale on aleyagarden.com Plant care is available in various posts of this blog. Contact : aleyagarden@hotmail.com

Find all Aleyagarden posts on http://aleyagarden-blog.blogspot.com

Doctors say bacteria cause 40% of chronic back pain patients :  sufferers could avoid major surgery and take antibiotics instead
http://www.theguardian.com/society/2013/may/07/antibiotics-cure-back-pain-patients
The following herbs have antibiotic and anti-inflammatory properties :
Alpinia galanga 
Andrographis paniculata 
Curcuma longa 
Cymbopogon nardus  ( Citronella )
Kaempferia galanga
Mesua ferrea 
Momordica charantia 
Ocimum sanctum 
Petroselinum crispum ( Parsley ) seeds 
Terminalia chebula
Zingiber cassumunar rhizome ( Ginger )

Herbs, Hoya and other plant collections are for sale on aleyagarden.com Plant care is available in various posts of this blog. Contact : aleyagarden@hotmail.com

Find all Aleyagarden posts on http://aleyagarden-blog.blogspot.com

Cat's whiskers tea ( Orthosiphon stamineus ) active against colon cancer is not genotoxic.

Studies of Cat's whiskers tea ( Orthosiphon stamineus ) pharmacological profile have revealed antioxidant properties and other potentially useful biological activities. A study http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22136553 demonstrated that leaf extract inhibits growth of colon tumor and proliferation of blood vessels in mice.

But what about the genotoxic potential of the plant ?  it poses no genotoxic risk says an other study http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0378874110007658
in which Orthosiphon stamineus extract was administered by gavage up to 4000 mg/kg body weight/day for 3 days : salmonella/microsome mutation assay and the mouse bone marrow micronucleus test did not indicate induced chromosome damage.

Medicinal, Hoya and other plant collections are for sale on aleyagarden.com Plant care is available in various posts of this blog. Contact : aleyagarden@hotmail.com

Find all Aleyagarden posts on http://aleyagarden-blog.blogspot.com/

Seeds for Salads : Parsley, Flax, Pepper Grass, Black Caraway et Bon Appetit !

There is no excuse for plain old green salads now : add seeds of Lepidium sativum  http://www.aleyagarden.com/hbalepidisat.html,

Petroselinum crispum http://www.aleyagarden.com/hbapetrosel.html , Nigella sativa http://www.aleyagarden.com/hbanige.html
Flax seeds : these four are among the most beneficial seeds and they are great-tasting in salads packed with flavor and crunch.

Not to mention that they are very cost-effective.

Sprinkle over salads, roasted vegetables or dips

Herbs and Spices, Hoya, Hoya seeds, Orchid seeds, Ferns, Fern spores are for sale on aleyagarden.com Plant care is available in various posts of this blog. Contact : aleyagarden@hotmail.com

Compensate for the missing nutrients, antioxidants and other benefits : use plant powders

      Children who weigh around 25 kg should eat 300 gr of  fresh vegetables daily to support their immune system in  fighting diseases, including the most serious ones later in their life. But rarely modern nutrition meets the standards, not mentioning the toxicity issues, including pesticides etc.        

Plant powders are an excellent source to compensate for the missing nutrients, antioxidants and other benefits. Most don't need pesticide for their cultivation. Sold as powders there is no need keeping the leaves away from insects activities. 

Some are bitter ( often due to antibiotic properties ) and need some strategic step by step introductions in various hides, but some are not and would only add a salty flavor to the dishes and liquids : for instance dried Acanthus ebracteatus and Orthosiphon aristatus ( Java tea, Cats Whisker )  are tropical plants that taste slightly salty, and have huge benefits; - tropical plants evolve in very adverse conditions and many develop efficient anti-disease properties -

They are also extremely cost - effective against the most common vegetables . ( but not always when they are sold in fancy products supported by an expensive marketing )

Acanthus ebracteatus is  anti-inflammatory, antioxidant ; the roots are used as a cough remedy, whole plants as astringent, expectorant, and stimulant. Used against chronic fever, asthma; later in life the plant is active against  inflammation in arthritis and uric acid deposits, hepatitis.
In wound healing Acanthus ebracteatus promotes the formation of new bloods vessels, like Aloe vera the plant helps prevent scar formation. Scientific papers have reported an antitumor activity in mice without chronic toxicity.
 

Orthosiphon aristatus ( Java tea, Cats Whisker ) : grown throughout Southeast Asia and Australia, traditionally leaves of Java tea have been used as diuretic, and to treat rheumatism, abdominal pain, kidney and bladder inflammation, edema and gout.
The plant is bestowed with high amount of flavones, polyphenols, bioactive proteins, glycosides and vast quantities of potassium.
More than twenty phenolic compounds were isolated. Used to treat renal inflammation, kidney stones and urinary tract infection; renal cleansing.

it has strong anti-oxidant and anti-inflammation action.

Reported ( Sahib et al. 2009 ) to enhance the efficacy of tamoxifen an antagonist of the estrogen receptor in the treatment of hormone-sensitive breast cancer. In other studies the activity against colon cancer and non genotoxicity were demonstrated http://aleyagarden-medicinal-plants.blogspot.com/2013/09/cats-whiskers-tea-orthosiphon-stamineus.html


Herbs and Spices, Hoya, Hoya seeds, Orchid seeds, Ferns, Fern spores are for sale on aleyagarden.com Plant care is available in various posts of this blog. Contact : aleyagarden@hotmail.com