GARDEN
PLANTS
RSBS
18 August 2011
Jonathan Loh You Qing
OVERVIEW
Herbs &
Spices
Fruits
Toxic
Plants
Medicinal
Plants
SPICES
“I often quote myself. It adds spice to my
conversations.”
- George Bernard Shaw
SPICES: Outline
• History & uses
• Aroma & essential oils (volatile organic oils)
History & Uses
• Peppercorn & currency
• Funeral pyres & anointing
• The Spice Trade (3BC – 19th Century)
• Mainly…enhancing flavours
• Intro: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bttLYrg9CzI
Coriander
• Coriandrum sativum;
Family Umbelliferae
• Leaves, fruits used
• Uses (fruits):
– 45% of curry powder
– Diuretic, carminative,
stomachic,
emmenagogue,
aphrodisiac properties
– Essential oils for
pharmaceuticals
Coriander
• Fruits:
– Essential oils (0.4-1.0%
Vol./Weight), mainly
linalool (floral with touch of
spiciness)
– Minor; a-pinene, gterpinene, geranyl acetate,
camphor, geraniol
• Roots, stems, leaves:
Aldehydes
Chinese Matrimony Vine
Chinese Matrimony Vine
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Lycium chinensis; Family Solanaceae
Native to China, Japan (bonsai plant)
Fruits used
TCM tonic: leaves into tea, fruits into wine
Seeds: aphrodisiac properties, roots: antifebrile,
antirheumatic tonic
Chinese Matrimony Vine
• Fruits rich in carotene (more orange, more β-carotene)
– Carotenes & photosynthesis
– Protect plant against UV
– Prevent decline in cognition
– Anti-oxidant
– Pro-Vitamin A (vision)
Torch Ginger
Torch Ginger
• Etlingera elatior; Family Zingiberaceae
• Flowering shoot: laksa, rojak
What’s common?
The spices lah!
• Braised pork belly/pig’s
trotters:
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Star anise
Cloves
Cinnamon
Garlic
• Briyani:
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Star anise
Nutmeg
Cumin
Pepper
Cloves
Cardamom
Cinnamon
Coriander
Ginger
Onions
Garlic
Cinnamon
Cloves
• Syzgium aromaticus; Family Myrtaceae
• Native to the Moluccas (Indonesia), used since
the time of Christ
• Major spice in spice trade
Cloves
• Dried unopened flower buds used
• Essential oils: eugenol, eugenyl acetate, bcaryophyllene
• Distillation into clove oil for perfumes, cleaning
agent, poultices, stomach rub
Cardamom
• Elettaria cardamom; Family Zingiberaceae
• Dried whole fruits, seeds used
• One of the most expensive (labour in harvesting, processing;
ripening irreg.)
• Essential oil from seeds: 1,8-cinerole, a-terpinyl acetate,
oleoresin
• Heart tonic, carminative, diuretic, laxative, stomachic
Star Anise
Star Anise
• Illicium verum; Family Illiaceae
• More in Chinese than Western cooking
• Treatment of lumbago, vomiting, promote
menstruation
Star Anise
• Catechin, pro-anthocyanidin
• Essential oils:
– Anethole (liquorice taste)
– Chavicol (peppery tatse)
– Anisaldehyde (vanilla-like taste)
• Manufacture of Tamiflu: Shikimic acid
FRUITS
“Everyone who enjoys thinks that the principal thing to
the tree is the fruit, but in point of fact the principal thing to it
is the seed. -- Herein lies the difference between them that
create and them that enjoy.”
- Friedrich Nietzsche
FRUITS: Outline
• Basic fruit structure
• Classification: By Placentation
• Classification: By Fruits
• Intro:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a6rFCMTfFog
Basic Fruit Anatomy
Placentation
• Marginal
– Blue pea
• Parietal
– Papaya
• Laminar / Superficial
– Water lily
• Axile
– Tomato
• Free-central
– Kiwi
• Basal
– Sunflower
FRUITS
A. Simple
B. Aggregate
i. Succulent
Berry
Pome
C. Multiple
ii. Dry
Drupe
Dehiscent
Indehiscent
Hesperidia
Achene
Pepo
Caryopsis
Follicle
Capsule
Legume
Nut
Samara
Schizocarp
S. A. M.
• Simple:
– Formed from 1 flower; ovary has 1 carpel / many fused
carpels.
• Aggregate:
– Develop from 1 flower with many free carpels; 1 fruit
from 1 carpel.
– E.g. Strawberry
• Multiple:
– Develop from inflorescence as a bunch.
– Juicy part: stalk holding bracts up.
– E.g. Pineapple
Androecium
Corolla
Pistil
Calyx
S > Succulent > Berry
• Pericarp fleshy throughout
• No hard stony endocarp
• Many seeds embedded in pulp
S > Succulent > Berry
• Hesperidia:
– Epicarp, mesocarp fused to form thick layer
– Endocarp membranous, divides central pulp into
little sections
S > Succulent > Berry
• Pepo:
– Outer wall of pericarp develops from receptacle,
becomes firm and hard
– Inside remains soft with seeds embedded
S > Succulent > Pome
• Fleshy part: fusion of receptacle & fruit wall
Epicarp
S > Succulent > Drupe
• Pericarp divided into epicarp (outer skin),
mesocarp (thick, fleshy), endocarp (stony)
*Coconut: mesocarp- fibrous husk, endosperm- white flesh
S > Dry > Dehiscent
• Dehiscents: Split open when ripe, scattering
seeds
S > Dry > Dehiscent
• Follicle:
– Forms from 1 ovary with 1 carpel, splits open on only 1 side
– Peony
S > Dry > Dehiscent
• Legume:
– Fruit forms from 1 ovary with 1 carpel; split open
on 2 sides
– Blue Pea
• Capsule:
– Fruit is many-seeded
– Split in various ways
– Carpels fused into an ovary
– Durian
S > Dry > Indehiscent
• Indehiscents: Dry fruit wall, does not split open
to release seeds; wall must decay before seeds
released
S > Dry > Indehiscent
• Achene:
– Fruit with single loose seed
– Seed coat does not fuse with fruit wall
– *Cypsela: calyx forms hair-like structures, in Tridax
S > Dry > Indehiscent
• Caryopsis/Grain:
– One-seeded fruit, seed coat fused with fruit wall
– Cereals, e.g. maize
S > Dry > Indehiscent
• Nut:
– Pericarp becomes hard and woody/leathery
– Fruit formed from ovary where carpels have fused
– Usually 1 seed
– Cashewnut, chestnut
S > Dry > Indehiscent
S > Dry > Indehiscent
• Samara:
– Outer wall of pericarp flattened (angsana, Casuarina)
– Sepals enlarged to form wing-like structures (Dipterocarpus)
– Fruit has 1 or 2 seeds
S > Dry > Indehiscent
• Schizocarp:
– Fruits formed from ovary where carpels fused
– Ripening, carpels split open; each part indehiscent, does not
release seed
– Desmodium, carrot, castor
Join the Organic Rebellion at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hVrIyEu6h_E
MEDICINAL PLANTS
“The art of medicine consists of amusing the
patient while Nature cures the disease.”
- Voltaire
Jackfruit
• Artocarpus heterophyllus; Family Moraceae
• Chemicals: acetylcholine, hydrocyanic acid
• Burma, China, Philippines: sap used to treat ulcers, abscesses
(area swollen with pus)
• Fruit pulp: cooling agent, tonic
• Roots: treat diarrhoea, wood for convulsions
Durian
• Durio zibethinus; Family Bombacaceae
• Malays: deconcoction of roots to treat lingering fever;
deconcoction of leaves as bath for jaundice treatment
Singapore Rhododendron
• Melastoma malabathricum; Family Sendudok
• Malaysia, Indonesia: Leaves as remedy for diarrhoea,
dysentery; wash for ulcers and smallpox pastules so
scars do not develop
Pomegranate
• Punica granatum; Family Punicaceae
• Chemicals: Pelletierine, resin
• Dried fruit skin: treat diarrhoea, rectocele
– High astringent tannin content, antidiarrhoeal activity
• Bark: treat bad breath, nose bleeding, piles, sore throat
• Leaves: treat itch; (+ roots): treat irregular menstruation
• Flowers: treat burns
Cacao Tree
• Theobroma cacao; Family Sterculiaceae
• Chemicals: Caffeine, theobromine
• Deconcoction of roots used in Philippines to
increase menstrual flow, induce abortion
Lalang
• Imperata cylindrica; Family Gramineae
• Chemicals: Anemonin, oxalic acid, saponin
• Underground stem: treat cough, coughing of blood, influenza,
blood in urine, internal bleeding, jaundice, kidney diseases
• Roots: diuretic, contain fever, stop bleeding
• Flowers: blood in sputum (saliva & mucus), nose bleeding,
quench thirst
Hydrangea
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Hydrangea macrophylla; Family Saxifragaceae
Chemical: Hydrocyanic acid
Flowers to treat malaria and heart diseases
Leaves and shoots as antimalarial drug
Cupid’s Shaving Brush
• Emilia sonchifolia; Family Compositae
• Chemicals: Alkaloids
• Leaves made into a tea, drunk to reduce fever
and treat dysentery
Pepper
• Piper nigrum; Family Piperaceae
• Chemicals: chavicine, crytone, peperonal, piperanine,
piperetline, piperine, transpinocarveol
• Treat colic, rheumatism, headache, diarrhoea, dysentery,
cholera, menstrual pains
• Remove excessive gas in system, increase urine flow
Lotus
• Nelumbo nucifera; Family Nymphaeaceae
• Chemicals: Anonaine, armepavine, isoquercitrin, liriodenine, nelumboside,
nuciferine, oxoushinsunine, quercitin, roemerine
• Antidote for mushroom poisoning
• Leaf, leaf stalk, underground stems, stamens: astringent, haemostatic
• Leaf + other herbs: treat sunstroke, diarrhoea, dysentery, fever, dizziness,
vomiting of blood
• Stalks + other herbs: treat excessive bleeding from uterus
• Seeds: tonic
TOXIC PLANTS
“Lady Nancy Astor: Winston, if you were my husband, I'd
poison your tea.
Churchill: Nancy, if I were your husband, I'd drink it.”
- Winston Churchill
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=trWzDlRvv1M
Hydrangea
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All plant parts poisonous
Chemicals: febrifugine, hydrangenol, loganin
Abdominal pain, vomiting
Febrifugine a hundred times more active than quinine as an
antimalaria drug, practical application limited by toxicity
• Hydrangenol as an allergenic agent
• Loganin bitter, laxative activity
Castor Oil Plant
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Ricinus communis; Family Euphorbiaceae
Toxic plant parts: seeds, leaves
Chemicals: ricin, ricinine
One of the most toxic plants known; burning sensation in
mouth, nausea, vomiting, severe pain in stomach, diarrhoea
• Single seed of 0.25g has lethal dose
Yellow Sage
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Lantana camara; Family Verbenaceae
Toxic plant parts: leaf, stem, berries
Chemicals: Lantadene A, B
1 of 10 most toxic weeds in the world; vomiting, diarrhoea, fall
into coma, liver damage
• Common in sheep in NE Australia, India
THAT’S ALL, FOLKS!