Amazing Health Benefits of Clitoria ternatea

Clitoria ternatea is commonly called blue ternatea, blue ternate, Asian pigeonwings.

Clitoria ternatea growing as hedge plant

It may sound funny or vulgar, But in Tagalog / Filipino language this is called pukingan, pukinggan, samsamping ,puking-reyna and puki ng reyna.Sometimes called by different common names such as Darwin’s pea, bluebellvine, blue pea, butterfly pea, cordofan pea. There are some local growers who sell seedling from between Php 50.00 to Php 75.00.

Etymology:

The genus name, Clitoria was derived from the Latin word, clitoris, that was coined from the ancient Greek word kleitoris, meaning little hill.  The flowering plants thus named as the Clitoria flowers somewhat resemble the clitoris, female sexual organ.

These flowering plants are distributed in most tropical and sub-tropical regions of the world.

Economic Uses: 

The flowers are named as such because they looked like parts of female genitalia. The flowers can be used as natural food coloring, syrupy blue drink, blue ternatea tea and garnish in salad. The young seeds can be boiled and eaten during its early stages as used as vegetables in many parts of the world including the Philippines.

This can be grown as hedge plant or ornamental flowering plants in the garden. The vine can also be planted on a  fence or train on a trellis, arbor or archway.

In Malacca, Singapore and Indonesia, the flowers are also used as food coloring in Nyonya cakes.

At Moca Farm in Batangas province, The flowers are used as natural food coloring for their rice.

Clitoria ternatea is also a nitrogen-fixing legume and can be used as a ley legume and as green manure and used for feeding livestock. It is also useful in revegetation of coal mining sites in central Queensland (Australia) (FAO, 2012; Cook et al., 2005).

Propagation: 

 There are flat pods with six to ten seeds in each pod.  After gathering, One can soak the seeds for 1 to 3 hours before sowing them in pre-mixed soil in seedling tray.  Seeds will germinate within 1-2 weeks, with flowers as early as 4 weeks after planting.

Fertilization: 

One can also use cuttings that root readily. Do not forget to fertilize the plant every week with a combination of organic and inorganic fertilizers. Do not use other home style remedy fertilizer mixture like msg, vinegar, beer and skim milk.

 

Clitoria ternatea

Medicinal Uses: memory enhancer, brain booster, anti-stress, calmative agent,  there is also wide spectrum of neurological benefits and many beauty products have also been derived from the flowers.

References:

USDA  https://plants.usda.gov/core/profile?symbol=CLTE3

ResearchGate: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/274419962_In_vitro_Propagation_of_Clitoria_ternatea_L_A_Valuable_Medicinal_Plant

Feedipedia: https://www.feedipedia.org/node/318

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