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

BAHAY BUFFET Exciting Farm Tour and Buffet Meal at MOCA Farm

Barangay Castillo ,Padre Garcia , Batangas province- Philippines

MOCA Farm buffet meal

BAHAY BUFFET  is a new out of the box concept  offering buffet meals .The word bahay ( house )  is capitalized to mean: Buffet At Home is Always Yummy. This new venture aims to introduce consumers to up-and-coming hole in the wall eateries, small farms, family style -resort , micro-entrepreneurs and other stake holders in the food industry.

opuntia cactus with minimal spines

We met at around past 8:00am at Hotel Intercontinental , Makati city and traveled more than 2 hours to MOCA Farm in Padre Garcia, Batangas province. We arrived past 11:30am .

The town of Padre Garcia is known for their several farms which are family owned , while some are owned by large and multi-national companies.

zinnias in bloom

We were treated with some late morning breakfast meal and (Kapeng barako/ baraco ) Batangas style brew which used Liberica coffee beans as the main ingredient.

Creamy Kalabasa Soup with Malunggay Flakes

Creamy Kalabasa Soup with Malunggay Flakes, MoCa Farm Seasonal Garden Salad ( which consists of (  alugbati leaves , fresh pineapple , katuray/ katurai -Sesbania grandiflora  and blue tertanea flowers  ) Clitoria ternatea. 

Basella rubra  is known as Malabar spinach, Indian spinach , Vine spinach  Alugbati ( Bisaya ) Grana ( Tagalog ) Arogbati / Arugbati ( Bicol )

Zesty Santol with Pork in Coconut Milk and Chillies \

  Cotton fruit or more popularly known as Santol (  Sandoricum koetjape  ) in the Philippines. It is a seasonal fruit which ripen around April, May and June depending on the locality.

I have tasted similar santol recipes when we went to Quezon ( less spicy ) , Laguna ( less spicy ) and Bicol region.

There is a souvenir store where one can buy fresh produce and preserve chilli oil

The owner is from Bicol region ( Albay province )  Her recipe is authentic and very similar to Bicol express ( with the use of santol pulp, siling pansigang , pork  topped with finger chillies) . While the one that i have tasted in Quezon  and Laguna uses santol pulp , little ground pork / shredded fish ( tilapia ) and grounded black pepper with little or no chillies. It is a good way to use santol for cooking , since whenever there is an over supply of santol  fruit, prices tend to goes down and there are a lot of fruits that are gone to waste.

group photo Ms. Maria  Louisen Manuel, KM Sevilla, Edong Reyes and kuya Dodong-Edong’s driver, and Mr. Roman B. Mawis Jr. and Mrs. Dawn Bolus Mawis

Native Suckling Pig Lechon, Pinaputukang Tilapia  (stuffed with finely chopped onion , tomatoes)  wrapped in Galangal leaves, and Sapin Sapin Rice ( Tri-colored Rice )

Clitoria ternatea

Clitoria ternatea, common names including butterfly pea, blue pea,blue ternatea , Cordofan pea . ) This is popular among Southeast Asian countries as ornamental plant and it is being used as coloring for foods, juice , salads, and had been known for centuries as a memory enhancer, nootropic, antistress, anxiolytic and herbal remedies.

sapin-sapin or tri-colored rice

The tri-colored rice was made  from ordinary rice,  extract from luyang dilaw and blue colored rice extract  from blue ternatea

Hubad na Lumpiang Saging

This is a different style of lumpia /lunpia – Unlike others, this is presented using saba banana cooked in syrup and the wrapper is toasted / fried

Ms. Gigi Morris with her famed Santol Juice and Bignay Cider

The host for this month’s buffet meal and farm tour is MOCA FARM , a 1 hectare  family owned and managed farm which used to be an Indian mango orchard before Ms. Gigi Morris slowly converted the farm into what we see today. The farm is brightly decorated with sunflower tablecloth reflecting the sunny personality by the gracious host.

The farm is very quaint and had a charming atmosphere which can accommodate up to 50 person at a given time. ( appointment must be made weeks in advance)

The area is now slowly recovering from the onslaught of Typhoon Rammasun ( Bagyong Glenda) which struck the Southern Luzon provinces  only last year 2014. Trees that were toppled down during the typhoon were carefully festooned with flowering plants or designed into wooden chairs.

Tamales with sunflower syrup

 We were served with a late breakfast meal – Tamales ( Padre Garcia version ) with dried coconut latik and syrup made from sunflower seeds !  I have tasted different Tamales from different provinces  and this tamales had no stuffing like meat , shrimps and eggs .  It is made from sticky rice grounded  ( galapong ) and wrapped in banana leaves.

tamales wrapped in banana leaves

This is a different style and squarish .The coconut latik and syrup made from sunflower seeds made it quite different . This native delicacy had gradually evolved thru centuries from the original Tamales from Mexico.

There were also different kinds of coffee beans – Liberica ( bigger seed granules) –Excelsa , Robusta

Geodorum densiflorum

Geodorum densifolium is a common terrestrial orchid found in many areas of the country. I was able to spot a living orchid with seed capsules  I told the owner about the status so that they will not pull them off the growing area.

native pigs

The farm had native chickens, native pigs, Chinese silkie chickens, rabbits , vegetables , fruits and large Indian mangoes.

Chinese silkie chickens

After the hearty meal and a short farm tour. We left the farm around past 3:00PM on our way to the next venue place. I would definitely invite friends and tourists to the event hosted by Bahay Buffet and MOCA Farm .

BAHAY BUFFET facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/bahaybuffet

MOCA Farm: http://www.mocafarm.com/

MOCA Farm Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/MoCa-Farm/144927215529014