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| Avocado |
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| Many parts of the avocado tree have a use in
herbal medicine. The leaves and bark are effective remediesfor
digestive problems and coughs. As well as being extremely nutritious,
the fruit has a wide range of medicinal uses. Native peoples
of Guatemala, for example, use the pulp to stimulate hair growth,
the rind to expel worms and the seeds to treat diarrhoea. The
fruit pulp is used as a baby food in West Africa. |
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| Source |
| Indigenous to Central America, avocado is widely
cultivated for its fruit in tropical and sub-tropical areas,
including Israel, Spain and South Africa. It is propagated from
seed. The leaves are harvested as needed and the unripe fruit
is picked when fully grown. |
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| Key Parts |
| Leaves & Bark |
| Volatile oil (methylchavicol, alpha-pinene),
Flavonoids, Tannins |
Astringent
Carminative
Relieve coughs
Promote menstrual flow |
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| Fruit pulp: |
| Unsaturated fats, Protein (about 25%), Sesquiterpenes,
Vitamins A, B1 and B2 |
Emollient
Carminative |
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| Rind:
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| Eliminates worms |
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| Research |
| Cholesterol |
| Research shows that the fruit helps lower cholesterol
levels. |
|
| Toxins |
| Livestock that have grazed on avocado leaves,
fruit or bark have been observed to suffer less toxic effects
from snake bite and other poisons. |
| |
| Uses |
| Leaves & bark: |
| Avocado leaves and the bark of young stems stimulate
menstruation and can induce abortion. Being astringent and carminative,
the leaves are taken for diarrhoea, wind and bloating and are
considered valuable for relieving coughs, for liver obstructions
and for clearing high uric acid levels, which cause gout. |
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| Fruit: |
| The rind of the fruit is used as a remedy to
expel worms. The mashed fruit pulp is a nourishing food and
is considered to have aphrodisiac properties. Used externally,
the pulp is cooling and soothing to the skin. It is applied
to suppurating wounds and to the scalp to stimulate hair growth. |
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| Oil: |
| The expressed oil of the avocado seed nourishes
and maintains skin tone. It softens rough, dry or flaking skin
and massaged in to the scalp, it improves hair growth. |
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