Saturday, 28 January 2012

Herbs in daily life - serai

This is from CAP Guide produced by the Consumer Association of Penang (CAP).


Scientific name: Cymbopogon nardus
English name: Lemon grass, citronella
Tamil name: Karpurapul
Chinese name: Ning meng cao

Uses: for lemon fragrance in tea, cooking soup, curry, sambal, rice

It is sliced to make nasi kerabu Kelantan
It is sliced for making kuah singgam
The fresh stalk is used in curry and sambal

Herbal and medicinal uses:

Antibactericidal, antifungal
Helps to detoxify the liver, pancreas, kidney, bladder, digestive tract
Reduces uric acid and cholesterol
Improves blood circulation
Helps in digestion
Relieves flatulence and colic

My comments:

How do we demonstrate its bactericidal effects?
How do we demonstrate its antifungal effects?
How effective is it in detoxifying the liver? What sort of conditions result in toxic liver?
What results in toxic pancreas?
What causes kidney toxicity? Toxic bladder?
What causes toxic digestive tract?
How effective is it in reducing uric acid and cholesterol?
How does it improve blood circulation?
How does it help in digestion?
How does it relieve flatulence and colic? What is its mode of action?

Serai / Lemon grass / Citronella / Karpurapul / Ning meng cao