Go for Fresh, Natural, and Locally Produced Food

                            TATAKalikasan Series 8

Go for Fresh, Natural, and Locally Produced Food

Dr Abe V Rotor

 

Typical fruit stand, UP Diliman QC

It is not enough that we produce food. We must produce food that ensure good health, reduce risks to diseases and ailments, and prolong life. We must produce food that also insures the health of our environment and the stability of the ecological system.

While science and technology continue to explore new ways to increase food supply with genetic engineering, people are yearning for organic food – or naturally grown food.

Here are issues raised by the proponents of organic farming.

1. Many ailments and abnormalities are traced to the food we take. Cancer for instance, is often related to carcinogenic substances. High uric acid leads to kidney trouble. High cholesterol and high sugar levels are associated with high blood pressure and diabetes. Aftatoxin causes cirrhosis of the liver. Ulcers are food-related, so with many allergies.

2. Proper nutrition and balanced diet can be attained by eating the right kind and amount of natural food without fortification with vitamins and minerals, and other forms of altering food value. Thus there is no need to process food unless it is really necessary. Fresh foods – vegetables, fish, and the like – are still the best. And why modify the genetic composition of crops and animals? Leave that to nature. Nature knows best.

3. Taking excess foods rich in animal fat and protein, and foods high in calories foods has predisposed many people to overweight conditions. Gaining unnecessary weight leads obesity now an epidemic sweeping many countries today particularly in cities where there is a proliferation of fast foods and junk foods. Or simply there is too much of the “good life” – excess in food and pleasure. In the US today one out of five Americans is an obese, two are overweight.

4. There are natural substances that keep our body always alert to fend off stress due to overwork and diseases. They are known as probiotics. We get probiotics from fruits and vegetables. We also get them from seaweeds, mushrooms, yoghurt, algae such as Chlorella, and Cyanobacteria such as Spirulina. And there are many more sources that occur in nature. We are beginning to realize that eating foods rich in probiotics and antibiotics (substances that directly kill germs) makes us healthier and live longer.

These are the rules set by the advocates of organic farming.

1. It is always better to eat foods grown under natural conditions than those developed with the use of chemicals.

This statement can be captured with one term "natural food". All over the world this is a label found in food grown without chemicals. People are afraid of becoming ill because of chemicals introduced into the food. There are banned pesticides still in used such as methyl parathion, endosulfan, DDT, BHC, among others. These are also harmful to all living organisms and to the environment.

2. People are avoiding harmful residues of antibiotics and pesticides.

Poultry, hogs and cattle are given high levels of antibiotics to safeguard the animals from diseases. As a result, the antibiotics are passed on to the consumers. Unless we are ill, the body does not need supplemental antibiotics. We have adequate natural sources. Every time we eat commercial eggs, chicken, pork chop, steak, and the like, we are taking in antibiotics which accumulate in our body, shutting off our immune systems, punishing our kidney and liver. To many people, antibiotics cause allergic reactions.

3. People are getting scared of food contaminated by radiation. Nuclear reactors are being built in many countries as a fallback to fossil fuel.

With the recent nuclear plant meltdown in Fukoshima, Japan, the Chernobyl nuclear incident in Russia, and that of the Three-Miles Island nuclear plant in the US, people have become wary about the consequences of fallout. A trace of radiation can be absorbed by grass in the pasture, finds its way to milk, then to infants. Radiation can remain active for hundreds of years. People are still dying today in Nagasaki and Hiroshima, more than sixty years since the bombing of the two cities with the first atomic bomb.

4. People are becoming aware of the deleterious effects of toxic metals, such as lead, mercury and cadmium.

These find their way through the food chain and ultimately reach humans. They escape to the air and enter our lungs, as in the case of dusts from old paints. Since they are in soluble compounds, they are easily absorbed by plants and animals. Kangkong (Ipomea reptans) for example absorbs lead. Tuna has high mercury in its tissues and liver. Cadmium from batteries is absorbed by crops.

5. People are becoming more conscious of the nutritional value of food rather than its packaging and presentation.

More and more people are shunning away from junk foods, in spite of their attractive packaging. Soft drinks have taken the backseat, courtesy of fruit juices and mineral water. People have even learned that different plant varieties have different levels of food value. Beans grown on naturally fertile soil have higher calorie and protein content than those grown on poor soil, or with chemical fertilizers. This is also true with animals. Animals raised with proper nutrition give meat, milk and eggs with higher protein, minerals notwithstanding.

6. Freshness is the primordial rule in choosing a perishable food.

There is no substitute to freshness. While freshness is a function of efficient handling and marketing, the farmer must enhance farm-to-market freshness. By keeping his standing plants healthy, his produce will stay longer on the shelf life. Products that are free from pest and diseases also stay fresher and longer. Too much water or fertilizer reduces shelf life of the commodity.

7. Food processing must be efficient and safe.

Food processing, such as drying, milling and manufacturing is key to higher profits. Whenever feasible, food must reach the table fresh. But processing is designed to extend the shelf life of perishable commodities. There are products that require processing before they are used. These food items include vanilla, coffee, cacao, wine and vinegar, soya, fish sauce and the like. Profits generated through processing are value-added to production.

8. Food must be free from pest and diseases.

By all means, food must be free from insects and pathogens. There are cases of food poisoning as a result of food deterioration, or contamination. Take salmonella and E. coli. Khapra beetle in grains may even cause death to animals. Weevils hasten the deterioration of the food.

9. Food preservation must ensure quality, and above all, safety.

Be aware of the fish that is stiff, yet looks fresh. It is easy to detect the odor of formalin. Salitre is harmful, so with vetsin or MSG (Monosodium glutamate). Too much salt (sodium) is not good to the body. Some puto makers add lye or sodium hydroxide to aid coagulation of the starch. We wary of sampaloc candies enticingly made red with shoe dye. The same diluted dye is used with ube manufacture to make it look like the real violet-colored tuber.

10. Beware of GMOs.

Many countries warn of the potential dangers of genetically modified food and food products, popularly called Frankenfood, after the novel Frankenstein, a mad scientist who created a monster. This move is not only to safeguard health, but also the environment. Genetically modified plants and animals – as well as bacteria, protists and even viruses – are now a threat to the natural gene pool, giving rise to a new kind of pollution - genetic pollution. Once a gene pool of a certain species is contaminated with a GMO genetic material, the genic pollutant cannot be eliminated, even in subsequent generations. Thus, it also disturbs natural evolution.

Next time you go to market, remember these guidelines. Why not convert that idle lot to raise food that is safe to your health and the environment? That little corner could be the start of a new green revolution. x x x

Garlic - Miracle Health Food and Medicine

 Garlic - Miracle Health Food and Medicine

By Dr Abe V Rotor

Garlic is Nature's most powerful anti-viral food and drug. I am posting this article in response to queries on what are other sources of substances that fight off viruses, other pathogens notwithstanding. This is particularly important because of the present threat of a pandemic caused by the swine flu virus or A(H1N1) virus. There are of course, other natural anti-viral food plants and herbals, fruits and vegetables generally, among them onions (Allium cepa) and kutchai (Allium tuberosum) which belong to the same family of garlic - Liliaceae.

Our native Ilocos garlic has more of the anti-viral element.

Basang, an auntie and yaya of mine, used to treat kabag (gas pain) with garlic. She would roast two large cloves over candle, crush and wrap them with a piece of cloth, and while still warm, apply the bandage around both my large toes. She made sure that the garlic covers the joint at the base of the nail. While doing it she inaudibly said some prayer imploring divine intervention. And indeed, relief came and calmed me down.

“The garlic draws out the gas,” she explained. “But before the trapped gas is released, garlic relieves tired and cold nerves, frees cramped muscles, drives out tension, and restores normal body temperature.” This is what people call traditional medicine - or natural medicine, as some put it. Today, the term natural is more than just the use of herbals known to be effective, but also includes the enhancement of normal healing without the side effects of synthetic drugs.

Many years later when I suggested to our family doctor to apply the same remedy to my own children, he just smiled and scratched out a prescription, which the patient was to take every after meal. Meantime to relieve the pain, he gave Carlo, my youngest son a tablet, which soon made him comfortable. I only knew the brand and generic name of the medicine but how it worked was not explained as vivid as Basang described the roasted garlic wound around my large toe. Oh well, that is the difference between traditional and modern medicine.

Since the advent of modern medicine, the medicinal value of garlic has been virtually forgotten, and this once powerful panacea has been relegated to the kitchen. The fact is that garlic is the oldest recorded herbal remedy to a long list of human afflictions, dating as far back to the ancient Chinese and Egyptian civilizations.

Ancient Healing with Garlic

We do not know when garlic was first used as food or medicine, but in a book, Calendar of Hsia, written 4000 years ago, it tells us how the followers of Emperor Huang-ti who happened to have eaten a poisonous plant were saved by eating wild garlic they called suan. Since then garlic became an important Chinese herbal medicine.

Garlic bulbs were found in the tomb of the celebrated Egyptian king, Tutankhamen, an evidence of the inscriptions of earlier pyramids describing garlic as food and medicine. The Israelite slaves who built the pyramids drew their strength and nourishment from garlic. And the bible mentioned how Moses and the Israelites sorely missed it while they were crossing the desert and fleeing Egypt. Garlic as food and medicine is also mentioned in the Koran, in the writings of the Babylonians, Greeks and Romans. The Vikings took garlic among their provisions in long sea voyages.

In the Middle Ages, Jewish superstition suggested that carrying garlic bulbs would protect a person from the dreaded pestilence, the Bubonic Plague, which decimated the population of medieval Europe by more than one-third. The scientific explanation of course, is that garlic has antiseptic and anti-microbial properties against the bacterial pathogen, while its volatile oil repels the flea vector (Xenopsylla cheopis). But during those times the magic of garlic was ascribed to superstition that it drives evil spirits, a belief many still hold today. In the provinces we still see garlic hanging at the doorway and around the house for fear of aswang and manananggal, monsters of the evil world who scare and even hurt people.

Origin of Herbolarios

Don’t you know that the great Greek doctor, Hippocrates, applied garlic on a variety of diseases, including leprosy? Hippocrates, the “father of medicine” and author of the Hippocratic Oath, code of ethics in the medical profession, made garlic popular as treatment for wounds and toothaches, and as diuretic and laxative.

When the Romans conquered the Greeks, many of the medicinal practices such as the use of garlic were continued. The Roman doctor Dioscorides spoke highly of garlic. To wit:

“It is sharp, biting, wind-producing, and excites the belly, dries out the stomach, creates thirst and reduces growths on the skin. If eaten it helps eliminate tapeworm. It drives out urine. It is good against snakebite with wine or when crushed in wine. It is good against the bite of a rabid dog. It makes the voice clear and soothes continuous coughing when eaten raw or boiled. Boiled with oregano, it kills lice and bed bugs. It doth clear the arteries. Burnt and mixed with honey, it heals white skin spots, herpetic eruptions, liver spots, leprosy and scurvy. Boiled with pinewood and incense, it soothes toothache when the solution is kept in the mouth. Boiled flowers is good for bath to help the coming of menstruation. xxx”

Why these are the very things our local herbolarios are practicing! Could it be that natural medicine spontaneously developed along with the evolution of man and his society?

(A subject that deals with the natural relationship between man and plants – ethonobotany – is offered at the Graduate School of the University of Santo Tomas, and other universities as well.)

Garlic - “White Gold”

From the economic point of view, garlic is regarded as a high-value crop with farmers earning as much as three times more than rice or corn. Generally, garlic is planted soon after the rice crop is harvested in November or early December. It is harvested before summer sets in. The two Ilocos provinces comprise the garlic capital of the Philippines, contributing up to eighty percent of national production which is equivalent to 15,000 metric tons, well worth above P100 million a year. However, with the present globalization policy, imported garlic mainly from China, is threatening the local garlic industry. Imported garlic is very much larger in size and cheaper, although our own is more pungent and aromatic, which means that it contains higher levels of phytochemical substances.

The Wonders of Garlic

Garlic not only makes food more appetizing and aromatic, it also has various healing and herbal qualities.

Garlic, a bulbous crop, is easy to grow. It can be potted or planted in plots or an empty container. Have you noticed that its cloves, when left alone, begin to shoot even without a medium? Which only goes to show that this crop can be grown even by an inexperienced gardener.

Garlic is not only easy to grow, it is a must spice in every home. It is also healthful and medicinal. In the book Calendar of Asia, written 4,000 years ago, the followers of Emperor Huang-ti, who happened to eat a poisonous plant, were saved by eating wild garlic they called suan. Since, then garlic has become an important Chinese herbal plant.

A. Power Food

Garlic bulbs were found in the tomb of the Egyptian pharaoh, Tutankhamen. Inscriptions on pyramids describe garlic as food and medicine. The Israelite slaves, who built the pyramids, drew their strength and nourishment from garlic. And the Bible mentioned how it was sorely missed by Moses and the Israelites while they were crossing the desert after fleeing Egypt.

Garlic, as food and medicine, is also mentioned in the Koran, in the writings of the Babylonians, Greeks and Romans. In the history of the Vikings, garlic was also among the provisions in their long sea voyages.

B. Supernatural Powers?

In the Middle Ages, Jewish superstition suggested that carrying garlic bulbs would protect a person from the dreaded Bubonic plague, which decimated the population of medieval Europe by more than one-third. The scientific explanation, of course, is that garlic has antiseptic and antimicrobial properties against the bacterial pathogen and its volatile oil repels the flea vector. During those times, however, the magic of garlic was ascribed to superstition. Just like in the provinces, where people still hang garlands of garlic to drive away evil spirits, vampires and witches.

C. Advent of Herbolarios

The greatest Greek doctor, Hippocrates, applied garlic on a variety of diseases, including leprosy. During his time, garlic became a popular treatment for wounds and toothaches, and as diuretic and laxative. Hippocrates is better known as the “father of medicine” and author of  the Hippocratic Oath, which doctors take before joining the medicinal profession.

When the Romans conquered the Greeks, many of the latter’s medicinal practices, such as the use of garlic, where continued. The Roman doctor Dioscordes spoke highly of garlic. “It is  sharp, biting, wind-producing, excites the belly, dries out the stomach, creates thirst and reduces growths on the skin. If eaten it helps eliminate tapeworms and drives out urine. It is good against the bite of a rabid dog. It makes the voice clear and soothes continuous coughing when eaten raw or boiled. Boiled with oregano, it kills lice and bed bugs. It clears the arteries. Burnt and mixed with honey, it heals white skin spots, herpetic eruptions, liver spots, leprosy and scurvy. Boiled with pine wood incense, it soothes toothache when the solution is kept in the mouth. Boiling the umbel flower is good for bathing and helps the coming menstruation.”

D. Phytochemicals in Garlic

What secrets really has garlic for being a powerful medicine? Paul Simons in his book, Garlic, the Powerful Panacea, did an extensive research on the phytochemical properties of garlic. These are:

1. Allicin - This substance is believed to be largely responsible for giving garlic its anti-viral, anti-bacterial and anti-inflammatory effect.

2. Alliin - Garlic is often known as Russian Penicillin and the Russians believe, as do many other scientists, that this is the substance that produces its antibiotic activity.

3. Di-sulphides - These are believed to have a cholesterol lowering effect, which help control cholesterol and other fats within the arteries and blood vessels.

4. Anti-haemolytic Factor - It is claimed that this is responsible for the beneficial effect of garlic in the treatment of anemia.

5. Anti-arthritic Factor - Japanese research teams investigating arthritis and similar conditions claim this factor to be present in garlic.

6. Sugar Regulating Factor - It was reported in 1973 that garlic is useful for treating some forms of diabetes. It is this factor that is believed to be the cure.

7. Anti-oxidant Factor - Garlic has been shown capable of helping prevent foods from going  rancid and spoiled. Garlic is a natural food preservative. It helps in digestion and breakdown of toxic substances.

8. Anti-coagulant Factor - Garlic contains certain active substances which prevent blood from coagulating, thus benefiting heart conditions.

9. Allithiamin - This special type of vitamin B1 has been isolated from garlic and has beneficial properties as defense against infection.

Garlic as an Aphrodisiac

In Philippine Herbs to Increase Sexual Vitality, a book written by Dr. Romualdo del Rosario, Dr. Delia Ontengco (1999), and the author, garlic was described as a powerful aphrodisiac. Its use as an aphrodisiac is widespread among Egyptians, Greeks, Romans, Chinese, Japanese, Swedish and Germans. The East German pharmaceutical journal Die Pharmazie says garlic is especially suited for men and women of climacteric age because it contains compounds related to sex hormones.

The aphrodisiac effect is also associated with the fact that it makes food more appetizing, stimulates secretion of gastric juices, increases the appetite, tones up the organs, builds stamina and strength, and generally contributes to a feeling of well-being.

Nutritional Composition of Garlic

What nutrients do we get from garlic? According to the US Department of Agriculture, raw garlic gives 31 percent carbohydrate, 6 percent protein and 0.2 percent fat. It contains 61 percent water.

As to minerals, a 100-gram dried sample has the following mineral contents:

• Calcium - 29 mg,

• Phosphorus - 202 mg,

• Iron - 0.5 mg, and

• Potassium - 529 mg.

Calcium is important for our bones, while Phosphorus is important in the proper functioning of our brain and nerves. It fact it is called the “brain element”. Iron aids in the oxygenation of the body. Its deficiency is manifested by anemia, docile and sickly condition. Potassium maintains our heart and muscles healthy and strong.

As to the vitamin content of garlic, based on 100 grams raw sample, Vitamin B1 (thiamin) and B2 (riboflavin) comprise 0.25 mg and 0.50 mg, respectively. It is Vitamin C that is very rich (15 mg). The Vitamin B family prevents arthritis and rheumatism, enhances sexual vitality, and it is allied to rejuvenation. Vitamin C on the other hand, prevents scurvy, and aids in the absorption of Iron, thus help in the oxygenation of the body. People who lack vitamin C may experience bleeding gums, slow healing of wounds, frequent colds and infections, and shortness of breath.

Garlic Smell – a Pest Repellant

It is the peculiar smell that makes garlic a natural pesticide. It is one of the insect-repelling plants grown to protect many crops. How is this so? Here is a tip for gardeners. Plant some garlic around plots, between rows and among the plants to be protected from insects. Just the odor of the growing garlic is sufficient to repel destructive insects such as grasshoppers, aphids, mealy bugs, fruit flies and caterpillars, as well as those residing in the soil like crickets and grubs. And if there are thrips and mites around, they are attracted by the garlic which then serves as trap crop, thus saving the other plants like cabbage and beans. The trap crop (infested garlic plant) is then rouged and burned together with the eggs, young and adults of the attacking pests.

Why don’t you try making your own garlic insecticide? This is the procedure prescribed by the Rodale Herb Book.

1. Chop 75 grams garlic cloves and soak in 50 ml vegetable oil for 24 hours.

2. Mix this in 575 ml water in which 20 grams of powdered soap has been dissolved.

3. Stir well and strain with old nylon stocking, and store in a glass jar. Do not use plastic or metal container.

4. You can dilute this mother mixture one part to 20 parts water, down to 1 : 100, depending on the level and kind of infestation.

Entomologists at the University of California reported that even low concentrations of crude garlic extract could kill at least 5 species of mosquito larvae. Mosquitoes are vectors of dreaded diseases like malaria, dengue and encephalitis. Further experiments using refined extracts were found to be more effective. The author has successfully tried the formula against kiti-kiti (mosquito wrigglers) by directly applying the solution in the stagnant water and along canals where the mosquitoes breed.

Garlic is environment-friendly. Unlike synthetic ones, like DDT, organic phosphates and hydrocarbons – herbal pesticides are biodegradable and therefore, do not leave toxic residues that destroy the balance of nature and they do not enter into the food chain that may reach our dining table.

Many people do not like the smell of garlic though. It is really repulsive. The smell of garlic does not go well along fine culture, so some people say. On the other hand, good food does. To avoid the smell, take the garlic oil capsule or gel which is available without prescription. It is advisable to first consult the doctor since there are people who may be allergic to garlic extract.

Garlic is a health food and potent medicine rolled in one. Other than its culinary uses why don’t you try some sautéed garlic in oil or garlic with onion in vinegar? There goes the saying, “Garlic everyday drives the doctor away.” ~

References: Living with Nature in Our Times, by AV Rotor, UST Press; Philippine Herbs to Increase Sexual Vitality, a book written by Dr. RM del Rosario, Dr. D Ontengco and Dr AV Rotor (1999); and Garlic, the Powerful Panacea, Paul Simons

Environment: Ecological Sanctuary Garden is a Microcosm of the Biosphere

                           TATAKalikasan Series 9

Environment: Ecological Sanctuary Garden is a Microcosm of the Biosphere

Dr Abe V Rotor

The garden is Nature's laboratory. Students learn more by appreciating nature.

A pond such as this is required to keep the garden green throughout the year.

Passion flower is named after the three nail like stigma of the flower.

“To see a world in a grain of sand

And heaven in a wild flower’

Hold infinity in the palm of your hand

And Eternity in an hour.”

                                    - William Blake

This verse captures the essence of the title of this article. It condenses the universe into its elemental symbols from which we take a full view of the world we live in. It reduces the complexities and vastness of both the non-living and the living world into a microcosm that is complete in itself- a plantilla of creation all contained in the hand, and experienced within a lifetime.

Lucky is the person who realizes this singular gift. Through this microcosm he can traverse the breadth of time and space, live with the myriad of life forms, and most important, he is blessed by the Great Maker to be part of the wonders and mysteries of creation.

So deep is the faith of the poet, William Blake, who wrote this verse more than two hundred years ago. Then, there were no computers, no television, no spacecraft and satellites. Could it be that in the absence of these modern tools the mind could penetrate deeper, imagination soar higher, and faith stronger?

Garden as a Microcosm

The pocket garden of SPCQ could possibly be a place where Newton formulated the laws of gravity and magnetism when an apple fell on his head, where Darwin developed his theory of evolution through natural selection, Henry Fabre discovered organizational intelligence among insects over and above their instinctive behavior. Claude Monet’s masterpieces were painted in a garden, capturing the essence of the natural beauty of wild flowers, such as the Nymphaea and the lotus.

We may not expect inventions and discoveries and master’s arts to creep into the mind of whoever spends time in a garden, or any similar microcosm of nature for that matter. But we are most certain that he finds enlightenment through the knowledge and experience he gains, and with these he develops in himself the discipline to discover new things, acquire values that help him live at peace with nature and himself. It is in keeping close to nature that we better understand the ways of the world in which we live.

When I conducted a lecture-demonstration at the SPUQC Botanical Garden before my students in ecology, I was in effect simulating the scenario. Here I showed them the different parts of the garden, starting with the basics such as, “What makes a Garden?” I explained the composition of a typical rainforest biome, which the Philippines is a part. The garden is precisely a pocket representation of this ecosystem, and, by dissecting it, we are in effect looking into its profile.

Deciduous Nature of Trees in Tropical Rainforest

I gathered my students under a narra tree - Pterocarpus indicus. Trees belonging to the Dipterocarp group of family Leguminosae dominate the canopy of the tropical rainforest. Their leaves fall off completely at certain seasons so that the trees are bare for some time, thus allowing sunlight to penetrate and nourish the understory trees, ground plants, lianas and epiphytes. The floor becomes covered with litter that nourishes insect, earthworms, fungi and bacteria. These decompose the leaves into humus that ultimately becomes soil while supplying nutrients to different plants in the forest. Because the high precipitation throughout the year, the forest becomes lush and dense. The multi-story nature of the tropical rainforest makes it the richest biome in both diversity of species and number of inhabitants.

Gymnosperms and angiosperms

These are cone-bearing and flowering plants, respectively. Gymnosperms are exemplified by pine cypress, and arios. I allowed my student to touch and examine these plants. Then they turned to examine the angiosperms that predominate the campus. Phylogeny shows that flowering plants are more “ modern," which means that through evolution, the gymnosperms are older, and later gave way to the evolving angiosperms. Except in colder countries and in the taiga biome, the natural vegetation is made up of flowering plants.

False flowers

Nature’s sweet lies have a purpose. The brightly colored leaves of poinsettia and bougainvillea attract insect pollinators and enhance fertilization and subsequent fruit setting and seed formation, thus ensuring the perpetuation of the species. How many plants are benefited by this special make-up?

The truth is that most flowering plants have designed attraction mechanisms. In general, flowers are made attractive, although the attraction that we know may not be the same as how insects perceive it. We know red as red, yellow as yellow, and so forth. But insects have a different perception of colors. Nonetheless, the basic purpose is what counts - and is almost always achieved. Other means guarantee pollination-fertilization are sometimes needed. For example, insects are attracted by obnoxious odor like Lantana camara. This is also in the case of the kalumpang or bangar tree- and, of course, the Rafflesia, the world largest flower that emits putrefying odor. They have one thing in common: they attract flies to pollinate their flowers.

Flowering Bamboo- Prophet of doom

The old folks used to tell us, “Beware if the bamboo flowers”.

What is the connection of a flowering bamboo to a force majeure, such as drought? Climatologists around the globe have predicted that this year is El nino year. The last time phenomenon struck was in 1991 and 1992. The cycle is ten years, but is could closer. El nino is accompanied by poor harvest, forest fires, death of livestock, spread of certain diseases that effect man, animals and plants.

Biological, organisms subjected to stress tend to reach the reproductive stage earlier than usual. In fact, certain insects even skip molting just to be able to metamorphose into an adult and carry out reproduction, while the environment allows. It is nature’s way of insuring the perpetuation of the species at the expense of the organism, so to speak.

So, when a bamboo flowers it ultimately dies. This is why the panda, which exclusively derives its because of the death of bamboo’s once they have flowered!

There are other plants that signal the coming of drought. One is kapok. A fruit-laden kapok tree means poor against harvest ahead. Even the sturdy kamagong or mabolo is stressed by drought. While it stops producing new leaves, the crown remains intact. This could be the reason why this produces the hardest wood. In the case of the narra, and mango, they show no apparent stress signal. It is because they have sturdy, long taproots that penetrate deep into the ground and into the bedrock. Old folks, however, warm us that no plant is spared in the worst kind of drought. Many of them still remember.

Trees as sound and wind barriers

With the construction of the MRT tracks. Seedlings of molave and mahogany have been recently planted to augment the defense line.

In other countries windbreaks help reduces wind pressure. I saw the 10- row windbreak along the highway to the Beijing airport, the windbreak made agoho or Casuarina in Taiwan situated along the coastline to buffer winter wind. Woodlands along field boundaries in European countries serve the same purpose. These man-made forests are a source of many valuable products and serve as a natural habitat of wildlife. It is no wonder why the Hanging Garden of Babylon was one of the Wonders of the ancient World.

The Indian tree is an effective sound breaker because of its thick, cone- shaped crown. It has also another advantage, that is, it grows tall and straight so that several trees can be planted close to each other. Unfortunately city ordinance prohibit the planting of trees on the side walk outside of the school wall, other wise a thicker buffer zone of trees could be built between the MRT tracks and SPCQ.

Hantik Ants- Biological Control Agents

We saw five nests of the giant green tree ants or hantik. The older nests were built on the upper branches of alagao, while a newly built nest was on Ficus pseudopalma. It is not easy to trace which nest an ant belongs to, but each colony has a specific chemical signal called pheromone. This prevents them from fighting, and allows the colonies to co-exist with defined territories assigned to each colony. Scientist calls this territory a niche.

Dr. Sel Cabigan introduced a hantik colony many years ago, and since then the SCQ garden has not been without this predators.  The hantik ant is a notorious killer of other insects this could be the reason why I have not seen any need to spray chemicals in the botanical garden. Hantik ant feed on grubs, caterpillar aphids, scale insects, and many others. They carry of morsels to their nest to feed their larvae. They scare organisms several times bigger than they. In fact, one who happens to get close to their domain is likely to get a bite or two, which is warning enough. But they do not hesitate to attack once they are threatened- or disturbed.

I demonstrated the ferocity of the hantik by crushing an ant. Sooner than expected other members came to the rescue and pheromone was immediately put to use in the coordination and division of work, and in the strategy of war.

Common Medicinal Plants

A botanical garden is not complete without a good collection of medicinal plants. Here I showed to my students some examples of medicinal plants with their uses, as follows:

1. Lagundi - fever and flu

2. Pandakaki  - minor wound or cuts

3. 3.Oregano - sore throat and cough

4. Ikmo - mouth wash

5. Mountain tea - health drink

6. Guava - body odor and skin diseases

7. Pandan - beverage and food additive

8. Alagao - fever and cold

9. Avocado - diarrhea

10.Banana - kidney ailment

These are important things to know about medicinal plants, which I explained. These are:

1. There is no cure-all formula.

2. Do not follow self-medication

3. Consult a doctor before taking herbal medicine.

4. Herbal medicine should be independent of superstitious beliefs.

Poisonous plants

I showed my students poisonous plants growing in the garden. But why do we have poisonous plants around? I read in their faces.

First, there are plants, which, by the poisonous substance they contain are valuable as pesticides. Examples are neem tree, derris and makabuhay. These have been proved effective in controlling certain pests and disease of plants.

Studies have shown that neem, a native of India, has long been used as insecticide. It is widely used on field crops and against domestic pest like cockroaches, mosquitoes and bedbugs in many countries including the Philippines. Makabuhay has been determined to be effective against a wide range of rice pests and the application is very simple. Fresh stems and leaves are finely chopped and directly broadcast in lowland ricefields. The active principle is also very effective on golden kohol, a major pest of rice of the Philippines.

Derris is the source of commercial rotenone insecticide. Because it is botanical in origin, it is relatively safer than the chemical pesticides. The concentration of its poison is in its enlarged roots.

Two poisonous plants grow in the garden. In fact they grow wild and have been persistent for a number of years now. Castor bean contains refine, a very poisonous substance known to have been the cause of death of children prescribed to take castor oil as laxative. The other plant is Jatorpha curcas or tubang bakod. A few years ago are student from a Quezon City High School ate the seeds that taste like peanut. They were taken to the hospital for treatment.

Conclusion

The microcosm is far from complete. But it is the framework that is important, like the building replica of a dinosaur from pieces of recovered fossil. Knowledge is like that. It starts with principles, but, before that, one must be inspired and motivated to learn. There is no true learning unless one labors for it in some degree. Even frustration that may threaten learning itself, could be, at the end, a motivating factor, a challenge and test of what one is really made of. The Great Maker just gave us the Plantilla form which we follow the cause of learning and understanding.~

I love insects for twelve reasons

TATAKalikasan Series 10

I love insects for twelve reasons

"Hurt no living thing: Ladybird, nor butterfly, nor moth with dusty wing." - Christina Rossetti

Dr Abe V Rotor

Cottony moth

 

Coconut or rhinoceros beetle; enigmatic firefly

1. I love insects for their honey, the sweetest sugar in the world, elixir, energy-packed, aphrodisiac, therapeutic, the culinary and confectionery arts it makes;

2. I love insects for their silk no human fabric can equal - cool in summer, warm in winter, velvety to the touch, flowing and free, friendly to the wind and sun, lovely in the night, royal on the throne, smooth to the skin, hypoallergenic, dynamic to fashion and casual wear;

3. I love insects for their shellac, the best varnish that lasts for years, unequaled by synthetic substitutes; their wax, the best lubricant and natural polish that makes the dancing floor alive and schoolrooms happy.

A pair of golden moth

4. I love insects for the resin they produce with certain plants which is used in worships, to bring the faithful to their knees, similarly to calm down fowls on their roost, drive vermin or keep them at bay, pacify and make peace with the unseen spirits.

Green beetle

5. I love insects for the amber, transparent rock originally from resin, which forever entrapped fossils of insects and other organisms, complete with their genes and attendant evidences of natural history, enabling us to read the past, turning back the hands of time in visual imagery;

6. I love insects for their crimson dye produced by certain scale insects that made the robes of kings and emperors, and only they were privileged to wear; likewise for their phosphorescence like the wing scales of butterflies that make the most beautiful and expensive paint for cars today;

7. I love insects for their medicinal substances they produce - antibiotics from fly maggot and soldier ants, cantharidin from blister beetle, formic acid for weak heart, bee sting for rheumatism;

 

Field cricket, green cricket - nature's violinists

8. I love insects as food, high in protein and minerals, elixir and stimulant, not only in times of famine but as exotic food in class restaurants, and on occasions that bring closer bonding among members of communities and cultures;

9. I love insects for all the fruits and vegetables, the multiplication of plants, geographically and seasonally, through their being the world's greatest pollinators; and in effect make the ecosystems wholesome, complete and alive;

10. I love insects for disposing garbage, of bringing back to nature organic compounds into elemental forms ready to be used again by the succeeding generations of living things.

Leaf insects resemble the leaves of their host plant

11. I love insects for play, and for lessons in life - how they jump and fly, carry tremendous load which I wish I could, how they practice frugality, patience, fraternity, and how they circle a candle one lonely night and singed into its flame that inspires heroism and martyrdom;

12. I love insects for whatever nature designed them to be, their role in health and sickness, , sorrow and joy, ugliness and beauty, deprivation and abundance, even in life and death, for I have learned that without insects, we humans - so with many other organisms - would not be here on earth.~

"If all mankind were to disappear, the world would regenerate back to the rich state of equilibrium that existed ten thousand years ago. If insects were to vanish, the environment would collapse into chaos." - E. O. Wilson

The Insect Buster: Where have all the Insects Gone?

The Insect Buster

Where have all the Insects Gone?

Dr Abe V Rotor

Author and his students at UST Graduate School examine 

insect specimens in a field trip to Amadeo, Cavite. 

The Insect Buster

Dr Abe V Rotor

He is the insect buster; self proclaimed, strong and bold;

He conquers man’s greatest enemy, wasting no time.

He has read enough comics, spent hours on cartoons

He’s Pied Piper in a new adventure in his prime.

To the rescue, rid the world of aliens; make it safe man;

I am Gulliver he said to the imagined Lilliputians,

With gloves and boots, armed with tools of the modern kind  

He saw himself riding to the West against the Indians.

Make way for this nemesis, the bugs run for your lives;   

They dropped dead, crushed, unbearable was the pain.

Their shelter stormed, their nests torn – ‘til they’re gone.

It’s reminiscent of Pompeii where ruins reign.   

The air is stilled, there’s no more music in the night;

The pond is clear, but where have all the fish gone?

Plants still bloom, but their flowers are no longer bright.

Where are the bees and butterflies that meet the sun?

Frogs no longer croak, silent are the fields and the trees

Where’s the cicada shrilling with joy, the cricket at night?  

The melodious songs and call of birds that never cease.

The mayfly’s visit, the moth circling a candlelight?

Suddenly the world became quiet like Rachel’s Carson’s

Silent Spring when the birds no longer herald spring;

Suddenly like in biblical times clouds cast over the zones

And death loomed, creatures dying and scampering. ~ 

PUTAKTI! (Paper Wasp)

Putakti!

(Paper Wasp)

Don't allow anger to overcome reason, and don't do anything, how courageous you may think, if it is motivated by revenge. They call this bravado - not courage.

                                                             Dr Abe V Rotor

Paper wasp nests, Museum of Natural History, UPLB Laguna

This happened to me when I was six - perhaps younger. Up to now I don’t know why I attacked a colony of putakti or alimpipinig (Ilk). It was bravado when you put on courage on something without weighing the consequences, much less in knowing the reason behind.

I was sweeping the yard near a chico tree when I suddenly felt pain above my eye. No one had ever warned me of paper wasps, and I hadn’t been stung before. There hanging on a branch just above my head was a neat clump of paper-like nest the size of a fist. On the guard were a dozen or two of this kind of bees, which is a local version of the hornet bees in other countries. Bees belong Order Hymenoptera, the most advanced order of insects owing to their highly developed social behavior.

I retreated, instinctively got hold of a bikal bamboo and attacked the papery nest, but every time I got close to it I got stung. I don’t know how many times I attacked the enemy, each time with more fury, and more stings I received, until dad saw me. I struggled under his strong arms sobbing with anger and pain.

I was lucky. Kids my size wouldn't be able to take many stings. Fortunately I was not allergic to bee poison. There are cases when the poison paralyzes the heart.

I learned a valuable lesson: Don't allow anger to overcome reason, and don't do anything, how courageous you may think, if it is motivated by revenge. They call this bravado - not courage. ~

Cockroaches eat on anything - almost.

The cockroach has the most powerful stomach;

it eats on anything - almost.

"Old Archie, this living fossil is called, older than the dinosaur; 

for whatever reasons it's still around, is beyond man's favor." ~

 

Dr Abe V Rotor

Living with Nature School on Blog

 

Closeup of the American cockroach (Periplaneta americana) most common species in every home, on garbage, drainage canals, and practically in all places where there is filth. Yellow band on the prothorax, reddish brown all over the body characterize the American cockroach. They are gregarious in nature but do not form colonies in the true sense like bees and ants and termites.

  

Other species include the Oriental cockroach (Blatta orientalis) which is dark and bigger. It is also nocturnal like all its kin, except the German cockroach (Blatta germanica) which is active and visible during the day, and much smaller, except the brown headed species. Cockroaches have incomplete life cycle (hemimetabola) - egg, nymph and adult. The nymphs undergo four or five moltings before becoming adults. Photos credit: Wikipedia

Cockroaches eat on  anything -.almost.

Being omnivorous, cockroaches voraciously consume all kinds of materials that are rich in carbohydrates, proteins, fats and oils.  But when these are not available they turn to unlikely food source like soap, photographic film, clothes, wood and drugs.  In fact they even turn into predators, devouring other insects, and sometimes biting people in their sleep. Their bite often gets swollen and infected. Cockroaches are found in all places where humans live and conduct his trade, commerce and industry. Only rats can be compared with the tenacity of the cockroach.    

The cockroach has very powerful digestive enzymes:  proteases digest protein, invertase breaks complex sugar, and amylase breaks starches.  Its saliva contains powerful enzymes coming from the gastric caeca, while the Malphigian tubules secrete an enzyme that is equally disgusting.  It is no wonder that just a single frass (feces) can spoil a whole pot of rice by its obnoxious smell. By the way there are three most common species that we encounter in the home and public places. 

These are the American cockroach or Periplaneta americana (large, rust red with a yellow band across its thorax), the German cockroach or Blatella germanica (pale yellow, only one-third the size of the American species) PHOTO and the oriental cockroach or Blatta orientalis (dark brown to black, the biggest and filthiest of all cockroaches.)

Meticulous sanitation is the best way to get rid of cockroaches. To keep their population down, sprinkle carbamate (Sevin) on the kitchen floor, pathways and possible hideout of the pest, preferably before retiring at night.  Keep doors and screens properly closed to prevent entry of the insect. ~