Cassava grown from inverted cutting is poisonous.

Dr Abe V Rotor

This is not true. 

But let us take it this way. Cassava cuttings if planted upside down will take a much longer time to grow, if at all. Those that survive become stunted (bansot), thus at harvest time they are left behind in the field. Come next planting season, and they are rouged, their tubers by now are about a year old. Tubers accumulate poisonous cyanic substances as they mature, and the longer they stay in the field the higher is the poison level in their tubers.

A one-year old cassava tuber has twice the amount of cyanide than regularly harvested ones do (4 to 5 months in the field). Thus cassava poisoning is not uncommon. Beware of cassava tubers harvested from borders or along fences. These must be very old indeed, a conatin high level of the poison.

Cassava (Manihot utilisima)

By the way, when preparing cassava, choose the freshly harvested tubers. It is in the bark where the poison is concentrated so that it should be completely peeled off. And while boiling, take off the pot cover in order to allow the poison to escape as gas - cyanogas, which is similar to the gas used in the gas chamber. ~

Do you believe in the Doctrine of Signatures?

Dr Abe V Rotor
Living with Nture School on Blog
Paaralang Bayan sa Himpapawid with Ms Melly C Tenorio
738 DZRB AM Band, 8 to 9 evening class, Monday to Friday People from olden times to the present associate the characteristics of plants, animals and other organisms with healing and vitality. It could be the other around, .  It which in both cases make up to many kinds of taboo.  

They claim that they can read how nature intended them to be used. Here are some examples.

• Liverworts (Riccia and Marchantia) which resemble the shape of liver are effective in curing diseases of the liver.

• The shapes of eggplant and avocado suggest fertility and aphrodisiac value.

• Apple and mango resemble the heart and are therefore good when it comes to matters of love.

• Kidney beans are good for the kidney, but the truth is that it has high uric acid content and it may trigger arthritis.

• The garlic plant has a hollow stem so that it would be of benefit in afflictions of the windpipe, hence used in all types of respiratory disorders such as cough, colds, catarrh, asthma and bronchial problems.

• Cabbage is good for the head, cures headache, and possibly increases intelligence. too. Others rely more on the coconut, and even say, "Use your coconut." Only that the coconut is hollow inside.

• Puso ng saging or banana blossom, may enlarge the heart to accepting a marriage proposal.  I'd rather attribute its success if ever, to its culinary power.

• Onion makes the skin dainty and white, likened to balat sibuyas, but beware: it may also predispose one to become very sensitive.

• Banana improves dexterity of fingers. It's good for pianists and violinists, and magicians, too. 

Wonder why sweet potato causes flatulence, onions and garlic bad breath, siili or red pepper associated with the devil? When I was in the grade, my teacher would say to a pupil who did not know his lesson, "Go home and plant kamote." Is it true that papaya should not be planted near the window because it sheds tears? Plant cactus near the gate and no witch will dare enter your house.
Science tells us physical appearance has nothing to do with the curative powers of plants, or animals for that matter. It is true that garlic is an effective respiratory cure, but it is its active ingredients (allicin et al, derived from its generic name Allium sativum) that are responsible for it. Belief in the old folks and in the unseen (saan a katataoan Ilk), too, while lacking scientific explanation adds quaintness to living. It bridges tradition with progress on the swift current of change. Patola (kabatiti Ilk), anyone?

Then there is Soup No 5, prepared from the male sex organ of animals - testicles and penis. There are restaurants here and abroad that specialize in menus prepared from certain parts of animals believed to have curative and aphrodisiac properties. Eyeballs of ox and goat help restore vision, tongue stimulates discussion and opens up the naive, brain improves learning, tendons reinforces aging joints, and so on. 

Taboos are not difficult to find.  Fresh blood is sucked directly from animals, including snakes. House lizard can cure asthma and hiccup. There was a time Gecko was in great demand abroad that their population was threatened. Eat shark and you will act like one.  So with the crocodile. How about migratory locust? Hantik? But there are explanations offered to explain the alleged effectiveness of such practices, mainly nutritional value, healing through faith, and other psychological aspects. 

Chinese medicine tells us more. So with our own herbolarios. It is a matter of belief. ~    

Make your own calamansi juice stock

Dr Abe V Rotor
 Save, save, save! From carbonated drinks, fruit juice packs, and expensive imported brands.

Most important, save your health from the deleterious effects of additives. Artificial flavors and colors are bad. Worst is aspartame or NutraSweet. They come in other names for artificial sugar. Save yourself and your children from health problems and complications arising from these artificial chemicals.

Save money. One or two calamansi for a glassful of drink has more nutrients than what you get from a jug of carbonated drink. It is probiotic too, which means you are strengthening your immune system. It means supplying the vitamin and mineral needs of your body.

Save time. With a "mother stock" which is actually pure calamansi juice with sugar (1:3), a spoonful of it can be made into instant lemonade, with or without ice. Muscuvado sugar gives a native touch, which many prefer. Other use white sugar for the mother stock, and brown sugar when mixing for drink.

It means patronizing local products, supports farming and ecology. It encourages home gardening. Why, many homes have fruiting calamansi trees in their backyard. A fruiting calamansi is a natural Christmas Tree. Having a fruiting calamansi promotes good neighborhood.

Be practical. Be free. Be innovative. Choose fresh, ripe calamansi at source, or from the market. Do the preparation yourself. Use a squeezer, sieve and kitchen gloves. Use wide mouth glass bottle. Label before placing it in the refrigerator. Put a sign on the door, with Health Tips. And the children will simply love your homemade lemonade.

But moderation - like anything - is the rule. Too much may raise acid level in the stomach. Excess Vitamin C in the body is "waste" - it is not absorbed and used.

Serve your guests. Instead of "run-to-the-cornerstore", simply open the ref and pronto you have drink for everybody. Assure them it is healthful

• nutritious
• free of harmful chemicals
• a pride to farming and industry
• earns, and saves, money
• Pinoy-na-Pinoy

Then ask them, Why don't you make calamansi drink at home, too?
It's a campaign with good cause.

Calamansi mother stock is best when freshly made. Its shelf life in the ref is about a week. Do not freeze. Don't use plastic bottle. Use wide mouth glass container. Calamansi provides enterprise opportunities. You can develop your product for the market. Get assistance from DOST and DTI, and successful entrepreneurs.


Trivia: How do you know if the lemonade you are making has the right amount of sugar - even without tasting it?

Answer: If too sweet, the seeds float; if sugar is not enough, seeds settle at the bottle of the glass. Adjust your taste.

Substitute Tea and Coffee

                                                
Dr Abe V Rotor

Home grown Kapeng Barako, Amadeo, Cavite  

     Tea from leaves of pandan (Pandanus odoratissimus), sambong  (Ocimum bacilicum) was formulated singly and in combination, and the product was tested through organoleptic analysis. A blend of the three plants gave a superior result, compared to any single formulation. The reason is that certain desirable characters of each component were combined. For example, basil gave the best color, flavor and texture, while pandan gave the best aroma, sambong contributed to the fullness and desirable taste of the composite product.
   
       In another experiment, Oolong tea (semi-fermented, slightly bitter tea) was prepared from the immature leaves of avocado (Persia americana), banaba (Lagerstroma speciosa), tsaang gubat (Carmona retusa), and caimito (Chrysophyllum cainito ), the contribution of each component was determined by organoleptic test with tsaang gubat giving the desired color, banaba the taste , and  avocado, together with caimito, the texture and flavor proposed is that blending may be modified in order to suit the taste of the drinker.

     This is also true with another experiment, this time black tea from sambong, pandan and avocado by Michelle B. Deliguin, The leaves are first withered then airs dried, brewed and made into tea. Sambong gave the desired color, pandan the aroma and avocado texture. An increase in the amount of pandan improved the taste of the blend.

     Coffee substitutes have been the quest of those who have sensitive nerves. Even decaffeinated coffee in not the guarantee to many people. On the farm, we used a number of substitutes such as rice or corn roasted until the color is rich brown. Cacao with coffee may reduce the latter’s effect but this is expensive and cacao is not readily available. Besides, cacao has another nerve-acting property, theobromine, which is even stronger than caffeine acting as stimulant.

     Another substitute which is clandestinely added to native coffee or kapeng barako (Coffea liberica) is seed of ipil-ipil (Leucaena glauca). This is NOT recommended. Ipil-ipil contains mimosin, which retards growth causes baldness. That is why the use of ipil-ipil leaves to animals is limited. Stunted growth (bansot) and loss of hair in piglets are traced to the effects of mimosin.     

     Coffee from green mungo (Phaseolus radiatus) was developed by an HRM graduate. To remove the bean taste, roasting is done slowly while the pot cover is remove to allow the substance to escape as gas. This procedure is also recommended when using soybeans (Glycine max), Lima beans (Phaseolus lunatus) & others beans belonging to the Family Leguminosae, now Fabaceae.~

Kamote or sweet potato builds gas in the stomach (flatulence).

Dr Abe V Rotor



In the province, whenever we failed to recite in class our teacher in the elementary would matter of fact, say, “Go home and plant kamote.” We also loved to sing or recite, hilariously that is, a verse associated with this humble plant. Years after, I realized how unfair it is to treat this important crop, which is a staple food of millions of people and a major animal feed in many parts of the world.  The verse/song goes like this.

“Kamote is a musical root;
The more you eat, the more you puut…
The more you putt…, the better you feel,
So eat kamote every meal.”

In defense of kamote,  the tuber or root is rich in Phosphorus (P2O5, 0.15%), Calcium (CaO, 0.13%), and Iron (Fe2O3, 0.02%) in addition to carbohydrate (8.41%) and protein (1.96 %).   

These alleged gas-forming substances are also found in other root crops like cassava and taro (gabi), but in lesser quantities.  It is advisable to cook kamote well, and that one should eat moderately.

By the way, kamote tops contains an appreciable amount of hydrocyanic acid similar to that in cassava. Thus, when cooking it, it is advisable to bring it to boiling and allow the compound to escape as cyanogas by removing the pot cover - the same gas used in death gas chambers in the US.  

Sweet potato weevil or ulalo (Cylas formicarius) imparts an ex

Part 2: Aging Gracefully

Dr Abe V Rotor
Living with Nature School on Blog
Lesson on Paaralang Bayan DZRB 738 KHz. AM with Ms Melly C Tenorio
8 to 9 evening class, Monday to Friday

Jules Verne, author of science fiction novels (Journey to the Center of the Earth, Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Sea, Eighty Days Around the World) lived to a very ripe age. 

Rip van Winkle, character of the short story of the same title by Washington Irving, slept for twenty long years. When he woke up the world had greatly changed, and did not even know who he was,   (Photo credit: Internet, Wikipedia. Lower photo edited by author to B & W) 

11. Expanded family ties; three generations not in a row, but in a chain. For the first time in the history of man that three generations live under one roof. And soon four generations - as longevity increases. While in the city the family is getting small, agrarian families are expanding because of longer life span.

12. Scientific and technological thrusts are toward aging, longevity: rejuvenation, on-site cloning of tissues and organs, ergonomics (designing tools and materials that fits well to the comfort of the user) - geriatrics, gerontology (all about the science and caring of the aged.)

13. Extension of retirement, active retirement – this is the trend today for old people. Soldiers become security guards; teachers become professor emeritus, executives as consultants, professions doing odd jobs. Age of retirement is not after all boring. So when does one really retire?

14. Foster, adopt, and have the needy, the homeless, the orphaned, the abandoned as your own children especially if you are childless. Even then, by the time you are very old, your children shall then be on their own. Be like Brad Pit and Angelina Jolie who have adopted children of different color. Sponsor scholarships for the deserving but are unable to pursue their studies.

15. Resurrection and immortality are myths. Humans will always remain mortals. More than a hundred corpses of rich Americans are in cryonics tanks waiting for the time to resurrect them. DNA extracted from cadavers and human fossils will never make a living replica of the departed or deceased.

Old man (Spencer Tracy) in Ernest Hemingway's  Nobel Prize winning novel, The Old Man and the Sea. (Photo credit: Internet, Wikipedia)  

16. Life cycle biologically - that is a universal given to everything, living or non-living. But with man’s rationality we can plot our life cycle, so with socio-economic matters. The late Justice Secretary Ordoñez wrote a book, Life Cycle. He said the inevitable is biological, but the way we live our lives, is within much under our control and will. “Men choose to live long which they have no control of, yet refuse to live nobly within their will.” So said the great Roman Philosopher Cicero.

17. Nature is selfish within your lifetime – you care so much for those close to your genes, to the point of dying for them. But nature, after you are gone is altruistic; it distributes your genes to where they will most fit in the name of evolution through which a species should be best equipped in order to survive. We can hardly trace our family tree beyond the third generation. Where are the offspring of the pharaohs, of the King of Siam?

18. Kindness is key to fulfillment; it is also the Golden Rule. “Treat an old man as you wish men to treat you when you are old,” say Geoffrey Chaucer in The Pardoner’s Tale. But be kind yourself as an old man or woman. And that kindness must be unconditional. ARK in Evan the Almighty means – Act of Random Kindness. That’s the way to change the world, so said God in that film.

19. Don’t just pass people along the way. Stop, help them, feed the hungry, give water to the thirsty, visit the imprisoned, clothe the naked, comfort the lonely, and heal the sick. In Matthew 25, Christ said, “What you have done to the least of my brother, you have done it to me.” Indeed this is the most meaningful act of human to humanity. You deserve a place in heaven.

20. Facing death is a beautiful thing to one who has reached old age. It’s like a candle in its final brightness. Angelus to the old who is dying unifies the family, gathers the broken fragments of relationships. Bonding is strengthened. It’s time for the living to say the kindest things about the departed. Let the occasion be a memorable and lasting one. Dying is leaving to the living a new hope, renewed love, and a new beginning. ~

                                The Old Man*

 He is old now 

            and the cataract is but a spring.

       He touches the spring -   

            where have all the waters gone?

       Yes, he sighs with relief, 

            his gaze takes him far away;

       And there the last drops of his waterfall 

            meet the sea;

       And the sea roars in gladness,

            roars a thousand cheers. ~

* Dedicated to the late Secretary of Justice Sedfrey Ordoñez, an adviser and friend of the author. 

When stars come down to earth

When stars come down to earth

Dr Abe V Rotor

Living with Nature - School on Blog

Composite photos: campuses of University of Santo Toms, Ateneo de

Manila University and neighboring area of Philippine Science HS, QC 

 Stars come down to earth when the chilly winds from Siberia descend to the tropics, Santa riding on a sled of gifts, reindeer in cadence with tingling bells;  

Stars come down to earth with songs of welcome and praise, children from door to door knocking, singing, and wishing for gifts and good tidings; 

Stars come down to earth with the first rain in May, releasing from their abode cicadas and crickets that fill the trees with songs;  

Stars come down to earth as summer ends, monsoon fills the rice fields, pools grow to ponds, rivers wake up with frogs croaking, fish bubbling; 

Stars come down to earth as grains turn golden in October, harvesters in prayers and songs in thanksgiving and merriment;   

Stars come down to earth for every tree planted and nurtured, farmland in sustainable productivity, wasteland rehabilitated, wildlife preserved for posterity; 

Stars come down to earth in every child born, in every beloved

remembered, in whispers of comfort and encouragement; 

Stars come down to earth in every achievement that affirms people's faith, tradition and values, of their collective voices of unity and freedom; 

Stars come down to earth for every armistice, summit, forum that seeks end to hostilities, bring international cooperation towards peace and order of humanity; 

Stars come down to earth after a storm has passed, reminding of human folly, and stirring man's resolve towards goodness, wishing upon the stars. ~ 

Lesson on former Paaralang Bayan sa Himpapawid (People's School-on-Air) with Ms Melly C Tenorio738 DZRB AM Band, 8 to 9 evening class, Monday to Friday [www.pbs.gov.ph]