Why you should have the greens that FM Nirmala Sitharaman picked up in a Mylapore market

Did you know that Manathakkali Keerai (Black Night Shade/Solanum nigrum), a herb most commonly found in kitchen gardens of Kerala, is good for treating all kinds of liver ailments, including cancer? Little wonder then that Union Finance Miner Nirmala Sitharaman picked it up with Sundakkai (turkey berry), pidi karanai (wild yam) and five bunches of mulai keerai (a kind of amaranth) from a vegetable market in Mylapore before returning to Delhi. Each of these local herbs has immense health benefits.
Sundakkai, storehouse of iron and calcium
Sundakkai, also known as turkey berry or pea eggplant or usthikaya (Telugu) is a bitter-tasting fruit that is commonly used in fresh or dried form in Tamilian cuisine. Internationally, it is also used in Thai and Jamaican dishes. These little berries are powerhouses of essential micronutrients like iron and calcium.
Dried Sundakkai provides 22 mg of iron per 100 g making it an excellent vegetarian source of iron for people with high iron requirements such as pregnant women, adolescent girls, young children, the elderly and anyone who is diagnosed with iron deficiency or anaemia. Being a vegetarian (non-heme source of iron), pairing it with Vitamin C rich foods like tomatoes will increase iron absorbency.
As a rich source of calcium (390mg/100g), it is also often given to lactating women who have high calcium requirement to aid in breast milk production. Similarly other age groups who have high calcium requirements — like post-menopause women and elderly population over 65 years — also benefit regularly including Sundakkai in their diet. In traditional medicine, Sundakkai fruit extract is known to aid in digestion and diabetes management. Though there is no hard evidence, their high fibre content may help in managing high glucose levels.
Pidi Karanai, the tuber with high protein
Pidi Karanai, otherwise called wild yam, belongs to the group of roots and tubers. Among all roots and tubers available in India, comparatively Pidi Karanai has a higher protein content. Traditionally, in alternative medicine, it is known for its anti-inflammatory properties and used in treatment of rheumatoid arthritis and diabetes. It is also used as an alternative to oestrogen replacement therapy in treating menopausal symptoms. Currently there is no strong evidence in research to prove these effects.
Mulai keerai, good for pregnant women
Mulai keerai (Amaranthus Spinosus) also known as Mulla Thotakoora (Telugu), is a green leafy vegetable commonly used in Tamil Nadu. It is a rich source of iron (23g/100g), calcium (800 mg/100g) and folic acid, all nutrients essential for pregnant women and women who are planning for pregnancy. It is commonly used to treat jaundice in Indian folk medicine although it has no proven evidence.
Manathakkali Keerai (Black Night Shade/Solanum nigrum), the liver-healing vegetableThis is a shrub most commonly seen in Kerala backyards and even the roadside as it grows abundantly. It is bitter tasting green leafy vegetable used in Tamil and Kerala cuisines and is known for its various medicinal properties. Nutritionally, like all other dark green vegetables, it is rich in iron, folic acid and carotene which help in treating anaemia and Vitamin A deficiencies commonly seen in young children. It is popularly known to treat oral and stomach ulcers.
Recently, the Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology (RGCB) has derived a compound called Uttroside B, which is proven to be a bioactive chemotherapeutic agent, shown to help in treating liver cancer. It was also approved the US FDA while researchers are still running further studies to find its effect on other liver ailments such as Non-Alcoholic Liver Disease (NASH).