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AVOCADO SEED AS MEDICINE

Life and DNA materials are contained in the seed of a fruit



Do you know avocado seed is edible and full of medicinal value?


Many of us love eating avocado fruit but only a very few know about avocado seed to be an edible part. Seeds are a very important part of fruits as they carry all the genetic information and nourishment for growing another copy of themselves.


The seed of avocado contain many medicinal substances that are very useful to combat oxidation diseases, pathogenic illnesses and inflammatory conditions.



Seedless fruit can make you seedless (infertile)


Many fruits are seedless nowadays. It's becoming more and more difficult to find seeded grapes, lemons, watermelons, grapefruit and oranges in the market. Many are genetically modified or people cultivate only the naturally mutated fruit that failed to develop their seeds.


So with this comes the question of how one reproduces another fruit without a seed? Did you ever asked that question? Well I did. Apparently the clever solution that scientist found is to cultivate fruits from cutting instead from a seed. Wait a minute.... Even though this might sound okay, but actually there is more to it.


For example, to produce another grape, a piece of a vine or branch of grape is cut off, dipped in rooting hormone and then placed into moist soil so that roots and leaves form from it. Do you see the problem here? Synthetic rooting hormones are used to create another plant. Eating mutated or genetically modified fruits can impact human fertility. A non fertile fruit such as seedless one will cause seedless (infertility) issues in human beings too.


Well, this is a deep topic that I would like to keep for the next blog and focus on avocado seed benefit for now.



Avocado seeds are an ANTIOXIDANT powerhouse


According to a study, Chaudhary et al. (2015), Avocado seeds contained huge amount of antioxidants, more than any other fruits and vegetables available out there. Avocado's antioxidant concentration is found mostly in the seed (70%) than in the pulp itself. Glutathione, which is a type of antioxidant, found in avocado seed is very useful to prevent cell oxidation in the human body. Oxidation causes many life-style diseases among us today like heart disease, poor eye sight, chronic liver disease, muscle pain, etc.. Eating anti-oxidant rich food helps the body to fight such oxidation.


Anti- VIRAL, BACTERIAL & FUNGAL


Traditionally, even before the advance of science, avocado seeds have already been in use to combat infectious diseases caused by pathogens such as (Staphylococcus aureus) and (Escherichia coli). Many recent studies just again and again prove the Ancient Wisdom to be true and reliable. (Daihan et al. 2016)


Another study on avocado seed shows that it contains many medicinal compounds such as isoflavonoids, anthocyanins, condensed tannins, alkaloids and triterpenoids. These properties are believed to contribute to the scavenging activity towards bad bacteria, virus and fungus in the human body.



How to eat avocado seeds?


The high level of Tannins in raw avocado seeds are not fit to the human consumption, therefore the seeds must be first dried before consumption. Drying the avocado seeds can reduce the tannins significantly. (Henry et al. 2015).


As you could see in the picture above, I have simply grated the fresh avocado seed and let it dry for a few days. Then the dry particles can be stores in a clean glass bottle and be used in smoothies or even to make a tea. You can use around 1 teaspoon to 1 tablespoon at a time to make a tea or to include in your smoothie.


The avocado seeds, in my opinion, taste just like avocado but without the creamy texture!







Reference:


Daihan S, Aldbass A M, Alotebi L M, & Bhat R S, (2016). Antioxidant and antimicrobial activity of whole seed extracts of Perseaamericana Mill Indian J. Pharm. Biol. Res. ; 4(4):15-18


Chaudhary P, Khamar J, and Sen D J, (2015). Avocado: the holistic source as a natural doctor. World Journal of Pharmaceutical Research JIF Impact Factor 5.990 Volume 4, Issue 8, 748-761. Review Article ISSN 2277– 7105


Henry L N, Mtaita U Y, and Kimaro C C, (2015). Nutritional efficacy of avocado seeds., ISSN: 2408- 5472 Vol. 3 (5), pp. 192-196, August, 2015 Copyright ©2015 Global Journal of Food Science and Technology

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