Bitter Leaf
Parts Usually Used
Leaves, flowers, stems, roots
Description of Plant(s) and Culture
The Bitter Leaf plant is a small tree or shrub that grows up to 5 meters tall. The leaves taste bitter and are green, with a distinctive odor.
Where Found
Vernonia amygdalina grows wild in most countries of tropical Africa, and in Yemen. It is commonly grown as a vegetable in Cameroon, Benin, DR Congo, Nigeria and Gabon, as well as in their neighboring countries. The Luhya people in western Kenya use this plant as a vegetable. Bitterleaf requires full sunlight when cultivated. It also naturally occurs along lakes and rivers, in woodlands and grasslands of up to 2,000 meters altitude.
Short days induce flowering of this plant. It is fairly draught tolerant, but thrives more commonly in humid areas, especially those with Humus-rich soil.
Medicinal Properties
This plant has been shown to possess platelet anti-aggregating properties, cytotoxic activity, be hepatoprotective, anti-leishmanial, antibacterial and antioxidant. It has been shown to inhibit tumor growth and several types of cancer. Scientific studies have shown that extracts of the leaves retard the growth of human breast cancer cells. Leaf & root bark extracts offer antimalarial activity against Plasmodium berghei and Plasmodium falciparum.
Chewing bitter leaf sticks slow the growth of bacteria that causes periodontal disease. Leaves also work against various bacteria and viruses.
Biochemical Information
g. vernodalin, vernolepin and vernomygdin). Some of these compounds are antiparasitic, especially vernodalin and vernonioside. Ethnobotanical uses include coumarins, phenolic acids, lignans, saponins, alkaloids, terpenes, flavonoids, steroids, anthraquinone, sesquiterpenes, xanthones and edotides. These compounds have been shown to offer chemoprevention.
Legends, Myths and Stories
Equatorial Africans cook and eat the leaves in soups and stews as a food staple. In Uganda, the stems are used for soap. This plant’s bitter taste is due to anti-nutritional factors such as saponins, alkaloids, glycosides and tannins. Farmers have tired adding molasses to this plant in order to make it more palatable, but with limiited success. Southern Ehtiopian farmers often boil the plant in order to reduce the bitterness for their animals.
Many farmers in Africa feed bitter leaf to their chickens in order to stretch the amount of feed they provide. They report that the chickens don’t show any health issues as a result and it doesn’t seem to affect the chickens’ weight. Ethiopians use this plant as a substitute for hops to brew local beer. Northern Nigerian women belive that eating the leaves enhances sexual attractiveness.
Uses
Historically, herbalists and various African ethnic groups employed *Vernonia amygdalina*, commonly known as bitterleaf, for a wide range of ailments. Traditional practitioners administered preparations of the leaves for hiccups, fever, urinary tract inflammation, nausea, jaundice, gingivitis, toothache, hypertension, constipation, and upset stomach. Topically, the leaves were applied to boils, burns, eczema, and wounds.
Cold concoctions and root extracts were utilized across regional folk traditions for intestinal parasites, diabetes, scabies, headaches, coughs, colds, diarrhea, stomach complaints, to promote fertility, and as a laxative. In West and Central Africa, the plant was widely integrated into the diet as a culinary vegetable, featured in soups, cooked with meat, prawns, or peanuts in dishes such as ndolé, or consumed raw with salt or palm oil.
Additionally, bitterleaf was historically utilized as a substitute for hops in brewing beer.
How Sold
Leaves are usually sold dried or flash frozen. There are reports that the processed leaves fetch up to five time more money than raw leaves.