Pricly Amaranth
Friday 25 November 2016
Other Local Name : Pricly Amaranth
Botanical Name : Amaranthus spinosus
Family : Amaranthaceae
Main Use : vegetable and Medicine
Other Uses : Prickly amaranth is an uncultivated plant. It is used as a vegetable and medicine.
Know More
Prickly amaranth is an annual plant. Generally it grows up to one and a half foot tall. The stem has distinct nodes and full of prickles. The leaves are quite short. The tip of the leaf is smoothly narrow. The flowers are dull green and are arranged in whorls.
Distribution :Prickly amaranth is available all over Bangladesh.
Propagation: Prickly amaranth is multiplied through seeds. The seeds are deep black, glazy and bright. The plants flower at the end of the rainy season, and bear fruits in autumn. The seeds are self sown on the borders of cultivated fields. The plants also grow as weeds in crop fields.
Nutrient content :Prickly amaranth is rich in nutrients . It contains protein , vitamin- A, vitamin B- 6,vitamin-C,vitamin-K , thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, pantothenic acid . It also contains precious minerals including calcium, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, sodium, zinc,copper, manganese, and sellenium.In addition it contains histidine, isoleucine, leucine, threonine,lycine,tryptophane , etc.
Medicinal use:
Treatment of burns- About 10-15 grams of freshly collected roots, 20 grams of leaves mixed with 100 milliliter of water are boiled and saved for cooling. The cooled root and leaf exrtract is applied on the wounded organ with cotton or soft cloth.The application is continued twice daily upto complete healing of the wound.
Scabies- The stem,leaf and root are dried, burnt on fire, the ash is mixed with coconut oil and applied on the infected part of the body.
Abscess - Tender leaves and branches are smashed with morter and pestle and applied on the abscess .
Gonorrhoea -The fresh root extract mixed with sugar/honey,half cup daily is applied for compete recovery.
Headache - Eight grams root of prickly amaranth and half gram black pepper are mixed, powdered and applied as ointment on forehead.
Stomach pain- Root extract,3-4 grams daily cures common stomach pain.
Source of information- http://skipthepie.org/vegetables-and-vegetable-products/amaranth-leaves-raw/
UBINIG field research