When a friend gave me a plant of the Sweet leaf bush Sauropus androgynus last year, I felt very happy as I had heard glowing tributes to this leafy vegetable.
The leaves of the Chakra muni, as it is called here, have a nutty taste and can be eaten as a salad, or cooked and made into a curry. A native of Malaysia, the Sweet Leaf plant is loaded with vitamins A, B and C. It is also one of the very few vegetables to have vitamin K.
But this wonder vegetable has a sinister side, which I came to know only when I was researching for my blog. Excessive intake of the leaves causes dizziness, and more frighteningly, lung damage. It is recorded that some people in Taiwan who consumed too much of the Sweet leaf for reducing weight, became victims of a rapid and progressive lung disease. I called my friend and told her what I had found out about this vegetable.
I haven't heard about this vegetable! But despite the hazards, the nutty flavour sounds really interesting.
ReplyDeleteI've never heard about this either, but I agree that it sounds very interesting!
ReplyDeleteDo you know if this plant is related to the Sweet Leaf plant, stevia, in any way?
ReplyDeleteI actually use SweetLeaf Sweetener stevia and I love it!
Definitely sounds like something you have to be very careful with. Luckily it's an attractive plant if you don't use it as a vegetable it still looks pretty in your garden.
ReplyDeleteKanak, the sweet leaf bush is quite popular here, though it is not grown commercially. Tastes good.
ReplyDeleteYodasmith: Welcome to my blog and thanks for leaving the comments. I don't think this plant is related to stevia.
Catherine, the plant has attractive berries which are also edible.