The Biodiversity Challenge | Day 1: Favourite Plant Challenge: 22/05/2021

Hello steemians. I will like to start by thanking @thegreens for organizing this challenge. It'll go a long way to make us active in steemit and push us towards financial independence. More so, it'll create some consciousness about protecting our environment.

My favourite plant I'll talk on here is THE BITTER LEAF PLANT. It's scientific name is Vernonia amygdalina. I won't talk much about it but go straight to why it's my favourite plant

The bitter leaf is a shrub or small tree that can reach 23 feet in height when fully grown. Bitter leaf has a grey or brown coloured bark, which has a rough texture and is flaked. The herb is an indigenous African plant; which grows in most parts of sub-Saharan Africa.

It is a very important protective food. In Cameroon, we use the bitter leaf to cook soup such as "contri bitter leaf" and "ndole". It is also useful for the maintenance of health and prevention and treatment of various diseases. Some principal chemical constituents found in bitter leaf herb are a class of compounds called steroid glycosides- type vernonioside B1 – these chemical substances possess a potent anti-parasitic, anti-tumour, and bactericidal effect. The bitter leaf is mainly employed as an agent in treating schistsomiasis, which is a disease caused by parasitic worms. It is also useful in the treatment of diarrhoea and general physical malaise. Bitter leaf is also a constituent in the guiness drink as the guiness drink has medicinal value. While we were still kids, we often used better leaf to cure our wounds. We would take a leaf, squize it till liquid comes out then we out it in our wounds to stop blood flow

Remedies made from bitter leaf are used in treating 25 common ailments in sub- Saharan African, these include common problems such as fever, and different kinds of intestine complaints, as well as parasite-induced diseases like malaria. Bitter leaf also helps to cleanse such vital organs of the body like the liver and the kidney. Bitter leaf is also used in the treatment of skin infections such as ringworm, rashes and eczema. However, bitter leaf and other vegetables contain both essential and toxic metals over a wide range of concentrations (Radwan and Salama, 2006).

With all these multiple uses of this plant🌵, it turns out to be my favourite plant.

Thanks for reading.... PEACE✌️