Health Benefits Of African Pear You Need To Know

Usually eaten in Nigeria with corn, the oval shaped fruit has its flesh in butter form when roasted or boiled.

The May/July fruit has been researched to have immense benefits more than what you could have ever imagined. Ube as it is called by many Nigerians has come to stay as beyond the delicious taste of the fruit when boiled or roasted, many more unthinkable are needs to be known about this exceptional fruit. 

The local pear grows mostly in the tropics. It grows up to 18 metres in height and exudes an odoriferous gummy substance called resins or exudates from injured or excised portion of the stem. It is cultivated in most rural communities by the peasants, farmers for its fruits.

The fruit is red, turning blue-black when ripe with unpleasant turpentine smell. Here is a list of the usefulness of this amazing fruit you, probably, did not know before now.

It aids the treatment of wounds and parasitic skin disease

From time immemorial, local doctors are always in need of African pear when there is a case of deep and parasitic wounds and it has always worked. The fleshy bark of the fruit after it is boiled has been said to cure ringworms, “craw-craw” (body rash) and many more.

It can also be used as an agent of formulation for toothpaste

Pharmacists have claimed that exudates of native pear can also be used as a part of the ingredients that formulates toothpaste. This is because scientific evaluation has it that the fruit has antimicrobial and antioxidant properties. According to a study by D. E. Okwu and Fred U. Nnamdi of the Department of Chemistry, Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike, Abia State, the high concentration of calcium and phosphorus in the fleshy areas of the fruit is known to improve the dentine formulation protecting the enamel from demineralisation. So, when next time you sense a need to make your teeth healthier and also the need to make any skin rash to disappear, grab as many local pears as possible!