There is no doubt about it, Sweet potato benefits are known to almost every one of us. Sweet potatoes (Ipomoea batatas) came to Europe from Central and South America, where they were found by the Spanish. With the botanical name Ipomoea batatas, sweet potatoes arrived later on to other countries as Philippines, China and later one Japan, where they were brought by the Chineese in the 17th century, becoming very popular rapidly.

Ipomoea batatas is cultivated extensively for its nutritious value across many regions of the world, in fact many people consume it as a source of staple food [1,2,3,4]. Ipomoea batatas continues to be of remarkable economic value as the sixth most plentiful food crop in the world [5]. Other reports rank sweet potato seventh among staple crops, with 133 million tons produced annually, 117 of which in a single country, China [10,11], where it is a very popular part of many dishes and culinary preparations.

But Ipomoea batatas is not only popular for its sweet tuberous roots, its leaves or greens are very popular in China, where they are extensively consumed as a vegetable. In other countries as Africa and Asia, Ipomoea batatas leaves or greens are considered a very healthy food and an excellent source of dietary Polyphenols such as anthocyanins and phenolic acids [15], and these are not the only sweet potato benefits, they have many more, would you like to know them? Image: Sweet potatoes roasting on an open fire by Ironchefbalara under Creative Common license (CC BY 2.0).

IPOMOEA BATATAS 

Family: Convolvulaceae 
Genus: Ipomoea
Common name: Sweet potatoes, Sweetpotato (USA), Yam (USA), Kumara (NZ) [19].

Garlic (Allium sativum), a plant native to central Asia, has been used since thousands of years ago for culinary and as medicinal purposes, being part of ancient natural remedies for the treatment of some of the most common ailments and illnesses, as well as for some of its health benefits and properties, among which we can mention being a natural expectorant and an antimicrobial agent. This article will try to cover the most important benefits of garlic and how have these ones been proven in some of the most relevant studies on this subject.

Sumerians, Chinese, ancient Indians, Egyptians, Romans, Greeks, Tibetans, Slavic, Arabic and the list goes on and on naming hundreds of cultures that used garlic not only for its known culinary properties but for its health benefits and as a well-trusted universal folk remedy for the treatment of various illnesses and ailments. Some cultures still know garlic as ‘Russian penicillin’, ‘natural antibiotic’, ‘vegetable viagra’, ‘plant talisman’, ‘rustic's theriac’ and ‘snake grass’ [5,6].

In the past, garlic was used as a folk remedy during various epidemics such as typhus, dysentery, cholera, influenza, and whenever an epidemic has emerged. Garlic has been the first preventive and curative remedy [5,6]. Now, back to the subject, who didn't heard about the saying that onions and garlic collect and kill the flu (influenza) virus spread since its origins time ago in the 1919? I found it interesting enough to enter a little bit deeper and see if there were probably other reasons to believe garlic and onions really got this claimed anti-viral and anti-bacterial properties. But let's see what we found about Garlic (Allium sativum) and onion (Allium cepa), it may surprise some of us at the end. Image (taken with Nikon D200): Garlic by Mo Riza under Creative Common license (CC BY 2.0).

ALLIUM SATIVUM

Family: Amaryllidaceae
Genus: Allium
Common name: Garlic.

Eugenia uniflora (Pitangas), most commonly known as Pitanga cherry shrub, is largely distributed in tropical and subtropical America. But in spite Pitangas is distributed in America, it is not only present there, Pitangas is also cultivated in many other countries, where it is used in the production of juice, frozen pulp, and tea. Pitangas has been traditionally used in some of this countries as a remedy in the treatment of inflammatory diseases [1].

Pitangas is popular in many countries. In Brazil Pitangas is consider a fruity tree with many popular medicine uses, as for example to treat inflammations, rheumatic pain and fever, as hypoglycemic, diuretic and has been widely used in the cosmetics industry [6] as well as many others, but let's see some of these other uses. Image left: Athome@Gaspar by Vitor Pamplona under Creative Commons license (CC BY 2.0).

EUGENIA UNIFLORA

Family: Myrtaceae
Genus: Eugenia
Common name: Brazil cherry, Brazilian cherry, Pitanga, Pitangas, Cayenne cherry, Surinam cherry [3].

To understand the health benefits of Blueberries (Vaccinium corymbosum) we have to analyse their active constituents. Blueberries have a very high content of anthocyanins, the most abundant type of flavonoid [2] and responsible for their blue or purple color, but also for the characteristic color of cherries, grapes, blackberries, blueberries and other similar ones [3].

Actually a little bit more than 500 anthocyanins have been found [4] in different herbs, plants and natural sources. In pomegranate for example anthocyanins are the only fatty acid that is believed to play an important role in the health benefits of pomegranate (apart from the  polyphenolic content found on it and more specifically punicalagins, punicalins, gallagic acid, and ellagic acid that act as powerful antioxidants).

Anthocyanins have also been linked to an improved night vision, prevention of macular degeneration, anti-cancer activity and reduced risk of heart disease.[5] The compound resveratrol, found also in blueberries, has been linked to reduced risk of heart disease and cancer, and another compound, pterostilbene, has been shown to lower cholesterol [5,6]. Additionally, blueberries are a rich source of phenolic compounds [1]. Image left: Blueberry plant by Chuck Grimmett under Creative Commons license (CC BY-SA 2.0).

VACCINIUM CORYMBOSUM

Family: Ericaceae
Genus: Vaccinium
Common name: American blueberry, Blueberry, Highbusch blueberry, Swamp blueberry.