Manilkara zapota (Sapodilla), an evergreen tree from the Sapotaceae family, native to the tropical Americas is [1], is among all the so-called "chicle" plants, the only one that deserves to be named as the origin of chewing gum. Manilkara zapota (Sapodilla) tree can grow up to 40 meters tall, and the latex obtained from it has been used since the 1860's for the production of chewing gum, being brought to America in the late 1860's. The latex obtain from slicing Sapodilla fruits was also used as the base for the production of chewing gum. The Sapotaceae is a family of some 35–75 genera and about 800 species, most of them tropical trees [1].

The word chicle comes from the Nahuatl word for the gum, tziktli ['t͡sikt͡ɬi], which can be translated as "sticky stuff"[3]. Maya's used to chew the latex of Sapodilla as form of ancient chewing gum and to fight their thirst while they were working [4]. Image right: Sapodilla by Narith5 under Creative Common license (CC BY 2.0).

MANILKARA ZAPOTA

Family: Sapotaceae
Genus: Manilkara
Common name: Sapote, Sapodilla, Manilkara zapotilla, Manilkara achras, Mimusopus manilkara, Achras zapota, and Achras sapota [1].

SCUTELLARIA LATERIFLORA (Blue skullcap), is a perennial herb indigenous from North America. The flowers are very small and have a very distinctive pale blue color, with more than 350 variations. Blue skullcap has been known in Europe and America for many of its herbal properties but certainly the most common use of Blue skullcap is for its nervous sedative effects.

Blue skullcap has been known in Europe and America for many of its herbal properties but certainly the most common use of Blue skullcap is for its nervous sedative effects, over which there are plenty of documented scientific studies and trials. Image: Scutellaria antirrhinoides by Matt Lavin under Creative Common license (CC BY-SA 2.0).

SCUTELLARIA LATERIFLORA

Family: Lamiaceae
Genus: Scutellaria
Common names: Mag dog skullcap, skullcap, Madweed [4].

Flavonoids are polyphenol antioxidants that can be found in plants, herbs and other aliments. They have been documented as cancer preventive agents and are very useful active constituents of herbs and plants responsible for many of the beneficial properties exerted by those ones, as for example their anti-aging effect (Ginkgo biloba, Calendula...etc.) and their free radical scavenging action (antioxidant), preventing cancer occurrence...etc.

Flavonoids also exert antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and anti-allergic properties, being also able to decrease capillary fragility [3], but what is more important, a study by Susan Steck of the Arnol School of Public Health shows that they can have an even more important function as Flavonoids may lower the risk of highly aggressive prostate cancer occurrence. Image: Fruit at North Market in Columbus, OH. by Lisa Sinclair under Creative Commons License (CC BY-SA 2.0).

Polyphenols are a group of chemical substances found in plants, active constituents on them that are an integral part of many traditional herbal remedies, known to interact on different ways against carcinogenesis, tumor cell proliferation, apoptosis, metastasis and inflammation. They also exert powerful antioxidant properties. The largest and best studied polyphenols are the flavonoids, which include several thousand compounds, being the most abundant antioxidants present in our diets [1].

The Mediterranean diet is rich in polyphenols because it contains abundant vegetables, fruits, unrefined cereals, legumes, nuts, garlic, olive oil and red wine [1], this last one is also rich in resveratrol, a non-flavonoid Polyphenol that showed to be able to stop breast cancer cell growth, increase longevity, be cardioprotective, neuroprotective [4], to treat pain, inflammation, tissue injury and even beneficial against coronary heart disease [4].

Now a group of researchers from the Institut Municipal d’Investigació Mèdica at the IMIM-Hospital del Mar in Spain shows how virgin olive oil Polyphenols can also be able to disable the genes related to atherosclerosis. Image left: Olive oil by Jessica Spengler under Creative Commons Attribution License (CC by 2.0).

OLEA EUROPAEA

Family: Oleaceae
Genus: Olea
Common name: Olives