The Sonora desert gets its name from the Sonora state in Mexico, where it covers a considerable extension of land, as well as in parts of southeastern California, southern Arizona and a big part of Baja California. Sonora desert has a extension of more than 100,000 square miles, and if you have had the privilege to be there you would understand that nobody would ever think anything that could effectively grow there could ever be used or serve any purpose, however this is not completely truth, Sonora desert is well-known to host both, rare plants and animal species worth preserving.

As a mirage in the middle of Sonora desert, one of these rare plants, a shrub known by the local O'dham people as Jojoba (Simmondsia chinensis), pronounced "ho-ho-ba", raised as a new hope for locals that benefited from the commercialization of the oil extracted from the seeds of Jojoba, used in cosmetic, pharmaceutical, dietetic food, animal feeding, lubrication, polishing and bio-diesel fields [8] as well as in toiletry as base for soaps, skin moisturizing oils against skin dryness and dandruff that can be used both, as an base oil for massages and directly into the hair and scalp.

But these are not the only health benefits of Jojoba and Jojoba oil, many more health benefits and some of the scientific research in which those ones have been based are explained in this article about the health benefits of Jojoba.  Image: Simmondsia chinensis by Bri Weldon under Creative Common license (CC BY 2.0).

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SIMMONDSIA CHINENSIS

Family: Simmondsiaceae
Genus: Simmondsia
Common name: Jojoba, Goatnut, deer nut, pignut, wild hazel, quinine nut, coffee berry, and gray box bush [3,13].

I guess by now we all know what muesli is, but maybe what we don't know is where did muesli originate and what are the muesli benefits, we will try to explain that in a moment.

Muesli consists principally in uncooked rolled oats, fruit and nuts. It was developed in 1900 by Swiss physician and one of the first nutritional experts of the modern era Maximilian Bircher-Benner (1867-1939), as a natural way to maintain the health balance of his patients in the Zurich sanatorium where he worked. This was the first pillar of something that later on got the medical term of "Ordnungstherapie" and about which we will talk later on.

I have to admit I was a little bit reluctant the first time I tried muesli, back then as a child, the feelings of curiosity and fear were mixed, however curiosity was higher than fear and I ended up trying muesli in the extraordinary peace and tranquility of the garden of a summer rural house in Tuscany, a region in the northwest of Italy where farmhouses and villas are part of the day to day landscape and time has a different meaning. Back then I didn't know that some forty years later I would be writing an article about muesli benefits after getting so addicted to its flavor. Image: Jester House muesli by Jessica Spengler under Creative Common license (CC BY 2.0).

AVENA SATIVA 

Family: Poaceae
Genus: Avena
Common name: Oat

What is Patchouli? How many times have you seen the word Patchouli used in perfumes, essential oils and other natural products? Most probably hundreds of times, but how many of you really know what is Patchouli and where does Patchouli come from?

Patchouli is a plant from the genus Pogostemon. The word Patchouli derives from the Tamil patchai (Tamil: பச்சை) (green), ellai (Tamil: இலை) (leaf) [3,7]. It is a highly valuable product in the fragrance industry [3] but also used as a traditional herbal remedy in Chinese medicine for common colds, nausea, diarrhea, headache and fever [4]. Patchouli essential oil is also very popular as it serves as base for the production of perfumes and cosmetics. Its quality changes depending upon raw material age and oil storage [3]. Image left: Patchouli by jayeshpatil912 under Creative Commons license (CC BY 2.0).

POGOSTEMON CABLIN

Family: Lamiaceae
Genus: Pogostemon
Common name: Patchouli, Patchouly, Pachouli, Tamil patchai, Tamil: பச்சை) (green), ellai Tamil: இலை (leaf) [3].

An ancient oil, used by African tribes for its culinary, medicinal and health beneficial properties, Argan oil, became in recent years the subject of studies and research from cosmetic and pharmaceutical companies that were looking for a way to make commercial use of all these health benefits of Argan oil.

Since ancient times, indigenous Berber groups made use of Argan tree for almost every possible use, in every way, shape or form, from carpentry to construction purposes. They also knew about the health benefits of Argan oil as well, including its cosmetic, culinary and traditional medicinal uses. Argan oil became one of the rarest and most uncommon oils in the world due to its very limited and specific growing conditions and the area where it is naturally found [2], being available in areas of different geographical origin as Tidzi, Tamanar, Benaiznassen, Ait mzal, Ait Baha, Ighrem or Aoulouz [19].

Argan oil is extracted from the fruit kernels of Argania spinosa or Argan tree, a wild forest tree that grows almost exclusively in the native region from where it originates, an area between 800,000 and 900,000 hectares in the south-west of Morocco. In later July the fruits are black and dry, ready for harvest, moment in which the story begins. Image left: Noix d'argan by Jeremy Couture under Creative Commons license (CC BY 2.0).

ARGANIA SPINOSA

Family: Sapotaceae
Genus: Argania
Common name: English, Argan almond, Argan fruit, Argan oil, Moroccan fodder tree [1].