Gnetum gnemon
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Gnetum gnemon | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Division: | Gnetophyta |
| Class: | Gnetopsida |
| Order: | Gnetales |
| Family: | Gnetaceae |
| Genus: | Gnetum |
| Species: | G. gnemon |
| Binomial name | |
| Gnetum gnemon L. |
|
Gnetum gnemon is a species of Gnetum native to southeast Asia and the western Pacific Ocean islands, from Assam south and east through Indonesia and Malaysia to the Philippines and Fiji. Common names include Melinjo or Belinjo (Indonesian language), Bago (Malay language, Tagalog language), Peesae (Thai language), dae (Kwara'ae language) and Bét, Rau bép, Rau danh or Gắm (Vietnamese language). They are sometimes called padi oats or paddy oats.
It is a small to medium-size tree (unlike most other Gnetum species, which are lianas), growing to 15-20 m tall. The leaves are evergreen, opposite, 8-20 cm long and 3-10 cm broad, entire, emerging bronze-coloured, maturing glossy dark green. The fruit-like strobilus consist of little but skin and a large nut-like seed 2-4 cm long inside.
Fleshy strobili weigh about 5.5 g, the seed alone 3.8 g. Strobili mature mainly from June to September in NE Philippines. The red strobili are eaten by birds, mammals and reptiles.
[edit] Uses
It is widely used in Indonesian cuisine. The seeds are used for Sayur Asam (Sour Vegetables Soup) and also, grind into flour and deep-fried as crackers (emping, a type of krupuk). The crackers have a slightly bitter taste and are frequently served as a snack or accompaniment to Indonesian dishes. The leaves are also commonly used for vegetables dishes in Indonesia.
Recently, Japanese scientists (Mori, M., et al., 2008) found that Gnetum gnemon is not the cause of gout disease (uric acid disease).
Melinjo is native to Indonesia and very popular in this country. Lately, it is found that melinjo strobili are rich in polyphenol component which is called resveratrol. The resveratrol substances that found in melinjo is identified as dimer form and was published in XXIII International Conference on Polyphenols, Canada, in 2006.
Melinjo resveratrol, having antibacterial and antioxidative activity (Hisada, H., et al., 2005), exhibit good effects as food preservative, off flavour inhibitor and taste enhancer (Santoso, M., et al., 2008). They become of importance in food industries which do not use any synthetic chemicals in their processes.
At the present, Melinjo Extract is produced and supervised under cooperation between Indonesian Agricultural Association (NOFA (id:KTNA) ; Ikamaja's Mother Organization) and JASMELINDO (Japanese Non-Profit Organization), to protect certain profit for Indonesian farmers.
[edit] References
Mori, M., et al.. (2008). Relationship between Lifestyle-related Diseases with The Intake of Indonesian Traditional Fruit Melinjo Rich in Phytoestrogens. Niigata, Japan. The 4th International Niigata Symposium on Diet and Health Integrative Function of Diet in Anti-aging and Cancer Prevention.
Santoso, M., et al..(2008). Inhibition of Fish Lipid Oxidation by the Extract of Indonesia Edible Plant Seed `Melinjo`. Kyoto, Japan. Japanese Society for Food Science and Technology.
Hisada, H., et al.. (2005). Antibacterial and Antioxidative Constituents of Melinjo Seeds and Their Application to Foods. Japan. Science Links Japan.
Kato, E., Tokunaga, Y., Sakan, F. (2009). Stilbenoids Isolated from the Seeds of Melinjo (Gnetum gnemon L.) and Their Biological Activity. Japan. J. Agric Food Chem, 57 (6), 2544-2549.
 |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Gnetum gnemon |
