THE RED FRUIT OF PAPUA (BUAH MERAH PAPUA)

A few years back, people in Indonesia even in some other parts of the world was confounded with one quite big phenomenon in the world of natural medicine. The phenomenon was the discovery of the Papua Red Fruit’s potential to treat and heal several illnesses, including HIV/ AIDS. Today, we are going to talk about this particular fruit again.

The Red Fruit

The red fruit generally grows in Papua, especially on the mountain area, such as on the areas along mountain side of Jayawijaya. The plant is actually still in the family of pandanus, with the scientific name of Pandanus Conoideus. The tree can grow up to 5 branches, with 15 meters high. The leafs are similar to ribbons, but have small thorns on the edge parts. The roots are hanging in the air with the height of 1 meter from the base trunk. The fruit has a long ellipse form or sometimes a bit square, with 30-120 cm length and 10-25 cm wide. Usually the color is red, brownish red, or sometimes yellow. The skin, however, is similar with the skin of jackfruit.

People in Papua have been, for generations, consuming the red fruit along with the vegetables and several of the tuber group, such as yam and cassava. They consume it to uplift their stamina and energy. Most of them also use the red fruit for medicine, because it has the peculiarity to heal diseases, such as eyes, and skin diseases. Beside that, the red fruit is also served during rituals and traditional ceremonies.

The Benefits

The first research about the benefits of red fruit was conducted by a scientist from Cendrawasih University in Jayapura, Drs. I Made Budi, M.S. As a nutritionist and a lecturer, he carefully observed the custom habits of the traditional society in Wamena, Timika, and the villages around the Jayawijaya mountain area, who consume the red fruit. He found that the local people have bigger muscular figure, and high stamina. The physical wonder of the people is that they rarely get degenerative diseases such as diabetes, heart disease, and cancer.

Through his research, Drs. I Made Budi, M.S., discovered that in the form of essence the red fruit contains high potential antioxidant as an active substances to prevent many illnesses, anti virus compounds and also complex vitamins and minerals. It contains carotene, beta carotene, tocopherol, and other substances that can increase endurance of a body, such as oleic acid, linoleic acid, omega 3, and omega 9.

Beta carotene inside the red fruits functions to treat cancer, overcoming anti stroke, and coroner heart disease. It slows down artery spots blockage, so that blood can flow to the heart and brain smoothly. Tocopherol functions as an anti aging, secondary antioxidant, to increase body immune system, preventing damage caused by free radicals, and has a high content of vitamin E. It is also good to cure cancer, hypertension and diabetes mellitus, and reduce bad cholesterol.

Here are several benefits believed could be obtained by consuming the red fruit.

1.     Cure eyes illnesses caused by the lack of vitamin A.

2.     Stimulate the brain function and improve intelligence.

3.     Increase sexual desire for male and fertility.

4.   Cure cancers and tumors, because of the high content of tocopherol and beta carotene. The two substances function as antioxidant, increase the body immune system, and prevent the growth of cancer cells.

5.      Prevent high blood pressure and stroke.

6.      Cure diabetes mellitus, by repairing the work of the pancreas.

7.      Cure and prevent osteoporosis, because of its high content of calcium.

8.    Help healing AIDS. The high level of beta carotene and tocopherol in the red fruit can actually stop the HIV virus from continuing to live.

Other than the benefits mentioned, the red fruit said can also cure the digesting system diseases, hemorrhoids, lungs problem, and more.

The Pros and Contras

To this day, the study and research on the red fruit is yet to be finished. The authentication of the red fruit’s power and benefits has not been done clinically. Even so, there are a lot of people who suffered from several illnesses have felt the benefits of the fruit. Some of them consumed it along with medicine from their doctors, or combined it with other herbal medicine. However, there are others who consumed it solely.

The phenomenon had triggered pros and contra among the people. There are some people who believe it straight away and use it for medication, some conduct research immediately, and some are still hesitated about it. No matter how the controversy has grown, in reality, there are many people who claimed to be cured from their illnesses after consuming the red fruit.

* Gathered from many sources.

* All pictures belong to their rightful owners... I'm just borrowing them.