2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38
Gak (lat. Momordica cochinchinensis) Is a fruit plant representing the Pumpkin family. Sometimes gak is called Momordika Cochin, and the word gak itself is of Vietnamese origin.
Description
Gak is a highly curly herbaceous annual with bizarre tripartite leaves. And simple yellow hook flowers can have a wide variety of shapes.
The fruits of the hook are characterized by an elliptical or spherical shape and reach a diameter of ten to twelve centimeters. The surface of these unusual fruits is densely dotted with miniature spikes, and inside are not very pleasant-smelling seeds.
Where grows
Gak is grown mainly in the countries of Southeast Asia - in Cambodia, India, Laos, Malaysia, Bangladesh, Thailand, as well as in the Philippines, Vietnam and China. And sometimes it can be found in some European botanical gardens.
Application
Most often, gak is eaten fresh, and it is also added to rice when preparing a vegetarian version of banyung - New Year's Vietnamese pie. By the way, the calorie content of the hook is very small - it is only 19 kcal per 100 g.
Despite the unpleasant smell, hook seeds have excellent healing properties - they contain sapotoxin with a high hemolytic index and an oil rich in lycopene and carotene (i.e. provitamin A). 1 ml of this oil contains up to thirty milligrams of carotene, which is fifteen times more than in carrots! In addition, such an amount of carotene easily exceeds the daily human need for this substance several times! And it is this property that is at the same time an important limitation to the use of this oil, because it can lead to vitamin A poisoning, that is, to hypervitaminosis A.
Gak is widely used in healing, and since ancient times. Its oil is an excellent treatment for burns, ulcers and wounds. A strictly dosed use of such oil helps not only to restore and maintain mental and physical strength, but also to perfectly strengthen the immune system. It is also useful for children who are lagging behind in development, as well as for people with impaired vision and with a wide variety of eye ailments (decreased visual acuity, conjunctivitis, night blindness, sensations of sand and dry eyes, etc.). And in case of increased susceptibility to various colds, hook oil will become an excellent immunostimulating agent.
Hook oil is also used in the treatment of certain ailments of the cardiovascular system (angina pectoris, ischemia, etc.) and the gastrointestinal tract (colitis, ulcers, etc.). It will also be an excellent helper for various defects in nails and hair. In general, its use contributes to the provision of a pronounced rejuvenating effect on the body.
And the lycopene, which is found in hook oil, is endowed with the ability to destroy up to 75% of cancer-causing substances. In addition, to date, lycopene is the best prophylactic agent against heart attack. And oleic acid and vitamin F in this oil help to lower cholesterol.
Hak oil is rich in vitamin E, which has a beneficial effect on the skin - this property has made it possible to actively use it in the cosmetic industry.
The roots of the hook are also useful - they are rich in triterpene saponins, which are widely used in bronchitis as an expectorant, as well as in the treatment of rheumatism. The leaves of this plant are actively used in insect and snake bites, as well as in the treatment of skin abscesses, and its seeds boast excellent decongestant, anti-inflammatory, antiseptic and anti-febrile effects.
Contraindications
During the use of the hook, individual intolerance is not excluded, and you should refrain from using these fruits during pregnancy.
