Mèrida, Yucatàn, May 12, 2021, (SIPSE).- We are back in the plum season, and Yucatecans have a special taste for this fruit with salt and “chilito” chili powder.
The plum is a quite noble tree in our region that three times a year gives us its fruits, in addition to its leaves and bark that are beneficial for health.
Concerning its “seasons”, these occur in the dry season, from April to May, at the end of June and the beginning of July, when the rains begin, as well as in the rainy season on the end of August, the Yucatan Peninsula was blessed with many gifts of nature and the local ciruela (plum), is one of them.
And although this is the main use of the plum, the food, both for humans and for birds, pigs, and even cows with forage, it is necessary to highlight the capacities it has for the treatment of some ailments, according to the knowledge of the people of our Maya region.
The project “Uses and Customs of the Plum”, by MC María del Rocío Ruenes Morales, Dr. Patricia Montañez Escalante and Dr. Miriam Ferrer Ortega (UADY) and MC Pedro Correa and MC Landy MC Silveira Sáen, from the Autonomous University of Chapingo, refers that the abals (family of plums) have been of great importance for the Maya farmers.
What are the medicinal uses of plum?
Its medicinal use includes the treatment of rashes, measles, eye infections and wound healing.
The study mentions that rubbing the leaves on a hot comal and applying them to the rash irritated area helps to reduce it, or maybe 30 leaves can be crushed with salt and smeared on the rash.
It is also mentioned that by letting the leaves and part of the bark dry in the sun, it will later allow grinding them, and with boiled water and sea salt it will be used to make drops for irritated eyes or to be applied to a wound.
For measles or stomach pain, it is recommended to boil the bark, and the water that results to drink it for three days.
You can even alleviate diarrhea by crushing the bark, boiling it in water, and after being strained, it is taken at noon. The delicious plums are sold during this time.
Other uses of plum leaves
The bark has more uses, along with the flowers, since preparing infusions with them treat back pain, rheumatism, it is a good antiseptic and even helps as a contraceptive, but for the latter, it is better to pay attention to the conventional preventive measures.
These are just some benefits that the plum gives us in addition to its fruits because as we already mentioned, it is a very noble tree that does not require too much land to grow, nor soils with many nutrients or depths. For this reason, for the people of the region, it represents a true gift, which has been studied in the joint project mentioned above.
Source: Sipse