Health and Home July 14th, 2009 | 3 Comments »
This fruit is called BALIMBING in Tagalog, SABIRIL in Bisaya dialect and CARAMBOLA or STAR FRUIT in English.
This tree is older than me, it was planted at the back portion of our house. I don’t know who planted it, they told us when we are little it was my late uncle who planted it. He was slained in a restaurant without any reason.
This is my favorite tree when I was still a little kid, when I feel hungry I just went up to the three bringing some salt in my hand. Well, I am not the only kid who loves this tree, everybody on the neighborhood like it too. Baptist church is just near us, so every sunday those little kids after Sunday school or before they are already at the Balimbing Tree. They look like little monkeys. lol.
There’s a time that I thought this tree wouldn’t survived anymore because termites ate the tree’s body, but time heals all wounds, the tree survived.
Until now, this tree served a food for kids like me who’s hungry from playing.This tree still feed my niece and nephews (from my cousins).
Well for the information of others I have included some article about this plant, this is also medicinal plant:
Botany
Small tree growing to a height of 6 meters or less. Leaves are pinnate, about 15 cm long. Leaflets are smooth, pairs and ovate to ovate-lanceolate. Pannicles are small, axillary and bell-shaped, 5-6 mm long. Calyx is reddish purple. Petals are purple, often margined with white. Fruit is fleshy green to greenish yellow, about 6 cm long, with 5 longitudinal, sharp and angular lobes. Seeds are arillate.
Medical properties and constituents
Vermifuge, laxative, refrigerant, antiscorbutic, febrifuge, sialogogue, antiphlogistic, stimulant, emmenagogue, anodyne, emetic.Studies indicate the presence of saponins, alkaloids, flavonoids and tannins.
Distribution
Planted in cultivated and semi-cultivated areas.
Parts used
Leaves, flowers, seeds, fruit..UsesNutritionalEdible fruit is a source of iron (low in calcium) and vitamins B and C, oxalate and potassium.
Folkloric
-
Tea of boiled leaves used for aphthous stomatitis.
-
Crushed shoots or leaves used externally for headaches and ringworm.
-
Boiled flowers used to expel worms: 50 gms to a pint of boiling water; drunk in normal doses.
-
Fruit is laxative.
-
Decoction of fruit, 50 gms to a pint of boiling water, 4-5 glasses a day for bleeding piles.Juice of fresh fruit for affections of the eyes.
-
Seed is used for asthma and colic:
-
Powdered seeds, 10 gms to a cup of warm water, drunk 4 times daily.
-
In India, the ripe fruit is used to stop hemorrhages and relieve hemorrhoidal bleeding.
-
The dried fruit or juice used for fevers.
Others
The acid type carambola dissolves tarnish and rust, occasionally used for cleaning and polishing metal.Fruit juice is used to remove stains.Contains potassium oxalate which is used for dyeing.
Studies
• Negative inotropic and chronotropic effects on the guinea pig atrium of extracts obtained from Averrhoa carambola L. leaves: The study showed that the A. carambola extract is an agent that strongly depresses the heart rate and the myocardial contractile force. Although the active compound has not been identified, its action on the L-type Ca2+ channels is important to explain the mechanism of action of this plant on the mammalian atrial myocardium.
• Fatal outcome after ingestion of star fruit (Averrhoa carambola) in uremic patients: The study warns that patients with renal failure who ingest star fruit may develop neurological symptoms and run the risk of death in severe cases.
• Neurotoxicity: Report of study on 32 uraemic patients who ingested star fruit. Most common presenting symptoms were persistent hiccups, vomiting, mental confusion, psychomotor agitation, insomnia, paresthesias and seizures. Ideal treatment was daily hemodialysis.
• Antioxidant: Research reports the residues from star fruit juicing process is a rich and excellent source of extractable phenolic antioxidants
Home and Living July 13th, 2009 | No Comments »
You can see this stuff in some barangay in Odiongan, making the rice grain to dry to bring them to rice milling station. They were placed roadside.
Home and Living July 13th, 2009 | No Comments »
After planting you have to continue weeding the rice field.
Home and Living July 13th, 2009 | No Comments »
This a small field my father had started farming, his family owned this. This is a field of stones. My father started planting here last year.In eight siblings of my grandma, yearly one sibling has the right to plant rice. Before it was done by partners, two siblings in every year but because it just a two rectangle of field it is not enough, especially those time there’s no water to supply the field. No irrigation, nobody in the family used to plant rice in a two rectangle field near the pepper farm that field was pawned many times. But things changed around the middle of the year 2007 when the irrigation were finally made.
It was year 2008 when my father thought of farming, because it was his term to plow the field. With high aspirations, my father hope for a good harvest so little by little he saved some from his carpentry earnings so he can started to make the field ready.
As you can see at the above picture, after plowing you have remove the snails before you can plant rice…it is a hard job.
Home and Living July 12th, 2009 | No Comments »
This is inside the boat, it is a canteen for the passengers. As you can see at the picture there is an old woman with a yellow basket, she is not one of the passengers but she is one of the boat vendors. You can see them at the Odiongan Port terminal, bringing their baskets and selling their stuffs. When the passengers where ask to board the ship they will board the ship too, to sell. They will given enough time and when the boat or ship will leave you will a voice at the speakers “Purya bisita, purya bisita” calling the attention of the vendors to move down. Before it is a call for some people who escorted their love ones at the boat, but since some escorts went to Manila without the boat ticket they were not allowed anymore to comes up the ship, they just stayed at the terminal.Just remember you have to keep your boat ticket because it will be inspected after the boat leaves the respected port. If you cannot show your boat ticket you have to pay another ticket. Ticket will be inspected twice, before you aboard the ship and after the boat leaves the port.
Travel and Places July 12th, 2009 | No Comments »
You can see those kids at Odiongan Port, beside the ship. They’re waiting for some coins from the passenger. If you do throw some coins they will dive and swim for it. Sometimes they show some tricks.It’s been a long time since I have seen kids at the Odiongan Port, the last time (except this time)I have seen it is when I am still a little kid. As what I heard those kids where prohibited to swim near the ship, I just don’t know why they show again after so many years.
Home and Living July 10th, 2009 | No Comments »
This is the best way to park, when you saw a NO PARKING SIGN! (lol)
Home and Living July 10th, 2009 | No Comments »
This pictures were taken at the rooftop of ODIONGAN LODGE, as you can see this street is part of Barangay Tabing-Dagat. For your knowing, the building with a green roof is a church (Philippine Independent Church) facing it is DPWH Office (Department of Public Works and Highways) (red roof) and beside the DPWH is the LTO (Land Transportation Office).
Home and Living July 10th, 2009 | No Comments »
This gasoline station (PETRON) is the biggest gasoline station in Odiongan. The other one is located at the North side of the town. Gasoline in Odiongan is not cheaper but so expensive that makes those passenger vehicles fare expensive too. Well there is a time that this gasoline station is out of stock of gasoline, the hearsay says the vessel tank did not yet arrive. That makes the gasoline became more expensive in every gasoline outlet, sometimes it will took three days before the gasoline will be available and in that case other vehicles and the drivers were just at home because there’s no gasoline to full their tank. When that thing occurs the fare in single (motor) grown up, it will reached P30.00 every trip. If there is two passengers you will divide it by two if you are just alone you have to pay for it.
Other single driver were too abusive they will ask for big fare and when you ask them why they will say there is no gasoline everywhere and if there is it is very expensive. You can’t do nothing but pay, you will just say “shit” silently. Well for everybody’s knowing those single driver were “kulorum” which means no license to operate, while others has no license to drive. Lol! Ye, that is funny. I think those unit who were assigned to pick them up were doing their job (I just don’t know how) but those single drivers has unity. (hehehe).
Well you cannot blame those single drivers, they have family to support and they need to eat. The common job for poor Odionganon’s were farming, fishing, carpentry, and driving a single vehicle.
This tree is older than me, it was planted at the back portion of our house. I don’t know who planted it, they told us when we are little it was my late uncle who planted it. He was slained in a restaurant without any reason.
Botany
