Chapter II

Review of Related Literature

This chapter represents a review of related literature and studies about okra

and gugo that can be made as an homemade shampoo and can strengthen the

tensile of the hair.

Okra

Okra (Abelmoschus esculentus) Moench, known in many English-speaking

countries as lady's fingers or gumbo) is a flowering plant in the mallow family. It is

valued for its edible green seed pods. Originating in Africa, the plant is cultivated in

tropical, subtropical and warm temperate regions around the world. The name

"okra", most often used in the United States and the Philippines, is of West African

origin and is cognate with "ọ́kụ̀rụ̀" in Igbo, a language spoken in Nigeria. Okra is

often known as "Lady's Fingers" outside of the United States. In various Bantu

languages, okra is called "kingombo" or a variant thereof, and this is the origin of its

name in Portuguese ("quiabo"), Spanish, Dutch and French, and also of the name

"gumbo", used in parts of the United States and English-speaking Caribbean for

either the vegetable, or a stew based on it. In the United Kingdom it is often called

as "bhindi", from its Hindi name "bhindi" or "bhendi".

It is a tall-growing, warm-season, annual vegetable from the same family as

hollyhock, rose of Sharon and hibiscus. The immature pods are used for soups,

canning and stews or as a fried or boiled vegetable. The hibiscuses like flowers and

upright plant (3 to 6 feet or more in height) have ornamental value for backyard

gardens.
Structure and physiology

The species is an annual or perennial, growing to 2 m tall. It is related to such

species as cotton, cocoa, and hibiscus. The leaves are 10–20 cm long and broad,

palmately lobed with 5–7 lobes. The flowers are 4–8 cm diameter, with five white to

yellow petals, often with a red or purple spot at the base of each petal. The fruit is a

capsule up to 18 cm long, containing numerous seeds.

Abelmoschus esculentus is cultivated throughout the tropical and warm

temperate regions of the world for its fibrous fruits or pods containing round, white

seeds. It is among the most heat- and drought-tolerant vegetable species in the

world—but severe frost can damage the pods—and will tolerate poor soils with

heavy clay and intermittent moisture.

In cultivation, the seeds are soaked overnight prior to planting to a depth of

1–2 cm. Germination occurs between six days (soaked seeds) and three weeks.

Seedlings require ample water. The seed pods rapidly become fibrous and woody

and must be harvested within a week of the fruit being pollinated to be edible.[4] The

fruits are harvested when immature and eaten as a vegetable.

Origin and distribution

Okra is an allopolyploid of uncertain parentage (proposed parents include

Abelmoschus ficulneus, Abelmoschus tuberculatus and a reported "diploid" form of

okra). Truly wild, as opposed to naturalized, populations, are not definitely known,

and the species may be a cultigen.

 The geographical origin of okra is disputed, with supporters of South Asian,

Ethiopian and West African origins. Supporters of a South Asian origin point to the

presence of its proposed parents in that region. Opposed to this is the lack of a

word for okra in the ancient languages of suggesting that it arrived there in the

Common Era. Supporters of a West African origin point to the greater diversity of

okra in that region; however confusion between Okra and Abelmoschus caillei (West

African okra) casts doubt on those analyses.

The Egyptians and Moors of the 12th and 13th centuries used the Arabic word

for the plant, suggesting that it had come from the east. The plant may have

entered south west Asia across the Red Sea or the Bab-el-Mandeb strait to the

Arabian Peninsula, rather than north across the Sahara, or from India. One of the

earliest accounts is by a Spanish Moor who visited Egypt in 1216, who described the

plant under cultivation by the locals who ate the tender, young pods with meal.

From Arabia, the plant spread around the shores of the Mediterranean Sea and

eastward.

Okra flower bud and immature seed pod

Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Division: Magnoliophyta
Class: Magnoliopsida
(unranked): Rosids
Order: Malvales
Family: Malvaceae
Genus: Abelmoschus
Species: A. esculentus
Binomial name
(L.) Moench
 The plant was introduced to the Americas by ships plying the Atlantic slave

trade by 1658, when its presence was recorded in Brazil. It was further documented

in Suriname in 1686.

Okra may have been introduced to southeastern North America in the early 18th

century. It was being grown as far north as Philadelphia by 1748. Thomas Jefferson

noted that it was well established in Virginia by 1781. It was commonplace

throughout the southern United States by 1800 and the first mention of different

cultivars was in 1806.[4]

Okra seed pod

In Caribbean islands, okra is eaten as soup, often with fish. In Haiti it is

cooked with rice and maize, and also used as a sauce for meat. It became a popular

vegetable in Japanese cuisine toward the end of the 20th century, served with soy

sauce and katsuobushi, or as tempura.

Okra forms part of several regional "signature" dishes. Frango com quiabo

(chicken with okra) is a Brazilian dish that is especially famous in the region of

Minas Gerais. Gumbo, a hearty stew whose key ingredient is okra, is found

throughout the Gulf Coast of the United States and in the South Carolina

Lowcountry. Breaded, deep fried okra is eaten in the southern United States. Okra is

also an ingredient expected in callaloo, a Caribbean dish and the national dish of

Trinidad and Tobago. Okra is also eaten in Nigeria, where draw soup is a popular

dish, often eaten with garri or cassava. In Vietnam, okra is the important ingredient

in the dish canh chua. Okra slices can also be added to ratatouille, combining very

well with the other ingredients of this French popular dish.[7]

 Okra leaves may be cooked in a similar way to the greens of beets or

dandelions. The leaves are also eaten raw in salads. Okra seeds may be roasted and

ground to form a caffeinate-free substitute for coffee. When importation of coffee

was disrupted by the American Civil War in 1861, the Austin State Gazette noted,

"An acre of okra will produce seed enough to furnish a plantation of fifty negroes

with coffee in every way equal to that imported from Rio."[9]

Okra oil is a pressed seed oil, extracted from the seeds of the okra. The

greenish-yellow edible oil has a pleasant taste and odor, and is high in unsaturated

fats such as oleic acid and linoleic acid.[10] The oil content of the seed can be quite

high at about 40%. Oil yields from okra crops are also high. At 794 kg/ha, the yield

was exceeded only by that of sunflower oil in one trial. Common Okra seed is
[12]
reported to contain only 15% oil

Nutritional Value & Health Benefits

Okra is a powerhouse of valuable nutrients. Nearly half of which is soluble

fiber in the form of gums and pectins. Soluble fiber helps to lower serum

cholesterol, reducing the risk of heart disease. The other half is insoluble fiber which

helps to keep the intestinal tract healthy decreasing the risk of some forms of

cancer, especially colorectal cancer. Nearly 10% of the recommended levels of

vitamin B6 and folic acid are also present in a half cup of cooked okra.
Nutrition Facts (1/2 cup sliced, cooked okra)

Calories 25

Dietary Fiber 2 grams

Protein 1.52 grams

Carbohydrates 5.76 grams

Vitamin A 460 IU

Vitamin C 13.04 mg

Folic acid 36.5 micrograms

Calcium 50.4 mg

Iron 0.4 mg

Potassium 256.6 mg

Magnesium 46 mg

Gugo

This plant is very large tree found throughout the Philippines. It grows wild on Mt.

Banahaw. Gugo is used extensively in the Philippines for washing hair and for hair

tonics. When the bark is soaked in water and rubbed, it produces a lather which

cleanses the scalp very effectively. The active principle of the bark is saponin.

A very large, woody climber. Stems thick as a man’s arm, angled, and much

twisted and the bark is dark brown and rough.

Leaves: tripinnate, the common petioles usually ending in a long tendril. Pinnae

stalked, usually 4 in number. Leaflets oblong or obovate, 2.5 to 5 cm long, rigidly

leathery and smooth. Flowers: 2 to 3 mm long, yellowish white, either crowded in

long slender spikes from the axils of the upper leaves or arranged in terminal

panicles.

Fruits: pods, few, pendant, 30 to 100 cm long and 7 to 10 cm wide, somewhat

curved, slightly constricted between the seeds. Seeds are hard, and circular with

their sides flattened.

Distribution

In forests at low and medium altitudes, from Northern Luzon (Cagayan) to Mindanao

and Palawan.

Medicinal Uses

For rheumatic lumbar and leg pains, sprains, contusions: use dried vine
materials, 15 to 30 gms in decoction.

For jaundice, edema due to malnutrition: use powdered seeds, 3 to 9 gms taken
orally with water.

Abdominal pains and colic: Pound the kernels of the seeds, mix with oil and
apply as poultice onto affected area.

Counterirritant: Make a paste of the seeds and apply to glandular swellings in

the axilla, loins and joints, and swollen hands and feet.

Hair wash: Soak the prepared bark in water until soft; express the juice by

rubbing the spread fibers against each other until lather is produced; use as hair

shampoo.

In the Dutch Indies, young leaves are eaten, raw or cooked.In Bali and Sumatra, the

seeds after certain treatment, are eaten.In South Africa, pod and seeds are used as
coffee substitute.

For rheumatic lumbar and leg pains, sprains, contusions: use dried vine materials,

15 to 30 gms in decoction. For jaundice, edema due to malnutrition: use powdered

seeds, 3 to 9 gms taken orally with water.Abdominal pains and colic: Pound the

kernels of the seeds, mix with oil and apply as poultice onto affected area.

Counterirritant: Make a paste of the seeds and apply to glandular swellings in the

axilla, loins and joints, and swollen hands and feet.

Used as hair growth stimulant.

For skin itches, the affected part is washed with a decoction of the bark.

Stem, macerated in cold water, makes a cleansing soap; also, used as an emetic.

Seeds used as emetic. Also, used as febrifuge.

In South Africa, seeds used by infants to bite on during their teething period. Also,

used as remedy for cerebral hemorrhage.

Hair: Used extensively in the Philippines and other oriental countries for washing

the hair. Also, an ingredient of hair tonics. The bark is soaked in water until soft; the

fibers are then spread, the juice is then expressed by rubbing the fibers against

each other until it lathers, which is then used to cleanse the scalp. Seeds also used

as hair wash.

Poison: Used as a fish poison.

Wood: Bark is used as cordage. In Europe, used for tinder and for making match

boxes.

Plaything: Large pods and seeds used by children as playthings.

Illuminant: In the Sunda Islands, a fatty oil extracted from the seeds used as

illuminant.

Snuff: In Europe, seeds reportedly used for snuff.

Parts utilized

Bark, seeds and vines.

- Vines and seeds. The vines may be collected during any time of the year, rinse,

section into slices, steam, and sundry.

The seeds may be collected from January to April. Remove seed coat, roast in a

frying pan, sun-dry and pulverize.

Cultivation: Use seeds and layering for propagation.

Constituents

Saponin; fixed oil, 18%; traces of an alkaloid; sapogenin, oleanolic acid.

Study reported saponin to be abundant in the bark, less so in the wood, plentiful in

the seeds, and absent from the leaves.

Properties

Slightly bitter-acrid tasting, mildly cooling natured.

Antirheumatic, relieves gastrointestinal disorders, aids circulation.

Juice from the bark reportedly irritating to the eyes, causing conjunctivitis.

Scientific classification

Kingdom: Plantae

Division: Magnoliophyta

Class: Magnoliopsida

(unranked): Rosids

Order: Malvales
Family: Malvaceae

Genus: Abelmoschus

Species: A. esculentus