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Friday, October 3, 2008

The Inca Berry

So one of my new favorite treats is the so called Inca berry which I love to eat mixed with some cacao nibs. When sundried it has a taste like a tart raisin.

Now the damn berry shouldn't be called an Inca berry. In fact I don't call it that. That's the current marketing scheme. It is most popularly known as a 'Cape Gooseberry' because it was introduced to the Cape of Good Hope in Africa and then brought to Australia. Yet it is originally from South America. And yes the Incas did rock it yet that's like calling water melon 'Black melon' because Blacks eat it. Why don't we just call it what the Incas or Aztecs called it? Ain't that simple?

In the indigenous Peruvian/Incan language of Quechua it is called Aguaymanto. In the indigenous Aztec/Mexica language of Nahuatl it is called Capuli. So let's continue to take things back to the root. Yet damn..its good AND good for you.


Scientific studies of the cape gooseberry show its constituents, possibly polyphenols and/or carotenoids, demonstrate anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties.[1][2][3]

In folk medicine, Physalis peruviana has been used as a medicinal herb for cancer, malaria, asthma, hepatitis, dermatitis and rheumatism.[citation needed] None of these diseases, however, is confirmed in scientific studies as treatable by the cape gooseberry.(i have to say fcuk western science on this...ask the damn people...western science can't even call the damn berry by its right name)

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the post. Especially the Incan name. I like to know what folks who traditionally have grown a plant call it. I've been growing it - indoors over the winter, having gotten it last year from a seed savers exchange. It started late, I had to move it indoors d/t the cold. Now that it's warming up around here, I've been putting it outside, in the hopes to get enough seed to share with friends. And enough fruit to eat, for that matter. I didn't realize what a wonderful fruit it was, just decided to try growing it on a whim.