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Cola Acuminata
''Cola acuminata'' is a species in the genus ''Cola'', of the family Malvaceae, native to tropical Africa. It is generally known for its fruit, the kola nut, originally used to impart the cola flavor in manufactured beverages, such as Coca-Cola. Description The kola tree mainly inhabits lowlands, and is medium-sized with low branches, grey or dark green bark, dark green leaves, and white flowers pollinated by insects. It usually grows to a height of about , is hardy to zones 10-12 (USDA), and is vulnerable to frost. The tree prefers moist, sandy, loam or clay soils that are well-drained with neutral acidity. It requires sun exposure and can tolerate drought. Fruits The fruits are rough, mottled and up to long and contain large, flat and bright red coloured seeds, commonly known as kola nuts. The seed contains 1.25 - 2.4% caffeine, and can be chewed or ground into a powder added to beverages to increase alertness, diminish fatigue, and increase stamina. These seeds are unique ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Heinrich Wilhelm Schott
Heinrich Wilhelm Schott (7 January 1794 – 5 March 1865) was an Austrian botanist. He is known for his extensive work on aroids ( Araceae). Biography Schott was born on 7 January 1794 in Brno, Moravia. He studied botany, agriculture and chemistry at the University of Vienna, where he was a pupil of Joseph Franz von Jacquin (1766–1839). He was a participant in the Austrian Brazil Expedition from 1817 to 1821. In 1828 he was appointed ''Hofgärtner'' (royal gardener) in Vienna, later serving as director of the Imperial Gardens at Schönbrunn Palace (1845). In 1852 he was in charge of transforming part of palace gardens in the fashion of an English garden. He also enriched the Viennese court gardens with his collections from Brazil. He was also interested in Alpine flora, and was responsible for development of the alpinum at Belvedere Palace in Vienna. In 2008, botanists P.C.Boyce & S.Y.Wong published '' Schottarum'', a genus of flowering plants from Borneo belonging to t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Catechin
Catechin is a flavan-3-ol, a type of secondary metabolite providing antioxidant roles in plants. It belongs to the subgroup of polyphenols called flavonoids. The name of the catechin chemical family derives from ''catechu'', which is the tannic juice or boiled extract of ''Mimosa catechu'' (''Acacia catechu'' L.f.). Chemistry Catechin possesses two benzene rings (called the A and B rings) and a dihydropyran heterocycle (the C ring) with a hydroxyl group on carbon 3. The A ring is similar to a resorcinol moiety while the B ring is similar to a catechol moiety. There are two chirality (chemistry), chiral centers on the molecule on carbons 2 and 3. Therefore, it has four diastereoisomers. Two of the isomers are in trans configuration, ''trans'' configuration and are called ''catechin'' and the other two are in cis configuration, ''cis'' configuration and are called ''epicatechin''. The most common catechin isomer is (+)-catechin. The other stereoisomer is (−)-catechin or ''en ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Flora Of West-Central Tropical Africa
Flora (: floras or florae) is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring ( indigenous) native plants. The corresponding term for animals is ''fauna'', and for fungi, it is '' funga''. Sometimes bacteria and fungi are also referred to as flora as in the terms ''gut flora'' or ''skin flora'' for purposes of specificity. Etymology The word "flora" comes from the Latin name of Flora, the goddess of plants, flowers, and fertility in Roman mythology. The technical term "flora" is then derived from a metonymy of this goddess at the end of the sixteenth century. It was first used in poetry to denote the natural vegetation of an area, but soon also assumed the meaning of a work cataloguing such vegetation. Moreover, "Flora" was used to refer to the flowers of an artificial garden in the seventeenth century. The distinction between vegetation (the general appearance of a community) and flora (the taxonomic composition of a community) wa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chewing Stick
A teeth-cleaning twig (in Hindi: ''datwoon'') is an oral hygiene tool made from a twig from a tree. It can help to prevent tooth decay and gum disease. History Chew sticks are twigs or roots of certain plants that are chewed until one end is frayed. This end can be used to brush against the teeth, while the other end can be used as a toothpick. The earliest chew sticks have been dated to Babylonia in 3500 BCE and an Egyptian tomb from 3000 BCE; they are mentioned in Chinese records dating from 1600 BCE In the Ayurvedas around 4th century BCE and in Tipitaka, in the Buddhist Canon around the 5th century BCE in India. The Indian way of using tooth wood for brushing is presented by the Chinese monk Yijing (635–713 CE) when he describes the rules for monks in his book: A wide variety of plants can be used as . In Africa, chew sticks are made from the tree ''Salvadora persica'', also known as the "toothbrush tree". In Islam, this tree is traditionally used to create a chew st ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ouagadougou
Ouagadougou or Wagadugu (, , , ) is the capital city of Burkina Faso, and the administrative, communications, cultural and economic centre of the nation. It is also the List of cities in Burkina Faso#Largest cities, country's largest city, with a population of 2,415,266 in 2019. The city's name is often shortened to ''Ouaga''. The inhabitants are called ''ouagalais''. The spelling of the name ''Ouagadougou'' is derived from the French orthography common in former French African colonies. Ouagadougou's primary industries are food processing and Textile industry, textiles. It is served by Thomas Sankara International Airport Ouagadougou, an international airport and is linked by rail to Abidjan in the Ivory Coast and, for freight only, to Kaya, Burkina Faso, Kaya. There are several highways linking the city to Niamey, Niger, south to Ghana, and southwest to Ivory Coast. Ouagadougou has one of West Africa's largest markets, which burned down in 2003 and has since reopened with be ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Louis Gustave Binger
Louis-Gustave Binger (; 14 October 1856 – 10 November 1936) was a French officer and explorer who claimed the Côte d'Ivoire for France. Binger was born at Strasbourg in the Bas-Rhin . In 1887 he traveled from Senegal up to the Niger River, arriving at Grand Bassam in 1889. During this expedition he discovered that the Mountains of Kong did not exist. He described this journey in his work ''Du Niger au golfe de Guinée par le pays de Kong et le Mossi'' (From the Niger to the Gulf of Guinea though the land of the Kong and the Mossi) (1891). In 1892 he returned to the Guinea Coast to superintend the forming of the boundaries between the British and French colonies. In 1893 Binger was appointed governor of the Côte d'Ivoire, where he remained until 1898. He returned to France that year, to an administrative post in Paris at the French Colonial Ministry. In 1899 the Royal Geographical Society awarded him their Founder's Medal for his exploratory work. Louis Gustave Binger die ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Köhler's Medicinal Plants
''Köhler's Medicinal Plants'' (or, ''Köhler's Medizinal-Pflanzen'') is a German herbal written principally by Hermann Adolph Köhler (1834–1879, physician and chemist), and edited after his death by Gustav Pabst. The work was first published in the late 19th century by Franz Eugen Köhler of Gera. Its complete title is . Publication history Originally, Köhler published the herbal in two volumes: the first in 1887, the second in 1890. Volume one is illustrated with 84 full-page, multi-colour plates, and volume two with 110. A third volume was added in 1898, entitled ''Neueste Medizinalpflanzen und Verwechslungen'', which is a supplement containing additions and corrections. Among the additions are 80 more colour plates. A fourth volume was announced by the publisher, but never released. All the colour plates in the herbal were produced through a process called ''chromolithography''. The botanical illustrators were Walther Otto Müller, Carl Friedrich Schmidt (artist), C. F. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Food Colorant
Food coloring, color additive or colorant is any dye, pigment, or substance that imparts color when it is added to food or beverages. Colorants can be supplied as liquids, powders, gels, or pastes. Food coloring is commonly used in commercial products and in domestic cooking. Food colorants are also used in various non-food applications, including cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, home craft projects, and medical devices. Some colorings may be natural, such as with carotenoids and anthocyanins extracted from plants or cochineal from insects, or may be synthesized, such as tartrazine yellow. In the manufacturing of foods, beverages and cosmetics, the safety of colorants is under constant scientific review and certification by national regulatory agencies, such as the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) and US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and by international reviewers, such as the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives. Purpose of food coloring People associate ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Traditional Medicine
Traditional medicine (also known as indigenous medicine or folk medicine) refers to the knowledge, skills, and practices rooted in the cultural beliefs of various societies, especially Indigenous groups, used for maintaining health and treating illness. In some Asia, Asian and Africa, African countries, up to 80% of people rely on traditional medicine for primary health care. Traditional medicine includes systems like Ayurveda, traditional Chinese medicine, and Unani medicine, Unani. The World Health Organization supports their integration, but warns of potential risks and calls for more research on their safety and effectiveness. The use of medicinal herbs spans over 5,000 years, beginning with ancient civilizations like the Sumer, Sumerians, Ancient Egypt, Egyptians, Indian people, Indians, and Chinese people, Chinese, evolving through Ancient Greece, Greek, Ancient Rome, Roman, Islam, Islamic, and Middle Ages, medieval European traditions, and continuing into Colonial histo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aftertaste
Aftertaste is the taste intensity of a food or beverage that is perceived immediately after that food or beverage is removed from the mouth. The aftertastes of different foods and beverages can vary by intensity and over time, but the unifying feature of aftertaste is that it is perceived ''after'' a food or beverage is either swallowed or spat out. The neurobiological mechanisms of taste (and aftertaste) signal transduction from the taste receptors in the mouth to the brain have not yet been fully understood. However, the primary taste processing area located in the insula has been observed to be involved in aftertaste perception. Temporal taste perception Characteristics of a food's aftertaste are quality, intensity, and duration. Quality describes the actual taste of a food and intensity conveys the magnitude of that taste. Duration describes how long a food's aftertaste sensation lasts. Foods that have lingering aftertastes typically have long sensation durations. Because t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Porridge
Porridge is a food made by heating, soaking or boiling ground, crushed or chopped starchy plants, typically grain, in milk or water. It is often cooked or served with added flavourings such as sugar, honey, fruit, or syrup to make a sweet cereal, or it can be mixed with spices, meat, or vegetables to make a Savoury (dish), savoury dish. It is usually served hot in a bowl, depending on its consistency. Oat porridge, (known as oatmeal in North America) is one of the most common types of porridge. Gruel is a thinner version of porridge and congee is a savoury variation of porridge of Asian cuisine, Asian origin. Type of grains The term "porridge" is used in British English (Britain, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand) specifically for oatmeal. This is a hot mixture of oatmeal or oats slowly cooked with water or milk. It is typically eaten for breakfast by itself or with other ingredients, including salt, sugar, fruit, milk, cream, or butter. Other grains used for porridge include ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Theobromine
Theobromine, also known as xantheose, is the principal alkaloid of ''Theobroma cacao'' (cacao plant). Theobromine is slightly water-soluble (330 mg/L) with a bitter taste. In industry, theobromine is used as an additive and precursor to some cosmetics. It is found in chocolate, as well as in a number of other foods, including tea (''Camellia sinensis''), some American hollies ( yaupon and guayusa) and the kola nut. It is a white or colourless solid, but commercial samples can appear yellowish. Theobromine, a metabolite of caffeine, is processed in the liver into xanthine and methyluric acid, peaks in the blood 2–3 hours after ingestion due to its fat solubility, and primarily acts by inhibiting adenosine receptors with minor phosphodiesterase inhibition. It is a mild heart stimulant and bronchodilator in humans with limited central nervous system effects. It can be toxic or fatal to animals like dogs and cats due to their slower metabolism of the compound. Structu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
