The Thorny Alderaisa Plant: A Neglected National Wealth
21 July, 2019
KHARTOUM (Sudanow) - The prickly plant alderaisa (tribulus terrestris) is a fearful grass for both man and animal in areas of its presence in rural Sudan.
Its sharp multitudinous thorns can pierce into the flesh and cannot be easily removed. In particular, children who like to wonder barefooted in the fields fear it most.
But modern scientific research and traditional medicine have come to conclusions that turn this wicked plant from a hazard into a health asset.
In fact researchers like Dr. Ehsan Mohamed Alhadi consider the alderaisa a national wealth that, if exploited with vision, can boost the drug industry and the national economy a good deal.
“The alderaisa grass can enter in the manufacturing of all medicines,” Dr. Ehsan, an specialist in medicinal and aromatic plants, told Sudanow in an interview. “If grown in a systematic way and in commercial quantities, the alderaisa can help the drug industry and the economy of Sudan very much,” she said.
Dr. Ehsan said the locals have managed to turn this malicious thorny plant from a doom into a boon after they have discovered its effectiveness with some diseases, in particular in the removal of the painful kidney and bladder stones, incidences of which are on the increase in the Sudan. In this the locals collect the alderaisa thorns, grind them and put them in a closed pot for time of need. Then they take the powder thus obtained with boiled water in the morning for three days.
In the village of Kataranj in Eastern Khartoum the locals commonly use the alderaisa thorns for the removal of renal tract stones. As a result, the alderaisa thorn powder has become part of the kitchen supplies in each home in the village.
Trial has convinced the locals of the effectiveness of this powder in these infections. They accordingly take the powder as prescribed and after the elapse of three days they check with ultrasounds to find that the stones have gone, confirms Dr. Ehsan.
She said a patient with kidney stones was about to undergo a surgery to remove the stones but when he regularly took the alderaisa powder for three days, an ultrasound showed that there were no stones any more in his kidney.
In addition, taking boiled alderaisa thorns stops severe diarrhea. It has also proved successful in the treatment of stomach ulcer. Used as a coating on rotting wounds it scored tangible success.
The alderaisa also enters in the treatment of fistulas, eczema and other skin diseases in general.
The alderaisa is also good for sexual health in both humans and animals. Herders have noticed that animal reproduction increases in areas where alderaisa plants are in abundance. This has prompted fishery and poultry owners to use it as a natural fertilizer in their farms.
Citizens of Darfur region feed race horses with a blend of the deraisa grass and other animal fodder because they have noticed that the more deraisa the horses consume the stronger and faster they become.
Sudan has a lot of experiments in the processing of natural fertilizers. The deraisa is a basic element in such processes, because this plant is available in abundance in the country and can easily be grown in all types of soil and under all climatic conditions. For the Sudan to produce this plant in commercial quantities, it should adopt a systematic approach that helps this product find markets and compete with other products. This can be done in bio-farms that meet the industrialized countries standards and specifications, advises Dr. Ehsan.
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Ahmed Jamal
22 July, 2019Dr. Ehsan is my mom and I'm so proud of her . . I cant believe how I'm lucky to have a great mom like that