---------------------------------------------

Sunday, September 7, 2014

KEEP HEALTHY WITH OUR HOMEGROWN MEDICINE - PART 1

Dear reader, this month we will talk about Indonesian herbal medicine, or it's well known as Jamu.
This series will participate in writing competition organized by Biopharmaca Research Center (Biofarmaka IPB).
Hope this series will be useful and I will be lucky too.
Please leave your comments, I will love to read and also reply your comments as soon as possible.

MENGKOLEKSI TUMBUHAN YANG BERMANFAAT
COLLECTING BENEFICIAL PLANTS


Selamat datang di pekarangan rumah kami yang mungil. 
Memang bukan pekarangan yang luas, namun cukup untuk mengobati kerinduan saya pada suasana kampung halaman saya yang hijau di waktu dulu. Halaman depan saya isi dengan berbagai tanaman hias, terutama yang sudah mulai langka dan juga tanaman berkhasiat obat. 
Sedangkan halaman belakang lebih banyak ditanami tanaman sayur dan buah untuk memenuhi kebutuhan sehari-hari keluarga kami.

Welcome to my little home garden.
It's not a wide yard, but enough to treat my longing to my hometown atmosphere. 
My front yard is full of so many ornamental plants, especially those already scarce  and also medicinal plants.
While the back yard is planted more vegetables and fruits for our daily meals.


Saat orang melintasi halaman rumah kami, biasanya akan berkomentar bahwa halaman saya terlalu rimbun seperti hutan. 
Memang tanaman yang saya koleksi di halaman depan cukup banyak dan jarak tanamnya sangat rapat. 
Saya berusaha mengkoleksi semua tanaman yang menarik buat saya, dan menurut saya semua tanaman itu menarik. 
Saya mempunyai keyakinan,  bahwa semua ciptaan Tuhan itu pasti ada manfaatnya, hanya saja belum semuanya dieksplorasi.  
Dari situlah saya terpikir untuk mengkoleksi tumbuhan sebanyak mungkin di pekarangan saya, karena jika tidak dilestarikan, bukan hal yang mustahil bila suatu saat tumbuhan-tumbuhan tersebut musnah dari bumi kita. 
Setidaknya saya bisa bercerita pada anak cucu saya dan mengenalkan mereka pada kekayaan alam kita sebagai anugerah dari Tuhan.

When peoples cross our house, they usually comment that our front yard looks like a little jungle with a dense vegetation. 
Indeed, the plants that I've collected are quite a lot.
I try to collect all plant that's interesting for me, and I think every plant is interesting.
I'm sure that all of God's creature have benefit, but not all have already explored.
I though to collect plants as much as possible, because if it's not preserved, it's not impossible that one day these plants will disappear from our earth. 
At least I can introducing my next generation about our natural wealth as gift from God. 



Saya memang sangat menyukai berkebun dan mempelajari manfaat dari berbagai tumbuhan yang saya tanam. 
Semakin banyak saya mempelajarinya, saya semakin merasa banyak hal yang tidak saya ketahui. 
Hal ini mengharuskan saya banyak belajar dari buku-buku yang saya koleksi, jurnal ilmiah dan juga dari internet.

I love gardening and learning about the benefit of so many plants that I've grown.
More I learn, more I feel that there are a lot of things that I haven't know yet.
I must learn more from books that I've collected, scientific journals, and also from internet. 



Ketertarikan saya pada pemanfaatan tumbuhan untuk bahan obat, berawal dari tugas mata kuliah Manajemen Produksi saat saya masih kuliah di Institut Pertanian Bogor sekitar tujuh belas tahun yang lalu. 
Saat itu saya mendapat tugas untuk membuat pembahasan mengenai manajemen produksi untuk komoditas pertanian. 
Saya mencari berbagai bahan sebagai sumber referensi penulisan. 
Saya akhirnya tertarik pada produk Temulawak (Curcuma xantorhiza). 
Saat itu awal dari kebangkitan temulawak sebagai bahan obat tradisional yang mempunyai banyak manfaat. 
Saat itu promosi besar-besaran terhadap produk temulawak membuat bahan ini sulit dicari di pasaran. 
Padahal sebelumnya temulawak selalu tersedia di pasar dalam jumlah cukup. Semula temulawak hanya diserap oleh industri jamu baik itu pabrik maupun rumah tangga. 
Namun sejak dikenal sebagai tumbuhan multi manfaat, seperti mengobati tumor, hepatitis, antibiotik, pembersih darah, meningkatkan metabolisme tubuh, penambah nafsu makan, dan masih banyak lagi, bahan ini makin sulit dicari keberadaannya. 
Berbagai produk berbasis Temulawak sangat laris di pasaran, mulai dari rimpang segar, simplisia, serbuk, minuman instant, multivitamin, ataupun jamu gendong. 
Sejak saat itu saya semakin tertarik untuk mempelajari berbagai tumbuhan berkhasiat obat.

My interest in the use of plants for medicinal materials was started from the task of Production Management lesson when I was studying at Bogor Institute of Agriculture about seventeen years ago. 
Finally, I was interested in a special agricultural product 'Temulawak' or curcuma (Curcuma xanthorhiza). 
This was a rising product at the time, especially as an ingredient of traditional medicine wich has so many benefits. 
The large-scale promotion made these products were so difficult to be found in the market. Too much demand, but the supply was limited. 
Originally, curcuma product is only absorbed by both the herbal factories or home industries. However, since the plant was known as a very useful plant, such as treating tumors, hepatitis, antibiotics, blood purifier, increase metabolism, appetite enhancer and many more, these products were more difficult to find whereabouts. 
So many herbal products that based on Curcuma had high demands, ranging from fresh rhizome, crude herbal medicine, powder, instant drinks, multivitamins or traditional herbal drinks.
From that moment, I was more interested in learning about the various medicinal plants. 

Curcuma xanthorhiza

Mengkoleksi tumbuhan bermanfaat obat di pekarangan kita tidak hanya membuat lingkungan kita menjadi hijau, indah, sejuk dan segar, karena kaya akan oksigen, tetapi juga menyediakan bahan obat bagi keluarga kita.

Collecting medicinal plants on our home garden does not only make our environment become green, beautiful, cooler and fresh, because there are more oxygen, but also provides medicinal stuffs for our family.

17 comments:

  1. Assalam Endah..
    Indah sekali bahasanya seperti Endah si pemunya laman yang indah dan nyaman... tidak kisah walau halaman seperti hutan .. yang pasti kita puas bertanam... saya pengen sekali mau melihat rupa temulawak... di sini produk temulawak juga laris penggunaannya terutamanya sebagai krim pemutih muka

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Wa'alaikum salam Kak Mar,
      Terima kasih Kak, selamat datang kembali di sini. Kebetulan temulawak di kebun sudah tua waktunya dipanen, jadi tak ada wujud tanaman utuh, hanya rimpang/rizhomenya saja yang ada. Saya baru tahu kalau temulawak juga dipakai sebagai pemutih muka alami. Sounds so interesting, thank you for sharing.

      Delete
  2. Welcome Endah!
    I admire your passion.
    I am delighted with your small but full of vegetation garden.
    I am happy that I can bywać from you.
    Greetings from Polish.
    Lucia

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you, Lucia.
      Yes, there's always a creativity in every limitation that we find.
      Have a nice week.

      Delete
  3. Thank you for sharing this beautiful and interesting post. I admire your medicinal collecting plants. Your garden is such lovly place to visit.
    Best regards

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you, Monika. I hope I have a wide garden to collect more plants.
      Have a wonderful day.

      Delete
  4. You have a passion for collecting the beneficial plants which grow around us, and this is very obvious in your writing, Endah!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you, Jane. I'm sure we can explore all plant that we've found to know what benefit that they have.

      Delete
  5. I wholeheartedly agree with your approach to gardening - the joy of collecting, the sense that all the plants are useful in their own ways, and the lovely jungle that is the result. Your garden looks very welcoming indeed.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you so much for visiting and following this blog. Yes, gardening always make me happy, and feel more healthy.

      Delete
  6. Salam endah;
    i was understood turmeric is high in anti-oxidant and good for our blood circulation..

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Salam Ana,
      Yes, it's a miracle rizhome I think. A lot of benefits from a simple rhizome.

      Delete
  7. I share your interest in the health benefits of various plants! I liked what you said about our natural wealth of plants as a gift from God. I've been thinking about that lately, too--the responsibility of stewardship.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you so much. That's always on my mind. I think we should improve our awareness to save our biodiversity, to improve our live quality.

      Delete
  8. Usaha yang sangat bagus Bu Endah,, tak banyak yang peduli dengan tanaman jamu tradisional, salut untuk Bu Endah,, love you...:)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Terima kasih. Kalau bukan kita siaapa lagi, kalau bukan sekarang kapan lagi.... :)

      Delete