Grapefruits: The Mobile Blood Bank
31 December, 2017
Khartoum (Sudanow) - A young mother of fifteen in Nahr el-Neel State and during her first pregnancy fell prey to an acute anemia for which she tried all ion rich foods but to no avail.
She lost appetite for food and could not tolerate even the smell of food. A blood transfusion could not work because her frail body used to discharge the blood. Her kin lost hope in her recovery until when a philanthropist who used to distribute oranges, grapefruits and bananas to the patients every Thursday came into the ward carrying a bag of these fruits. Getting the smell of grapefruits, the lady pulled the bag from the man and started to wildly devour the grapefruits.
“The nice smell of the grapes had restored my appetite,” she told those around. She kept eating the grape flesh and smelling the fruit skin until when she consumed all the grapes in the bag. Everybody was happy and more grapes were brought to her from the market. Three days later her health improved, the level of blood rising gradually in her body until she delivered her newborn without any problems.
Grapefruits are also known with the names lemon al-jannah (paradise lemon) and the Indian lemon. It is a citric fruit that flourishes in the Mediterranean region and in cold and temperate zones with sandy soils. It has originated in the Caribbean Islands and the West Indies.
Horticulture Expert Ms. Entisar Ja’afar said grapefruits were cross bred to cope with Sudan’s hot weather. Seeds of Citrus aurantium (bitter orange) are grown and then grafted with Mediterranean grapefruit stalks and the resulted product is the Sudanese variety of grapefruit. When the grapefruit tree thus obtained bears fruit, its seeds are sown in the ground to get more trees. This grafted species of grapefruit is an exclusive property of the Sudan.
Grapefruits are grown in Sudan’s Northern State, Nahr el-Neel, the Blue Nile, West Darfur, Southern Kordofan and Kasala states.
Grapefruits are of two varieties: Foster pink grapefruit and redblush grapefruit. The first contains a quantity of seeds and the latter is seed-free or with less seeds.
Nutrition Specialist Ms. Nazik Fadl says grapefruit has high nutritional and healing properties due to the lot of nutrition substances it contains. It contains a high rate of vitamin c that boosts immunity and helps protect the body from a host of diseases. It also guards against arteriosclerosis and contains antioxidants that protect from cancer. It contains citric acid as well as a big quantity of natural sugars that help in the treatment of constipation and in iron deficiency in the blood and acute anemia. It is also an effective cure for colds, influenza and inflammation of the respiratory system, throat and the trachea, stomach pain and acidity, thanks to the digestive alkalis it contains that moderate the acidity.
It also contains an enzyme that burns fats, reduce starches and sugar, thus helps in weight loss. It also helps with gum diseases and mouth cancer that cause the formation of bacteria which harms the heart. It also helps in the treatment of malaria and all sorts of fever and its continuous consumption softens the body and is advised during pregnancy.
Scientists advise for a grapefruit to be taken whole, not partially. They say if you leave out half the fruit, you may miss the part that contains pectin, known to reduce cholesterol in the blood. They also recommend medium-size grapefruit with red pulps to be taken with the prescribed drugs. A study has revealed that taking the fruit without pressing it upgrades the value of the prescribed medicine in some cases. It was found to uplift the medicine doze’s healing capacity five folds.
Sudan exports grapefruits to the Gulf region and to a lesser degree to Syria.
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