Justicia carnea
Also called Jacobinia carnea or the paradise plant is a flowering seed plant (angiosperm) of Acanthaceae family. The plant is reportedly a blood booster thus also called Blood leaf or hospital too far. It been used ethnomedicinally in treatment of many infections such as sickle cell, anemia, inflammation, etc. the most important role of the plant to me is the ability to restore hemoglobin levels to normalcy in short period of time. Researchers found it more effective than normal blood tonics.
Justicia carnea leaves analysis recorded iron (8.61mg/kg) as the major elemental content followed by potassium (5.29±0.11mg/kg). vitamin C showed the highest value (232.32±12.26 mg/100g) followed by Vitamin A (22.16±2.12 mg/kg).
The leaf of Justicia carnea can be prepared with edible vegetables to make soup. It is boiled separately in water to make tea or prepared by cooking with other medicinal plants for therapeutic purposes. Raw leaves can be chewed while some use it together with Ocimum gratissimum to garnish yam porridge.
The preparation of the concoction is very simply for quick remedy. First get the leaves about ten to fifteen leaves of the plant, washed thoroughly with tap water then soaked in a glass of boiled water and close or cover for 15 minutes. The water will turn crimson red to publish red depending on the concentration. The results from various researchers revealed high levels of metabolites essential for blood health and significant presence of hemoglobin in Justicia carnea extracts with little or no side effects on organ performance.
Besides hemoglobin, it important to note that the high levels of elements such as potassium, magnesium and calcium suggests an abundant source of these mineral elements from the plant that could be highly beneficial for populations with limited access to dietary supplements.
References
Akintimehin, E. S., Karigidi, K. O., Omogunwa, T. S., & Adetuyi, F. O. (2021). Safety assessment of oral administration of ethanol extract of Justicia carnea leaf in healthy wistar rats: hematology, antioxidative and histology studies. Clinical Phytoscience, 7(1).
Andrew, A. C., Nwaoguikpe, R. N., Ujowundu, C. O., Ujowundu, F. N., Andrew, A. C., Nwaoguikpe, R. N., Ujowundu, C. O., & Ujowundu, F. N. (2024). Biochemical analysis of Justicia carnea leaves used as a hematinic. GSC Biological and Pharmaceutical Sciences, 26(2), 105–114.
Wood, J., Yasmin-Karim, S., Moreau, M., Kumar, R., Akwanwi, J., Derek, A., Atoneche, F., Kress, J., & Ngwa, W. (2020). Characterization of Isolated Extracts from Justicia Plant Leaves used as Remedy for Anemia. Molecules, 25(3), 534.
Well done. Thanks