Would you like a cup of Sambong tea?
Sambong or Blumea balsamifera is one of 10 medicinal plants recommended by the Department of Health!
Communities all over the country have long used Sambong for a variety of ailments. The Agusan Manobo for example call it Gabon, and use tea from its leaves for cough and headaches (MLG Dapar 2020). It is also used to prevent kidney stones, as the tea helps flush uric acid, maintaining a healthy urinary tract (HIA Boy 2018).
Unfortunately spreading the love of Sambong and other medicinal plants is not easy. Learn some of the challenges people (and the plants they love) are facing at Philippine Wildlife Art.
Sources:
MLG Dapar, et al., 2020. Quantitative ethnopharmacological documentation and molecular confirmation of medicinal plants used by the Manobo tribe of Agusan del Sur, Philippines. https://ethnobiomed.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13002-020-00363-7
HIA Boy, et al., 2018. Recommended Medicinal Plants as Source of Natural Products: A Review. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2589377719300187
Printable art
Download and print this Sambong art at home for your kitchen, or for a friend or family member!
- Full color printable art: https://filipinofoodart.gumroad.com/l/sambong-Blumea-balsamifera-plant-and-tea-art
- Coloring page: https://filipinofoodart.gumroad.com/l/sambong-Blumea-balsamifera-plant-and-tea-coloring-page
More Filipino food that starts with S
- Saba /sa-ba/ Noun. Bisaya, Ilokano, Tagalog, others.
- Saging /sa-gi-ng/ Noun. Bisaya, Ilokano, Tagalog, others.
- Sitaw /si-taw/ Noun. Tagalog, others. Sitaw (Tagalog), Batong (Bisaya), Utong (Ilokano) is a vegetable known for it’s long and narrow pods.
- Sorbetes /sor-be-tes Noun. Bisaya, Ilokano, Tagalog, others.
- See more here!