The supropo is a vegetable that originally comes from South East Asia and that you can mainly find at grocery stores and tropical markets. There are two types of sopropo, the light green and the dark green. In English-speaking countries it is called bitter melon, Germany Bittermelone, but in the Netherlands we say sopropo, another name is Karela. The vegetable sopropo doesn’t even remotely resemble a melon, more like a pockmarked zucchini. NB! This article is written from the personal view of the author and may contain information that is not scientifically substantiated and/or in line with the general view.
Contents:
- Bitter vegetable
- Kitchen vegetable or medicine
- Nutritional value sopropo
- Good for diabetics
- Even more healing power
- Eating tips sopropo
Bitter vegetable
Sopropo is a fairly unknown vegetable that can only be bought at small specialty stores or shops with tropical products. It tastes bitter and is believed to have many health-promoting properties. Bitterness in vegetables and herbs usually means that they are very healthy. Think of absinthe, grapefruit and chicory, which are all bitter and work against the malaria parasite, as does the bitter quinine-based anti-malarial drug lariam. The bitter melon is used in Asian countries to kill malaria parasites. Tea is also drunk from the leaves of sopropo for that purpose.
Kitchen vegetable or medicine
When this vegetable is used for culinary purposes, it is sometimes just a little too bitter. In India, to remove the bitterness, the vegetable is placed in salt water. It is considered a vegetable that promotes digestion. The bitterness is abstracted for medical reasons by cutting the vegetable open and placing it in oil or honey to make a digestive medicine.
Nutritional value sopropo
The supropo is an ultra-healthy vegetable that is bursting with minerals and vitamins. It is an excellent source of vitamin B1, B2, B3, B11 and vitamin C. It contains the minerals magnesium, phosphorus, iron, manganese and zinc. This makes it a very good source of all kinds of phytonutrients, which are also contained in high levels. For example, the sopro legume contains twice as much beta-carotene as broccoli, twice as much calcium as spinach and twice as much potassium as a banana.
Good for diabetics
The bitter melon contains two phytonutrients that have the same effect in the body as insulin; regulating blood sugar levels. These are charantin and polypeptide P. This makes the vegetable a solution for type 2 diabetes patients. Supropo improves glucose tolerance and significantly reduces blood sugar levels.
Even more healing power
Some medicinal effects come from substances contained in the seeds. You don’t have to throw these away when you fry the vegetables; you can just eat them and they will become very soft. The vegetable sopropo has been extensively researched for its medical applications. It works well to fight viruses. In laboratory settings, some phytonutrients have proven to be effective against cancer cells. Some substances are said to trigger cancer cells to spontaneously end their life cycle, which is called apoptosis. In Togo, the vegetable is used as a medicine for digestive problems.
Eating tips sopropo
People sometimes eat this vegetable raw for medicinal purposes, but then you have to be able to tolerate the bitterness. Sopropo tastes best when you bake it. It cooks quickly. You can combine it with an onion, garlic and hot peppers. It is very bitter so you can use a maximum of half per person. A sopropo that has already been cut does not keep for a long time; you must then eat the other half immediately the next day.
read more
- Almonds, a healthy delicacy
- Chayote, Aztec food now for sale in the Netherlands
- The nettle as a vegetable
- The healing power of cauliflower