3 Benefits of Porang Plant and How to Cultivate It, Can Lower Cholesterol, You Know!
Although it still sounds unfamiliar, the porang plant has many health benefits.
The cultivation of porang plants is also fairly easy because this one plant is very suitable to be planted on open land.
Then, what are the benefits, and how do grow porang plants? Come on, read the following explanation thoroughly.
Porang Plant
Porang plant or in its Latin name Amorphophallus muelleri is an herbal plant that can grow up to a height of 1.5 meters.
The plant is a tuber producer that grows a lot in tropical forests.
Physically, the plant grows with a white-green striped patterned stem or a single stalk.
This plant can only grow under support trees.
The popularity of this plant has recently increased, so the price of porang is increasing from year to year, allowing many farmers to reap greater profits.
This is due to the increasing market demand.
Porang does have many good benefits for body health and is easy to process to be used as food and industrial ingredients such as raw materials for making flour and cosmetics.
Benefits of Porang Plant
Quoting from various sources, porang has a myriad of benefits for the body that is available because of its content in it.
So, what are the ingredients contained in it?
Check out the following benefits of the porang plant for health:
1. Suitable for Diet and Rich in Fiber
The first benefit of the porang plant is can be used as an alternative flour ingredient because it is rich in glucomannan. When processed into food, this glucomannan can be used as a natural thickener.
For this reason, this content is very important in the food industry because its natural fiber can be used as a substitute for gelatin, slowing down stomach emptying, and accelerating satiety.
According to a study in Obesity, A Research Journal, glucomannan content can lose weight because it works by reducing the intake of calories that enter the body.
2. Control Sugar Blood in the Body
The next benefit of the porang plant is it can control sugar blood in your body. Glucomannan content can also help control blood sugar levels.
Quoted from research in the journal Diabetes Research and Clinical Practice, that glucomannan can control blood sugar levels in diabetics.
Glucomannan works by suppressing the production of the hormone ghrelin which is a hunger-inducing hormone.
In effect, the appetite is more controlled, so the absorption of carbohydrates slows down and makes blood sugar not jump drastically.
Research in The Care Journal also showed that giving porang tubers to people with type 2 Diabetes Mellitus influenced the decline in their glucose levels and fat profiles.
3. Lowers Body Cholesterol
In a study in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, it was also mentioned that the benefit of the porang plant is able to help lower cholesterol.
The glucomannan content is proven to reduce the amount of total cholesterol, triglycerides, and LDL. HDL (good cholesterol) is not affected by the content of this one.
In addition, glucomannan increases the amount of cholesterol content that will later be excreted through feces, thus making the amount of cholesterol contained in the bloodless.
Although it has many benefits, according to The Journal Sirinov the content of oxalic acid and CaOX (calcium oxalate) crystals in this tuber has the potential to cause bitterness and itching.
For this reason, consuming porang should not be excessive and must be processed correctly.
That’s information about the benefits of the porang plant for your health! Hope this is helpful!