How walnuts may prevent breast cancer, super bugs, 'mental' decline in elderly
Walnuts are known for their healthful benefit to the heart, but recent studies indicate that the local delicacy could beat breast cancer, drug resistant microorganisms and mental decline in the elderly.
CHUKWUMA MUANYA reports.
RECENT studies suggest that eating walnuts may help to reduce the risk of developing breast cancer, improve cognitive skills in the elderly, and beat drug resistant microorganisms.
Previous studies had shown that African walnut prevents heart disease. They suggested eating walnuts at the end of a meal might help cut the damage that fatty food can do to the arteries.
It is thought that the nuts are rich in compounds that reduce hardening of the arteries, and keep them flexible. Phytochemical analysis indicates that African walnuts contain ingredients such as omega-3 fatty acids, antioxidants and phytosterols that may all reduce the risk of the disease.
Most of the studies on the plant have been on the nutritive value of the seeds, which is a snack and delicacy. Two isolectins, Agglutin I and II were characterised from the seed extract. The presence of oxalates, phytates and tannins as well as proteins, fibre, oil and carbohydrates in African walnut has been reported.
The African walnut is botanically known as Tetracarpidium conophorum and belongs to the plant family Euphorbiaceae. In southern Nigerian ethnomedicine, it is used as a male fertility agent and the leaves are used for the treatment of dysentery and to improve fertility in males. It is known as ukpa (Igbo) and awusa or asala (Yoruba). African walnut is known in the littoral and the western Cameroon as kaso or ngak.
According to a study presented recently at the United States American Association for Cancer Research yearly meeting, mice fed the human equivalent of two ounces (56.7g) of walnuts per day developed fewer and smaller tumours.
Researcher, Dr Elaine Hardman, of Marshall University School of Medicine, said although the study was carried out in mice, the beneficial effect of walnuts was likely to apply to humans too.
She said: "We know that a healthy diet overall prevents all manner of chronic diseases. It is clear that walnuts contribute to a healthy diet that can reduce breast cancer."
In the latest study, mice were either fed a standard diet, or the walnut-based diet. The animals fed walnuts developed fewer tumours, and those that did arise took longer to develop and were smaller. Molecular analysis showed that omega-3 fatty acids played a key role, but other parts of the walnut contributed as well.
Nigerian researchers have examined the antimicrobial potential of extracts and fractions of the African walnut.
E. O. Ajaiyeoba and D. A. Fadare of the Department of Pharmacognosy, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, found that African walnut has a high potential as an antimicrobial medicinal plant.
The researchers in the study published in African Journal of Biotechnology wrote: "This is therefore improving the value of the plant. It is reported to be useful in the folklore in the treatment of dysentery. This investigation therefore justifies its ethnomedical use, having displayed activities with the human pathogenic microorganisms that were used in this study.
"The need for development of newer antimicrobial chemotherapeutic agents is imperative. This is because there is increasing treatment failure rates of microbial infections due to drug-resistant antibiotics. The most active fraction in the present study, the ethyl acetate fraction of the leaf methanol extract, has a very high potential as a source for drug discovery for antimicrobial agents. This is being investigated by our group and the results will be presented in due course."
In the University of Ibadan study, clinical strains of four human pathogenic bacteria made up of two Gram-positive (Staphyloccocus aureus and Bacillus subtilis) and two Gram-negative bacteria (Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Escherichia coli) were used for the antibacterial assay, while for the antifungal assay, one yeast (Candida albicans) and one mold (Aspergillus flavus) were used for the studies. The microorganisms were obtained from the laboratory stock of the Department of Pharmaceutical Microbiology, University of Ibadan.
Preliminary phytochemical screening of the plant parts for secondary metabolites, showed the presence of saponins, alkaloids, tannins and anthraquinones in the plant samples. The concentration of these metabolites were higher in the leaves. Cardiac glycosides were not detected in leaf, stem bark, roots and kernel of African walnut. Percentage yields of extracts were determined after removal of solvents respectively.
The extracts displayed concentration-dependent antibacterial and antifungal properties. The root extract displayed intrinsic antibacterial properties. Of the six microorganisms used, S. aureus was most sensitive to the root and stem bark extracts. Both extracts did not show any antifungal property in the present study. The leaf extract exhibited the highest activities with all the microorganisms investigated. The leaf extract also showed antifungal properties, inhibiting the growth of the A. niger, a normally resistant mold, much more than the reference drug, tioconazole. The kernel did not show any activity with the micro-organisms used in this study.
The hexane, chloroform, ethyl acetate and methanol fractions of the leaf extracts displayed good antimicrobial activities, which were concentration-dependent at the five
concentrations (100-5 mg/ml) tested. The most sensitive bacteria to the four fractions were P. aeruginosa. The ethyl acetate fraction was the most active extract, while the hexane fraction showed least activity. The fractions also inhibited the growth of the two fungi used in the study.
The yeast, C. albicans and the mold, A. niger, were inhibited even at a concentration of 10 mg/ml, comparable to tioconazole. In the antimicrobial analyses, gentamycin was included as reference antibacterial compound, tioconazole as the reference for antifungal. Methanol was included in the experiments as a negative control and it did not display any antimicrobial activity.
An animal model study by the United States Agricultural Research Service (ARS) suggests that adding a moderate, but not high, amount of walnuts to an otherwise healthy diet may help older individuals improve performance on tasks that require motor and behavioural skills.
The study was conducted by researchers with the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Centre on Ageing (HNRCA) at Tufts University in Boston, Mass., United States.
Neuroscientist James Joseph, psychologist Barbara Shukitt-Hale and co-authors Lauren Willis and Vivian Cheng reported the study in the British Journal of Nutrition. They are with the HNRCA's Neuroscience Laboratory. ARS is the principal intramural scientific research agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
The ageing brain undergoes many changes that can result in altered or impaired neuronal functioning. Such disruption can be attributed in part to alterations in "synaptic plasticity," or the ability of the connections between neurons to change in strength and function, and also by increased oxidative damage to neural tissue. In aged rodents, these impairments are seen as poor performance on age-sensitive tests of balance, coordination, and "spatial" working memory.
For the study, weight-matched, aged rats were randomly assigned to one of four diet groups. For eight weeks, the rats were fed special chow mixes that contained either two per cent, six per cent or nine per cent walnuts-or no walnuts-before undergoing motor and memory tests. For comparison, the six per cent walnut study diet is equivalent to a human eating one ounce, or about seven to nine walnuts, a day. That counts as both a two-ounce equivalent from the "meat and beans group" and two teaspoons toward a daily allowance of dietary oil, as described at MyPyramid.gov.
The study found that in aged rats, the diets containing two per cent or six per cent walnuts were able to improve age-related motor and cognitive shortfalls, while the nine percent walnut diet impaired reference memory. Walnuts, eaten in moderation, appear to be among other foods containing polyphenols and bioactive substances that exhibit multiple effects on neural tissue, according to the researchers.
A clinical study shows that substituting walnuts for monounsaturated fat in a Mediterranean diet improves, and even restores, endothelial function (the property of arteries to dilate in order to meet an increased demand of blood, for instance due to a physical effort). Walnuts also reduce harmful cell adhesion molecules, which are associated with atherosclerosis, commonly known as hardening of the arteries. These dual effects enhance the circulatory system, therefore aiding in the prevention of heart disease.
The study concludes that the results provide further support for the inclusion of walnuts in healthy diets. "This is the first time a whole food, not its isolated components, has shown this beneficial effect on vascular health," according to Emilio Ros, M.D., the Hospital Clinic of Barcelona, researcher who directed the study at the setting of the Institute of Biomedical Research August Pi i Sunyer (IDIBAPS).
Anna Denny, a nutrition scientist at the British Nutrition Foundation, said evidence for nuts reducing the risk of heart disease was currently stronger than it was for their anti-cancer properties.
She said: "Although nuts are high in fat (and thus calories), the fatty acids in nuts are predominantly 'good' unsaturated fatty acids. Other additional components of nuts that may contribute to a reduction in heart disease and cancer risk include fibre and 'bioactive' compounds. Among the many bioactive compounds found in nuts are phytosterols and flavonoids.
"More research is needed before it will be possible to attribute specific health benefits of nuts to specific bioactive compounds because nuts contain a complex mixture of different bioactive compounds."
Josephine Querido, of the charity Cancer Research United Kingdom said there was insufficient evidence to show that eating walnuts could prevent breast cancer in humans.
She said: "We know that a healthy balanced diet - rich in fruit and vegetables, plays an important part in reducing the risk of many types of cancer.
"The strongest risk factor for breast cancer is age - 80 per cent of breast cancers occur in women over the age of 50, so attending screening is important. Making lifestyle changes, such as keeping a healthy body weight, limiting alcohol intake and taking regular exercise, can also help reduce breast cancer risk."
However, researchers are trying to explain how plants protect humans from diseases. They say everyday foods, beverages, and spices contain healthful compounds that help us fight harmful inflammation. And, in doing that, these phytochemicals - the resveratrol in red wine or the catechins in green, white and black teas, for instance, may also reduce our risk of diseases associated with chronic inflammation, including cancer and diabetes.
At the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) Western Human Nutrition Research Centre in Davis, California, United States, research molecular biologist, Daniel H. Hwang conducts studies to solve the complex puzzle of precisely how phytochemicals fight inflammation.
His investigations with cells cultured in his laboratory have uncovered probable modes of action used by phytochemicals from red wine, green tea, garlic, curcumin and cinnamon.
Hwang's team has found, for example, that phytochemicals can interfere with the normal flow of certain chemical signals or messages sent to and from cells involved in chronic inflammation. The messages these cells send are in the form of proteins. In particular, his group is closely examining proteins known as TLRs (short for "Toll-Like Receptors") and NODs (an abbreviation for the tongue-twisting "nucleotide binding oligomerization domain containing proteins").
Their experiments show that certain phytochemicals can interfere with messages that, if unimpeded, could travel from TLRs and NODs, reaching and activating genes that can trigger an inflammatory response.
The studies suggest that different phytochemicals have different ways of interfering with these messages. For example, curcumin can undermine certain TLRs when a specific part of curcumin's chemical structure reacts with what are known as "sulfhydryl groups" in TLRs.
But resveratrol, found in red grapes, has a different set of targets. Hwang's experiments suggest that resveratrol interferes with molecules called "TBK1" and "RIP1." If unimpeded, these molecules would help convey signals to and from TLRs.
Ros notes, "Compared with the Mediterranean diet, the walnut diet increased endothelium-dependent vasodilation by 64 per cent and reduced levels of vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 by 20 per cent. In addition, as in previous studies, the walnut diet decreased total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol."
Ros cites the powerful nutrient profile of walnuts as providing this capacity to improve vascular elasticity. Specifically, he notes that, "Walnuts differ from all other nuts because of their high content of alpha-linolenic acid (ALA), a plant-based omega-3 fatty acid, which may provide additional anti-atherogenic properties." He also references the amino acid L-arginine, and the gamma-tocopherol form of vitamin-E, both of which walnuts are rich in, as effective in preventing harmful vascular blockage.
"To put it simply, a healthy artery is like an elastic rubber pipe that allows changes in flow, while an artery with impaired endothelial function is like a rigid lead pipe that has a constant flow. The walnut diet in this study actually restored the elasticity of the artery, allowing increased blood flow on demand," explains Ros.
"Anyone who has risk factors for heart disease, such as smoking, high blood cholesterol, diabetes, hypertension or obesity, is in a situation where the arteries do not dilate properly when they need to. That's what is called endothelial dysfunction. The patients in our study had high blood cholesterol, a known cause of endothelial dysfunction, and this abnormality was corrected by the walnut diet. The encouraging results of this study provide physicians and patients with a powerful, yet simple, nutritional tool in their fight against heart disease," he says.
Conducted by the Lipid Clinic at the Hospital Clinic of Barcelona, the study is entitled, "A walnut diet improves endothelial function in hypercholesterolemic subjects: A randomised crossover trial." 21 men and women (ages 25-75) with high cholesterol followed a cholesterol-lowering Mediterranean diet, and a diet of similar energy and fat content in which approximately 1.4-2.3 ounces of walnuts daily (equivalent to 40-65 grams or 8-13 walnuts), based on subjects' total caloric intake, replaced roughly 32 per cent of the energy from monounsaturated fat. Participants followed each diet for four weeks.
University of Barcelona is one of the two most productive scientific institutions in Spain, according to statistics recently published by the European Union. With regard to scientific output, the Hospital Clinic of Barcelona is among the top 10 leading hospitals in the European Union and is first place among hospitals in Spain.

How lithium in water curbs suicide
DRINKING water, which contains the element, lithium, may reduce the risk of suicide, a Japanese study suggests. Researchers examined levels of lithium in drinking water and suicide rates in the prefecture of Oita, which has a population of more than one million.
The suicide rate was significantly lower in those areas with the highest levels of the element, they wrote in the British Journal of Psychiatry.
High doses of lithium are already used to treat serious mood disorders. But the team from the universities of Oita and Hiroshima found that even relatively low levels appeared to have a positive impact of suicide rates.
Levels ranged from 0.7 to 59 micrograms per litre. The researchers speculated that while these levels were low, there may be a cumulative protective effect on the brain from years of drinking this tap water.
At least one previous study has suggested an association between lithium in tap water and suicide. That research on data collected from the 1980s also found a significantly lower rate of suicide in areas with relatively high lithium levels.
The Japanese researchers called for further research in other countries but they stopped short of any suggestion that lithium be added to drinking water.
The discussion around adding fluoride to water to protect dental health has proved controversial - criticised by some as mass involuntary medication.

Agel Nutriceuticals presents nutrients in suspension technology
By Joseph Okoghenun
CONCERNED for the growing number of people throughout the world, including Nigerians that do not get the body needed nutrients from various foods and drugs, Agel Nutriceutical Nigeria Limited, a multi-level network marketing organisation, on Monday introduced its various food supplement products to the Nigerian market through its novel Suspension Gel Technology.
Suspension Gel Technology is a process of suspending such vital nutrients as vitamins, minerals and ant-oxidants in a gel format so that these nutrients are absorbed completely once the supplement touches the mouth. A single dose of the gel contains accurately the measured level of nutrients needed by the body to thrive healthily. The nutrients come from natural fruits that are naturally made for different functions and benefits of the body. There are gels for weight loss, to supplement vitamins and minerals, to provide daily boosts of energy, to help maintain healthy body joints, to aid in the promotion of the right level of blood, to slow down the aging process through effective fight of free radicals and to protect the heart against the destructive effects of bad cholesterol.
The President of Agel Nutriceuticals worldwide, Mr. Craig Bradley, who was in Lagos for the presentation, noted that in spite of the benefits of the products to the body system, they are not meant to cure diseases but to supplement food for the body. He also said while the network marketing company presents people globally including Nigerians the opportunity to be successful, the organisation has not failed to give back to the society through its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).
Bradley, with over 20 years experience in network marketing, said: "Our products are not meant to cure any particular disease, but to provide the body with proper nutrients. If the body has the proper nutrients, the body can cure disease itself. Our products help the body to work properly and efficiently.
" Through our Agel Foundation, we have given back to humanity. In Nigeria, we have donated some eyes equipment to an eye institute; we have donated 30,000 textbooks to schools in Nigeria. And we have projects in India, Mexico, and Philippines in our area of social responsibility."
The General Manager of Agel Nuriceutical Nigeria, Mr. Franklin Kalu argued that the organisation as multi-level network marketing company is quite distinct from every other network marketing organisation in Nigeria. He said the company through its innovative idea in the area of Suspension Gel Technology is introducing paradigm shift to global network marketing, which may take many years to surpass by any other organisation. He noted that what is wrong with network marketing in Nigeria is the wrong attitude of the major operators. He called on Nigerians to embrace the opportunities being offered by Agel Nutriceuticals for health and financial success through its " network marketing done rightly."
Kalu said: " Our company is quite different from other network marketing companies in Nigeria. Most network marketing companies that come to Nigeria were already matured. At this maturity stage, what they are looking for are sales people. Most of the companies did not come to Nigeria because they want to, but because of circumstances. Most of them first open offices in South Africa and Ghana. But when Nigerians started smuggling their products into the country, these companies were forced to come to Nigeria.
"What our company is bringing to the Nigerian market is something new, unique and paradigm shift in the way supplements are taken. Agel products make sense, works and the competitive plan is revolutionary."
Agel Nuriceuticals Limited started operations in 2005 as a multi-level marketing network in the United States of America. It came to Nigeria in 2007. With presence in 52 countries of the world, Agel has in its fold such products as Ex-O,OHM,FLX,MN among others. Its recent Suspension Technology has received patent right from the U.S. government for the next 17 years.

Research queries zinc pill for diarrhoea
THE widespread practice of using zinc and copper supplements to treat diarrhoea may not be effective, a research by an Indian team suggests.
A team from Lata Medical Research Foundation assessed the effects of the supplements on 808 children in Nagpur. The BMC Medicine study found they were no more effective at reducing symptoms than a dummy pill.
However, a World Health Organisation (WHO) expert said many clinical trials over 20 years had supported zinc use. Diarrhoea is a major killer worldwide, responsible for around four per cent of all deaths.
Zinc is thought to help keep both the intestine and immune system in healthy shape and to aid the absorption of key nutrients and water into the bloodstream.
But zinc deficiency is highly prevalent in children in developing countries and previous research has found that zinc supplements given during diarrhoea reduce its duration and severity.
There is also some evidence that combining zinc and copper supplementation has an even more pronounced effect, although the role of copper is unclear. The latest study failed to replicate these findings.
Lead researcher, Dr. Archana Patel, said: "The expected beneficial effects of zinc supplementation for acute diarrhoea were not observed.
"Therapeutic zinc or zinc and copper supplementation may not have a universal beneficial impact on the duration of acute diarrhoea in children."
The researchers found supplements had little effect on how long diarrhoea lasted, how much diarrhoea the children produced, or how much need they had of oral rehydration salts or intravenous fluids.
The researchers said it was possible that there was something unusual about the children in the study. The baseline levels of zinc in their bodies may have been unusual, or there may have been something odd about the type of diarrhoea with which they were struggling.
However, the researchers called for a re-examination of all available trial data to try to pin down definitively how much use supplementation may be.
He also said it was possible that differences in the zinc status of children in the current trial might account for the negative result.

Vitamin E, selenium, soy won't prevent prostate cancer, say researchers
DESPITE earlier promise, three nutrients - Vitamin E, selenium and soy - do not seem to prevent prostate cancer in men with precancerous prostate lesions, Canadian researchers report.
"There has been a collection of scientific data that has suggested that these agents could have a tremendous impact in preventing prostate cancer," said lead researcher, Dr. Neil E. Fleshner, a Clinical Studies Resource Centre Member at the Ontario Cancer Institute and Love Chair in Prostate Cancer Prevention at the University of Toronto.
"So there was great hope that this would be a magic bullet that would help prevent prostate cancer," he said. "Unfortunately, it doesn't appear to be so."
The report was to be presented Sunday at the American Urological Association's annual meeting, in Chicago, United States.
For the study, Fleshner's team randomly assigned 303 men with high-grade prostatic intraepithelial neoplasia (precancerous lesions) to receive soy protein, vitamin E and selenium, or a placebo. Over three years, the men had several biopsies to determine if they had developed prostate cancer.
Just over 26 per cent of the men did develop invasive prostate cancer. However, the three nutrients did not seem to minimise that risk, the team found.
"To recommend soy and these supplement to men with high-grade prostatic intraepithelial neoplasia really doesn't make much sense, if the reason you are giving it is to prevent your patient from developing invasive cancer," Fleshner concluded.
He did leave the door open to using these supplements to prevent prostate cancer before precancerous lesions have formed. "In pre-cancer, the cells may already be so damaged that supplements can't reverse the changes," he reasoned. "Or maybe it just doesn't work."
The results confirm the findings of the two recent prospective trials, which also found that vitamin E, vitamin C and selenium do not prevent prostate cancer. The results of these trials were published in the January 7 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association. Other recent studies have suggested that vitamins, B, C, D, E, folic acid and calcium taken alone, or in various combinations, are not effective for cancer prevention.

Playing with plantain
There are many ways with plantain.
IYABO AYANDARE presents you with different ways to enjoy this tasty and nutritious food that everybody loves to relish.
PLANTAIN is a green to yellow boat shaped fruit (shade of colour depends on stage of ripening) of a large shrub called Musa paradisiacal. It is a close relative of banana, looks like banana, but bigger, longer, with thicker skin and often needs to be cooked before eaten. Green plantains are very hard and starchy. They are generally cooked in the same way as potatoes. Yellow-ripe plantains are more tender but can be used in these same ways, and will have a creamier texture. They can also be mashed, grilled, or baked.
The tropical fruit is extremely low in fat, high in dietary fibre and starch. It is very low in cholesterol and salt. A typical average size plantain fruit after cooking contains 50 to 80grams of carbohydrate, 2 to 3 grams of protein, 4 to 6 grams of fibre and about 0.01 to 0.3grams of fat.
It is very rich in potassium, and it is commonly prescribed by doctors for people who have low level of potassium in their blood. The potassium in plantain is very good for the heart and helps to prevent hypertension and heart attack.
It is a good source of vitamins A, B6, and C, which helps maintain vision, good skin, and build immunity against diseases. Cooked unripe plantain is very good for diabetics, as it contains complex carbohydrate that is slowly released over time.
When not yet ripe, plantain is hard, and contains loads of starch. Its skin remains green, and has a neutral taste. But if kept at room temperature for about a week, it gradually goes through different phases of ripeness.
When the skin is light yellow, it is half ripe, and assumes a sweet taste if eaten at this stage. If left for a couple more days, it would become very ripe, with the skin becoming black, and the fruit soft. The starch here would have changed into sucrose.
A diet of green plantain is filling, and can be a good inclusion in a weight loss diet plan. No wonder the nutritional value of plantain is unsurpassable.
Black-ripe plantains are also delicious but have a sweeter flavour and a banana aroma.
It is sometimes called plantain banana and contains a low GI starch, excellent for weight control, slow energy release and good for diabetics with surpassing nutritional value. Unlike its banana cousin, plantain has more dietary fibres, less water and less sugar. It is rich in complex starch when unripe.
Plantains can be fried, boiled, mashed, stuffed, used for stuffing, baked, pickled, and grilled. They may also be boiled or fried or added to soups and stews. When allowed to ferment, it is a source of alcoholic drink.
Include this banana-like fruit in your menu list today and try out any of its tasty recipes.
Baked plantain loaf
Recipe for 3 servings:
3 big ripe plantains
2 teaspoons chilli sambal, fresh
1cup rice flour
60 ml corn oil
2 teaspoons turmeric powder
Pinch salt to taste
Peel the plantains, cut them into small chunks and put into a large deep mixing bowel. Mash into a thick paste with your fingers or an electric cylinder. If using a blender, you may need to add 30-60 ml of water for smoother blending. Add the chilli sambal, rice flour, salt and mix well. Gently heat the corn oil in a frying pan and add the turmeric. Stir well, remove from the heat and blend into the plantain mixture, which should be thick yet soft enough to pour. If it is too soft, add small amounts of rice flour or if too stiff, add small amounts of water until it reaches the described consistency. Grease a loaf tin, and pour plantain mixture into it. Bake in oven on medium to low heat at 150-180C for 1 hour or until cooked and firm. When cooked, remove from the oven and allow to stand for approximately 5 to10 minutes before turning it out on a wire rack. Slice and serve with salted peanuts or as an accompaniment to spicy dish.
Plantains in coconut milk
Recipe for 5 servings:
4 plantains, peeled and sliced
1/4 teaspoon salt
1teaspoon curry powder
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon cloves garlic
1 1/2 cup coconut milk
Combine all ingredients except coconut milk in a heavy pot. Pour in 1 cup coconut milk and simmer over a low heat until the plantain is tender and milk is absorbed. Add more milk if necessary. Serve hot.
Plantain relish
Recipe for 5 servings:
4 green plantains
3 plum tomatoes, chopped
4 tablespoons caster sugar
1 lemon, juiced
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 onion, peeled and finely chopped
1tablespoon olive oil
1teaspoon thyme
1teaspoon salt and pepper
Boil the plantains till nearly cooked. Peel and cut lengthways in half and then 2cm across. Put in the sugar, lemon juice and vinegar. Bring to the boil then cook for 5 minutes. Add all the remaining ingredients, including seasoning and serve.
Spicy fried plantains
Recipe for 4 servings:
4 ripe plantains, peeled
2 tablespoons fresh ginger, grated
1 tablespoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground red pepper
1/4 teaspoon grated nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon; ground
2 tablespoons warm water
50ml vegetable oil for frying
Cut plantains into diagonal slices about 1 /2 -inch thick. Stir together ginger, cloves, red pepper, salt, nutmeg and cinnamon in medium bowl. Stir in water to form paste. Add plantain slices; toss to coat. Let stand 30 minutes.
Heat oven to 200 degrees. Pour enough vegetable oil into large skillet to reach 1/2 -inch up sides. Heat oil over medium-high heat until hot but not smoking. (An electric skillet should be set at 350 degrees.) Fry plantain slices, in batches, turning once, until golden brown, about 5 minutes. Transfer fried plantains with slotted spoon to paper towel-lined baking sheet; keep warm in oven while frying remaining plantains.
Mashed green plantain
Recipe for 3 servings;
2 big plantains (green or yellow), peeled and cut in half
1/2 cup (low fat) milk
5 tablespoons margarine
Pinch salt and pepper to taste
6 cups water
Place the plantains in a saucepan cover with water. Boil on high heat for 45 minutes or until soft. Once soft, discard the water and mash with electric mixer or by hand after adding the milk, margarine, salt and pepper.
Serve as a side dish with any kind of meat. Substitute for mashed potatoes to liven-up an ordinary meal.
Baked plantain with peanut (Boli ati epa)
Recipe for 6 servings:
5 big size plantain
11/2cup peanut
Peel the plantains then coat the plantains in oil, to help then caramelize and to prevent them from sticking whilst cooking. Place on a baking tray (or in a roasting tin) and set in an oven pre-heated to 190¡C and bake for about 30 minutes, turning every five minutes or so until they are brown and caramelized on all sides. Arrange on plates, scatter the peanuts over the top and serve.
Egg coated fried plantain ( Dodo oni-yeri)
Recipe for 6 servings:
5 ripe plantains
2 medium eggs
Pinch salt and other seasonings to taste
70ml groundnut oil for frying
Wash, peel and cut the plantain into thin diagonal slices. Break the eggs into a clean bowl, season with salt and whisk gently. Heat the oil in a frying pan, dip the sliced plantain in the egg and shallow fry gently on both sides until brown. Drain on kitchen paper and serve hot.
Plantain chips
Recipes for 2 servings:
2 greenish-yellow plantains:
40ml oil for frying
Pinch salt to taste
Remove the peel of the plantain and cut the plantain into thin slices, sprinkle with salt. Now take a pan and add oil and allow it to heat. Then fry these slices in the oil until golden brown. Serve either hot or cold.