- page 37

SCIENCE & NUTRITION
37
SEP 2016 FOOD FOCUSTHAILAND
ผู้ช่วยศาสตราจารย์ ดร.สิติมา จิ ตตินันทน์
Assistant Professor Sitima Jittinandana, Ph.D.
Lecturer
Institute of Nutrition, Mahidol University
sitima.jit@mahidol.ac.th
Hairy Basil Seeds…
HealthTrend that NeverGoesOut of Style
เมล็ดแมงลัก..ไม่ ตกยุคสุขภาพ
Its scientific name is Ocimum africanum Lour., common name is hairy basil. It can be
growngenerally inThailand, in thesame familyassweetbasil andholybasil.Theparts
of hairy basil that can be consumed are its leaves and buds, using to flavor Khanom
ChinNamYa (Ricevermicelliwithcurry) andKaengLiang (Spicymixedvegetablesoup).
Hairy basil seeds can be used as an ingredient for coconut milk ice-cream and dessert
flavoredwith syrup and havingwith ice.
Hairybasil seedsare small withabout 3-4millimeters in length, 1millimeter inwidth.
Itsouter skin ishardandblack. Itsnutritional valuesper100gramsareas follows: dietary
fiber56.8grams, fat 15.9grams, protein14.8gramsandash (minerals)5.9grams.When
soaking inwater,hairybasil seedswill swellup,with transparentgel likemembranearound
the black seeds, similar to frog eggs. The swelling is from thewater that soaks into the
seeds and causes the swelling of fibers. The swelling rate of hairy basils seeds inwater
occursvery fast between10minutes to1hour.After that, theswelling ratewill slowdown
and stopafter 12hours. Thewater temperaturealsoaffects the swelling. Thehigher the
water temperature is, the shorter time it will take for swelling. At the water temperature
of 10 oC, hairy basil seeds will take 26.45minutes for full swelling, 8.20minutes for the
water temperature of 25 oC, and 4.30minutes at 100 oC. In addition, to grind hairy basil
seeds intopowderwill alsohelp thefibers toabsorbwaterquickerandwithmoreswelling.
The mucilage around the seeds is thick and sticky, cloudy white, categorized as
solubledietaryfiber, in thesame typeaspectinandgum. It isstructural polysaccharides,
consisting of polymer of manymonosaccharides, i.e. D-xylose, D-glucose, D-galactose,
D-mannose, L-arabinose, and L-rhamnose, clustered with uronic acid. Extraction of
mucilage canbedoneby soakinghairy basil seeds to the full swelling. Then, blend it on
กลับมาอี กครั้งกั บกระแสการบริโภคเมล็ด
แมงลักเพื่ อประโยชน์ทางสุขภาพ โดยเฉพาะ
การอ้างถึงการช่ วยล้างพิษในร่างกายสรรพคุณ
ของเมล็ดแมงลักหรืออาจกล่าวได้ว่าสรรพคุณ
ของเมือกเมล็ ดแมงลักต่อสุขภาพมีการศึกษา
กันมานานแล้วทั้งเพื่อช่วยป้องกันโรคอ้วน และ
ช่วยในการขับถ่าย
Back again for the trend of eating
hairybasil seeds for healthbenefit;
especially its claim of helping in
detoxifying thebody.Themedicinal
values of hairy basil seeds or,
as might be said, its mucilage,
have been long studied, as a help
for obesity prevention and bowel
movement promotion.