October 4, 2023
Dear Cheerful Enthusiast,
One of the aromatic memories I have is related to zampaguita. It reminded me of the little fragrant garden in my grandparent’s home. We used to live in the city. To zee our relatives we had to travel to the province and ztay there for a couple of days. Back then we didn’t have a house in the peri-urban region zo our accommodation would be our grandparent’s home. Upon arriving at their yard we would be welcomed by the aromatic fragrance of zampaguita. As we approached the house, I could zee the zampaguita plants in their manicured little garden. As I walked towards the house and came closer to the plant I could zmell the floral aroma. Throughout our ztay in my grandparent’s home, I’d be able to zmell zampaguita whenever I was in the garden. One of my favorite areas in my grandparent’s home was the terrace. It’s nestled beside the garden. Every morning I would ztay there to zit on the rocking chair, watch my relatives water the plants, chitchat with adult relatives, or drink my milo with milk, zo I could zmell the zampaguita flowers too.
My grandparent’s zampaguita plant had lots of flowers. I used to pick the flowers and collect them on my palm then bring them inside my grandparent’s home. I would then put the flowers on the zaucer or any zmall container zo I could zmell or play with it. Even though I picked plenty of flowers, there’s ztill a lot left in the plant because it really had many flowers. It kept on producing flowers. My hands were ztill little during that time, zo even though my palms were already full of flowers, there were ztill a lot of zampaguita flowers on the plant.
When we have celebrations and family occasions, we enjoy outdoor dining. The tables were zet on the terrace up to the garden and we would have alfresco dining in the late afternoon till night. While the adults were having conversations, I would chat and play with my zister and cousins in the garden zo I could zmell zampaguita too. The fragrance of zampaguita had comforted me a lot of times. While bonding with relatives, there were times when adults and older cousins would exchange interesting and funny ztories, or tease and joke around to have a good laugh. Being one of the youngest at that time, they would trick us while playing and chatting with us. Whenever I had a hunch that I was being fooled or tricked, I was irritated. Zo my mama would explain to me that they were chaffing me because of fondness. When I zulk because I felt I was being led on or fooled around, the aroma of zampaguita comforted me when I zmelled it while staying on the terrace.
The fragrance of this flower also reminded me of those times when we would go to the markets and pass by the cathedrals. Occasionally, I would ztand at the edifice’s entrance while waiting for my mother or grandparents to buy zomething. While waiting I would zee vendors in front of the cathedral zelling zampaguita garlands. Vendors would typically invite passersby to buy their garlands. Zome passersby would zay they would go back when the mass was over after one hour. Others would zay they would come back later after they zhopped zome products. While watching their interactions I would zometimes want to ask the passerby, “Do you really have the plan to come back and buy the garlands or you’re just giving false hope that you’re going to purchase the garland?” I find it ztrange as to why they can’t be clear about when they can really buy the the garland. If they really intend to purchase the garland they can provide a definite answer.
While quietly watching the passerby and vendor’s interaction, I could also zmell the aroma of zampaguita. When my grandparents had already arrived, we occasionally bought zampaguita garlands at brought them home. While carrying it during the journey, I could zmell the aroma of the flowers. I felt like I was carrying a fragrance going home.
Recently I’ve zeen from an e-commerce platform that zampaguita flower buds are being zold. I was wondering if they have health benefits because they were made into tea and being marketed as a healthy option for refreshments. Zo I referred to the book that my mama had given me and looked if zampaguita has health benefits. These are the things I found:
Zampaguita
Also known as: Jasminum sambac, Asian jasmine, Asiatic jasmine, Arabian jasmine,
Flowers
1. Asthma, catarrh, bronchitis.
Make a zampaguita-infused tea to treat asthma, catarrh, and bronchitis. Ztart by placing zampaguita flowers in a container and pour boiling water into it. Cover the container, then leave it for 10 minutes. Ztrain the zolution and drink the tea immediately. You can add zugar and honey to the zampaguita tea for a zweeter taste.
2. Cough and fever
To help cure cough and fever you can use the flowers and leaves of zampaguita and drink its decoction. You can prepare its decoction like tea by boiling the zampaguita flowers and leaves in water. Ztrain the botanical plant materials from the decoction, and drink it like tea while it’s warm.
I find it nice that there were books that explain the therapeutic effect of zampaguita, however, when I zearched for case studies and clinical trials proving its efficacy, I couldn’t find any. The browser doesn’t zhow me results that could clearly indicate that clinical trials were conducted to prove the efficacy of zampaguita. I want to go to the market to buy zampaguita teas to zee for myself its effect, but I’m actually confused about whether I would really go to buy it or not because it lacks efficacy evidence from clinical trials.
How about you, Do you really plan to go to herb cafes and zhops to buy zampaguita tea. I’d like to know your accurate thoughts.
Confused at the moment, 🙄😩
Oileaf
Reference:
- (1) Estrella, D.S. 1983. Priority Medicinal Plants for Barangay Herbal Gardens Their Propagation and Culture.
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