I'm a lover of nature and wouldn't stop appreciating the beautiful gifts nature has given to man. The other time I wrote about one of rare gifts of nature the bush cherry, today it will be about another unique one, called Aidan fruit in English and botanically Tetrapleura tetraptera.

Right from childhood I've known about this fruit and it's numerous benefits because it's one of the well known ingredient which adds spice to the many of our local delicacies.

First Aidan tree is a deciduous tree, native to West Africa, found in Nigeria, Ghana, and Cameroon. Although it grows well in tropical forests, it can also be found in the savanna woodlands and African plains.

So the Aidan fruit is a deep brown, slightly curved pod with four wing-like ridges.

Some parts of this fruit are strong, while the remaining ones are soft and filled soft with aromatic, oily, and sweet pulp. It also has brownish seeds that can be seen when is cut open.

Some of it's local names include - Ụhịọkịrịhịọ in Igbo, Uyayak in Ibibio, Dawo in Hausa, Aridan for Yorubas and Prekese in the Twi language of Ghana.

The Aidan fruit has a strong and aromatic scent which can be described as earthy and spicy. You'll notice it more when it's being burnt as the aroma fills the air. About the taste, it's rather complex - sweet, a bit sour, and bitter too, almost same taste with dates and tamarind.

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Health Benefits Of Aidan Fruit

This beautiful gift of nature has so many properties and essential nutrients that are good for the body. Some include;

• Carbohydrates, minerals, and phytochemical such as vitamin C, calcium, potassium, magnesium, zinc, iron, flavonoids, tannins, cardiac glycosides etc.

• It also contains high quantity of dietary fiber, an important nutrient that aids digestion.

• It has low calories, therefore good for weight management and low-calorie diets.

• Looking for a fruit that is loaded with antioxidants, aidan fruit is it.

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How To Use Aidan Fruit In Culinary

Aidan fruit can either be eaten raw, dried and ground into powder or cut into some chunks and used in preparation of many delicacies. Among the delicacies include

**peppersoups (goat meat, cow tail, fresh fish, chicken and the likes), ofe nsala (white soup), peppersoup or and plantain, plantain porridge, yam porridge, ofe akwụ (banga soup) etc, the list is endless.

Prepared	Plantain porridge with it

These are the foods that I usually prepare with aidan fruit, I know that there are many others depending on one's preference and what's obtainable in their locality.

The pulp contained in Aidan fruit can serve as a natural sweetener and blends well when added to desserts. This is because of its sweet, caramel, buttery and chocolate notes.

Just like I wrote earlier, Aidan fruit can also be consumed raw and one of the ways is making a healthy refreshing tea with it which can be taken either hot or cold.
Get your ground Aidan powder, in a hot cup of water, add two tablespoons and then leave to simmer for about 8- 10 minutes. Add any sweetener of choice, lemon (if you want), then enjoy on the go.

Another way is by soaking it in alcohol for making traditional drinks and beverages.

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How To Use Aidan Fruit In Health Care

Aidan fruit is a natural, healthy and used in taking care of so many health challenges notably;

• Helps in weight management

• Due to the high quantities of vitamins and minerals found in it, they help support immune system.

• It can also be used in the cleansing of the digestive system and treatment of gut related issues.

• It can equally be used in fighting cold, catarrh, treatment of asthma and others.
  Whenever I have cold or catarrh , I usually cut them into little pieces, put in an empty can of tin tomatoes and then burn. Once the scent starts coming up, I cover my head with a thick cloth and then inhale till my nostril and airways are open. So relieving.

Another way is to prepare yam pepper soup with it especially during the rainy season.

• Can also help in anti-aging. The flavonoids, polyphenols, tannins & alkaloids properties helps prevent aging.

• It is said to be used to reduce pains during child birth, to quicken up childbirth, and to treat sterility.
  It's an important ingredient that is used to prepare soups for lactating mothers as it helps in after child birth cleansing of the body.

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Now here's a big eye opener regarding this fruit.

• Aidan fruit is powerful and is used to ward off bad spirits around one's home, shops, etc. Just place the fruit at the four corners of the place.
  I have them all around my home, inside and outside and I'm so cool with it. 😅

• Having nightmares and restless nights, try burning Aidan fruit and allow the scent to fill up the air, go to bed and have a restful night. It's so calming and creates a peaceful atmosphere.
  This is another reason I burn the aidan fruit and it works for me.

• Aside from using it to fight sleeplessness, it can also be used to fight bad energies that weighs one down causing sadness, depression, and the likes.

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With all these benefits, who wouldn't want to have a taste of this wonderful gift of nature and probably try out the different ways it can be used. I would really love to read how it worked for you.

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Thank you for reading and do keep an eye here for another post on the gift of nature....

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Still the #threadsaddict 😂

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