Unlock The Secrets Of Traditional Herbs

The Beka plant can grow up to a height of 15 metres. The bark of the plant is dark but whitish in colour with coarse skin surface indicating that it is easy to climb, but the branches are soft and easily broken.

Young leaves are reddish and edible as appetiser. It tastes like the ‘Tenggek Burung,’ another Malay herb (Euodia red levi) and is suitable to make ‘kerabu’ or simply dipped in hot water; but once dipped in hot water, it tastes much bitter.

The scientific name for Beka is Oroxylum indicum (L.) Vent. from the Bignoniaceae family. A full grown Beka tree produces purple colour flowers and later bearing fruits in the form of legumes, each holding around 40 – 50 seeds.

The young fruits are light green with distinct grooves but turn brown and eventually black at mature age. The Beka fruit is said to help stimualate the production of milk in mothers who are breast feeding.

The water from boiled beka leaves are said to be effective for relieving body pains or nerve pains. Traditional Malay pratice also include bathing of women in the beka leaves water after delivery for restoring energy. The Malay people normally eat the young leaves as part of their natural cuisine.

Almost all parts of the tree are beneficent for use.  The root skin, tree bark, twigs, stems, leaves, fruits, flowers, and seeds have all been used for thousands of years for medicinal purposes.  For bathing purpose, the leaves and bark tree are boiled with plenty of water; for cunsumption, a piece of leaf is sufficient for boiling with three glasses of water, after which is left until one third full. It is said to be effective against headaches and fever. An old leaf is heated against fire and patched on swelling body parts for healing.

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