Fruits That Sweeten Your Semen

Illustration

Semen is typical scented organic fluid produced by the testes. It is normally cloud white, a little yellow, or slightly gray in color and smelled of chlorine. The aroma and the taste of semen can change depending on the intake of food and beverages. Semen can be bitter and acidic, or even salty. According to the world’s leading sexologist Dr. Ava Cadell, when a man smokes, drinks coffee too much, consume a lot of garlics or red meat, semen will likely be more acidic and less tasty. She mentioned that to keep his semen smelled and tasted better, a man should drink plenty of water and consume a lot of fruits, especially pineapples and melons.

Fructose-containing fruits

Scientifically, semen tastes sweet if contains a sufficient amount of fructose. Fructose is a kind of sweet carbohydrates derived mainly from fruits, vegetables, and honey. Benjamin Wegener, one of the researchers from Monash University School of Biological Science says that fructose is the main source of energy for sperm motility. The normal fructose level of semen should be between 120 to 450 mg/dl. This level can be maintained and improved by eating lots of fruits which contain a high level of fructose.  Several types of the recommended fruits are melons, watermelons, oranges, apples, pears, durians, papayas, cherries, kiwis, mangoes, grapes, sugarcanes, starfruits, guavas, strawberries, plums, bananas, and pineapples.  In addition, tomatoes and vegetables with chlorophyll such as celery, parsley, asparagus, and spinach are also very helpful to sweeten the taste of semen as well as increase sexual arousal. In contrast, the fructose level may decrease by doing a less-energy diet and excessive physical activities.
 
Being different from glucose, fructose does not cause a spike in blood sugar levels when absorbed by the body. However, eating fruits with a large amount of fructose can trigger hunger, making people feel hungry in no time. Kathlene Page, an assistant professor at the Keck Medical School, states that fructose may reduce the production of insulin, a hormone which provides a sense of fullness. Reported by the Daily Mail, the sweet taste that comes from the fruits and foods with lots of fructose can affect the brain working system, increasing the brain response to hunger. Furthermore, those with fructose intolerance should limit the consumption of these fruits.

How Miracle Fruits Transform Taste

There are not many people familiar with miracle fruits and why they are called miracle fruits. The fruits are oval-shaped and small in size with bright red color skin when ripened, closely look like melinjo fruits (gnetum gnemon). They taste bland plus a little bit sour. There are two types of known miracle fruits; they are Synsepalum dulcificum and Synsepalum subcordatum. The significant differences between the two are Synsepalum subcordatum has larger leaves and fruits plus products fruits more frequently compared to Synsepalum dulcificum.
 
What makes the fruits Miracle Fruits is their ability to turn sour into sweet. Extremely sour fruits such as limes or tamarinds will instantly taste sweet if consumed after biting into these miracle fruits. According to the study, miracle fruits contain a chemical compound called miraculin, the agent involved in changing the taste.  In principle, miraculin works by coating the nerves responsible for recognizing sour taste in the tongue. Miraculin covers the tongue so that the certain part of the tongue is made 'numb' and is ‘deceived’,  sensing acids as sugar.  As a result, after we eat (chew) this magical fruit the water we drink or any sour fruit we eat will certainly taste sweet.

Accordingly, the role of miraculin is only to change the taste perception, or once more 'deceive' the tongue. In actual fact, miraculin does not turn acidic compounds into sugar. Our digestive system will still respond to sour fruits as sour fruits; limes will be recognized as limes, tamarinds will be recognized as tamarinds, and so forth. The effect lasts about 30 minutes. After that, the tongue will go back to normal, sour taste will once more be perceived sour.

Beyond the two miracle fruits, there is also a fruit with a very similar effect. It is called Marasi (curculigo latifolia). Marasi is small in size, elongates (about 1 to 2 cm length), and contains lots of black tiny seeds. The substance which causes the change in taste is curculin. Akin to miraculin, curculin manipulates the taste by turn flavored drinks and foods we consume into sweet. However, different to miraculin, curculin effect lasts only about 4 minutes. In addition, curculin in Marasi is the only protein that tastes sweet so that curculin is believed to be a potential substitute for sugar to prevent diabetes.

The small number of their cultivation and the fact that they can turn sour into sweet plus provide medical usefulness make miracle fruits undeniably miraculous, attracting many world scientists to conduct further research on the fruits.

7 Sourest Fruits in the World

Illustration

Fruits contain their own particular prime tastes as their natural identities, which comprise sweet, bitter, sour, and salty. Beyond sweet and bitter, sour is a taste that is commonly found in many types of fruits. The degree of the sourness contained in every fruit depends on how much the acid substance contained in it. For the most part, the acid substance will extensively decreases and evaporates as the fruit’s ripened. Quite the opposite, there are some types of fruits that have extremely sour taste either while they are still unripe or after they are ripened. Based on the life experience and the information I excavated from a variety of sources, I’ve come to the conclusion that the acidic fruits below are the most acidic of many edible acidic fruits in the world:

1. Lime (Citrus aurantifolia)

 

Limes

There is almost no one unfamiliar with the form and the use of this one. This spherical green (unripe) or yellow (ripe) fruit has a diameter of 3 to 5 cm and a segmented yellowish green flesh with lots of scented water. Most limes are unquestionably acidic in nature due to the high concentration of citric acid. The citric acid level is 7 to 8% of the weight of the fruit flesh and the extract is approximately 41% of the weight of the ripe fruit. On account of the high acid content, besides for cooking lime is often used to preserve many kinds of foods as well as clean dirt and rust on many kinds of materials.

2. Lemon (Citrus limon)

 

Lemons

Limes and lemons belong to the Rutaceae family. Lemons are oval in form and have a distinctive yellowish texturized peel with a diameter of around 5 to 8 cm and about 50 to 80 grams in weight, obviously bigger than limes. Just like limes, lemons contain segmented flesh which is rich of citric acid and other sour flavoring particles. The content of citric acid contained in the lemon juice is approximately 5%. Besides effective in exterminating bad-breath-causing bacteria by changing the mouth pH level, lemon’s citric acid is also useful for removing some stains sticking on minerals.

3. Asam Paya (Eleiodoxa conferta)

Asam paya is an exotic plant that grows wild in the forest of Borneo. The outer appearance of the fruit is similar to the look of a salak fruit but smaller, it is about 3 to 5 cm in diameter. Its sturdy skin is scaly and fairly yellow when still young and turns brown when ripened. This typical fruit of Dayak has very sour taste that it is rarely consumed in a straight line. Borneo’s people are used to enjoying this fruit after processed into a salad or sweets. Above and beyond their very acidic taste, asam paya fruits are said to be useful to maintain immunity and able to cope with thrush because of their anti-oxidant compound.

4. Bilimbi (Averrhoa bilimbi)

Bilimbi fruits are tiny starfruits with the length of about 4 to 7 cm. They are colored green when still young and turn yellow as they’re ripened. The oxalic acid level contained in bilimbi fruits is high enough to make many people don’t want to consume them in the form of fresh fruits. Due to the acidity and the natural fact that they are easy to decay, bilimbi fruits are often made into dried fruits or sweets to make them last longer before being consumed. What’s more, as a result of the high level of acidity, the research proves that bilimbi fruits and leaves can create electrical energy, an average of 10 bilimbi fruits is capable of creating electrical voltage up to 2.5 volts. In addition, bilimbi fruits is commonly used to clean glass, ceramics, and metals. 

5. Batoko Plum/Lovi-lovi (Flacourtia inermis)

 

Batoko plum fruits

Batoko plum fruits are spherical with a diameter of 2 to 3 cm and contain just about 4 to 6 small seeds. The fruits are green and yellowish while still unripe then turn red or dark red when ripe. Either the unripe or the ripened fruits are so sour that bats and birds are barely  attracted to eat them. Perhaps this is one aspect that slows batoko plums spread rate, making the plant not easy to find at the moment. Batoko plums should be processed into juice or sweets at the outset in order to reduce the sour taste.

6. Tamarind (Tamarindus indica)

 

Tamarind fruits

Tamarind fruits are brown and bean-like bulging pods. The young pods consist of whitish seeds and green acidic fleshy pulps. The seeds turn brown and the pulps become reddish-brown and sticky as they ripen.  The research in the "Journal of Nutrition Malaysia" noted that tamarind flesh consists of 8 to 14% tartaric acid, 30 to 40% sugar, plus small amounts of citric acid and potassium bitartrate.  Total acid content in the tamarind pulp ranges between 8 to 16%, while other acids in total only about 2 to 3% of the weight of the pulp. It’s not surprising that tamarind fruits are so sour that they are best recognized as a souring agent in cooking flavoring. Soaking or boiling the fruits is a way which may reduce the sourness. 

7. Malay gooseberry (Phyllanthus acidus)

 

Malay gooseberries

Malay gooseberries or star gooseberries are little flat-round-shaped fruits consist of pale plus juicy flesh with slightly sweet and very sour taste. They are green while still young and turn yellowish when they are ripened. Due to the high levels of fiber and the acidity, they are commonly used as laxatives. Malay gooseberries can be eaten straight away or made sweets, juice, jam, or flavoring for cooking. Soaking the fruits in salt water may considerably reduce the acidity.

 

That is a range of fruits whose acid containment level is the highest among the others. There are probably other more acidic fruits beyond the fruits stated above. Yet this far, those are the sourest ones I have ever found.

Why and How to Eat a Banana Flower

A Hanging Banana Flower

Consuming vegetables and fruits respectably gives immense advantages to our bodies. Precisely, besides rich in nutrients, they are the sources of antioxidants needed to maintain a healthy body. Among the wide variety of vegetables, there is one type of vegetables that many people think it cannot be consumed, many of us do not even think it is a vegetable. Banana flower, also called banana inflorescence, a fleshy cone-shaped stalk that comes out from the center of the banana terminal stem, is a little part of a banana tree which goes unnoticed by most. The fact that it can be processed into a very tasty and delicious food is hardly recognized.


Scientists have confirmed that bananas provide a high level of energy and contain natural sugars that are healthier and more effective than energy drinks. What about the flower? According to the study, identical to bananas, a banana flower is nutrient-rich as well as good for preventing and treating various diseases.  Besides being very safe for diabetics, it is beneficial for digestion since it contains a high amount of fiber, good to improve brain power, good for heart health, and help to treat a stroke if consumed regularly. However, not all types of banana flowers can be consumed, only certain types of them such as musa textilia, musa balbisiana colla, musa acuminata balbisiana, and musa paradisiaca forma typica. Most of those beyond these types are bitter and taste bad.

For those of you who own a banana tree with a kind of the mentioned, do not waste the flower when the tree bears fruit, it is better to process it into some kind of a special delicious dish. As for the examples of the cuisines made from a banana flower are: banana flower soup, banana flower nuggets, banana flower curry, sweet and sour banana flower, and so on.  Being tasty and tender as meat make it suited to be served for lunch or dinner. One easy food recipe made from Banana Flower is as follows:

Banana Flower Soup

 

Ingredients:

• 1 banana flower
• salt (suit your taste)
• ¼ tablespoon of sugar
• 1 riped tomato
• 5 garlic cloves
• 5 onions
• 3 chillies
• 3 cm of turmeric
• 2 candlenuts
• flavoring
• ½ liter of coconut milk
• water
• cooking oil
• 2 tablespoons of lime water
• 1 stalk of lemongrass
•  5 basil leaves
• 3 cm of galangal

How to Make:

1. Remove the outer parts of banana flower then take the reddish 

    white  inner part of it.
2. Wash it until completely clean and no sap left, then boil it about 

    5 minutes.
3. Slice the banana flower into small pieces.
4. Pound tomatoes, garlic cloves, candlenuts, onions, chillies, and 

    turmeric.
5. Fry the pounded ingredients in the pan with cooking oil until 

    smells good.
6. Put the sliced banana flower into the pan. Stir until it mixes well 

    with the ingredients.
7. Put coconut milk little by little into the pan and stir gently so the 

    coconut milk is not broken.
8. Thump lemongrass and galangal then put them into the dish 

    along with lime water, give it a salt, 

     stir once more .
9. When cooked. Remove the dish and sprinkle basil leaves to add 

     the flavor and the aroma. Serve it  

     while still warm.

8 Cats’ Favorite Plants

Cat playing with a lemongrass

Once in a while cats eat grasses to (perhaps) help them dispose of the hairballs or aid their digestion. It is actually a common cats’ behavior and for those who own cats, it is not something to worry about. There are even several certain types of plants that are well-liked by cats and can make them suddenly excited and agile. For those of you who own cats, you may care to try to give the plants below to play with them. Not all cats love all the plants tough. However, most of the cats that get one of these plants will surely be energized to play around with it, or they may even eat it. Here they are:

 

1. Catnip (Nepeta cataria)

CATNIP

Catnip is a shrub that grows wild in almost all parts of the world. Its stems and leaves contain a chemical compound called nepetalactone, which influences  cats’ way of behaving. If there is a catnip around, they will come up to it, sniffing, rubbing their body to it, munching it, then get high. Try to occasionally give them a catnip to play with. It has a potent effect with most of them, male cats may even be more aggressive and nimble. The effect lasts for approximately fifteen minutes. After the effects fade out, their behavior will go back to normal.                                                       
                                                                                         

2. Spider plants (Chlorophytum comosum)

SPIDER PLANTS WITH GREEN LEAVES

Spider plants is a shrub with attractive green ribbon-shaped leaves and white flowers. It is very popular as an ornamental plant.  Besides its unique appearance, this plant grows relatively fast and is defiant to any kind of weather. The effect is similar to catnip’s, some chemical contained in a spider plant may provoke your cats to be compulsive.  Although not poisonous, in excessive amounts, it may result in cats’ tummy problems.

3. Silver vine (Actinidia polygama)

SILVER VINE

Silver vine is a harmless plant that has green leaves with silver-white smears on them. Actinidine and dihydroactinidiolide contained in the plant are the sources of a distinctive scent cats like so much. The effect is very similar to Catnip’s so it is also called Japanese Catnip. When your cat is not in the mood to play or under acute stress, try to stimulate him/her by providing these plants to make him/her cheerful. 

 

4. Honeysuckle (Lonicera)

HONEYSUCKLES

This creeping plant grows very quickly and is generally used as a garden plant. Just like catnip, honeysuckle contains nepetalactone, which makes cats really excited, wanting to lick and play with it. However, most of them still like catnip better that honeysuckle.

5. Valerian (Valeriana officinalis)

VALERIAN (FLOWER)

This flowering plant is a member of the honeysuckle family. It is acknowledged as a healing herb as it has been widely used in medical practices as an effectual sedative remedy. Valerian has a horrible smell but not for cats. Many of them are overjoyed after getting a hold of Valerian due to actinidine contained in it’s root.

6. Lemongrass (Cymbopogon Citrullus)

LEMONGRASS

 Lemongrass is one of manifold grasses which are widely used as a seasoning. Some types of cats hated these plants, but many of them love to smell them, mine does. That is, perhaps, due to the typical smell of the plants. It makes some cats do not stop kissing and rubbing his head against it.  Scientifically, the research shows that Lemongrass contains an anti-microbial and anti-bacterial. These contents, in addition to be particularly useful in treating infections in the stomach and intestines, are also widely believed to cure outer skin infections.   Those may instinctively be other reasons why they like the plant. 

7. Cat Plant/Indian Acalypha (Acalypha indica)

Indian acalypha is a weed that grows wild in any kind of grounds. Give your furred buddies the leaves or the roots of the plant, then wait for a few minutes, they will be really appealing due to the charm of this magical plant. Scientifically it is a very high source of fiber which is useful to their digestion. 

8. Cat Thyme (Teucrium Marum)

Cat thyme is a slow-growing shrub with oval leaves and reddish purple flowers.  While it is useful for digestion and as a natural sedative, the mint aroma released from a fresh cat thyme tends to cause cats feel pleasure and go crazy rolling around it. In practical fact, some cats like this plant more than catnip.

Ways to Eat a Bamboo (Recipes)

Having made a simple post about an easy tutorial of how to make a cannon from a bamboo a few days ago, I began to think that writing about how to make a meal from it would be interesting as well. So this post is all about how to make a cuisine from a bamboo, or exactly from its sprout, or what people call a bamboo shoot. 

For those who live in the western world, bamboo shoots may be something new, but not so in Asia, especially in Indonesia. These young bamboo culms are fairly well-known and often used as cooking main materials in Asian cuisines. What is more, they contain protein, carbohydrates, fiber, and a very high amount of potassium which is very beneficial to prevent and lower stroke risk, while their taste is not inferior to the conventional vegetables'. Those make bamboo shoots a special and unique cuisine with a distinctive aroma. This paper will present the ways to enjoy bamboo shoots, as scrumptious meals and as a snack.

1. Sauteed bamboo shoot

 

Ingredients:

300 grams of peeled bamboo shoots 
salt (suit your taste)
flavoring
pepper
4 onions
2 garlic cloves
1 red chili
1 bird’s eye chili
4 tablespoons of cooking oil
½ cup of water

How to make it:

1) Cut the raw bamboo shoots into thin pieces then soak them for one night in the water to remove the sap remnants and its bitterness.

2) Boil the bamboo shoots for 10 minutes, remove then drain them.

3) Slice onions, garlic cloves, red chili, and bird’s eye chili.

4) Heat 4 tablespoons of cooking oil in the frying pan, then put the slices of onions, garlics, red chili, and bird’s eye chili in the pan. Stir until the aroma smells good.

5) Put the boiled bamboo shoots pieces and ½ cup of water in the pan.

6) Once the water in the pan boils, add salt, pepper, and flavoring to the dish in the pan.

7) To increase the flavor, you may add dried shrimps or some tofus. Put them in when the dish is almost cooked.

8) Stir the dish, wait until the spices permeate (the water in the pan is reduced).

9) Remove the dish from the pan. A delicious meal is now ready to be served.

2. Bamboo shoot soup

 

Ingredients:

300 grams of peeled bamboo shoots
250 grams of beef
salt
½ teaspoon of sugar
flavoring
3 cm of galangal
2 garlic cloves
7 onions
2 candlenuts
1 tomato
1000 ml of coconut milk
4 salam leaves (Indonesian bay leaf)
2 lemongrass leaves
5 tablespoons of cooking oil

How to make it:

1) Cut the raw bamboo shoots into thin pieces then soak them for one night in the water to remove the sap remnants and its bitterness.

2) Boil the bamboo shoots for 10 minutes, remove then drain them.

3) Pound the galangal, 2 garlic cloves, 4 onions, 2 candlenuts, and 1 tomato, then fry them with 3 tablespoons of cooking oil in the pan until the aroma smells good.

4) Put the coconut milk, salam leaves, and lemongrass leaves in the pan. Slowly stir so that the coconut milk is not broken.

5) When the water almost boils, put the beef in the pan then leave it for some minutes.

4) Once the beef is almost cooked, add the sliced bamboo shoots, salt, ½ teaspoon of sugar,and flavoring. After a moment, remove the dish from the pan.

5) To increase the aroma, sprinkle fried onions over the dish--slice 3 onions then fry the slices using 2 tablespoons of oil. The dish now is ready to serve.

3.  Bamboo shoot chips

 

Ingredients:

1 kg of peeled bamboo shoots
1 tablespoon of salt
1 kg of cooking oil
1 ounce of butter
4 garlic cloves
flavoring
water

How to make it:

1) Cut the raw bamboo shoots into some pieces then soak them for one night in the water to remove the sap remnants and its bitterness.

2) Boil the bamboo shoots for 10 to 15 minutes, remove then drain them.

3) Slice the boiled bamboo shoot into thin round pieces.

4) Pound garlic cloves together with salt and flavoring. Add water then put the bamboo shoot slices into the mixture.

5) Put the sliced bamboo shoots under the scorching sun until they are not too wet.

6) Put the cooking oil in a frying pan along with the butter.

7) Gently fry the thin pieces of bamboo shoots, then slowly turn them over.

8) Once they are cooked (when the chips color turns yellow and the chips are floating), remove them from the pan and let cool.

Those are the easy recipes of bamboo shoots. For more interesting cuisines, these recipes can be modified by adding several kinds of materials or ingredients into the recipes above. Happy cooking.

Like to Play a Prank? Try These Plants!

Playing some practical trick which is meant to be funny to other person with no purpose to harm is likely a precise description of what we call a prank.  For those of you who like to play a prank, this post will be a matchless addition to your prank collections. Fake vomit,  phone call pranks, scare pranks, they are indeed stimulating. However this time, why don’t you try a “natural” one?; a prank using the side effects of plants. It literally works and is such fun. Why I say that and why I write this piece of writing are for the reason that we (my buddies and I) once used to bring these unique plants into play, since they still could easily be found growing in my neighborhood at that time.  In some areas, the plants now are not easy to find though.  Anyways, let's just check them out!  

1. Skunkvine (Paederia scandens/Paederia foetida)

Skunkvine, which in China is called Ji Shi Teng, is a medicinal plant that grows wild in an open filed like in bushes and on river banks. It may also grow on fences being planted for medicinal purposes. The leaves have a distinctive smell which is very similar to the smell of (flatulence) gas, so it must be very difficult to tell the difference. One way to make a prank using this plant is the by wrapping its leaves with a little plastic bag then squeeze them using your hands. Put some air into the bag until the air fills up the bag, now fasten and shake it.  Explode the bag close to your friend, then boom! Stinking air is now spreading around. Do this in a small room to maximize the effect, lol. 

2. Stinging nettle (Laportea stimulant)

Stinging nettle is a rhizomatous plant that can cause itching sensation on the affected skin. This plant grows normally in the middle of a grove of trees because it likes moist places. The whole part of the leaf is covered by very fine hairs which are so small that they are hardly noticeable. Definitely there are a lot of plants, such as some types of grass, young palm fruit, and cashew sap, that may cause itching sensation to our skins. What makes a stinging nettle different from the others, it contains formic acid and certain other substances across the outer surface of its leaves and it acts like it is not leaving any kind of substance/liquid on the affected skin when it makes a contact with the skin. Therefore when touched with the leaves, our skin will instantly feel sudden itch without knowing. Then the skin will be very itchy in a long while. If you use it to your friend, you can bet your friends will not stop scratching for a certain time. However, be very careful when using it as a means of prank, excessive interactions with the plant may cause severe itching and irritation with a long effect. To dampen the itch caused by this plant, pound glutinous rice until it becomes smooth or use dried loose soil then spread it on the itchy areas.

3. Mahogany Seeds (Swietenia mahagoni)

Mahogany, besides well-known for its strong woods, it is also famous for its very bitter seeds.  A single seed tastes dreadfully bitter even just touching  your tongue and the bitter sensation won’t be gone from the tongue in a long time. But do not worry, in spite of the bitter taste, the seeds are not poisonous, conversely they have many medical benefits, one of which is to increase the circulation of blood and to boost immune system so they are commonly used as ingredients to make traditional herbal medicines. Applying mahogany seeds to your friend’s meal, guaranteed, its taste will turn out to be very bitter at once. In some areas, mahogany seeds are often used to make babies stop breast-feeding, by applying mahogany seeds to the mother’s n*pples.

Care to try one of those?  Or perhaps my friends here have some other “natural” pranks to share :)?