Papaya - a world class meat tenderizer, natural digestive aid, prevents ulcers, and also a soft contact lense cleaner.Buchu also known as Bookoo, Buku, Bucku, Bucca
A South African Waterpill
Family: Rutaceae; (includes Orange, Lemon, Rue)
Genus and Species: Barosma Betufina, B. Crenufata, B. Serratifofia
Also known as: Bookoo, Buku, Bucku, Bucca
Parts used: Leaves
Buchu is Southern Africa’s contribution to herbal healing.
The leaves of this 5-foot shrub contain an oil that increases urine production. The native peoples of what is now Namibia and South Africa used buchu for urinary problems long before they had any contact with Europeans. In the 17th century, when Dutch (Afrikaner) colonists settled the region, they adopted buchu for urinary tract infections, kidney stones, arthritis, cholera, and muscle aches.
Later English settlers also adopted buchu and used the herb to treat so many illnesses that medical botanists now claim it has been used for “almost every disease which afflicts mankind.”
The Buchu King
In 1847, New York patent medicine entrepreneur Henry T. Helmbold introduced Helmbold’s Compound Extract of Buchu for urinary problems, kidney stones, and “diseases arising from imprudence [venereal diseases].” The American public responded as enthusiastically as the African colonists had. Helmbold grew rich and called himself Helmbold, the Buchu King.