Garcinia Kola popularly called Bitter Kola is a bitter traditional fruit common in the West Africa and it is generally considered medicinal with no specified side effects.
Garcinia kola belongs to the species of a tropical flowering plant that produces brown nut like seeds. Traditionally, the fruit, seeds, nuts and the bark of the bitter kola plant have been used for centuries for herbal medicine to treat several ailments.
This bitter plant, which is believed to contain a high source of vitamins and minerals such as Vitamins A, C, E, B1, B2, B3, fiber, calcium, potassium, and iron, also carry other antioxidants and the usage is not limited to traditional activities alone.
Bitter Kola was eaten mostly by the elderly people because of their belief that it could prolong life. Imperatively, researchers in modern science have revealed that bitter kola contains chemical compounds that will help the breakdown of glycogen in the liver and has other medicinal uses which account for its longevity property in man.
However, bitter kola is known to be ‘Orogbo’ in Yoruba land, ‘Miji-goro’ in Hausa land and in Igbo land as Akiilu.
History has it that Garcinia kola is a species of flowering plant in the clusiaceae or Guttiferae family. It is found in Benin, Cameroon, Republic of Congo, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Gabon, Senegal, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Nigeria. This natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.
It has been used for centuries in “Folk” medicine to treat ailments from coughs to fever. According to a report from the Center For International Forestry Research, Garcinia kola trade is still important to the indigenous communities and villages in Nigeria.
Owing to this, research was carried out by accredited institutions to find out the possible healing attributes of the bitter plant.
It is possible to use bitter kola to improve several medical conditions for a short period. This might work for depressions, fatigue problems, atonic diarrhea, migraine.
