KUALA LUMPUR: A consistent diet of shallots or "bawang merah" can help reduce medical bills for the common vegetable has been traditionally used to reduce fever or cure wounds.

Like its bigger cousin the big common onion or "bawang merah", its medicinal value lies in its ability to lower blood sugar level and inhibit platelet aggregation, said an article in the latest issues of FRIM in Focus, the newsletter of the Forest Research Institute of Malaysia.

The article, by Dr. Elizabeth M.P. Philip, a researcher at the Institute, said to heal wounds, the bulb of the onion whose scientific name is Allium cepa (of the Aggregatum group) is sliced, mixed coconut oil and salt, boiled and applied as a poultice on the wound.

The small onion or shallot can be consumed raw or cooked, and whether in extract or powder form, it can help to lower sugar level and inhibit platelet aggregation.

In the case of the big onion, among its other known medical uses is for diuretic.

The other common vegetables which are useful as medicines are garlic or "bawang putih" (Allium sativum), "kucai" or Chinese chives (Alllium tubersom), "lokyo" or "rakkyo" (Allium chinensis) and welsh onion or "daun bawang" (Allium fitsulosum).

Apart from helping to lower blood sugar level and inhibiting thrombus formatin, garlic also reduces cholesterol level, while kucai help fight tumors, correct intestinal disorders and promote recovery from fatigue. In Thailand, kucai seed is used for toothache.

Thrombosis can be prevented through constant consumption of lokyo, while welsh onion helps improve eyesight and functioning of internal organs.

The article claimed that welsh onion is also a life prolonging vegetables which aids digestion and perspiration, and enhance recovery from common cold, headaches, wound and festering sores.

It is also known to reduce or prevent termite infestation in the garden and its diluted pressed juice is used against aphids in China.

According to the article, the Malaysian country office of the Plant Resource of South East Asia (PROSEA) programme has compiled a list of vegetables with objective of documenting their medicinal potentials.

So far, it has been assumed that the domestication of shallots and the big onion started in Tajikistan, Afghanistan and Iran. The first reliable records of shallot’s existence date back to 12^th century in France, and it is presumed that it spread to other parts of the world from Europe.

Depictions of the earliest big onions are found in Egypt and date back to about 2700 BC.

The article said that lokyo is native to central and eastern China and is now widely grown in China and Japan, while welsh onion is only known in cultivation and probably originated in northwestern China.

The earliest description of the crop and its cultivation is found in Chinese book of 100BC. The crop is now grown throughout the world, but the main area of cultivation remains East Asia, raging from Siberia to Indonesia.

According to the article, garlic is believe to originate from central Asia and is considered an ancient crop of Indian and China, and was already known in Egypt in 3000 BC.

In the case of kuchai, it has its origin in China and was probably planted there as early as 200 BC. Previously, the vegetables had grown wild in central and northern parts of Asia, before being cultivated in Nepal, India, China, Japan, Korea. The Philippines, Thailand and the United states.

Another article in the same newsletter said health authorities in many countries are beginning to develop strategies to educate and encourage people to eat more vegetables which contain high antioxidants to help reduce such chronic disorders such as cancer and heart disease.

FRIM researchers had so far tested 20 different species of "ulam" or vegetables that can be eaten raw for their antioxidant properties which can protect and defend human cells against damage by the toxic Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) which consists of free and peroxides.

The build-up of free radicals in the tissues could lead to age-dependent symptoms such as skin wrinkling, hair graying, absent-mindedness, chronic fatigue and motor-neuron disease.

The results of the tests showed that nine of the ulams contain high antioxidant properties which strongly inhibit lipid preoxidation and scavenged ROS.

According to the article which was jointly written by three FRIM researchers-Vimala Subramaniam, Dr. Mohd Ilham Adenan and Abdullah Rashih Ahmad- the ulams are beluntas (Pluchea indica), cemumar (Micromelum pubescens), kesom (Polygonum minus), kadok (Piper sarmentosum) halia (Zingiber officinale or ginger), pegaga (Centella asiatica), selom (Oenanthe javanica), terung kecil (Solanum melogena) and ulam raja (Cosmos caudatus).

The article said these, ulams, if consumed daily, will help reduce ROS damage and prevent chronic, degenerative, age-dependent diseases and symptoms.