Do you know Duhat? You do, if you live around tropical Asia such as India, Indonesia, and Philippines. Well, the super potent herbal plants from Philippines are famous today.  Duhat is one of them.

This dark purple fruit is also called black plum, jamun, or Javanese plum. Yet, people in java call it Duwet. The trees reach 8 up to 20 m with spreading branches with shiny and smooth leaves. The leaves are oval in shape with dark green in the upper part and light green underneath. However, the young leaves color is purple with faintly odor.

People may already know about the health benefits of the fruit. But don’t you know? Despite the benefits of the fruit, Duhat leaves can also give the health benefits.

Health Benefits of Duhat Leaves (The Asian Famous Black Plum Leaves)

In addition, unlike the fruits which are only available in summer, the leaves are available along the year. It is very easy to get. Well, in this article the writer will let you know about the benefits of Duhat leaves for health.

1. Relieve skin irritation

We can relieve skin irritation by crushing the black plum leaves and directly apply the paste onto the irritated skin. The leaves contain anti-inflammatory agent which is able to cure wound, itchiness, and swelling because of skin inflammation.

2. Good for diabetes

Both Duhat fruit and leaves are good to control the blood sugar. The leaves surprisingly have anti-diabetic properties. Duhat leaves are able to effectively convert sugar into energy and maintain the normal blood sugar level. From the recent study in India, the black plum leaves are also able to reduce sugar in urine which is known as glycouria in diabetic patients. For another alternative herbal medicine, you can also try the health benefits of Atis leaves for diabetes.

3. Treat digestive disorders

Not only the fruit, Duhat leaves are also good for digestive system. We can freshly chew and eat the leaves for gastric ulcers remedy. The leaves are able to balance the stomach acidity. This quality can also be found in health benefits of Bathua Leaves.

4. Relieve diarrhea

Just like guava leaves which is able to relieve diarrhea, Duhat leaves have the same ability. It is effective to stop diarrhea. Just chew the fresh leaves and eat it. Make sure that you have cleaned the leaves before you eat it. Thus, that’s one of many health benefits of Duhat Leaves.

5. Cure dysentery

Dysentery is similar with diarrhea, yet it is more severe. Dysentery patient suffer from producing blood within the feces. In addition, patients will also get fever and abdominal pain. It is usually happen because of the bacteria attack which result gastrointestinal infection. In this case, black plum leaves are effective to get rid of the bacteria. As we know, the leaves have powerful anti-bacteria properties.

6. Maintain healthy mouth

Duhat leaves are able to act as antibacterial properties. Therefore, it is very good to be used as mouthwash. It is able to keep the mouth cavity clean and healthy. In addition, the leaves decoction is also able to strengthen teeth and gum. It will also avoid gums bleeding. The leave powder is even used as one of the ingredients for herbal toothpaste. The antibacterial properties will also get rid of the bad breath.

7. Good for sore throat

Since the leaves have ability as antibacterial, it is very useful for oral health. Besides the ability to keep the healthy mouth, it can also solve the problem deal with the throat. It is good to relieve throat problems such as throat soreness.

8. Relieve fever

Sometimes we have fever for some days, and will keep on rising even we have taken some paracetamol. The condition means that your body seems to have been resistant to the paracetamol. Therefore, it is better if you try the other method. The safe and cheap method you can use to reduce fever is by herbal medicine. Well, we can use Duhat leaves to relieve fever. Drink the decoction regularly to get the benefit to reduce fever.

9. Blood infection

Bacteria are able to attack any part of human body, including blood. There are some possibilities when blood is infected by bacteria. In this condition, blood cannot optimally carry oxygen into the brain. We know that oxygen is essential for brain. Knowing the severity, we should immediately cure or prevent this kind of disease. One of the methods to cure the disease is by boiling some Duhat leaves along with pandan root and coconut water. The antibacterial agents from the ingredients will effectively cure the infection.

10. Lower blood pressure

One of the benefits of the Duhat or java plum leaves are controlling the blood pressure. The substances in the leaves are able to lower the high blood pressure. Hence, it is good for those with hypertension, just like  Health Benefits of Beets for Blood Pressure

11. Prevents cancer

Besides the anti bacterial and antivirus substance, the shiny leaves are also have anti inflammatory and anti cancer properties. Drinking the decoction is effective to inhibit the growth of cancer cell in the beginning stage.

Cautions in Using Duhat Leaves

Besides the benefits for health, we still need to consider some points in using Duhat leaves for medicinal usage. Therefore, we should pay attention to the cautions in using Duhat leaves as listed below.

1. Avoid using road side Duhat leaves as it may be contaminated from lead and heavy metal. If it is the only way to use the road side Duhat leaves, make sure that you have properly clean the leaves before use.
2. It is better for pregnant and breast feeding mother to avoid using Duhat leaves.
3. The ability of Duhat leaves in lowering blood sugar may interfere the blood sugar control. If you will have surgery, you need to avoid Duhat leaves and the other product of Duhat at least two weeks before surgery.

That’s all the benefits of Duhat leaves. Some of the benefits are similar to the benefits of java plum since Duhat is also known as java plum.