In an earlier column in April 2013, I described the research work of Dr. Victor Amoroso, a professor and fern expert at the Central Mindanao University (CMU).
This time I am pleased to write about his recent article with his colleagues at the CMU that reports their research findings on 10 species of edible ferns grown in a fern garden on the campus.
The ferns were assayed in his laboratory using certain standard methods for proteins, antioxidants, and phytochemicals such as alkaloids, phenolic compounds and saponins.
In addition, he organized a fern gourmet contest that was evaluated by a panel of sensory experts to determine the winning entries and held trainings and seminars attended by farmers and local government units to educate the public on the health benefits from edible ferns.
The results of the bioassay revealed that Diplazium esculentum (locally called pako) had the highest activity of 83 percent relative to ascorbic acid and Marsilea crenata (apat-apat) had the highest antioxidant activity.
In terms of total protein, both species had the highest content relative to sample weight. It should be noted that pako is a widely used vegetable in the country.
The paper gives us a good reason for popularizing ferns as food. Of course, there are probably some poisonous species of ferns that people should avoid. Let’s wait for experts like Dr. Amoroso to inform us about such species, if indeed there are.
The conclusion of Amoroso et al. in their paper, which has been favorably endorsed to the Commission on Higher Education for financial support for presentation in the international conference sponsored by the Botanical Society of America this year, is that the 10 species of edible ferns are good sources of nutrients for human health and well being and following the example of a fern garden at CMU, people may now develop and maintain fern gardens primarily for food.
The paper also notes by way of explanation why ferns produce these useful chemicals. The factor mainly responsible for this phenomenon is the long period of evolutionary history of ferns compared to the higher plants. During this period of time ferns were able to colonize a variety of environments to which they were reacting or adapting to produce various chemical substances.
CMU should be congratulated for building a chemistry laboratory capable of conducting research in an area outside of Manila. We know, of course, that this development is due to the efforts of the faculty committed not only to teaching but especially to research on Philippine biodiversity.
