- Annatto leaves (Bixa Orellana, is quite well known in popular medicine, originally from America, widely cultivated in all tropical areas of Peru, found especially in the regions of the Amazon, Cuzco, Ayacucho, San Martin and Junín, its preparation It can be made as an infusion with 20 grams of dry leaves in a liter of water and consumed as seasonal water, this way the prostate and urinary tract could be reduced. This product contains vitamins a, b and c, calcium, iron, and phosphorus, flavonoids, carotenoids. , fiber, vegetable protein and tannins, as a common use of annatto leaves, it can be mentioned as an astringent, febrifuge, anti-dysenteric, diuretic, aphrodisiac and for the treatment of venereal diseases, erysipelas, intermittent fevers and other conditions, it is also used for conjunctivitis by soaking some leaves for 2 hours in half a glass of water, it comes out as a kind of gel, this is used to wash the eyes day and night for a week, this will cure the disease due to its anti-inflammatory and antibacterial benefits.
The Social Health Insurance, EsSalud, recommended the consumption of annatto, as a powerful prostate reducer due to the presence of steroids in the leaves. Furthermore, due to the presence of flavonoids, it is used as an effective diuretic, acting on the urogenital system and regulating kidney function. “The therapeutic, diuretic and antibacterial benefits reinforce the beneficial action of annatto on the prostate and genitourinary tracts, taking into account that prostatitis is an inflammation generally of infectious origin and whose treatment requires antibacterial and diuretic products,” explained Jorge Ysaac Villacres, Head of the Quality Control Department of the Institute of Traditional Medicine of EsSalud-Loreto.
Chen, in his study on the oils of this product mentions that it is produced by exudation from the trunk of trees belonging to the genus Copaifera , it has been used for its medicinal properties such as anti-inflammatory, anti-tumor, balsamic, urinary antiseptic, diseases of the skin, ulcers, wound healing¹.
Likewise, Wikipedia mentions that annatto is used as a component of lipstick, hair dye, as well as to treat tonsillitis, burns, leprosy, pleurisy, apnea, headache, prostate inflammation, gastritis. At the same time, in the research that we published in Anales, the metabolites present in the extract of annatto leaves obtained in the Peruvian mountains have been identified, as well as the gastric anti-ulcer protection of the extract against injury with ethanol was satisfactorily evaluated. what was verified in the respective histological study²
Finally, the Caja Rural Burgos Foundation mentions the benefits of consuming annatto in its natural version as the following³
It improves high blood pressure, being very useful in cases of gastritis and heartburn, stimulates the proper functioning of the kidneys, helps combat or reduce prostatitis, also for cases of fever, headache, diarrhea, infections of urine and improves throat infections.
By Juan Quispe Rodríguez
https://www.aldia.unah.edu.pe/las-hojas-de-achiote-cura-la-prostatitis/