It’s that time of the year again when Agbalumo fruit is out. While some love it sour, others love it sweet. Yet, others like it sweet but slightly sour.

Known by various names with the famous being Agbalumo among the Yoruba people and Udara among the Igbos, it is known among the English man as African Star Apple and has scientific name as Chrysophyllum africanum or Chrysophyllum albidum. A lot of people call African Star Apple, ‘African Cherry’.

Findings have shown that when it is plucked from the tree, it is acidic and very sour but when allowed to fall to the ground, it is very sweet.

Agbalumo or Udara has some wonderful health benefits. Here are some of the wonderful benefits of the fruit:

High Vitamin C and other minerals

It is rich in Vitamin C, Calcium, flavonoids, terpenoids, proteins, carbohydates and resin.

It has been argued that this fruit has a higher Vitamin C content than Orange. Experts say you can get 25g Vitamin C from 100g African Star Apple.

Contains rich antioxidants

African star apple contains eleagnine that works against microbes. This eleagnine contains anti-nociceptive, anti-inflammatory and antioxidant. The cotyledons in the seeds have an anti-hyperglycemia property that decreases high sugar level and lowers the blood cholesterol.

Good for pregnant women

Research has it that agbalumo helps reduce constipation, helps with digestion and cures sore throat.

Low Calories

The fruit is low in calories and can make one full because of the fibre.

It is a natural remedy

The leaves, fruit and seeds are excellent herbal medicine often used by the Western part of the country to treat yellow fever and malaria, while the leaves are useful for treating wounds, stomach ache, and diarrhea, skin infections, stomach ache, diarrhoea and Vaginal Infections.

Agbalumo is also a natural remedy for toothache, constipation, sore throat, mouth gum disease and much more.

Prevents heart disease

According to the results of research conducted by researchers at the Department of Biological Sciences, College of Science and Technology, Covenant University Ogun State in Nigeria showed that udara can be beneficial to the body because it can lower blood sugar and also lower cholesterol level.

It helps you lose weight

Agbalumo can be very useful when it comes to weight reduction. One serving of Agbalumo contains just 67 calories; this makes it a good choice for people with weight issues as they get fewer calories in the process of consuming it.