Bitter Kola, otherwise known as Garcinia Kola, is a highly sought after
product in the international market, in countries like China, Indonesia,
Thailand, Japan, and many other Asian countries. It is exported in different
forms – wet, dried or powdered – depending on the specification of the buyer.
Bitter
kola is a medium sized forest tree found throughout West and Central Africa,
also found in large quantities in South, East and Western States of Nigeria. It
is a wonderful agricultural product with a wide range of applications in
natural and orthodox medicine.
Bitter
kola is also used for brewery purposes and that has been the reason why bitter
kola is demanded in small and in large quantities by the international market.
The seed is eaten as refreshment. Mastication of bitter kola relieves coughs,
hoarseness, bronchial and throat troubles. It is said to be a remedy for
dysentery, osteoarthritis, antidote against poisoning and considered
aphrodisiac. Considerable experimental evidence has been adduced to support its
chemical constituents against several ailments in the community, including
malaria.
“We extracted its chemical constituents, which is called Kolaviron and when it was tested on
malaria parasite, we found it had significant anti-malarial activity,” says Professor Olusegun Ademowo, a researcher at the Institute for Advanced Medical Research and
Training, College of Medicine, University of Ibadan, South West of Nigeria.
“What we are now trying to find out is the right dosage
of its extract that would be required in treating malaria. Also, we are looking
at what other effects its use will have on the human cells. But at the moment
it is in the preliminary stage,” he added.
Researchers
also reported that bitter kola had anti-malaria effect in the 2010 issue of
Journal of Medicinal Plants Research, from a survey of plants used by
traditional healers in the Democratic Republic of Congo attributing this to its
quinines content. In 1999, a group of researchers in Kinshasa, Congo, attested
to why people should consider feeding more on bitter kola to ward of malaria.
Under laboratory conditions, they found that extracts from bark, stem and seed
of bitter kola tree inhibit the growth of malaria parasite (Plasmodium
falciparum) by at least 60 percent at a low concentration of 6 mg/ml.
Interestingly,
Nigerian researchers have also developed herbal cures for malaria that can take
care of resistant strains from a cocktail from local plants that include bitter
kola. A typical cocktail developed by a plant taxonomist at the University of
Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN) and Ebonyi State University, Professor Jonathan Okafor, consists of Morinda lucida (commonly
called local cinchona or Brimstone tree.), Nauclea latifolia, lemon grass, male
pawpaw leaves, Moringa oleifera (drumstick tree), mango bark, bitter kola and
guava leaves and bark. Obierofu claimed that he has successfully used the
concoction for the last 18 years to treat malaria and hopes to start producing
it in commercial quantities.
For
bitter kola to meet export standard, it may require some processing which can
be achieved without the use of any machinery or equipment as this can be done
in a natural way. Prospective exporters can enter the business either in a
small or big way. It depends on the cash at hand and requirement of the buyers.
Small scale exporters can start the business right from their bedroom with just
a functional e-mail address. It is neither a perishable good nor is it fragile.
Exporters
are assured that the products will get to the buyer safely. But there is the
need for an efficient method of quality control in order to keep it fresh and
healthy looking. The basic mode of exporting bitter kola is via air cargo. It
is assumed that it will get to the destination in less than 4 days. This
ensures that the product doesn’t spend much time in transit thereby resulting
in the loss of quality and content. The packaging method used in bitter kola
export business is easy and can be learned by anybody.
You
can export as little as 150kg as a trial order.
The cost of bitter Kola in the international market is between $17 and
$25 per kg. That transforms into well over $17,000/MT. The local cost of bitter
kola ranges between N600 to N800 per kg, depending on the point of purchase.
Other advantages of processed bitter kola for export include: Low start up and
operational cost; business can be operated from home; huge profitability;
business is risk free; easy access to cheap sources of the products; easy
access to overseas markets and buyers; and simple processing and packaging.
Have
you heard this? Many Nigerian exporters have been defrauded of huge amount of
money in the process of exporting commodities to foreign countries. Do you know
why? They were not trained on export operations, management, documentations and
the best methods of payment in export trade. This is terrible!!! Nigerians
cannot continue to lose money to foreigners in the course of export business.
Exporters, why don’t you get a practical manual that teaches the stages of
export trade from processing and packaging of commodities to receipt of payment
by the foreign buyers. It teaches export operations, export management, export
documentations and methods of payment in export trade? It is a contemporary
step-by-step guide to export trade. It tells all the contemporary dynamics in
export trade. To get it, click on the link below:
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