Success Story: International trader finds gold in ampalaya

For more than 20 years, Lito Abelardo was making millions of pesos a day from international commodities trading. In the course of his business abroad, particularly in the Mekong Delta, in Vietnam, he met a friend who was engaged in bulk selling of dried ampalaya and other teas to mostly Asian markets.

All along, he has little interest in ampalaya until one day in 1999, he read an article in The Philippine STAR about the medical potential of (bitter melon) ampalaya for diabetes.

He did an intensive/extensive research on momordica charantia (ampalaya) with the Department of Health and other medical journals then he went back to his friend in Vietnam to inquire some more about buyers from other countries. Then he made his first shipment order of dried charantia fruits and seeds.

In between researching and making the first shipment order, he registered his company, Herbcare International Inc. with the Securities and Exchange Commission, put up a P10-million packaging plant in Las Pinas and hired the office, factory and sales personnel. He also made sure that his product, charantia tea, would be registered with the Bureau of Food and Drugs.

He discovered that in 1995, the Department of Health issued a circular listing Philippine herbal medicinal plants and identifying 10 scientifically-validated plants (among them is charantia) and six plants that are folklorically-validated (and therefore needs further scientific studies).

In issuing the listing other herbal medicinal plants, the DOH meant to promote those in the list as "alternative safe and effective medicines" for its heath delivery system. It specified charantia’s use as anti diabetes.

Other medical studies from India, London, Japan, Pakistan and even the United States also point to the healing effect of charantia for diabetes.

In the Philippines, a total of four to six million are afflicted with this disease (which comes in two types: Type 1 is acquired and Type 2 is maturity-onset diabetes so called because it comes from one’s lifestyle, pressures and stresses and food intake). Another four to five times of this number are at risk of diabetes (because of the fast-paced life, processed foods and sometimes rich food intake of people), Abelardo said.

Most of the herbal medicines of the Philippines are produced in backyard or "home kitchen" conditions – with little description of their active ingredients, composition and validated medical findings – which is why the medical community eyes these herbal potions suspiciously.

But Abelardo – who does not concede to the idea that doctors and pharmaceutical companies intrinsically distrust herbal medicines because of the threat they pose to their practice and markets – tried every possible means to win the confidence of the community. His efforts and patience paid off and now he often gets a chance to sell his charantia (loose tea and in tea bags) in booths assigned to his company during major conferences and conventions.

Interesting to note is a recent study undertaken by the St. Luke’s Hospital on charantia’s action among Type 2 diabetic patients, involving 27 patients. The finding: those who took charantia tea were able to attain comfortable blood sugar levels.

His charantia (in loose tea) comes in two packaging sizes: P195 for 70 grams (good as supplement for one month of regular intake by a diabetic and even a healthy person) and P95 for 30 grams (good for 12 days).

By end of August, Abelardo plans to grow his own ampalaya (through contract growing) and dry it locally to be able to reduce the price and make the item more affordable to lower income groups.

Abelardo told The STAR that he consulted an agronomist from the University of the Philippines regarding the possible site of the ampalaya plantation and these are Negros Occidental, General Santos or Mindoro.

He is eyeing around 100 hectares under contract growing. But he is not discarding importation of the dried seeds and fruits from Vietnam since this importation will be his buffer stock in case of calamities.

The 100-hectare plantation will be able to produce five tons, which he needs to produce the loose tea, tea bags and eventually tea capsules. Abelardo said it takes 15 kilos of fresh ampalaya to produce one kilo of dried charantia. He said a diabetic needs to take in four glasses of charantia tea a day (or after every meal) while those at risk of diabetes (and therefore need the tea for prevention) need two glasses daily.