Butterfly pea flower powder

Butterfly pea powder is derived from the butterfly pea plant which is majorly found in Thailand and Burma. It is made by making flowers into powders which are then sprinkled into dishes. It has a scientific name of Clitoria ternatea, a name derived from its shape almost identical to a woman's clitoris. Butterfly pea flower is also known as 'blue butterfly' and belongs to leguminous plants. It is high in quality, rich in protein, vitamins A, C and, E, flavonoids, antioxidants, and anthocyanins which makes it have a wide range of nutritional and health benefits to human health.

Benefits of butterfly pea powder

• It provides antioxidants: Butterfly pea powder contains antioxidants derived from vitamin A, C, and E which have many roles in the human body ranging from improving skin and hair quality, boost brain function, improves immunity and skin elasticity by strengthening collagen. It also filters ultraviolet rays.

• For eye health: It contains components such as vitamin A which is important for good vision. It helps in treating eye infections, improving eyesight, and vision. Vitamin A from pea powder helps to generate rhodopsin an important pigment in the eyes' retina which is important in identifying and distinguishing details in low-intensity lights and color identification.

• It slows the aging process: Various vitamins such as vitamin A and C found in butterfly pea powder are involved in the development and maintenance of normal epithelial structures. It is involved in differentiation of basal cells into specialized epithelial cells that align various functional membranes.

• Enhance immunity: It is involved in the development and maintenance of immunity against the invasion of the body by pathogenic microorganisms. It does this by playing an important role in the development of antibodies immunoglobulins and maintaining the intensity of epithelial tissues which forms a physical barrier against foreign substances.

• Stimulates blood circulation: It strengthens the nervous and heart muscles thus improve its efficiency preventing heart and blood vessel circulation problems. This good circulation also helps it to form better support for joints.

• Detoxifies the whole body: Butterfly pea powder purifies blood, boosts the functioning of the heart, is an excellent heart tonic, and is safe. It mixes well with the blood and therefore easily reaches all cells. It also helps to treat urinary problems.

• Good for weight control: Butterfly pea powder has no calories making it good for control and management of weights by those people with weight and obesity issues.

Apart from the nutritional value and health benefits of butterfly pea powder, it also has some uses because of its vibrant color. For example- Thai women have been known to use this extract to cover their grays as a dye. The natural anthocyanin found in the butterfly flower powder apart from its nutritional benefits of treating eyesight, treating ophthalmitis, and eye infection, is blue in color. Blue is a beautiful color that fascinates and eludes us and its appearance always causes a celebration. The scarcity of blue food in nature in our food and drink is something we cannot assume. The butterfly pea tea has a sensitive pH balance, meaning any small change in acidity can turn a beverage color from deep blue to a lighter blue color. The more acid that comes in contact with the tea, the lighter in color it becomes. For example, if you introduce lemon juice to a blue butterfly pea tea, it will turn purple.

It is worth noting, however, that to reap maximum benefits from butterfly pea powder, it should be combined with other feed such as drinks, ice cream, cakes, desserts, and cocktails.