Page 76 - EBOOK_Jamu: The Ancient Indonesian Art of Herbal Healing

Dr Rumphius informs us galangal was pounded with leaves and pepper as a cure

for severe scurf and other skin problems, and was prescribed for herpes sufferers
as a last and drastic resort. It is also known that innocuous ingredients like
galangal were often included in deadly poisons, but we do not know any logical
reason for this.

SPECIALIZING IN TEMPUYUNG

Bapak Partono lives on the outskirts of Yogyakarta where he runs a business dedicated to growing
tempuyung (Sonchus arvensis) or, as it is dubbed locally, kidney stone leaves. Bapak Partono
discovered, on analysis, that his garden soil was particularly rich in calcium oxalat, a calcium known
for its healing properties. The theory is that the calcium in the tempuyung leaves can wipe out the
calcium build-up in the kidneys. He likened it to washing salt-water fish in saline water to remove
the excess salt.
His small business involves growing, drying, sorting and selecting suitable leaves for jamu.
After an initial drying in a warm cupboard at temperatures of 40-60ºC, the leaves are trussed up on
bamboo racks and dried in the air or, in some cases, dried over a fire in an enamel, not metal, pot as
they cannot come into contact with iron.

“We don’t get any problems with fungus,” explains Bapak Partono, “because the leaves are not