The devil within the bean
Mucuna Prupriens is a tropical legume, native to Africa and Asia. It's called by different names such as; the Florida velvet bean, yokohama velvet bean, lyon bean, but non more accurate than the devil's bean.
It has special itch-inducing properties steming from the fact that the seed pods have hairs lined with serotonin and mucunain.
An experience to die for
I never believed leaves or plants could make me cry or go crazy until I had an encounter with the devil bean.
it all started when we are playing football that particular morning and a friend mistakely shot the ball into the bush. being a daredevil and a risk taker, I sprung into action, diving deep and lng into the bush, and soon came running out screaming.
The culprit? seeds called the ‘devil’s bean’ popularly known as ‘werepe’ had clung to my body and clothes and was giving me the time of my life.
I was so shocked wondering what in God’s name could be happening to me , the pain increased and my first mistake i took was to take my bath.
Never EVER pour water on the body when the itching begins
Then the screaming started, everyone knew that something was wrong at that moment, I was scared and i didn't know what to do until an elderly woman came around and told me to get palm oil and rub it all over my body. It took some time, but the itching stopped.
What to take from this
Having never had an experience with any leaves before(such as poison ivy or the likes), I wholly and completely thought I was going insane(turn up), its been one of the worst experiences of my life.
Though not a chemistry student, I did learn a few things
Do not touch what you know not, especially in a forest/bushy area. Tons of plants and creatures make their home in such places and nature will not hesitate to mess with you should the need arise.
Certain things arnt neccessarily for cooking alone, the palm oil I used is mainly extracted from palm fruits, and is used in cooking a viariety of delicacies here in Africa. The fact that it reduced the itching property of the devil bean is a nice addition to its catalogs.