Among the Yorubas, omidun (pap water), when combined with herbs, is a potent cure for many ailments.
By Tosin Ayinde
Flashback to my teenage years, when I would fall sick and the body system appears to be shutting down and my appetite gone, one of the fastest remedies that aided recovery was herbs boiled with omidun. My mother would always supervise this process.
Armed with the herbal roots from the market, she would instruct my elder brother to go to the next house where pap is sold to go fetch omidun, which is pap water. Before his return, she would have washed and arranged the herbs neatly in a pot and laid on the stove. She then proceeds to pour the omidun and bring the mixture to boil for about 30mins. It is the aroma that permeates the air that will announce that the agbo (herbal medicine) is ready to drink.
The omidun will distinctly flavour the herbal drink and reduce the bitter taste of the herbs. That is why it is called omidun – sweet, tasty water. After consuming cups of the mixture for a day or more, I would begin to loosen up. What will finally tell that the health has been restored is the fierceness with which the lost appetite, returns.
Some of us did not understand this mystery until we grew, and read up and understood the importance of tradomedicine in the country.
Among the Yorubas, barks, when soaked in omidun, have proven to be quite effective in the cure of malaria and fever. Some studies have validated the potency of omidun as a herbal solvent.
In the paper titled, Fermented corn water as a potential source for probiotic acid bacteria by George Okafor and E.E. Anosike of the Department of Applied Microbiology and Brewing, Enugu State University of Science, states that 72 hour-corn waste liquor, also known as omidun or pap water, is a rich source of pro-biotic lactic acid bacteria (LAB) that has antimicrobial potentials.
Availability and affordability of omidun will certainly help improve the overall wellbeing of many Nigerians. The caveat, however, is the condition under which pap is prepared and whether the omidun will not become a vector for communicable diseases. There is no doubt that a lot more study is required to validate some of the claims attributed to omidun. A collaboration between Nigerian universities and the organised tradomedical practice will most likely enhance (more like cement) the profile of omidun.
Tosin Ayinde is the Managing Editor of meiza.ng.
Ayodelé is a Lagos-based journalist and the Content and Editorial Coordinator at Meiza. All around the megacity, I am steering diverse lifestyle magazine audiences with ingenious hacks and insights that spur fast, informed decisions in their busy lives.
