University of the Philippines – Diliman (UPD) food technology students have formulated and produced ginger-calamansi drink for the frontliners of the Philippine General Hospital and Lung Center of the Philippines.
Senior BS Food Technology students, Meghan Sevilla and Sofia Tagle, were able to produce 40 bottles of Lukal concentrate made of freshly squeezed calamansi and mixed with ginger.
The 40 bottles of Lukal concentrate are equivalent to 466 glasses of the vitamin C-enriched drink.
The students started their research when the enhanced community quarantine to stop the spread of COVID-19 was implemented in Luzon.
Through the support of their families and advice and guidance of their UP Food Science and Nutrition Professors Abigail Rustia, Lotis Francisco, Blanca Villarino, and Bee Dumelod, the students were able to make the vitamin C-enriched drink to help boost the immune system of our frontliners.
Their professors also connected them with raw material suppliers.
Another BS Food Technology student, Vanessa Tangcueco created an infographic for the health benefits of Lukal.
Tangcueco enumerated the benefits of ginger and calamansi.
Benefits of Ginger:
1. Reduces muscle pain and soreness
2. Lowers blood sugar
3. Anti-inflammatory
4. Can treat nausea
5. Improves chronic indigestion
Benefits of Calamansi
1. Prevents Diabetes
2. Rich in Vitamin A and C
3. Boosts immunity
4. Controls cholesterol level.
“It is an honor to do something for our frontliners 😊,” Meghan said in her post on April 4, 2020.
“Have a ❤️ to serve in order to really make the impossible, possible. Thank you again to all the people who have supported us to develop Lukal! #LukalMNL,” she added.
“A week ago, Meghan and I, were just brainstorming about how we can help health workers from hospitals that are caring for COVID-19 patients. We were inspired by the generosity and innovativeness of different companies, groups of students, and individuals as they came up with donation drives, donated ready made food, sanitation tent designs, nutritious snacks, aerosol boxes etc. Together, we came up with Lucal. Lucal is a ginger-calamansi concentrate that can easily be consumed when mixed with warm or cold water,” Sofia Tagle said in her post on March 27.
Currently, the students are working to produce more Lukal drinks to be distributed in other hospitals.
Ginger is a root crop rich in anti-oxidant with powerful anti-inflammatory effects and is known to naturally boost the immune system. Ginger also contains tons of vitamins, some of which are magnesium, iron, zinc, and calcium.
Ginger is also known to induce perspiration which can help kill cold viruses and has been said to combat chills and fever.
Vitamin C is key to fighting infections as it boosts the production of white blood cells that fight off infections.
Department of Agriculture Secretary William D. Dar said that people should be consuming more readily available agricultural products to stay healthy amidst the outbreak of the novel coronavirus (nCoV).
“We have a lot of native, nutritious fruits and vegetables that are known to help the body fight off diseases. Hence, Let’s try to consume more to boost our health—more so now, with the outbreak of influenza and the 2019 nCoV,” the DA chief told media on February 7, 2020.
The Nutribun has been revived by San Miguel Corporation (SMC) to feed communities under quarantine to help stop the spread of coronavirus disease.
SEND CHEERS in the comments below to UP Diliman students for developing health drinks to keep our frontliners healthy while battling COVID-19.
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