Filipinos love kangkong. Whether it’s stir fried, adobo or used in sinigang, it’s considered as one of their favorite vegetable.
Kangkong is indeed a “superfood” containing numerous nutrients and vitamins.
However, a recent study shows that Kangkong or water spinach belongs to a noxious weed.
These group of weeds are harmful and has been designated by an agricultural authority as one that is injurious to agricultural or crops, natural habitats or ecosystems, or humans or livestock.
Most noxious weeds have been introduced into an ecosystem by ignorance, mismanagement, or accident.
Typically they are plants that grow aggressively, multiply quickly without natural controls and display adverse effects through contact or ingestion.
Here are the things you must know about KANGKONG
You must be careful on how you cook and eat it, or you could end up with a case of Fasciolopsiasis, a condition caused by the Fasciolopsis buski, a large parasitic intestinal fluke that can be found as larval cysts laid on the water spinach and other water vegetables in the hope that a reckless human will consume it raw.
In humans and pigs, the cysts release the fluke that anchors itself to the wall of the intestine and causes indigestion, allergic reactions and abdominal pain.
It’s a total gross-out and untreated cases can be fatal, so it’s recommended to fry or boil it properly before serving.