The discussion essay

THE DISCUSSION ESSAY

Essay writing

Sri wiji lestari

K2-2013

The Controversy of Petai Consumption

Petai is one of tropic plants that grows in west Indonesia. It also grows in South Asia,  for instance Malaysia, Brunei, and Thailand. In science, it is called parkia speciosa. The characteristic of petai is that grow up to 20 meter and has many branches, and it is also  a kind of bean. In addition, It is a seasonal plant; it usually bears fruit during December-January. When petai was bearing fruit, many Indonesian people like to consume it. They cook petai to become many kind of food  such as petai fried rice, semur petai, ‘sambalado tanak’ and other kind of foods. On the other hand, some of whom do not like it because they have their opinion themselves that petai just make a bad smell, and not appropriate to kidney. However, the others argued about it; besides, it also gives many advantages for our health, primarily for our kidney. In short, petai has many advantages and disadvantages that we need to pay attention before consumpting it.

People who do not like to consume petai, of course they only know that it only produces unpleasant odors without knowing the myriad of the benefits of petai. One of its benefits is it can reduce stress. As research conducted by Institute of Psychology, Austria, found, “Pressure at work will leads people to consume the comfort food, like chocolate and crisps. Looking at 5,000 hospital patients, researchers found, in general, people are becoming obese due to high-pressure jobs.” You do not be worry to this problem because it can be avoided by eating petai.

The research also proved that two servings of petai are able to provide enough energy for a strenuous 90 minutes. Therefore, petai is a source of potential energy to support the various activities. The content of phosphorus on petai is also quite good, which is 115 mg per 100 g of seeds. Phosphorus is the second minerals after calcium. Approximately one percent of our body weight consists of phosphorus. DNA and RNA in our body is made up of phosphorus in the form of phosphate, as well as the cell membrane that helps maintain cell permeability.

According to my causin who likes petai, Nurul, said “Petai is a bean that has many advantages. I know it because I have read about the advantages of petai on a magazine. For example, petai has antioxidant so that it can ward free radicals around our environment that we often find in our life such as in food products, especially the spicy and grill food, and it can also calm the nerves, so we can relax after eating it.” Besides, from the article that I have from this site, www.cakrakhasiatmanfaat.com, explained, “the advantages of Petai is for improving mood, overcoming the syndrome pramenstrual, preventing anemia, reducing the risk of blood pressure, enhancing the ability of the brain, overcoming constipation, coping with worms, and it suitable for consumption by people who suffer from mag because it is smooth and can neutralize the excess acid, and it also decreases irritation to the stomach lining gives.” As a result, there are still many more benefits of petai that we do not know yet.

Then, if we look from another side, petai also has disadvantages. Like my sister’s opinion, Tina, she said “The general disadvatages resulting of petai is the bad ordor, It is the same with “Jengkol”, so I do not like it very much.” And also my friends opinion, Putri Permana, she said, “Petai is not delicious, it is bitter, and produce the bad ordor.” Moreover, in my sources, http://dhammacitta.org , it explains what the disadvantages of petai and why it can not be consumed by certain people, primarily for patient with kidney desease. It explained :

“Petai does provide some disadvatages. First, consumpting petai can affect the bad ordor so that your urine smells so foul; besides, it also makes your farts smell bad because amino acids are rich in sulfur and nitrogen that will not be converted into ammonia (NH3) and hydrogen sulfide (H2S). Another is the result of the amino acid content is too high in the body that can cause kidney damage. Furthermore, petai also contains jengkolik acid, that was found in jengkol. It can block the tubule urine and cause pain, haematuria and even death, if you consumed in excess.”

In conclusion, petai has two sides. These are the advantages and disadvantages. Indeed, I stand on with people who are like petai because so many advantages of it. On the other hand, the disadvatages can be minimize by eating some food that can decrease the bad smell. You should eat it at home, and you can brush your teeth after eating it. As a result, for you who want to eat petai should consider the two sides are caused by Petai. I hope it can be a consideration for you in consuming petai.