Neem tree, Cambodian plant to reduce fever

Besides coconut, wax gourd, neem tree is a kind of plant that Cambodians use to treat high temperatures.

It is a traditional treatment and still useful until today.

There are three ways of usage:

1. Be a salad

Cambodians usually mix neem flower with fish, some green vegetable, ripe tamarind, sugar and fish sauce to be a food - Cambodian salad.

It is a way to prevent the body from getting high.

Mostly, this food is a favorite of middle aged and elderly people; the young do not prefer it because it is bitter.

Neem tree is a seasonal plant.

When there is no flower, Cambodians will use its young leaves to replace it. However, the flower is best.

2. Boil leaf

I have heard in the past, when health science did not reach Cambodia yet, Cambodian people with fever put neem leaves in a water pot and heated until the water was boiled, then they drank it.

3. Chew leaf

Some people don't boil or make food; they take young leaves from neem tree then chew it. It is believed to have an effect in treating fever too.

I asked how many leaves to take, and my family told me that Cambodian prefer seven leaves - but they are not sure.

Though today we have medicine to cure fever, the custom of using neem trees is in the mind of Cambodians, especially people living in rural areas and people that have no money. As for people living in the city, they like to use neem's flower/young leaf to be food.