Xcelplus International, Inc. (XLPI)

[apostrophe]

re: Kudzu

Just when you thought XLPI couldn't go any lower.

What are the stages? Anger, Denial... Guess I'll stick with denial for a while.

Maybe comment about potencial bio fuel sources for a bit instead. It's kind of related...

I checked wikopedia for kudzu and it's a rather remarkable. I think this is another misunderstood plant that seems to have all kinds of beneficial uses.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kudzu

the following are some excerpts:

"Culinary
The non-woody parts of the plant are edible. The young leaves can be used for salad or cooked as a leaf vegetable; the flowers battered and fried (like squash flowers); and the starchy tuberous roots can be prepared as any root vegetable.
...
The starchy roots are ground into a fine powder and used for varieties of Wagashi and herbal medicines. When added to water and heated, kudzu powder becomes clear and adds stickiness to the food. It is sometimes known as "Japanese arrowroot,", due to the similar culinary effect it produces.[citation needed]

Its leaves are high in vitamins A and D, as well as calcium and protein. Its roots are rich in starch and its flowers are an excellent honey source.[2]
...
Medicinal
Studies have shown that kudzu can reduce both hangovers and alcohol cravings.[3] [4]The mechanism for this is not yet established, but it may have to do with both alcohol metabolism and the reward circuits in the brain.
...
Kudzu also contains a number of useful isoflavones, including daidzein (an anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial agent), daidzin (a cancer preventive) and genistein (an antileukemic agent). Kudzu is a unique source of the isoflavone puerarin. Kudzu root compounds can affect neurotransmitters (including serotonin, GABA, and glutamate) and it has shown value in treating migraine and cluster headache [5].
...
Soil improvement and preservation
Kudzu has been used as a form of erosion control and also to enhance the soil. As a legume, it increases the nitrogen in the soil via a symbiotic relationship with nitrogen-fixing bacteria in the soil.[6] Its deep tap roots also transfer valuable minerals from the subsoil to the topsoil, therefore improving the topsoil
...
Animal Feed
Kudzu can be used by grazing animals as it is high in quality as a forage and greatly enjoyed by livestock..."

Why does it not surprise me government is set about eradicating it.

"Efforts are being organized by the U.S. Forest Service to search for biological control agents for kudzu, and a particular fungus is currently in testing."

Sounds similar to killer fungus, millions of dollars being spent on by government to exterminate cannabis, the other misunderstood plant I eluded to earlier. There was also some concern that the super-fungus might get out of control and start eating traditional food crops and maybe everything else. Of course, nothing the government does could ever go awry, could it...

There was a lot of optimism about hemp a few years ago. Like kudzu it grows reliably under all kind of conditions, and protects the soil. Hemp also has all kinds of beneficial uses for mankind: Fiber is excellent for paper and textiles and, of course, the strongest rope in the world. The seeds have no "medicinal" properties, but can be popped like popcorn and eaten (apparently even tastes like popcorn albiet with smaller kernals). The oil from seeds was gaining usage for lamps as a replacment for whale oil and I remember reading that Rudolf Diesel originally designed his engine to run on hemp oil...Displaced by kerosene as Standard Oil came to prominence.

I think it was a Hoover Institute paper that cited Standard Oil (aka Exxon today) that spent millions to launch an extremely succesful "philanthropic" political campaign against mariyuana. The old movie "reefer madness" comes to mind.

By pure chance, of course, their friends at Dupont had just come out with nylon / synthetic fibers made from petroleum and the leading natural fiber competitor cannibus had just been eliminated as well as competition for petroleum. Pretty lucky for them, eh? The only thing is, there are evidently many different sub-species of cannibus, the kind most useful for fiber and fuel is not good for, well, smoking, but all varieties got swept away by the wide brush of the new laws.

Now the government is promoting corn for ethanol, food for fuel even though there are better plants available, not to mention sugar cane. Oh well.