Merdeka.com – Pine trees have long been planted in various places in Indonesia as a reforestation plant. As a pioneer plant that can grow in various conditions and its main product is a latex producer, pine is widely planted by Perum Perhutani in Java Island. Pine forests have been developed in Java since the Dutch colonial era.
Almost all parts of the pine tree can be used, among other things, the trunk can be tapped for sap. The sap from the pine tree itself can be processed into a paint thinner. Meanwhile, the wood is useful for construction, matches, paper and so on.
The aroma of pine trees is often used for therapy, not only that there are various other benefits that you can feel from the presence of pine trees for both your health and industrial needs. The following is information about the benefits of pine trees for health and industry, reported from researchgate.net:
Benefits of Pine Trees for Health
Pine forest is a type of forest with homogeneous plants. Pine trees themselves can only live in areas that have moderate climatic conditions. The existence of pine forests brings various health benefits as well as industrial needs. The benefits of pine forests for health are as follows:
1. Contains Flavonoids and Vitamin C
The first benefits of pine trees are related to the content of flavonoids and vitamin C. In the 1940s French researchers found that pine bark and needle leaves contain lots of vitamin C. Not only that, they also found that pine trees are rich in antioxidants, namely flavonols. and bioflavonoids.
This compound is then extracted into Pycnogenol and marketed as a dietary supplement. Pycnogenol is also used as a jet lag drug, relieves blood circulation, knee pain, menstrual cramps, and even a drug to improve memory in the elderly.
2. Relieve Muscle Pain
The next benefit of pine trees is to relieve muscle pain. In this case you can use pine oil to relieve muscle pain. The trick, add five drops of pine oil with two tablespoons of vegetable oil. Then massage on the sore muscles. However, choose P. pinaster pine oil, not pine scotch (P.sylvestris). Pine scotch can irritate your skin.
3. Reduce Stress
In addition to relieving muscle pain, the next health benefits of pine trees are reducing stress. Research at the Kyoto University of Japan shows that taking a walk in a pine forest for 15 minutes per day can reduce stress.
If in your area it is difficult to find pine forests, then this can be replaced by using pine or cypress essential oil. Apart from relieving stress, the scent of pine can also calm emotions.
4. Cure Bronchitis
Pine’s ability not only to reduce stress and calm down, but can also relieve colds, sinuses, shortness of breath, and rhinchitis. It’s easy, add three drops of pine essential oil in a bowl of hot water. Then cover your head with a towel, and inhale the scent of pine through your nose and mouth.
Benefits of Pine Trees for Industrial Needs
Planting pine trees in Java Island in the 1970s was originally intended to reforest empty land. In addition, it is also intended as a preparation for meeting the demand for wood in the paper industry.
However, in its development there were attempts to obtain other products in the form of sap. The tapped pine sap is then processed to produce gondorukem and turpentine, which are advanced industrial raw materials.
Gondorukem is used as raw material in the paper, ceramic, plastic, paint, batik, printing inks, polish, pharmaceuticals, and cosmetics. Meanwhile, turpentine is used as raw material in the cosmetic industry, paint oil, a mixture of solvents, antiseptics, camphor and pharmaceuticals.
Apart from the sap, another part that is utilized from the pine tree for industrial purposes is the wood used for light construction, furniture, pulp, matches and chopsticks.
Not only wood, pine flowers are now widely processed into various kinds of crafts such as flower arrangements for party decorations, photo frames, and various other crafts that have quite profitable selling power.
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Mangunan Pine Forest. © Instagram / roh_kyt / mita_oci