Pito-Pito

Pito-Pito (literally, seven-seven) is a blend of seven seeds or leaves of seven traditional herbal medicinal plants, usually prepared as a decoction or a poultice and used in a wide variety of folkloric applications: headaches, fever, cough, colds, migraine, asthma, abdominal pains, diarrhea, etc. The ingredients vary according to availability and intended use. Seven (pito) is believed to be numerologically essential to the efficacy of the eventual formulation.

A traditional combination is: seven leaves of alagaw, banaba, bayabas, pandan, and mangga with half a teaspoon each of anis and cilantro, boiled for 30 minutes, strained and drained.

 In the urban and suburban areas, it has become part of alternative new-age menu as a herbal tea blend. Commercial tea preparations substitute one or two ingredients with other herbal medicinal components. A popular substitute in herbal tea blends is Gotu-Kola (Centella asiatica); for wild-crafted use, pineapple and kaimito leaves.

Variations are both in contents and numbers; recent combinations adding two more herbal ingredients are called "siyam-siyam."
 

POPULAR INGREDIENTS  
Common names Scientific names
Alagao leaves  Premna Odorata Blanco 
Anise seeds   Pimpinella Anisum 
Banaba leaves   Lagestroemia Speciosa 
Coriander seeds  Coriandum Sativum 
Guava leaves Psidium Guajava 
Mango leaves  Mangifera Indica 
Pandan leaves  Pandanus Amaryllifolius 

Availability
Wild-crafted.
Commercially, as tea blends.