The Intergalactic Butterfly Pea Flower Episode

These brilliant blue flowers create food dyes capable of shifting from indigo to magenta and back. Anney and Lauren dip into the history and science behind the butterfly pea flower.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:08):
Hello, and welcome to Savor Protection of I Heart Radio.
I'm Annie Reese and I'm Lauren vog Obam and today
we have an episode for you about butterfly pea flower. Yes,
And while you might be confused at this moment, this
is an honor of Star Wars Day because as this
comes out, it is May the fourth, So may the

(00:30):
fourth be with you? Have I have so many celebrations planned.
Oh yeah, I'm already like started and I'm just going.
But I have a lot of stuff ready to go,
so excited. Does that include your your drink? Which is
the reason that we chose this episode topic? It does?

(00:55):
It does? So, Lauren, Lauren and I I think it's
pretty obvious are fans of Star Wars. Um, and we're
talking about what we could have as a topic for
this very important day because we've already done like the
food of Star Wars in a previous fictional foods episode. Um,
and you know, uh don't have a whole lot to

(01:19):
add to that as of now. So I was like, right, right,
I still haven't even been to the theme park. So
but yeah, So I was like, Annie, you know what
does what are some earthly foods or drinks or related

(01:39):
items that remind you of Star Wars, and she sent
me this gloriously variable list. There was a lot of
different things. It was like dry ice and sugar cookies
and like, oh my goodness. I mean honestly, like I
could find Star Wars in anything, but this is It's

(02:05):
like the forest. It's everywhere, shure exactly, it flows through us.
So this the butterfly pea flower. The reason I kind
of associated with Star Wars is because I have in
my mind a very famous among my friend group drink

(02:26):
that's kind of galaxy gin drink that is blue. It
sparkles and changes color when you add lemon to it,
and so basically what it is. It's very simple. But
and I made after we did this research. I have
to admit, I went into my cupboard, which is an

(02:48):
absolute nightmare, and fished out my butterfly pea flowers and
I have got the ingredients ready to make this drink.
But essentially you put um a couple like six or
seven butterfly pea flowers in a bottle of gin with
some edible glitter, let it sit and then you can
make really anything from that. But I normally make like

(03:11):
a either a gin and tonic or maybe like gin
elder flower liqueur and tonic. And then you add the lemon,
and the lemon changes colors because it goes from like
a really bright, vivid blue and then when you add
the lemon, it becomes a very soft purple. Yeah, I've
made it for D and D. I have like a

(03:32):
video of me making it on Instagram. It's a very
old post, but it's on there. Um. But anyway, it
feels very kind of galactic or out of this world galaxy,
especially if you're not familiar with it. And I did
read a lot of articles for this about how that
color is pretty rare in nature, that especially that like

(03:52):
bright blue. Yeah, yeah, absolutely color and it does fairly
often pop up as an ingredient in Star Wars recipes
because that color is so arresting, uh and unique. I
put it in quotes, it is, it is pretty rare
in nature, but it does, uh like in in certain
places it's pretty common. But yeah, experience it's it's new. Yeah.

(04:17):
And and you know, usually, or I guess traditionally, in
American cuisine, if anything was that color blue, it was
because of artificial food dies exactly. So yes, but it is.
I checked on it before we came in here, and
it's already I just put the flowers in this morning,

(04:39):
and it's already a beautiful blue squirreling with the edible glitter.
I accidentally made the mistake of not putting edible in
from the glitter part. Earlier today, someone was like, wait,
so you're having your friends drink glitter like It's like, no, no, no,
it's edible glitter. Yes, it's very pretty. It's very it

(05:02):
is it is. I can attest to this. I think
you brought it to D and D one time. Yeah,
I did. Yeah, it's pretty, it's pretty, it's lovely. Yeah.
M hmmm. Well, I guess this brings us to our question.
Let's say it does. Yes, butterfly pea flower, what is it? Well? Uh,

(05:27):
the butterfly pea is a plant that blooms with these
just gorgeous, like bright royal blue flowers that are edible
and can be used to create a crystal blue tea
type infusion um like a like a painting of the
sea and a glass um that that will write turn

(05:49):
like bright purple to magenta pink when you start adding
something acidic like lemon juice um alone. The flowers and
infusions there of taste floral uh and and like a
little earthy and woody in this really delicate way. It's
just really nice and light. Um Uh. It's like a

(06:11):
like like a really um uh delicate white tea, like
went to special effects school or like or like gott
into the manic panic. Oh. I love that. I just
kind of thinking it's sort of like the I don't know,
Emo the family or something. Yeah. Um. Botanical name Victoria

(06:35):
turnip tia. The butterfly pea is a member of the
Fassier family or the lagoon family. It's a climbing vine
that can be kept as a perennial in tropical climates
or grown from seed. Every year um it produces these
soft green leaves and a seasonal bloom of Yes, these
lovely deep blue flowers, usually with a little white center,

(06:55):
and they look like a volva. That's what they look like.
The hence the gene name um. If you let them
pollinate and fruit, they will produce an edible peapod um
or it's edible when it's a young and tender. But
I haven't read much about eating them. I think it's
mostly about those flowers. Um, And they get that color
from a pigment molecule that humans first learned about from

(07:17):
studying this plant. Um. Okay, So, anthes cyanins are pigments
that give lots of red or blue or purple fruits
and vegetables and flowers their color. Um. They're also useful
in our bodies because they have antioxidant properties. Um. This
is part of why the advice is always to eat
variously colored fruit and vegetables for their various properties. Yeah. Um,

(07:40):
but yes, the first time that we encountered this specific
pigment was in the butterfly pea. So it was named
turnin or perhaps ternatin after a species. Because the flavor
is so mild but the color is so bright, the
flowers are used as as a food color or dye,
perhaps more often than than a flame for ingredient. Um.

(08:02):
The flowers are for that purpose dried and sold either
whole or in powder format around Southeast Asia. Um. It's
used to color rice and like like blue rice and
steamed dumplings and um, pretty desserts like like sticky rice cakes. Um,
either blue or purple. I've read that in some cultures

(08:22):
blue as a morning color. So it's used in funerary
meals and uh like like desserts served at funerals. Um.
It's also used to dye other things like cloth and hair,
used to darken hair and cover up grays um and uh. Okay.
So I tried to get into this, and I don't
understand chemistry that well, but basically and that wasn't intended

(08:47):
to be a pun um uh. This stuff changes color
with pH level because of the way that that color
molecule reacts with its ironment at different pH levels, like
the actual molecular structure changes and thus absorbs and reflects

(09:08):
different colors of light when it's at a different level
of pH. Um. At a at a low pH level
and acidic environment like lemon juice, um, the molecule is
a positive ion, a charged particle that absorbs certain colors
of light and reflects others. It reflects red pink colors,
so it looks like hot pink um. But as the

(09:30):
pH level rises to neutral like plain water, it loses
protons and thus absorbs and reflects different colors um, blue,
purple colors instead. Um, and it can go back and forth. Um.
So there you go. That's what I understand about it.
That's all. That's that's all I can say. That's so cool.

(09:54):
It is really neat. If you haven't seen this, like
oh yeah, it's startling, like because it's it's such a
pretty bright blue and it's such a pretty bright purple
to pink um, and and it just like before your
eyes like magic. Um. Yeah, changes yeah, I think I

(10:15):
read somewhere the science on this one, listeners is very intense. Yeah,
I think I read somewhere somebody did like a t
L d R. It's very sensitive to p got it.
Yeah yeah, And so you can even play like like
within like like acidic because like milk is a little

(10:38):
bit more acidic than water, like lemon juice is a
lot more acidic, so you can you can really play
with the exact shading, um, depending on what you want
to do. So yeah, so cool. Yeah, yeah, it's really
it's really pretty. It's just so pretty. Um. But that's
not the only thing that these plants are good for.
Um Because like other members of the gooom family, it's

(11:01):
really useful in agriculture because it's a nitrogen fixer. Um.
So okay, so plants and animals need nitrogen. But it's
hard for most of us to get it out of
the air. Luckily, there are some bacteria in this genus
called Rhizobium um that are just aces at doing this
UM and those bacteria have this buddy buddy relationship with

(11:23):
some plants like lagoons where they live in their roots
and uh get nutrients from the plant, but also collect
nitrogen and then when they die, that nitrogen stays in
the soil for that plant or other plants to use UM.
And not all plants harbor these bacteria, so plants that
do are really cool for for use like in rotation

(11:45):
with other crops um or as like a like a
grazing kind of thing to keep the to keep the
soil fertile. M. Yeah. Furthermore, the butterfly p plant contains
UM use a natural insecticide compounds that are being used
in some places as like an eco friendly alternative to

(12:07):
conventional pesticides. Right. Uh, and what about the nutrition, Well,
unless you're unless you're drinking like a lot of tea
or like eating a lot of rice colored with this stuff,
you're you're probably you're probably not getting enough of it
to make any kind of difference one way or another.

(12:28):
But but the butterfly pea flower is being investigated for
medicinal properties um. Antioxidants are good yeah um, and has
been used in both traditional Chinese and iur Vedic medicines
for forever. Um. Yeah. I don't know. It's pretty use
it if you like it, saber motto, Yeah you got it. Yeah. Yeah.

(12:56):
Numbers were hard to get by, but we have one
number for you, a single number. Yes. So the global
market for the flowers is currently worth a little bit
under a hundred million dollars a year and growing UM,
with the highest growth expected in the powder format because
it's pretty convenient. Um. And there aren't really any like

(13:18):
major global players in production, UM, but rather lots of
smaller producers. And that's part of why I think numbers
are hard to come by for this one. Yeah. Yeah.
And I, like I said, I braved my pantry to
find mine, and it was a journey, but it was

(13:40):
it was not a brand. I'd heard of it from Thailand. Um.
And I have the flowers like dry flowers. I didn't.
I haven't seen the powder, but I'm intrigued by it. Hmm. Well,
we do have a lot of history for you. We do.
But first we're going to take a quick break for

(14:01):
a word from our sponsors, and we're back. Thank you sponsored, Yes,
thank you. So the butterfly pea is believed to have
originated in South America and or Asia, though the etymology
throws in some confusion, as its wont to do since

(14:24):
it's often traced. The word is often traced to the
Indonesian island of Ternate, though this is further complicated by
the fact that some researchers suspect see turnentilla Um the genus,
the name, the scientific name excuse me, is an ancient
hybrid that can trace its roots to Southeast Asia, but

(14:45):
also Claturia. The genus name is believed to have come
from the Greek word collect tourists or something like that,
for the female genitalia that it resembles. Yeah, what seems
to have happened here is that uh Linneus, who created
that genus and species name, got his specimens of the

(15:08):
plant from um, and yeah, named it for that location
and for lady parts. So yeah, that was a surprise
researching this um. In one scientific article, they suggested, perhaps
we can only say for sure that the butterfly pe

(15:28):
originated somewhere along the Indian ocean. UH had a lot
of graphs and I was very impressed, but they were like,
it's probably somewhere around here, but we're not sure. But
we're not sure. UM. Throughout history it has been used
as animal fodder, for cosmetic purposes, as an insect repellent,
and medicinally to treat a whole range of things like diabetes, fever, inflammation, pain,

(15:53):
reprojective health, fighting depression, helping hair follicles, digestive, respiratory and
nervous system issues, and as a way to increase cognitive function.
UM also yes culinary purposes, including edible die uh. So
the package I have promotes skin and eye benefits and

(16:14):
claims that this ingredient has been used for centuries by
women as an afro dzy. I didn't find that in
the research, but that's what the package, well, the afro
dasiac part. I didn't find that in the research, but
the package says that right old front, So all right,
something that's something I you know, it does It does

(16:36):
look like a volva, that's so, it certainly does. By
the seventeenth century, this ingredient was present in India and
it's perhaps around this time that it found its way
into tea and other dishes like dumplings. It also made
its way to places like Thailand and Malaysia, where it
has been written about in literature for centuries. Soon after,

(16:57):
the butterfly pea made its way to Europe. After that,
it's thought to have been introduced and naturalized to Hawaii
by eighteen seventy one, where it was a favored orna
mental at the time. It was in the Caribbean as
early as eighteen eighty one, Puerto Rico and e eighty five,
Jamaica in nineteen hundred, the Bahamas in nineteen o three,
Cuba nineteen o four, and the Dominican Republic in nineteen ten,

(17:20):
and according to Mount Vernon dot Org, George Washington received
butterfly pea flowers from his grandson in law in sevente Okay, cool. Yeah.
It was recorded in Australia by nineteen sixty eight, though
it was probably there earlier. The cultivar mil gara was

(17:42):
introduced there in nineteen nine. From what I understand, this
was a very specific like animal fodder cultivar, But there
was a lot of papers from Australia specifically about this. Yeah. Yeah,
it seems like, uh, the I mean it makes sense.
It's closer to where it is from than for example,
we are um so M. And as we mentioned, the

(18:05):
butterfly pea flower has been the subject of a lot
of scientific inquiry due to its perceived medicinal qualities uh
and the color. In the nineteen fifties, some of the
first scientific studies into its potential pharmacological use took place.
This is also about the time when yes, that nitrogen
fixing capacity, people started looking into that and how it

(18:28):
could be of use. When it comes to that um
in the sea turnia, anthocyanins called turn ittins, responsible for
that color the distinctive hue were isolated for the first time,
and this laid the foundation for further experiments, including determining
the structure of the terratins. And you all, there are

(18:50):
so many papers that I found that were like, this
is how we found the structure of the specific one,
and this is how we did it from this one,
and it's really cool and definitely outside of our scope. Yes,
totally agree. I was like, I am overwhelmed and thrilled
at once. But I'm not the one that I think

(19:10):
can make this any clearer. I can tell you it's cool.
M hmm. It seems to be around twenty ish that
the butterfly pea flower really started to trend in the
United States, which makes sense in our time of Instagram foods.
It was a really perfect fit for making uniquely colored

(19:34):
and color changing in some cases foods. Uh. Those always
good to remember and respect the history of something, and
it has been used as an ingredient in some places
for centuries. Oh yeah, at least at least, so just
keep that in mind, um, bartenders of the newest craft
cocktail wave that we've talked about a lot like it

(19:57):
because it abused drinks with that bright blue color or
other bright colors without the mixers. And the eighties those
bright as you said, like artificial dye mixers that so
many of us have an aversion to nowadays or have
like bad memories associated with this, right. Yeah. M was
also the year that the first gin that's colored with

(20:21):
the flowers was released. Um, it's called ink Gin. It's
from Australia. Mm hmm. There are a couple of them now. Also,
I ran across a very popular cocktail that I'd never
heard of, what was called the mood Ring cocktail, which
is like you freeze ice with the butterfly pea flower
and then as it melts changes the like in Starbucks

(20:47):
launched a limited edition Butterfly Pea Lemonade cold brew. I
wouldn't be surprised if this comes back again. People get
excited about very brightly colored drinks. Yeah, absolutely, colors they
nice uh and uh in um. The first commercial pest

(21:10):
side made from butterfly pe extracts was approved for use
in Australia. Yeah. I really recommend I look it up
if you haven't seen it. It is brighter. Like every
time I make this cocktail that I'm making for Star
Wars Day, I'm so shocked at how beautiful bright it is. Yeah. Yeah,

(21:33):
it's very striking. Um, just a really, I mean, and yeah,
it is so interesting. It's a it's a very it's
a relatively rare color in plants, and when it occurs
in that kind of saturation, it's just like, oh yeah, yes,
is an attention grabber for sure. Um. And I would

(21:54):
love to hear from any listeners because there is a
big culture of t uh made with that and dumplings
and other things, of course, but I just love to
hear about that because that was sort of news to me.
Um oh absolutely yeah. I saw so many interesting um
tie dishes and oh just right right like every everywhere

(22:19):
around that area, and I want to eat all of
them and learn more. And so yeah, if if y'all
have any experience with it, please do right in, Yes,
please do. In the meantime, I think that's all we
have to say about this for now. It is. We
do have some male from listeners who have already written in,

(22:42):
and we are going to get into that as soon
as we get into another quick break for a word
from our sponsors. And we're back. Thank you sponsored, Yes,
thank you, We're back with this snor Star Wars. Is

(23:07):
that it was that a superman whose stars? Oh get out,
I'm leaving. Yeah, let's seeing myself. I cannot let this
Standna's all right, I knew that was going to be chricky.

(23:31):
I love you too much and just miss you. Thank you,
thank you, Like I have control over this. Ah well,
Victoria wrote. As soon as I saw your recent episode
on my feed and it's little description mentioned butter sculptures,
I thought, hey, I have a ram butter mold. I

(23:54):
bought it because I do love expanding my butter mold
collection and I'm born you're the sheep. So I thought
it fitting and had to make one to show you.
The place I bought it from has a little or
lamb aversion without the rams horns, but I liked the
ram better. Bonus butter sculptures I've seen at grocery stores
and what I've made since I last sent a message
to you about butter. I really enjoy making and eating butter. Yes,

(24:20):
I believe we read Victoria's pass messages about butter. Message
about butter on here, there's a delightful many pictures were sent.
Uh and the ram is very cute indeed, yes, yeah,
oh and that's so interesting. I don't feel like I
saw Uh, I don't. I didn't run across any horned sheep.

(24:42):
Oh yeah, you're right, you're right. I like the horns.
Yeah yeah, me too, me too. Maybe it was because
I was specifically searching for lamb, not like ram or Yeah.
So yeah, yeah, it's super cute. And we have many
of you have sent in pictures, and again, thank you

(25:03):
you've done as a true service. Yes, they're so great
and every time. Yeah, yes, and Victoria also sent pictures
from the grocery store has mentioned and I just was like,
I have never seen this in my life. I don't
know if I've someholse or past it um passed by, yeah, yeah,

(25:26):
yeah by sorry, yeah, but I just have never noticed it,
and I'm kind of sad about it. I'm sure it
would have given me great joy. Yeah, I don't think.
I don't think it's like a local thing around around
the Atlanta Greater Atlanta area. Um it's or at least

(25:47):
I haven't. I haven't seen it here either, maybe one day, Lauren.
One can only hope we need a new hope. You
don't know how how many Star Wars puns I've been
preventing myself from making. Oh why never hold back a pun?

(26:08):
I'm afraid it's like the dark Side. I'm afraid once
I get a taste, it's you'll never hear from me again.
It's just star We need to talk about the history. Annie,
and I'm like, choke on your aspirations. I watched her
one yesterday, so it's fresh on the brain. Okay, okay, uh.

(26:30):
Vanula wrote, I love your podcast. I visited New Orleans
three years ago and eight foods and things thinking of you.
I'm writing about the current episode of growing up in
Australia and now living in New Zealand. Black current cordial
is almost ubiquitous. I thought you'd enjoy the story about
how to fourteen year old science Maven's took down a

(26:50):
multinational company from misleading ads. Turns out the cordial is
not as rich in vitamin C. On a side note,
I had been in New Zealand for eighteen months before
hearing the ambrosia episode. I talked to people at work
who were horrified I hadn't had any, but then lockdowns
and no gathering, so I still haven't had any. If

(27:11):
you're interested in very strangely localized foods, may I recommend
bunny chow. It's something that my mum's makes from South Africa.
I have warm, fuzzy memories of her making it. We
were rarely back in South Africa due to apartheid and
my parents having a mixed marriage. My dad, a linguist,
was always fascinated about the origins of the name and
the development of an ethnic cuisine away from the mother culture.

(27:35):
Then we found this article about the history of bunny
chow and how it was developed to feed black Indian
or people of color when they weren't allowed to eat
in a restaurant. Mm hmm, yeah, I haven't heard of that.
I would be interested to look it up for sure. Um,
and I love this I Ambrosia's to one of my

(28:00):
very favorite episodes. To get to try it soon? Yeah.
Oh and let us know specifically what kind it is?
Tell us all about it? Yes, yes, and thanks for
sending this story. I hadn't heard about that. About the
he's too young, Yeah, this company too young science mavens.

(28:21):
Excuse me taking on this company? About this current cordial Yeah,
I love it, get it, get it? Yes? Yes, Well,
thanks to both of those listeners for writing in Happy
Star Wars Day, Happy Star Wars Day. May the fourth
be with you? Yes, yes, And you can write to

(28:45):
us to our email is hello at savor pod dot com.
We're also on social media. You can find us on Twitter, Facebook,
and Instagram at saver pod and we do hope to
hear from you. Savor is production of my Heart Radio.
For more podcasts my heart Radio, you can visit the
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your favorite shows. Thanks as always to our super producers

(29:06):
Dylan Fagan and Andrew Howard. Thanks to you for listening,
and we hope that lots more good things are coming
your way.