Food
Leaves are widely used for culinary purposes. Now a day people concentrate on eating more leaves because they are very good for maintaining a good health. Fast food giants like McDonald’s and pizza hut started providing salads as side dishes. Salads contain plenty of leaf vegetables.
Leaf vegetables are typically low in calories, low in fat, high in protein per calorie, high in dietary fiber, high in iron and calcium, and very high in phytochemicals such as vitamin C, carotenoids, lutein and folic acid as well as Vitamin K.
Medicine
Herbal medicine refers to using plant’s leaves, seeds, berries, roots, bark, or flowers for medicinal purposes. The value of using herbal medicine in treating and preventing disease is increasing rapidly. Leaves had been used for medicinal purposes long before recorded history.
When chemical analysis was founded, scientists began to extract and modify the active ingredients from plants. Later, chemists started making their own version of medicine, and over time, the use of herbal medicines declined in favor of drugs.
In many cases, scientists aren’t sure what specific ingredient in a particular herb works to treat a condition or illness. The use of herbal supplements has increased dramatically over the past 30 years. Leaves can help treat a variety of conditions and in some cases may have fewer side effects than some conventional medications.
Beverages
Leaves are used to make beverages like tea - It is the most widely consumed beverage after water. Tea is an aromatic beverage prepared from the cured leaves by combination with hot or boiling water. It has a cooling, slightly bitter, astringent flavor.
There are at least six varieties of tea: white, yellow, green, oolong, black, and pu-erh of which the most common are white, green, oolong, and black. Pu-erh tea is also often used medicinally.
The traditional method of making a cup of tea is to place loose tea leaves in a cup and pour hot water over the leaves. After a couple of minutes the leaves are usually removed by straining the tea while serving.