Residents cash in on 'cure-all' Chinese fruit

Workers at Ms Jecinta Ndegwa's farm n Kirurumi village in Tetu work on seed beds with pepino melon seedlings. The fruit, which is described as super fruit has been touted as a natural treatment to diabetes, high blood pressure an arthritis among other diseases, hence causing an influx of the fruits in Nyeri markets. Photo by JOB WERU/Standard.

When Jecinta Ndegwa, a teacher, travelled to Thailand and China last year, her blood pressure rose at one point in the journey. She had been suffering from the condition for some time and her daily duties as a senior National Executive Committee member of Kenya National Union of Teachers (Knut) were affected by it.

"I visited my cousin who lives in China and he advised me to start eating pepino melon, a fruit he described as 'super fruit'," she said.