The substances behind the slimy strings from okra and the gel from fenugreek seeds could trap microplastics better than a commonly used synthetic polymer. Previously, researchers proposed using these sticky natural polymers to clean up water. Now, they report in ACS Omega that okra and/or fenugreek extracts attracted and removed up to 90% of microplastics in ocean water, freshwater and groundwater.
In my culture, properly cooking okra is a rite of passage/test of a good homemaker (I hate that word). Kind of as a difficult task to separate the men from the boys. (Well not specifically men and boys. You know what I mean.) It reflects on how you were taught to cook and manage a household as well, so it’s a test of the household you came from, in a way.
Simultaneously, okra occupies the same cultural context that my child self saw for broccoli in western cartoons. The unpleasant vegetable your mom makes you eat. Only I never found broccoli to be foul at all, and my parents don’t like okra so I never had to eat it lol