Several discoveries have been made by scientists from Iloilo -- located in the Western Visayas region of the Philippines -- lately. In the field of medicine, a new possible source of antibiotic was found on the ocean floor of Iloilo's waters. To add to the discoveries in the medicine field, a sixteen-year-old scientist from Iloilo brought her discovery to 2019 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) that was held at Phoenix, Arizona, USA.

The young scientist identified as Maria Isabel Layson of Iloilo National High School attends Special Science Class. Layson was one of the declared winners in 2019 National Science and Technology Fair (NSTF) back in February. She was included in the 12 representatives of the Philippines to compete in the world's largest pre-college science research competition. The Department of Education or DepEd, hosted a send-off ceremony, in which Layson was one of the recognized individuals by Gokongwei Brothers Foundation Young Scientist Award.

Layson also said she pursued her study of the disease knowing that diabetes is one of the top causes of death not only in the Philippines but also in the entire world. The Aratiles fruit also caught the young scientist's attention after noticing it just laying around. The fruit is also 'locally available' and is full of anti-oxidants.

This is according to an article from RMN Ph, in an interview with RMN Iloilo, Layson revealed the backgrounds of her study:

"Nagtuon ko sang Aratiles or Sarisa para ma - address ang diabetes... Ang conclusion sini is that, all of the plant parts sang sarisa nagacontain ni siya sang anti-oxidants nga makabulig ini siya sa iya nga anti-diabetic properties niya."

[I studied the Aratiles fruit or Sarisa to address diabetes. The conclusion of this study is that, all of the plant parts of the Sarisa fruit contains anti-oxidants, which could help because of its anti-diabetic properties.]

The aratiles fruit is known in other countries as Jamaican cherry, Panama berry, Singapore cherry, bolaina yamanaza, cacaniqua, capulín blanco, nigua, niguito, memizo, or memiso. In certain areas of the Philippines, these little red fruits are called manzanitas or "small apples", also spelled mansanitas or manchanitas.