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Fruits are full of nature’s essential nutrients, antioxidants, and health benefits. They are also ready for use by people. Below is a list of native Central African fruit trees and other edible plants that have been used historically or are still being used today.
A major benefit of incorporating native edible plants is that they have adapted to suit local environmental conditions. They have adapted to soil type, temperature, and rainfall so they require less maintenance to keep them healthy.
Unlike the fruit trees of American and Asian origin, Africa’s fruit trees have not been recognized internationally in the commodity markets. Fruit production in Africa is predominately dominated by international fruit species introduced from tropical Americas and Asia. These introduced species, include Banana, Citrus, Mango, Papaya, Pineapple and others. The international fruit known and used by the local people continues to cause the downward spiral of knowledge and cultivation of local fruits. Thus, useful African wild plants have become threatened.
Consider this list of plants as a lesson in ethnobotany rather than a set menu of native plants. Some of the plants on this list may have only one edible portion while other parts of the plant may be toxic. Some could be toxic if prepared incorrectly.
Even if you prefer other fruit and vegetable options, consider growing one or two indigenous plants in your garden to help foster biodiversity and support native wildlife. You may just find they grow and produce far better than the imported fruit trees.
Edible: Fruit
Description: Evergreen tree 18-40m tall
Native to: Tropical African forest - Ghana to the Congo.
Use: The fruit is dark blue or violet when ripe with a pale to light green flesh. Fruit can be eaten either raw, cooked in salt water or roasted. Cooked flesh of the fruit has a texture similar to butter and is often eaten on bread. The fruit contains 48% oil. It is also rich in vitamins. The seeds are rich in carbohydrates, proteins, crude fibers, potassium, calcium, magnesium, and phosphorus. It is rich in essential amino acids such as Lysine, Phenylalanine, Leucine, and Isoleucine. It contain a considerable amount of fatty acids such as palmitic acids, oleic acids, and linoleic acids.
Toxicity: none known
Youtube Link - How to eat an African Butter Pear
Edible: Fruit Edible: Fruit
Description: Giant evergreen tree 40m tall (2m base)
Native to: Central & Western tropical Africa
Use: Fruit is edible raw with a pleasant, sweet-acid flavor
Conservation: In decline due to habitat loss and deforestation
Toxicity: None known
Edible: Leaves & fruit
Description: Shrub or tree 10-20m tall
Native to: Central Tropical Africa - Guinea to Central African Republic and Uganda, south to Angola, DR Congo and Tanzania.
Use: Fruit pulp is eaten raw, its pulp is sweet or acidulous. The leaves are also highly valued as food and are sold in local markets. They are commonly eaten in a vegetable soup. The leaves are enormous, and form a good groundcover retaining moisture, and rotting down to form a thick humus.
Growing: Naturally found in open places in rain-forests, streams, lagoons, lake sides, and flooded ground.
Toxicity: None known
Edible: Edible:
Description: Large, slow-growing, evergreen tree with a dense, spreading crown; usually growing 15-30m tall
Native to: Central and West Tropical Africa such as Senegal to southern Sudan, Nigeria, Uganda, Kenya, Angola, Zambia, Tanzania, Malawi, and Mozambique.
Use: Seeds can be eaten as dessert nuts after roasting or boiling, they are also ground into a meal, used in soups and to produce a variety of baked foods such as bread and paste.
Toxicity: The sap of the male tree is toxic
Edible: Fruit, leaves & seeds
Description: Herbaceous perennial creeper 3m
Native to: Central and tropical Africa such as Sierra Leone to Sudan, south to Angola, Zambia, Malawi, and Mozambique.
Use: The fruits are red when ripe with a sweet white juicy pulp. A Species in the ginger family, which produces delicious fruits and seeds used as a spice. Leaves are also used in food and as a spice.
Toxicity: None known
Edible: Fruit
Description: Evergreen shrub 4 - 6m tall.
Native to: Western and Central Tropical Africa.
Use: Fruit can be eaten raw. The ripe fruit, although not itself that sweet to taste, can modify the taste receptors in the mouth, causing foods to taste sweeter
Growing: Damp forest fringes
Toxicity: None known
Edible: Fruit
Description: Tree 15-50m tall
Native to: Tropical African rainforests
Use: Fruit pulp is eaten. The seed is rich in caffeine and is chewed to provide energy and increase endurance. Leaf buds and young leaves can be cooked and eaten as a vegetable
Edible: Fruit & leaves
Description: Shrub or tree 10m tall
Native to: West and Central Africa.
Use: Fruit Pulp can be eaten as a snack, The leaves can be eaten as a vegetable.
Growing: Grows naturally in rain-forests and stream banks, it is termite resistant.
Toxicity: None know
Edible: Fruit
Description: evergreen, straggling or climbing shrub, either scrambling across the ground or climbing into other plants and attaching itself using tendrils, it can produce stems up to 18m long.
Native to: Central and East Africa
Use: Fruit is eaten raw it has a juicy pulp. It tastes sweet with a slightly acidic flavor.
Toxicity: None known
Edible: Fruit and seeds
Description: Giant tree 40m tall
Native to: Central and West Africa.
Use: Fruit can be eaten raw or processed into jelly, jam, juice, and sometimes even wine. The seeds, also known as dika nuts, are eaten raw or roasted. The seed coat has to be cracked open to get to the endosperm. The seeds are usually pounded into butter or a chocolate-like block. Seeds can also be pressed to produce an edible oil used for cooking. The press cake can be used as cattle feed or as a thickening agent for soup. They can also be made into a cake called "dika bread" for preservation.
Ecology: The fruits are often eaten by mammals such as monkeys, gorillas, elephants, and many more.
Conservation: Seeds are dispersed by vertebrates, including elephants and gorillas. With a reduction of those animals, the spread and regeneration of African bush mango decreases and it becomes more dependent on human planting.
Growing: They grow naturally in humid African rainforests
Edible: Fruit
Description: Evergreen tree 50m tall
Native to: S. America - Brazil, Bolivia, Peru, north to the Guyanas and Costa Rica. Tropical Africa - Senegal to Kenya, south to Angola to Mozambique.
Use: Pulp as a snack
Ecology: The fruits are attractive to elephants, which disperse the seeds in their dung; chimpanzees also consume a significant quantity of fruit.
Edible: Fruit
Description: Tree growing 20-25m tall
Native to: Central and West Africa
Use: The edible fruit pulp is soft, and sugary, with a caramel-like odor. Fruit is also used to spice dishes, it is often used in palm nut soup.
Growing: Grows best in the rainforests
Help plant fruit trees in villages to improve food security.
References:
Fruit trees native to Central Africa; Guinea, Central African Republic, Uganda, Angola, DR Congo, Tanzania, Zambia, Malawi, and Mozambique. Add some to your native food forest for crop diversity and biodiversity.
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