Lost Crops of Africa Volume III: Fruits (2008) / Chapter Skim
Currently Skimming:
Pages 185-220
The Chapter Skim interface presents what we've algorithmically identified as the most significant single chunk of text within every page in the chapter.
Select key terms on the right to highlight them within pages of the chapter.
From page 185... ...
Gathering fruit has been a routine of growing up throughout the millennia of our existence. In rural areas everywhere on earth, wild fruits contribute to nutrition and health during the most vulnerable period of human life.
|
From page 186... ...
Arguably, wild fruits comprise Africa's most vulnerable food resource sector and, because of the pre-existing condition of scientific neglect, their shaky status will only worsen unless there is incisive intervention. Nudging nature even a little is often enough to tilt the balance in favor of a wild fruit establishing or persisting in lieu of scrub; research and its application can work wonders.
|
From page 187... ...
Some are even used as sources of water.5 5 It is little-recognized that wild fruits quench thirst safely. Filled with pure water, they contributed to public health long before the concept of Public Health was recognized.
|
From page 188... ...
As with the species treated earlier, these have been chosen from the recommendations of hundreds of researchers who participated in the first phase of this multi-part investigation of Africa's promising indigenous food plants. It should be understood that these 14 are representative of the wealth to be found among Africa's untamed fruit resources.
|
From page 189... ...
What might be called "the lost sops" deserve further development, not to mention protection from disappearance. One, the African custard apple, has been called "the best indigenous fruit in most parts of tropical Africa." Another,
|
From page 190... ...
5. Gingerbread Plums Within virtually the whole of sub-Saharan Africa -- the vast stretch of territory between Senegal and Madagascar -- there exist a number of interrelated wild fruits (Parinari and kindred genera of the Family Chrysobalanaceae)
|
From page 191... ...
10. Monkey Oranges Three monkey oranges (Strychnos cocculoides, S
|
From page 192... ...
Given horticultural attention, monkey oranges probably can be raised with equal facility. Already, they bear their fruits in abundance.
|
From page 193... ...
Yet at least a dozen of these wild fruits could be valuable future food resources. Although belonging to the same plant family as mango, cashew, and pistachio, their fruits are more like grapes in form.
|
From page 194... ...
* √ √ √ √ NB: The underlying justifications for these broad rankings are discussed in the following sections on Nutrition, Food Security, Rural Development, and Sustainable Landcare; greater detail is provided in the separate chapters on individual crops.
|
From page 195... ...
Therefore considerable ambiguity over their true relative worth, let alone their future, is to be expected. Below is a summary of the merits, specifically in terms of fighting malnutrition, of each of the wild fruits highlighted in the second section of this book.
|
From page 196... ...
As tools for malnourished children's self-medication they might prove exceptional, seeing the plants are adaptable, rugged, self-sustaining, high yielding, and within the reach of little fingers. Custard Apples These are sweet, flavorful, attractive, and likely to provide nutrients in reasonable quantity.
|
From page 197... ...
Monkey Oranges We're not certain just how to rate these fruits for combating childhood malnutrition. On the one hand, they are among the most popular native wild fruits.
|
From page 198... ...
The kernels are also crushed to extract their oil for culinary use. Collectively, then, the contributions of vitamins, quality protein, and food energy could make sweet detars powerful preventatives and even possible cures for several types of malnutrition and their associated ailments.
|
From page 199... ...
Fruit flies present a perennial problem that is hardly simple or easy to solve, but which can be minimized. In general, however, wild fruits have minimum management requirements for survival, making them ideal for food security, where their contributions may be episodic but vital.
|
From page 200... ...
Gingerbread Plums These wild tree fruits are a nice seasonal resource, fruiting when other foods are also normally abundant, but we are unaware of any specific merit for food security during dearth times. Gumvines Not recommended for food security purposes at present.
|
From page 201... ...
In conjunction with tree planting and tree conservation, their food security talents are well worth putting on the stage. Monkey Oranges Monkey orange trees are certainly respected for their shade and good looks.
|
From page 202... ...
They resist the groundfires that are so prevalent and so ruinous in the savannas. The individual species are poorly known to science so no one can now say just what role they might play in food security projects, but on the basis of their resilience and productivity in the untamed wilderness, tree grapes seem likely to prove useful.
|
From page 203... ...
In many areas of Africa, gathering wild fruits for sale is considered a female prerogative. It is women who sell the fruits, thereby gaining a small income to supplement the welfare of their families.
|
From page 204... ...
Gingerbread Plums For purposes of rural development, these fruits seem at least worthy of exploration. They are already used in a variety of ways: some are eaten fresh, some are boiled with cereal, and some are made into colorful drinks, gruels, and syrups.
|
From page 205... ...
And they provide edible seed kernels. Monkey Oranges These trees already provide a profit.
|
From page 206... ...
However, at present not even the basics of the plant's production, maintenance, or use are well described. Sugarplums This is one of the few wild fruits with an organized distribution system.
|
From page 207... ...
At the very least, the wild fruits we describe are putative components in sustainable food production. They typically provide more than one edible product (a striking contrast with fruit trees grown in temperate zones)
|
From page 208... ...
Custard Apples With their notable sugar content, these fruits appeal as foodstuffs, but the plants fall far short of any ideal for environmental protection. They are certainly capable of surviving without human help, and they add value to wooded wild areas.
|
From page 209... ...
Indeed, African ebonies could become valuable not only for individual plantings but also for bordering streets and highways, for fencelines, for village squares, and for small-scale entrepreneurial endeavors of many kinds. Gingerbread Plums Producing vastly more of these tasty fruits under more organized conditions seems eminently feasible.
|
From page 210... ...
Although this legume probably does not fix notable amounts of nitrogen, it survives in harsh, infertile sites and tolerates some drought and much heat. All in all, sweet detars seem likely to make good backyard, village, and street trees, providing welcome shade and environmental benefits, not to mention copious food.
|
From page 211... ...
Emphasizing wild fruits adds value to nurturing all such lands.
|
From page 212... ...
DEVELOPING WILD FRUITS Keeping wild fruits wild is certainly an important aspect of the future for Africa. But many of the native fruit species also seem to be good candidates for improvement, domestication, and commercial production.
|
From page 213... ...
Africa's wild fruits offer such a wealth of benefits that formal research programs should also be set up all over the continent.8 In that way, horticulturists, plant pathologists, soil scientists, entomologists, foresters, and others can apply their training and experience to develop wild fruits. Examples of some specific technical needs are to: • Reduce the often-long delay between propagation and first fruiting.
|
From page 214... ...
NUTRITION In the exploration of wild plants there is of course much need for laboratory scientists in disciplines such as nutrition and food technology. Despite the importance of nutritional composition data, many of the wild fruits have gone unrecorded.
|
From page 215... ...
Yet many of Africa's wild fruits come from native forest trees. Of 1,000 indigenous trees growing in southern Africa, for example, more than 200 produce fruits eaten somewhere or another.10 Those tree-fruits may be eaten raw, dried, or mashed into paste; they may be eaten for health, hunger, or pleasure; they may be tasteless, astringent, or downright delicious.
|
From page 216... ...
In countries where national forest services have a mandate to protect naturally occurring trees, including those which bear fruit, clarification of ownership of wild fruit trees planted by individuals or communities may be necessary.12 Should wild fruits ever become economically valuable on a level approaching that of mangos and citrus a new set of issues come into play. For example, grower's need access to the land on which their trees are planted, so as to protect and benefit from the investment of time and money over the decades the trees remain productive.
|
From page 217... ...
All these are often more useful than are the fruits eaten for taste, minerals, and vitamins." In the view of this panel, it is worthwhile pursuing the full plethora of possibilities offered by the wild fruits of Africa -- consumption and commerce, as well as whatever else can be made from the plant or its byproducts. For too long, the spark of modern ingenuity has ignored these ancient foods.
|
Key Terms
This material may be derived from roughly machine-read images, and so is provided only to facilitate research.
More
information on Chapter Skim is available.