Vitex payos
(Lour.) Merrill
Chocolate berry
(c) Günter Baumann, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA)
(c) Grant Reed, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)
What to Eat
Edible parts: Fruit
The fruit can be eaten raw or cooked. It is sweet with a mealy texture and can be made into jam. Each fruit is about 2 cm long with pointed tips and a chocolate brown or black skin; the juicy pulp surrounds a single hard stone. A very popular fruit in parts of Africa, it is considered an acquired taste for those unfamiliar with it. Westerners are often put off by the flavour, powdery texture, oily mouthfeel, and strong smell. The fruits have a rather unpleasant smell and leave a temporary black stain on the teeth, but are much eaten by children and herdsmen.
Where to Find It
A tropical plant. It occurs in open woodland and on rocky outcrops at medium to low altitudes. In Kenya it grows from sea level to 1,600 m altitude. It is usually in more arid zones. It is often on sandy soils. It can grow in arid places.
Africa, Botswana, Central Africa, East Africa, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Southern Africa, Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe,
How to Identify
A small to medium sized tree. It grows 4-10 m tall. The crown is rounded. The bark is grey to brown. There are cracks along its length. Young parts of the plant are covered with light brown woolly hairs. The leaves have 5 leaflets. (Sometimes there are 3 or 4). The leaflets are broadly oval and 11 cm long by 6 cm wide. They are bright green and finely hairy. The edges are often thickened and rolled under. The leaf stalk can be 12 cm long. The flowers are white to dark mauve and 6 mm long. They have 2 lips. The lower lip is mauve and upper one white. The occur in small heads made up of a few flowers. They are on a common stalk 7 cm long. The fruit are oval and 1.5-2 cm long. They are black when mature. There is a cup at the base. The fruit are edible.
Nutrition Score: 54/100
| Part | Moisture | kJ | kcal | Protein | Vit A | Vit C | Iron | Zinc |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fruit - dry | 13.2 | 1293 | 309 | 3.2 | — | — | 6 | 3 |
| Fruit | 63 | 15 | — | — | 2 | — | — | — |
How to Grow
It can be grown from ripe seed.
Propagation: The seed has a hard coat that hinders germination. In the wild the seed coat is broken by annual fires.
Medicinal Uses
A decoction of the root is used as a remedy for stomach problems. The pounded bark is used to treat threadworm and skin problems. The leaves are boiled and the liquid drunk by patients who have lost their appetite.
Other Uses
The leaf fall acts as a mulch to improve soil condition. The wood is very hard and is used for poles and spoons. It is also used as fuel.
Wikipedia
Vitex payos is a tree growing to 8 m in height and spread at a medium rate. It adapts to light sandy, medium loamy, and heavy clay soils with good drainage, tolerating mildly acid, neutral, and basic soils. The tree requires full sun and adapts to dry or moist conditions. Bee-pollinated. Hardy to UK zone 10.
Production
It grows fairly quickly. The mature green fruit can be covered in ash to encourage ripening.
Other Information
The fruit are sold in local markets.
Notes
Also put in the family Verbenaceae.
Names & Synonyms
Chicuvu, Fudu, Huvu, Kimuu, Mfudu, Mfufu, Mfulu, Mgobe, Mpulu, Muburu, Mufudu, Mufutu, Mupulu, Mupuuru, Mupuva, Mutsubvu, Muu, Npuroterre, Tsubvu, Umchangwela, Umtshwankela
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