Uvaria acuminata
Oliv.
What to Eat
Edible parts: Fruit
Fruit - raw. The pulp of ripe fruits is sweet and is eaten by sucking it out and discarding the seeds. A refreshing juice is prepared by squeezing ripe fruits in water and adding some sugar, then it is filtered and drunk before or after being cooled. The yellow or orange, round to ovoid fruits are 8 - 16mm in diameter. They are produced in clusters of 5 - 15 fruits.
Where to Find It
A tropical plant. In Kenya it grows from sea level to 1,400 m altitude.
Africa, East Africa, Ethiopia, Kenya, Madagascar, Mozambique, Tanzania,
How to Identify
A shrub or climber. It can grow 5 m high. The leaves are usually hairy underneath. The leaves are rounded or heart shaped at the base. It narrows to the tip. The flowers are yellow. They occur singly or in pairs. The fruit are as several warted sections. They are yellow when ripe.
How to Grow
Plants can be grown from seeds.
Medicinal Uses
The roots are boiled and the decoction is used for the treatment of dysentery, snakebite, painful menstruation, stomach-ache and breast disorders.
Other Uses
The wood is used for withies, bows, tool handles and walking sticks. The wood is used for fuel.
Production
In Tanzania the fruit are collected from July to September.
Notes
There are about 100-150 Uvaria species. They grow in the tropics. All Uvaria are climbers.
Names & Synonyms
Kadzala-doe, Mchofuo, Mshofu, Mudzala, Murori, Qormera, Tomur
References (12)
- Addis, G., Asfaw, Z & Woldu, Z., 2013, Ethnobotany of Wild and Semi-wild Edible Plants of Konso Ethnic Community, South Ethiopia. Ethnobotany Research and Applications. 11:121-141
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- Glover et al, 1969,
- Maundu, P. et al, 1999, Traditional Food Plants of Kenya. National Museum of Kenya. 288p
- Msuya, T. S., et al, 2010, Availability, Preference and Consumption of Indigenous Foods in the Eastern Arc Mountains, Tanzania, Ecology of Food and Nutrition, 49:3, 208-227
- Mutie, F. G., 2020, Conservation of Wild Food Plants and Their Potential for Combatting Food Insecurity in Kenya as Exemplified by the Drylands of Kitui County. Plants 2020, 9, 1017
- Mutie, F. M., et al, 2023, Important Medicinal and Food Taxa (Orders and Families) in Kenya, Based on Three Quantitative Approaches. Plants 2023, 12, 1145
- Pakia, M., 2000, Plant Ecology and Ethnobotany of two sacred forests (Kayas) at the Kenya Coast. M. Sc. Thesis.
- Peters, C. R., O'Brien, E. M., and Drummond, R.B., 1992, Edible Wild plants of Sub-saharan Africa. Kew. p 55
- Reis, S. V. and Lipp, F. L., 1982, New Plant Sources for Drugs and Foods from the New York Botanical Garden herbarium. Harvard. p 72
- Ruffo, C. K., Birnie, A. & Tengnas, B., 2002, Edible Wild Plants of Tanzania. RELMA p 696
- Walsh, M., 2009, The Use of Wild and Cultivated Plants as famine Foods on Pemba Island, Zanzibar. Études océan Indien. 42-43
