Mucuna poggei

Taub.

Buffalo bean

FabaceaeSeeds/NutsScore: 39/100Potential hazards — see below

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(c) Mark Hyde, Bart Wursten and Petra Ballings, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)

iNaturalist · cc-by-nc
(c) Babajide Agboola, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)

What to Eat

Edible parts: Seeds

The seeds are eaten.

Known Hazards

The pounded stems are cast into streams to stupefy fish. Mucuna species often possess irritant hairs on the seedpods and sometimes on the flowers and other parts. These hairs consist of 1-2 small basal cells and a large needle-like top cell. The top cell breaks off easily, piercing the skin and injecting chemical compounds that are present in the hairs. The proteolytic enzyme 'Mucunain' is said to be the active agent. The hairs can contaminate clothes or other objects, and remain active when dried, though they can be destroyed by heat. Intense itching, with reddening of the skin and small papules or urticaria occur a few minutes after contact with the hairy parts of the plant. There is no serious danger, unless the hairs get into the eye, in which case, in extreme situations, they have caused blindness. To remove the hairs from the skin, adhesive tape and washing with water and soap are considered useful. Dermatitis can be treated with corticosteroid ointment. See a doctor immediately if hairs go into the eyes.

Where to Find It

It is a tropical plant. It grows near rivers and swamps from sea level to 2,000 m altitude.

Africa, Angola, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central Africa, Congo, Côte d'Ivoire, East Africa, Guinea, Guinée, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Southern Africa, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, West Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe,

Countries: Angola, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Benin, Botswana, Congo (DRC), Central African Republic, Congo (Republic), Cote d'Ivoire, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Djibouti, Algeria, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Ghana, Gambia, Guinea, Equatorial Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Comoros, Liberia, Lesotho, Libya, Morocco, Madagascar, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Seychelles, Sudan, Sierra Leone, Senegal, Somalia, South Sudan, Sao Tome & Principe, Eswatini, Chad, Togo, Tunisia, Tanzania, Uganda, South Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe

How to Identify

A bean. It is a woody creeper with stem up to 30 m long. The stems can be 20 cm across. The sap stains things dark brown. The leaves are alternate and have leaflets along the stalk. The leaflets can be 10-19 cm long by 6-19 cm wide. The side leaflets are unequal. The flowers hang in a group in the axils of leaves. The flowers have orange-red hairs. The fruit is an oblong pod 5-20 cm long by 4 cm wide. It is covered with red bristles that irritate the skin. The pod contains 1-5 seeds. The seeds are curved and 2.5 cm long by 2 cm wide and flattened. They are purple with brown marks.

Nutrition Score: 39/100

Part	Moisture	kJ	kcal	Protein	Vit A	Vit C	Iron	Zinc
Leaves	8.3	—	—	32.4	—	—	10.6	0.24

How to Grow

Mucuna species generally grow best in a shady position in a humus-rich, moist but well-drained soil. Contact with the sap stains hands and iron implements brown-red. This species has a symbiotic relationship with certain soil bacteria; these bacteria form nodules on the roots and fix atmospheric nitrogen. Some of this nitrogen is utilized by the growing plant but some can also be used by other plants growing nearby.

Medicinal Uses

A decoction of the stem is said to cure spear wounds. The crushed bark and leaves are astringent and applied as a poultice to sores, wounds and burns. A leaf decoction or the young leaves are applied externally against herpes. A root decoction or extract is used to treat dysentery, diarrhoea, malaria, gonorrhoea, hookworm and schistosomiasis. Root shavings are applied as an analgesic against toothache. A root decoction is used as a wash to treat paralysis of the legs and yellow fever. A flower decoction is used as a treatment for headache. The seeds may contain the amino acid L-dopa (levodopa).

Other Uses

The stems are used to prepare a black dye. A black ink is prepared from the leaf sap. The chemical constituents are unknown. Tannins, cyanogenic glycosides and indolic alkaloids have been reported in various other Mucuna species, and may also be present in this species, contributing to the colouring effect of the sap and leaves. The ash of the plant is used to chase snakes. The thinner branches are used for tying.

Notes

It is used as a dye plant.

Names & Synonyms

Ghanhima, Mafurae, Ngerehe, Talicoedje

Mucuna rubro-aurantiaca De WildMucuna pesa De Wild.

References (6)

Burkill, H. M., 1985, The useful plants of west tropical Africa, Vol. 3. Kew.
Fowler, D. G., 2007, Zambian Plants: Their Vernacular Names and Uses. Kew. p 38
Jansen, P.C.M., 2005. Mucuna poggei Taub. [Internet] Record from Protabase. Jansen, P.C.M. & Cardon, D. (Editors). PROTA (Plant Resources of Tropical Africa), Wageningen, Netherlands. < http://database.prota.org/search.htm>. Accessed 20 October 200919 October 2009.
Johns, T., Mhoro, E. B. and Sanaya, P., 1996, Food Plants and Masticants of the Batemi of Ngorongoro District, Tanzania. Economic Botany, Vol. 50, No. 1, pp. 115-121
White, F., Dowsett-Lemaire, F. and Chapman, J. D., 2001, Evergreen Forest Flora of Malawi. Kew. p 330
World Checklist of Useful Plant Species 2020. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew