Hunteria congolana — Edible Plant Database

What to Eat

Edible parts: Fruit

The fruit is eaten.

Known Hazards

Where to Find It

It is a tropical plant. It grows in the forest.

Africa, Central Africa, Congo DR,

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 woody climber. The leaves are opposite and narrowly oval. They are 13 cm long by 5 cm wide.

How to Grow

The plant can flower and produce fruit all year round.

Medicinal Uses

A decoction or infusion of the bark is taken as an anthelmintic and to treat fever, stomach-ache and diarrhoea. The seeds are taken as an anthelmintic and to treat fever, stomach-ache and diarrhoea. Some 23 indole alkaloids have been isolated from the plant. Eburnamonine (synonyms: vinburnine, vincamone) from the roots, plus akuammicine and pseudoakuammigine from the seeds, have an effect on the vasomotor and respiratory centres of the brain. In tests, oral application gave an increased tonus, increased blood pressure and in some cases strong muscular contractions and even death. Low doses may result in an increase of arterial blood pressure. These activities are comparable to those of strychnine. Pseudoakuammigine is an indirect, reversible and competitive parasympathomimetic.

Other Uses

All parts of the plant contain a milky to yellow latex. No uses are mentioned. The yellow wood is hard. No uses are mentioned.

Wikipedia

Source ↗

Hunteria congolana grows as either a shrub or a tree up to 20 metres (66 ft) tall, with a trunk diameter of up to 30 centimetres (12 in). Its flowers feature a white or yellow corolla, turning pink when in bud. Fruit is yellow to bright orange. Habitat is primary forest from 500 metres (1,600 ft) to 1,700 metres (5,600 ft) altitude. Local medicinal uses include for fever, diarrhoea and as an anthelmintic. H. congolana has been used as arrow poison. The plant is native to Democratic Republic of Congo and Kenya.

Names & Synonyms

Banyaluende, Bokokota, Magu, Neiroco, Nekidoco, Nyaleunde

References (1)

Terashima, H., et al, 1991, Ethnobotany of the Lega in the tropical rainforest of eastern Zaire: part 1, Zone de Mwenga. African Study Monographs. Suppl. 15:1-61