Paullinia pinnata

Cheese and bread

SapindaceaeFruitLeavesSeeds/NutsFlowersScore: 29/100Potential hazards — see below

iNaturalist · cc-by-sa
(c) Marco Schmidt, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA)

iNaturalist · cc-by-nc
(c) Clément Barbier, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Clément Barbier

iNaturalist · cc-by-sa
(c) Marco Schmidt, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA)

What to Eat

Edible parts: Leaves, Aril, Seeds, Fruit, Flowers

The white aril (layer around the seeds), fruit pulp, leaves, flowers, and seeds are eaten. It is reasonably commonly consumed in West Africa.

Known Hazards

All plant parts contain alkaloids (timbonine) and saponins. They are used as fish poison etc., and for medicinal applications. Although poisonous, saponins are poorly absorbed by the human body and so most pass through without harm. Saponins are quite bitter and can be found in many common foods such as some beans. They can be removed by carefully leaching in running water. Thorough cooking, and perhaps changing the cooking water once, will also normally remove most of them. However, it is not advisable to eat large quantities of food that contain saponins. Saponins are much more toxic to some creatures, such as fish, and hunting tribes have traditionally put large quantities of them in streams, lakes etc in order to stupefy or kill the fish. The seeds have been used for criminal poisoning. The juice is used for poisoning arrows.

Where to Find It

It is a tropical plant. It grows on coastal plains, swamps and sandy beaches. It grows in seasonally flooded forests. It grows along riverbanks and can grow on sand or clay. It grows between sea level to 1,600 m above sea level. In Argentina it grows below 500 m above sea level. It can grow in arid places.

Africa, America, Angola, Argentina, Belize, Benin, Bolivia, Botswana, Brazil, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Caribbean, Central Africa, Central African Republic, CAR, Central America, Chad, Colombia, Congo DR, Côte d'Ivoire, Cuba, Dominica, Dominican Republic, East Africa, Ecuador, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, East Africa, French Guiana, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Grenada, Guatemala, Guiana, Guianas, Guinea, Guinée, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Lesser Antilles, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Martinique, Mauritius, Mexico, Mozambique, Myanmar, Niger, Nigeria, North America, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Puerto Rico, Rwanda, Sahel, Sao Tome and Principe, SE Asia, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Southern Africa, South America*, Sudan, Suriname, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Venezuela, West Africa, West Indies*, Zambia, Zimbabwe,

Countries: Antigua & Barbuda, Angola, Argentina, Barbados, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Benin, Brunei, Bolivia, Brazil, Bahamas, Botswana, Belize, Canada, Congo (DRC), Central African Republic, Congo (Republic), Cote d'Ivoire, Chile, Cameroon, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Cape Verde, Djibouti, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Algeria, Ecuador, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Grenada, French Guiana, Ghana, Gambia, Guinea, Equatorial Guinea, Guatemala, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Honduras, Haiti, Indonesia, Jamaica, Kenya, Cambodia, Comoros, St Kitts & Nevis, Laos, St Lucia, Liberia, Lesotho, Libya, Morocco, Madagascar, Mali, Myanmar, Mauritania, Mauritius, Malawi, Mexico, Malaysia, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, Philippines, Puerto Rico, Paraguay, Rwanda, Seychelles, Sudan, Singapore, Sierra Leone, Senegal, Somalia, Suriname, South Sudan, Sao Tome & Principe, El Salvador, Eswatini, Chad, Togo, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Tunisia, Trinidad & Tobago, Tanzania, Uganda, United States, Uruguay, St Vincent, Venezuela, Vietnam, South Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe

How to Identify

A woody creeper or vine. It can be 5-10 m long. The leaves have 5 leaflets. The leaf stalk has wings. The flower racemes occur singly in the axils of leaves. They can be 10 cm long. The flower are in clusters without stalks. The flowers are white. The fruit is an oblong or pear shaped capsule. It is 3 cm long by 1.4 cm wide. It is pinkish red and has fine lines along it. The valves are woody and there is 1 or sometimes 3 seeds inside. These are 1 cm long by 0.8 cm wide and 0.6 cm thick. They are shiny and blue-purple to black. There is a white aril or layer around the seed. This is edible.

Nutrition Score: 29/100

Part	Moisture	kJ	kcal	Protein	Vit A	Vit C	Iron	Zinc
Fruit aril	83	1203	69	0.7	—	—	110	—

Medicinal Uses

The plant is used medicinally. An infusion of the leaves is used to treat metabolic disorders in young children.

Other Uses

The stems are much used for cordage. The stems and twigs are employed for cordage. The fibres obtained from the stems are used for making ropes. The roots are used as chewsticks to keep the teeth clean and healthy.

Wikipedia

Source ↗

Paullinia pinnata is a flowering plant species in the genus of Paullinia found in South America and Africa. The long flexible stems of P. pinnata are used to poison fish in shallow pools, as described by the English naturalist Henry Walter Bates in his book The Naturalist on the River Amazons.

Other Information

It is reasonably commonly eaten in West Africa.

Names & Synonyms

Apgi, Barbasco, Beco-be-unhou, Belecapsulassule, Belekesu-lesuli, Bolo-coninlolo, Cinco-dedos, Cinco-fodja, Cinco-folha, Cipo-cinco-folha, Coledjoe, Coli-djoi, Cuiotche, Cundintadjo-o, D'jambolulu, Djambalulo, Feifi-finga, Fouli, Fruta-de-pomba, Kasisi, Kururu ape, Kutupurang, Leki-nou, Ludimi, Lukaka, Lumbwa, Maco, Mopumba, Mupeketatie, N'fankoko, N'resque, Ngudi nkayi, Palo sol, Runn, Timbo, Toa-ntini, Yesi kushi, Ysypo kururu

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