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Ethnobotanical assessment of indigenous wild and semi-wild fruits for medicine and food in delta state Nigeria
Section 1. Biology
Oroka Frank,
Delta State University, Asaba Campus, Nigeria PhD in Crop Science, Department of Agronomy, E-mail: [email protected] Ureigho Nelly,
Delta State University, Asaba Campus, Nigeria PhD in Forestry, Department of Forestry and Wildlife E-mail: [email protected]
Ethnobotanical assessment of indigenous wild and semiwild fruits for medicine and food in delta state Nigeria
Abstract: The study was aimed at assessing indigenous wild and semi-wild fruits used for food and medicine among the rural people with the goal of promoting their conservation. The study results showed fleshy, juicy fruits were most preferred for consumption.
Keywords: indigenous fruits, ethnomedicine, nutrition.
Introduction
The Nigeria forests and grasslands are rich in plant biodiversity of different species consisting of 7,895 plant species (with 1575 monocotyledons and 4636 dicotyledons) identified in 338 families and 2,215 genera [6, 1-50]. In the village and urban markets, a great number of these wild and semi-wild indigenous forest fruits from trees and shrubs are collected and sold on regular market days. Those fruit trees not planted by farmers, but are protected by them either on fallow lands or on their farms are considered to be semi-wild.
Several non-wood forest plant products are regularly collected for sales and human consumption in different communities in Nigeria [5, 13-16] noted that indigenous fruits provide alternative source of nutrition to supplement agricultural crops that are currently grown. Common among plant products are wild fruits and other foods, palm products (fruit, oil and wine), and cola nuts. These plant products which are commonly seen in rural markets contribute positively to the rural economy of developing country like Nigeria [11, 16-32; 4, 13-18].
These plants play major roles in nutrition and ethnomedicine, in addition to being important sources of income to the rural people.
The food value of most these fruits is most appreciated during the dry season when the regular cultivated foods are usually in short supply. Most of them are among the neglected and underutilized species, because less emphasis is placed on them in terms of research and improvement. This continuous neglect has resulted in underexploitation of their potential economic value [9, 5-6]. Besides their significance in food and ethnomedicine, most of these plant species also contribute to sustaining cultural diversity linked with social exchanges, health practices, food habits and religious rituals [8, 817-822].
With increasing extraction, the population of most these wild and semi-wild fruit species are continuously decreasing and gradually going into extinction without any appropriate measures to replacing them. There is therefore need to elucidate the various benefits of the indigenous wild and semi-wild fruits in relation to their
contribution to food security and nutrition, health and rural livelihood in these local communities. This will provide better knowledge and information that will form a basis for the conservation of these species of plant fruits.
Materials and Methods
The study was conducted in Ethiope East Local Government Area (LGA) of Delta State, located in the tropical humid rainforest of southern Nigeria. The rainfall pattern is bimodal, with the dry season between November and February, the rainfall peaks between May and August. Ten villages located in the Ethiope East LGA were investigated, namely: Ovu, Oviorie, Okpara Inland, Eku, Okurekpo, Igun, Abraka, Okuredafe, Isiokolo and Okpara Waterside. Majority of the rural community dwellers cultivate arable and staple crops such as cassava, maize, groundnut, yam, cocoyam, fruit and leafy vegetables, etc.
Indigenous fruit species were selected based on the steps described by [3, 211-230]. The first step was to create an inventory of edible wild and semi-wild species of fruits in the study area based on information from villagers, those sold in local markets and literature. The free-listing method [2, 12-18] was the second step. To determine farmers' priority species, each farmer was asked to indicate 5 species in order of preference. The first priority fruit species was assigned 5 points, while least ranked species was assigned 1. In other to calculate the total ranking points for each fruit species across all respondents, the total points for each fruit was summed up across household members and the priority species was calculated based on the total ranking points. This was used to determine the top 12 indigenous fruit species for the selected villages.
In each selected village, 50 households were purposively selected for the presence of father, mother and children. The respondents (fathers, mothers and children) were asked to choose their preferred fruit from the fruit list based on their level of appreciation in relation to taste, hunger and medicine. Fruit score scale ranged from 1 (very much disliked) to 5 (very much liked), while 3 shows indifference towards the fruit.
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Section 1. Biology
Results and Discussion
The rank in order of preference of each indigenous fruit species is shown in Table 1. Tetracarpidium conophoram, Irvingia gaboneesis, Dacryodes edulis, Dennietta tripetala and Chrysophyl-lum albidum appear to be the most appreciated. [10, 5-8] also observed Irvingia gaboneesis and Dacryodes edulis among the most popular preferred species in a survey in some West Africa countries. The succulent nature of these fruits in addition to their deli-
cious edible pulp that is aromatic with refreshing taste may be the reason for the high level of appreciation. Thes fruits also contribute to satisfying hunger before another cooked meal. Piper guineense and Solanum aguivi with peppery, bitter taste respectively were the least appreciated. Although juicy, Solanum aguivi may be less liked because the edible part is small and only a small number of the species grow in some fallow farmlands. Similar observation has been reported [1, 2-6].
Table 1. - Classification of wild fruits in order of preferences by respondents
Species Total ranking points Rank
Tetracarpidium conophoram 148 1
Irvingia gaboneesis 133 2
Dacryodes edulis 127 3
Dennietta tripetala 100 4
Chrysophyllum albidum 92 5
Aframominum melegueta 79 6
Garcinia kola 86 7
Cola nitida 83 8
Dialium guineensis 71 9
Monodora myristica 68 10
Piper guineense 66 11
Solanum aguivi 54 12
The level of appreciation by individual household members is shown in Table 2. When compared to the adults, children expressed a great level of appreciation for a variety of indigenous wild and semi-wild fruits. Fruits most appreciated by the children were Tetracarpidium conophoram, Dialium guineensis, Chrysophyllum albidum and Dacryodes edulis while fruits with bitter taste or peppery taste with less juicy nature were not appreciated by the children [7, 251-281] also observed that children like juicy, sweet and tasty fruits, but did not enjoy fruits with less aromatic smell and that are
not juicy. Garcinia kola, Cola nitida and Tetracarpidium conophoram were most appreciated by the fathers. Garcinia kola and Cola nitida are stimulants used for cultural and medicinal purposes. The mothers indicated their preference for fruits used in cooking such as Irvingia gaboneesis, Monodora myristica, Aframominum melegueta. While Irvingia gaboneesis is used for thickening soup, Monodora myristica and Aframominum melegueta are main cooking spices within the area of study. Besides Cola nitida, most of the fruits are seasonal, either in the rainy or dry season.
Table 2. - Seasonality and level of appreciation of wild fruits by household members
Fruit species Seasonality Appreciation
Rain dry Father mother Children
Tetracarpidium conophoram x 4 4 4
Chrysophyllum albidum x 1 3 4
Dacryodes edulis x 2 4 4
Solanum aguivi x 1 3 2
Dennietta tripetala x 3 4 2
Piper guineense x 1 3 1
Aframominum melegueta 3 4 1
Garcinia kola x 4 2 1
Irvingia gaboneesis x 3 4 3
Monodora myristica 1 4 1
Cola nitida x x 4 2 1
Dialium guineensis x 1 2 4
From Table 3, respondents indicated the common use of the ethnomedicine.
fruits. The uses range from eating fresh fruits, spice for cooking and
Table 3. - Uses of identified wild fruits as stated by respondents
Species Family name Common name Use
1 2 3 4
Tetracarpidium conophoram (Müll. Arg.) Hutch. & Dalziel Euphorbiaceae Africa walnut Eaten fresh
Chrysophyllum albidum G. Don Sapotaceae Bush apple Succulent, juicy fruit eaten fresh
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Ethnobotanical assessment of indigenous wild and semi-wild fruits for medicine and food in delta state Nigeria
1 2 3 4
Dacryodes edulis G. Don Burseraceae African plum Eaten alone or with maize
Solanum aguivi (Lam) Solanaceae Egg plant Sight bitter tasty fruit eaten fresh
Dennietta tripetala (Bak. F) Annonaceae Pepper fruit Treatment of cough and fever, enhancement of appetite
Piper guineense (Schum & Thonn) Piperaceae Black pepper Used as cooking spice
Aframominum melegueta (K. Schum) Zingiberaceae Alligator pepper Used as stimulant
Garcinia kola Heckel Clusiaceae Bitter kola Used as stimulant, used in local treatment of
Irvingia gaboneesis Irvingiaceae Bush mango Used in cooking soup
Monodora myristica (Gaertn.) Dunal.) Annonaceae African nutmeg Spice for cooking
Cola nitida (Vent.) Schott & Endl. Sterculiaceae kolanut Eaten as stimulant, used for cultural purposes
Dialium guineensis (Wild) Fabaceae Velvet tamarind Eaten fresh
Conclusion
The results of this study have shown that respondents have much preference for consumption and use of indigenous wild
fruits. This shows that there is need to document traditional knowledge of plant genetic resources, which will form a basis for their conservation.
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