Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
bukror, berde, saad, sag; Luo (Uganda): jago; Ngakarimojong (Uganda): edodoi; Lunde (Zambia):
muvunguvungu; Lunyul (Uganda): mujungwe; Luo (Kenya): yago; Luo (Uganda): jago; Lusoga
(Uganda): muvunjudza; Maa (Kenya): oldarpoi, ortarboi; Maasai (Tanzania): ol darboi, ol darboi;
Ngoni (Zambia): muvungula; Nguu (Tanzania): mvungwe; Mbukushu (Namibia): ghuvunguvungu,
ghuvenguvungu; Malinke (Gambia): sanjubaha, limbi; Malinke (Guinea): limbi lamban, dindon;
Malinke (Ivory Coast): lamban, lemba, limbi; Malinke (Mali): dindon, limbi, tudo
Description —
Kigelia
comprises a polymorphous species. It is extremely variable in habit and
leaf morphology, which has led to the distinction of up to 10 separate species and many synonyms.
Kigelia africana
is a small- to medium-size semideciduous tree, up to 25 m in height. The bark is
gray and smooth at first, peeling on older trees. It can be as thick as 6 mm on a 15-cm branch. The
wood is pale brown or yellowish, undifferentiated, and not prone to cracking. The tree is evergreen
where rainfall occurs throughout the year, but deciduous where there is a long dry season.
The leaves are opposite or whorled, usually in whorls of 3-4, usually crowded toward the apex
of branches, imparipinnate, up to 60 cm long; stipules are absent; petiole is up to 15 cm long and
rachis up to 25 cm long; leaflets are 5-13, with lateral ones subopposite, subsessile except rounded to
cuneate, more or less asymmetrical, apex rounded or retuse to broadly tapering, margin entire, ser-
rate, toothed or wavy, papery to leathery, glabrous to more or less hairy at both surfaces, with 6-13
pairs of lateral veins. Inflorescence is a terminal, pendulous, very lax panicle, up to 100 cm long,
with a long peduncle. Flowers are bisexual and very large; pedicel is up to 11 cm long, upcurved at
the tip; the calyx is shortly tubular to campanulate, 2-4.5 cm long, suddenly widening and incurv-
ing upward, with limb 2-lipped, the superior lip 2-lobed, the lower one 3-lobed and recurved, lobes
are rounded, at first yellowish, later becoming reddish to purplish with darker streaks; stamens 4,
didynamous, adnate to the corolla tube, 4-7.5 cm long, staminode 1; disk annular, thick; ovary
superior, 1 celled, up to 1.5 cm long, with 2 parietal placentas, style filiform, up to 7 cm long. The
fruit is a large, sausage-like, pendulous berry up to 100 × 18 cm, with a peduncle up to 100 cm long,
indehiscent, wall woody, surface heavily marked by lenticels, and gray-brown when mature. The
fruit pulp is fibrous and pulpy and contains numerous seeds.
Habitat and Distribution —
Kigelia
is widely distributed throughout tropical Africa, particu-
larly in the drier regions. It is a very resilient plant.
Ethnomedicinal Uses —
The plant is used in traditional medicine for various purposes, includ-
ing chronic constipation, fainting, anemia, sickle-cell anemia, epilepsy, respiratory ailments, hepatic
and cardiac disorders, and nutritional illnesses such as kwashiorkor, rickets, wasting, and weakness.
The fruit is used for edema, cancer, rheumatism, snakebites, fevers, malaria, and syphilis, and an
alcoholic beverage similar to beer is also made from it.
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The unripe fresh fruit is considered poison-
ous and strongly purgative and is used internally only in small doses. It can be prepared for consump-
tion by drying, roasting, or fermentation. The leaves and stem bark have been used for dysentery,
constipation, wound dressing, boils, and fevers. The leaves are sometimes used to prepare a general
tonic for improved health and growth. The stem bark decoction has been used as an aphrodisiac and
for the treatment of kidney diseases, solar keratosis, diarrhea, coughs, and inflammation. The bark
and leaves are decocted and administered as an abortifacient. Sexual complaints such as infertility,
poor libido, sexual asthenia, and impotence are treated with medicines containing the fruits, roots, or
leaves.
1
The root is a remedy for boils, sore throat, constipation, and tapeworm infestation.
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Kigelia
is also used in the treatment of skin diseases and in traditional cosmetics preparations
as a skin lightening agent, to reduce wrinkles, and to promote smooth skin. In Nigeria, the ground
fresh or dried fruits are formed into a paste and rubbed on the breast to treat “cancer” of the breast
or abscess.
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In some parts of Africa, it is considered a sacred plant and is used in religious rituals.
Constituents —
The sausage tree elaborates a complex mixture of secondary plant metabolites,
including iridoids, naphthoquinones, phenylpropanoids and phyenylethanoid derivatives, couma-
rins, lignans, flavonoids, fatty acids, and steroids. The fruits have been shown to contain the fol-
lowing iridoids: jiofuran, jioglutolide, 1-dehydroxy-3,4-dihydroaucubigenin, des-p-hydroxybenzoyl
