Documentation and nutritional evaluation of some wild edible fruit plants and traditional vegetable of the Vhembe District Municipality, Limpopo Province, South Africa

Abstract

Wild plants have been used since time immemorial by native people all over the world. In many sections of the rural areas, people traditionally harvest wide range of leafy vegetables, roots tubers and fruits from the wild because of their taste, cultural practices, as food supplements or to tide over food shortage. It has been reported that wild plants have been recognized to have potential that satisfies the needs on household food and income security. Millions of people in many developing countries do not have adequate sources of food to meet their daily nutritional requirements and furthermore, many people are suffering from malnutrition due to lack of one or more micronutrients. Thus, in most situations, rural communities rely on wild resources including edible vegetables and fruits to meet their daily food requirements.

Relatively little research projects conducted in the Vhembe District paid attention on wild edible plants and their nutrients. Therefore, the aim of this study was to further document wild edible plants and to evaluate nutritional status of some of these plants. To achieve this, an investigation was conducted in the four local municipalities of the Vhembe District municipality. Ten homesteads from four villages of each of the four local municipalities were randomly sampled to select respondents of this project. A total of 160 informants were interviewed through semi-structured questionnaires to firstly check the knowledge transfer from elderly members to youth members of Vhembe communities. This study demonstrated the major indigenous debility among the youth members who live in urban villages. Secondly, information concerning other different use categories was gathered through interviews with the 160 informants. Documented use categories mentioned during the interviews include food, medicine, beverages, construction, firewood, cosmetic, dye and artifacts. Sclerocayra birrea had eight use categories as compared to other edible fruit plant species. The list of documented wild edible plants includes trees, herbs, creepers, climbers and shrubs. Leaves of the mentioned growth forms were mostly used as compared to plants parts such as fruits, rhizomes, tubers, seeds and flowers. Some of the plants were mentioned to be available during certain seasons, therefore they were preserved using the sun drying method. Some edible parts can either be collected and sun dried or collected, cooked and then sun dried.

Micronutrients are essential for the normal growth of children; however, there is disturbing reports of low intake of micronutrients rich foods eaten by children residing in poor rural areas. Some reports showed the low intake of Vitamin A in black children younger than 10 years of ages. Vitamin A deficiency continues to be a major public health problem in South Africa; therefore, this study also evaluated Vitamin A and C statuses from selected vegetables. Plants that received attentioned were selected based on their frequency of use and availability. Leaves of Amaranthus thunbergii and Amaranthus hybridus had outstanding Vitamin C concentration of 69.106 mg/100g and 43.299 mg/100g respectively. Majority of the wild edible vegetables (i.e. six out of eight) evaluated contain substantial quantities of β-carotene. Exceptionally, leaves of Solanum retroflexum contained high level of 10.905 β-carotene. The study therefore recommends an urgent need for the documentation and promotions or awareness campaigns as a way of dealing with the loss of indigenous knowledge. Moreover, researches related to cultivation of wild edible plants must be considered. Nevertheless, despite the rich indigenous knowledge on the medicinal use of the wild plants which is well documented; more research particularly to serve the concern on socio-economic, pharmacological and nutritional aspects still require satisfactory attention.