Boscia senegalensis

(Pers.) Lam.ex Poir.

Dila, Aisen

Capparaceae Edible: Seeds, Leaves, Fruit, Caution, Vegetable Potential hazards — see below 49 iNaturalist observations

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Summary

Boscia senegalensis, commonly known as hanza, is a member of the family Capparaceae. The plant originated from West Africa. Still a traditional food plant in Africa, this little-known fruit has potential to improve nutrition, boost food security, foster rural development and support sustainable landcare. It produces products for consumption, household needs, and medicinal and agricultural uses.

Description

An evergreen shrub. It normally grows 1-2 m high but can be 4-10 m tall. It has a spreading round crown. The young twigs have short soft hairs. The bark is smooth and grey. The leaves are a matt green colour. The have many distinct veins. They are oval and 12 cm long by 4 cm wide. Under the leaf the veins are white and form a many sided pattern. The flowers are hairy and greenish white. They occur in small clusters on small stalks. The fruit are round berries about 1.5 cm across. They become yellow when mature. They have a hard crust. The flesh lets light through and in jelly like. There are usually 1-2 seeds per berry. The seeds are flattened on the under side. There are 2500-3500 seeds per kg.

Edible Uses

Edible Parts: Fruit Leaves Root Seed Edible Uses: Coffee Drink Sweetener Edible portion: Seeds, Leaves, Fruit (Caution), Vegetable. The yellow cherry-sized berries (up to 15mm in diameter) are borne in clusters. When newly ripe, their rather sweet pulp is translucent and jelly-like. However, in the desiccating air it quickly dries out, turning into something not unlike caramel before ending up a brittle, brown, and quite sugary solid. Despite its good taste, this toffee-like treat is difficult to separate from the seed. Besides being eaten fresh, the ripe fruits are often boiled. The juice is sometimes extracted, filtered, and boiled down into a semisolid, which is commonly mixed with millet and curdled milk to make cakes. The dried seeds are used as a substitute for millet or lentils. They require lengthy preparation and must be eaten cooked. The traditional procedure involves soaking the seeds for a week (changing the water daily) to remove bitter components. Less commonly, the seeds are boiled for 3 hours (and rinsed at least twice with new water). In either case, they are subsequently dried and ground into flour and used in making porridge. The roasted seed is used as a substitute for coffee. Young roots, scraped of bark, may be ground, sieved, mixed with cereals, and boiled into a thin gruel or thick porridge. They are very sweet. The roots can be sun-dried and stored for later use. The root tissues are also boiled slowly for several hours to make a sweet syrup. The leaves, although just about the most leathery and least appealing foodstuffs on earth, are also consumed. Most are dropped into soups or boiled and mixed into cereal products such as gruel or couscous. The plant is particularly useful this way because it is an evergreen and provides food and nutrients when other plants are bare. An important food in the Sudan and Mali. The seeds are used as a famine food in emergencies. Chemical composition (after Berry-Koch) (g/mg/mcg per 100g) (dried): Protein = 21g. Fat = 1.6g. Calcium = 123 mg. Fe = 6.8 mg. Beta carotene = 165 mcg Vitamin B1 = .02 mg. Vitamin B2 = .03 mg. Niacin = 8.8 mg. Vitamin C = 5 mg. Kcal = 341; (cooked): Protein = 5.4g. Fat = 0.2g. Calcium = 33 mg. Fe = 2.8 mg. Beta carotene = 25 mcg. Vitamin B1 = .01 mg. Kcal = 92. (after Abdelmuti) (un- debittered): Protein (crude) = 29.3%. Oil = 0.7%. Ash = 3.5%. Fibre (crude) = 2.7%. Carbohydrate (soluble) (starch) = 39.5%; (sugars): Sucrose = 4.3%. D-glucose = 0.2%. D-fructose = 0.7%. Amino acids (g (16g N)-1): Aspartic acid = 7.7g. Threonine = 1.7g. Serine = 2.3g. Glutamic acid = 9.0g. Proline = 6.5g. Glycine = 3.5g. Alanine = 3.2g. Valine = 4.5g. Cysteine (performic acid oxidation) = 1.3g. Methionine (performic acid oxidation) = 1.8g. Isoleucine = 2.9g. Leucine = 7.0g. Tyrosine = 2.3g. Histidine = 1.3g. Lysine = 1.5g. Arginine = 15.1g. Minerals: Sulphur = 2.20 mg/kg-1 (dry). Potassium = 0.15%-1 (dry). Magnesium = 0.10% (dry). Calcium = 0.14% (dry). Na = 0.01% (dry). K = 1.03 mg/kg-% (dry). Zinc = 42 mg/kg-1 (dry). Iron = 10.5 mg/kg-1 (dry). Manganese = 17 mg/kg-1 (dry). Copper = 8 mg/kg-1 (dry).

Traditional Uses

The outer flesh of the berries is eaten while they are young. The seeds are used as a famine food in emergencies. They need to be treated. (They are soaked for several hours with several changes of water. The seeds are then boiled with potash then soaked in cold water. ) The roasted seeds are used as a coffee substitute. The leaves are sometimes eaten after crushing in water, drying then reduced to a powder and cooking.

Medicinal Uses

Ophthalmic Stomachic Vermifuge Vitamin C The leaves are used as a treatment against bilharziosis, guinea-worm sores, haemorrhoids, intestinal complaints, headaches, colic and ulcers. An emulsion of the leaves is used as an eyewash. The roots are vermifuge. The fruits are used in the treatment of syphilis. The plant (part not specified) is used in the treatment of jaundice and swellings.

Known Hazards

Fruits are ready for human consumption at the beginning of the rainy season, when most crops are just being planted, and there is little other food available. Fruits can be consumed raw and cooked. Raw fruits initially contain a sweet pulp that then dries out to a sugary solid, difficult to separate from seed. Fruits are often cooked prior to consumption. Juice can also be extracted and boiled down into a butter-like consistency that can be mixed with millet and milk to make cakes. In Sudan, the fruit is fermented into a beer. The seeds of B. senegalensis are also important sources of nutrition, especially during times of famine. To gain access to the seeds, fruits are dried in the sun, pounded to remove the outer seed coat and soaked in water for several days, changing the water every day. The seed soaking process, also known as debittering, is essential to remove bitter and potentially toxic components. Seeds are usually cooked prior to consumption. Cooked seeds are texturally similar to a chickpea and can be used as a cereal substitute in stews, soups and porridges. Additionally, seeds can be re-dried and stored for later use or ground into a flour that can be used to make porridge. Roasted seeds can also serve as a substitute for coffee.

Distribution

It is a tropical plant. It grows naturally in the dry savannah regions of Africa. It grows in the Sahel and the Sahara. It can tolerate very high temperatures. (40-45°C). Plants grow from sea level to 1300 m altitude. They grow best with a rainfall of 250-600 mm but can grow with rainfalls of 100-300 mm. They grow on a range of poor arid soils. It can grow in arid places.

Where It Grows

Africa, Algeria, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central Africa, Central African Republic, CAR, Chad, Côte d'Ivoire, East Africa, Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinée, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mediterranean, Morocco, Niger, Nigeria, North Africa, Sahel, Senegal, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Togo, West Africa, Zambia,

Cultivation

Plants are mostly self sown from seed. They can also be grown from stem cuttings.

Propagation

Seed - Although the seeds germinate readily, the seedlings have so far proved difficult to transplant from nursery to field. Thus, it is recommended that direct-seeding trials be established to find out how to establish healthy populations in situ There are claims that root and shoot cuttings have been used to propagate aizen. This could be a vital lead because with them superior plants can be replicated. The possibility of grafting should be explored, because it would allow elite aizen types to be grafted onto the wild trees now so prevalent and widespread. That in turn would ensure rapid quality-fruit production. Also, it would provide lasting benefits because of the rootstock?s obvious adaptability to the site.

Other Uses

Filter Fuel Shelterbelt Soil stabilization Wood Other uses rating: Medium (3/5). Agroforestry Uses: Aizen is a promising plant for establishing famine-food reserves, for protecting erodible soil, for stabilizing dunes, for windbreaks, and for other utilitarian purposes in the harshest of harsh sites. Its foliage is unpalatable to livestock and other herbivores, who only eat it in times of direst need. Thus the trees are able to survive without the need for protection. Other Uses The leaves are added to granaries in order to protect stored foods against pests. This long-standing traditional process seems to work. Leafless twigs contain glucosinalates, which can hydrolyze to mustard oils, which are highly toxic and irritant to mucous membranes. The plant contains natural coagulants. The bark, twigs, leaves, and roots are used to scavenge suspended and colloidal compounds from unclean water (such as that from ponds churned up by storms or from baobab-tree cisterns contaminated with soil). Normally the plant parts are sliced up and placed on the water surface. Compounds leach out and catch the clay and other particulates like magnets, causing them to clump and settle to the bottom. It is reported that truly turbid water can be safely drunk after just a day of such treatment. For even faster results, aizen branches are swirled in the water. Aizen wood is soft and easy to work when boiled. It is cut for poles, notably those holding up houses. Although smoky and stinky, the wood is used as cooking fuel when nothing better is at hand (which in the harshest areas is all too often). This plant is attractive to bees, butterflies and birds. Suitable for growing in containers. Special Uses Attracts Wildlife Food Forest

Production

Flowering occurs in the cool dry season. Fruit ripen at the beginning of the rainy season.

Other Information

In the Sudan and Mali the plant is an important food. It is a staple food during famines.

Notes

Chemical composition (after Berry-Koch) (g/mg/mcg per 100g) (dried): Protein = 21g. Fat = 1.6g. Calcium = 123 mg. Fe = 6.8 mg. Beta carotene = 165 mcg Vitamin B1 = .02 mg. Vitamin B2 = .03 mg. Niacin = 8.8 mg. Vitamin C = 5 mg. Kcal = 341; (cooked): Protein = 5.4g. Fat = 0.2g. Calcium = 33 mg. Fe = 2.8 mg. Beta carotene = 25 mcg. Vitamin B1 = .01 mg. Kcal = 92. (after Abdelmuti) (un- debittered): Protein (crude) = 29.3%. Oil = 0.7%. Ash = 3.5%. Fibre (crude) = 2.7%. Carbohydrate (soluble) (starch) = 39.5%; (sugars): Sucrose = 4.3%. D-glucose = 0.2%. D-fructose = 0.7%. Amino acids (g [16g N]-1): Aspartic acid = 7.7g. Threonine = 1.7g. Serine = 2.3g. Glutamic acid = 9.0g. Proline = 6.5g. Glycine = 3.5g. Alanine = 3.2g. Valine = 4.5g. Cysteine (performic acid oxidation) = 1.3g. Methionine (performic acid oxidation) = 1.8g. Isoleucine = 2.9g. Leucine = 7.0g. Tyrosine = 2.3g. Histidine = 1.3g. Lysine = 1.5g. Arginine = 15.1g. Minerals: Sulphur = 2.20 mg/kg-1 (dry). Potassium = 0.15%-1 (dry). Magnesium = 0.10% (dry). Calcium = 0.14% (dry). Na = 0.01% (dry). K = 1.03 mg/kg-% (dry). Zinc = 42 mg/kg-1 (dry). Iron = 10.5 mg/kg-1 (dry). Manganese = 17 mg/kg-1 (dry). Copper = 8 mg/kg-1 (dry). There are 37 Boscia species.

Nutrition

Part	Moisture	kJ	kcal	Protein	Vit A	Vit C	Iron	Zinc
Seeds	11.4	1425	341	21.2	—	—	6.8	—
Fruit	11	1415	345	24	80	5	10	—
Leaves	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—

Synonyms

Boscia octandra Hochst. ex Radlk.Boscia hypoglauca Gilg.Podoria senegalensis Pers.Boscia angustifolia Lam.

Also Known As

Akondok, Anza, Bere, Diendoum, Dilo, Eyzzen, Hamta, Hanza, Korsan, Lamboetga, Lambotga, Mekhet, Mukhait, Mukheit, Tabila, Tubaqe

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