Annona senegalensis

Annona senegalensis, commonly known as African custard-apple, wild custard apple, wild soursop, abo ibobo (Yoruba language), sunkungo (Mandinka language), and dorgot (Wolof language) is a species of flowering plant in the custard apple family, Annonaceae. The specific epithet, senegalensis, translates to mean "of Senegal", the country where the type specimen was collected. A traditional food plant in Africa, the fruits of A. senegalensis have the potential to improve nutrition, boost food security, foster rural development and support sustainable land care. Well known where it grows naturally, it is largely unheard of elsewhere.

Description

A shrubby tree which looses its leaves during the year. It grows to 2-6 m high. The bark is grey and smooth. The young stems are hairy and orange. The older bark becomes thick and folded. It peels off to expose paler patches. The leaves are oval and blue-green. They are 18 cm long. They are curved like a spoon. Under the leaf is hairy. The leaves have a peculiar smell when crushed. The flowers are yellow green. They occur as one to three together hanging down below the twigs. The fruit is rounded and 2-7 cm across. It is smooth but divided like lots of small parts fused together. It is green when unripe and turns orange-yellow when ripe. It has a smell like a pineapple. It has many seeds. They are pale brown. The sweet pulp around the seeds is edible.

Edible Uses

The sweet pulp of ripe fruit is eaten fresh, made into jam and drinks, or dried. Flower buds are eaten in soups and as flavouring, and can be dried for storage. Young leaves are eaten cooked, and the bark is chewed.

Traditional Uses

The flower buds are eaten. They are used in soups and as a flavouring. They can be dried and stored. The flesh of the ripe fruit is eaten fresh. It has a pleasant taste. They are also used for jam and drinks. The fruit can be dried. The young leaves are edible cooked. The bark is chewed.

Medicinal Uses

The primary use of this versatile plant is for food, but it has applications in numerous aspects of human endeavor, and every part of the plant has unique properties and uses. The flowers, leaves and fruit are edible and culinary: white fruit pulp has a mild, pineapple-like flavor. Flowers are added to spice or garnish meals; leaves are eaten by humans as vegetables, or grazed by livestock. Leaves are also part of the diet of the West African giraffe. The leaves are also used to create a general health tonic, in the treatment of pneumonia, and as mattress and pillow stuffing. Specific to Sudan, leaves are boiled in the making of perfume. Bark can be processed to produce yellow-brown dye, insecticide, or medicine for treating a wide array of ailments, including worms parasitic on the intestines or flesh (notably guinea worms), diarrhea, gastroenteritis, lung infections, toothaches, and even snakebites. Natural gum in the bark is used to close open wounds. Roots are also used medicinally in treating a gamut of conditions, from dizziness and indigestion to chest colds to venereal diseases. Suckering shoots provide binding fibers, and the malleable, pale brown to white wood is used to carve tool handles, or fashioned into poles. Wood ash is an admixture to chewing tobacco and snuff, and also in soap production as solvent. The essential oils in the fruits and leaves are valued for their organic chemical constituents: car-3-ene (in fruit) and linalool (from leaves). Certain parts of A. senegalensis are used in treating skin or eye disorders. Many South Africans believe the roots can cure insanity. Some Mozambicans feed them to infants to wean them from their mother's breast.

Distribution

A tropical plant. It grows in the lowlands. It is found throughout Africa. It grows in tropical and warm regions. It grows in semi arid to sub humid regions. It grows in the Sahel. It grows in miombo woodland. The young trees need light shade. They need well drained soil. It is a tree of the savannah regions. It grows in the lowlands. It is best with a temperature range of 17-30°C and a rainfall of 700-2,500 mm per year. It can grow in arid places. It is best with a pH between 5.5-7. In Malawi it grows below 1,200 m altitude. In Kenya it grows from sea level to 1,750 m above sea level. In Brisbane Botanical Gardens.

Where It Grows

Africa, Angola, Australia, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central Africa, Central African Republic, CAR, Chad, Congo DR, Congo R, Côte d'Ivoire, East Africa, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guiana, Guinea, Guinée, Guinea-Bissau, India, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sahel, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Southern Africa, South Sudan, Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, West Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe,

Cultivation

It is grown from fresh seeds. It is probably best to grow seedlings in a nursery and then to transplant them. Seed grow easily but not all at the same time. There are 2,500-3,000 seeds per kg. Seed can only be easily stored for 6 months. Plants can be cut back and allowed to re-grow. Plants can be grown by root suckers.

Propagation

Seed - scarification improves germination rates of nursery grown plants. Natural regeneration by seed is usually good, especially on recently cultivated or burnt areas of land. Seed storage behaviour is orthodox. Seeds are susceptible to insect damage and lose viability within 6 months. However, viability can be maintained for more than 2 years in air-dry storage at 5c. Root suckers are produced naturally by the plant in conditions such as the wounding of roots by fire, or trampling by cultivators and animals.

Other Uses

The boiled flowers are used as a source of perfume by local people. An essential oil is found in the leaves. The major constituents are car-3-ene in the fruit and linalool. A perfume is made from boiled leaves. Ash from the wood is added to chewing or snuff tobacco and also is a solvent in soap production. This last probably means that the wood ashes are used as a source of potash for mixing with oil to make soap. The leaves are sometimes used as a stuffing when filling mattresses and pillows. Fibre from young sucker shoots is used in binding. A yellow or brown dye is obtained from the bark. An effective insecticide is obtained from the bark. The wood is soft and white or light brown in colour. It is used for wooden spoons, poles, tool handles etc. The wood is used for fuel.

Production

Trees are slow growing. Trees flower from October to December in the southern hemisphere. The fruit is ready from January to March. Fruit mature in about 120 days. It is best to pick fruit before they ripen and to ripen them in a dark warm place. Trees are climbed to harvest the fruit. Fruit weigh about 25 g.

Other Information

It is a commonly used food in West Africa. It is sold in local markets. Fruit tend to be available in the drier more hungry season.

Notes

There are about 100-150 Annona species. It has anticancer properties.

Nutrition

Synonyms

Also Known As

Abo, Ahur, Amamense, Amatelemba, Arere, Ata, Ateira, Azonguegue, Bambuta, Bame, Baraga, Barkudga, Batoco, Benempe, Benempele, Benotero, Bodi-iode, Bole, Bore, Bubomba, Butor, Corossol, Dangsni, Dangarasho, Digor, Dokami, Ducume, Dukuhi ladde, Ebolo, Ebo odan, Ebwolo, Edwolo, Ematelemba, Ematembe, Gishta, Gonocoi, Gwanda, Gwandar daji, Hur, Imisharamariya, Konokonombazaha, Korofetaka, Koropetaka, Makulo, Mam-bunda, Mambomba, Mambumba, Mandopi, Maroro, Mdape, Mikongonasy, Mlopelope, Mokamanawe, Mokokele, Mokokwenana, Monoqo, Morompfa, Motllepo, Mponjela, Mposa, Mpoza, Msrisiris, Mtokwe, Mtomoko, Mtomokwe, Mtonkwe, Mtopetope, Mubengeya, Muchingwa, Muembe, Muffa, Mulama omusaiza, Mulembe, Mulolo, Munamutimu, Muporana, Muroro, Mutumoko, Muyembe, Nkonola, Ntjopha, Nyabolo, Obolo, Obololo, Obwolo, Pofugwane, Ropfa, Sampane, Sonyonma, Sucum-o, Suncum-um, Sunkungo, Teponri mundang, Ububese, Ukpokpo, Uloloco, Umtelemba, Umushirashira, Waloho, Yarohu

References (140)

• Abbiw, D.K., 1990, Useful Plants of Ghana. West African uses of wild and cultivated plants. Intermediate Technology Publications and the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. p 41
• Acipa, A. et al, 2013, Nutritional Profile of some Selected Food Plants of Otwal and Ngai Counties, Oyam District, Northern Uganda. African Journal or Food, Agriculture, Nutrition and Development. 13(2)
• Agea, J. G., et al 2011, Wild and Semi-wild Food Plants of Bunyoro-Kitara Kingdom of Uganda: etc. Environmental Research Journal 5(2) 74-86
• Alyegba, S. S. et al, 2013, Ethnobotanical Survey of Edible Wild Plants in Tiv Communities of Benue State, Nigeria. Journal of Natural Sciences Research. Vol.3, No.7
• Ambe, G., 2001, Les fruits sauvages comestibles des savanes guinéennes de Côte-d’Ivoire : état de la connaissance par une population locale, les Malinké. Biotechnol. Agron. Soc. Environ. 5(1), 43-48

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