Irvingia gabonensis – Native Plant Search

Native Range

A native plant refers to a species of plant that has naturally evolved and grown in a particular geographic area without any human intervention or introduction. These plants have adapted to the local climate, soil, and ecological conditions over an extended period of time, often thousands of years. Because of this co-evolution with their specific environment, native plants have developed characteristics that make them well-suited to the local ecosystem and provide essential resources for local wildlife.

Native plants play a crucial role in maintaining the ecological balance of an area. They provide food and habitat for native wildlife, support pollinators like bees and butterflies, and contribute to the overall health of the ecosystem. Additionally, native plants often require fewer resources like water and fertilizers compared to non-native or exotic plants that may not be well-suited to the local environment.

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Native Continent

Africa

Sudan, Uganda, Central African Republic, Cameroon, Congo, Gabon, Benin, Côte D'Ivoire, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Angola

Natural Habitat

Edible Uses

Edible portion: Seeds, Fruit, Kernels, Leaves, Bark - drink. Seed - cooked. In season, the fallen fruits are collected in the forest and stacked till the pulp has rotted away. The nuts are opened and the cotyledons removed and dried. These cotyledons are a common item of market produce and are used in soups and as a food flavouring. They are said to have a pleasant taste with a lingering slight bitterness. The seeds are 25 - 38 mm long, 17 - 27 mm wide, 8 - 12 mm thick; the endosperm is almost non-existent. The principal domestic use of the seed is for the preparation of odika, or dika bread, also known as Gabon chocolate. For this the cotyledons are ground and heated in a pot that is lined with banana leaves in order to melt the fat, and then left to cool. The resultant grey-brown greasy mass is dika bread. It has a slightly bitter and astringent taste with a more or less aromatic odour. Pepper and other spices may be added, and it may perhaps be subjected to wood smoke. The end product may be made up into cylindrical packets wrapped in a basket-like or leaf-wrapping. It can be kept for a long time without going off and it is used as a food-seasoner. An alternative method of preparation, more akin to the making of vegetable butters, is to take the fresh or stored cotyledons and pound them into a paste. A third preparation, known in Gabon as ov?ke, is to soak the kernels for 15 - 20 days till soft and then to knead them by hand into a cheese-like paste. A fourth practice is known in Sierra Leone, in which the cotyledons are dried and ground to a brown 'flour' in which form it can be stored for use as an additive to food as and when required. The kernel is an important source of vegetable oil. There is a wide variation in quantity and composition of the oil; even so the seeds are considered a suitable source of industrial and edible oils. Total fat content has been recorded as 54 - 68%. The crude dika paste yields on heating or boiling 70 - 80% of a pale yellow or nearly white solid fat, dika butter, which has qualities comparable with cacao-butter, and is, in fact, a possible adulterant or substitute for the latter in chocolate manufacture. Freed from its slight odour it can also be regarded as suitable for margarine manufacture. The yellow, fibrous fruit looks somewhat like a small mango and has a similar flavour. The fruit pulp is palatable and can be used for a fruit drink and for jam production. The fruit is variable, with special forms. The pulp of some trees is edible with a turpentine flavour, and of others inedible, bitter and acrid. The edible ones are a good source of vitamins. The ellipsoidal to cylindrical fruit is 40 - 65mm long, 42 - 64mm wide, 34 - 60mm thick, smooth, green at maturity; mesocarp bright orange, soft and juicy with few weak fibres.