Flowers born to blush unseen?

John Butler-Adam

doi:10.17159/sajs.2016/a0159

Abstract

Ten years ago, I was a member of a team that went to visit a school in a far outlying location of the Cabo del Dado Province in northern Mozambique, the home of more elephants than had (at the time) been counted. The team included one of my then colleagues, and three associates from the Aga Khan Foundation who were based in the town of Pemba.

Highlights

Ten years ago, I was a member of a team that went to visit a school in a far outlying location of the Cabo del Dado Province in northern Mozambique, the home of more elephants than had been counted
On returning to South Africa, I looked for details about Moringa oleifera and discovered that its leaves are comparable to Andean quinoa grain: a remarkably nutritious food source that is an antioxidant, is rich in amino acids, and which contains, amongst other nutrients, calcium, magne sium, iron, iodine, lutein, zinc and vitamins A and B3
That all of 10 years later, the South African Journal of Science has received an unexpected number of papers that provide research findings on the nutritional and/or health values of a wide variety of indigenous, or indigenised, African plants

Summary

Introduction

I was a member of a team that went to visit a school in a far outlying location of the Cabo del Dado Province in northern Mozambique, the home of more elephants than had (at the time) been counted. That all of 10 years later, the South African Journal of Science has received an unexpected number of papers that provide research findings on the nutritional and/or health values of a wide variety of indigenous, or indigenised, African plants. The papers most recently published speak to a range of issues, the three areas most frequently addressed are nutritional value, food security and medicinal properties.

Results

Conclusion