Abstract
Six administrative regions of Senegal were investigated. Forty species of vegetable leaves which are traditionally consumed in Senegal have been inventoried. All species are members of twenty-one families the most numerous of which are Amaranthaceae Juss., Malvaceae Juss., Moraceae Link., the Papilionaceae Giseke and Tiliaceae Juss. The species are subdivided into three groups: cultivated leafy vegetables, plants gathered annually, perennial sub-ligneous and ligneous species. The gathered species represent 67.5% of the inventory, 40.7% of which is ligneous. Cultivated species account for 32.5% of the inventory. The species are consumed for their medicinal properties, nutritive value and eating habits linked to specific ethnic traditions. During the drought years, with the scarcity of main food (millet, mays) consumption of leafy vegetables is high. All species reported except Sesuvium portulacastrum L. are consumed like vegetable herbs. The species of Hibiscus are eaten in spinach and condiment form while Sesuvium portulacastrum L is cooked in salad. Of the forty species examined, eleven are widely consumed. Within the entire study area, Hibiscus sabdariffa predominates among species consumed, followed by Moringa oleifera Lam. and Senna obtusifolia Link. A high consumption level of some species like amarante, Corchorus tridens L., Corchorus aestuans L., Leptadenia hastata Decne. and Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp is confined to certain areas. In addition to their consumption as vegetables, the medicinal uses of 57.5% of these is of primary importance. The most commonly exploited parts are, respectively, leaf (40%), roots (20%), and bark (13.3%). Among the numerous pathologies treated, abscess, constipation, and rheumatism are predominant followed by aphrodisiac uses. The Amaranthus spp. L., Leptadenia hastata Decne., Senna obtusifolia Link., Adansonia digitata L. and Tamarindus indica L. are species with multiple medicinal uses.
Highlights
During the course of the last decade, the rapid genetic deterioration of traditional, cultivated species as well as their native forms has become apparent, indicating absolute necessity for urgent development of regional and national programmes to safeguard phytogenetic resources
The intense anthropologic pressure associated with the degradation of ecosystems as well as profound edapha-climatic changes constitute the principal factors in the loss of genetic diversity among the available indigenous species
We investigated forty species of local vegetables in Senegal; the leaves of which are traditionally consumed (Table 1)
Summary
During the course of the last decade, the rapid genetic deterioration of traditional, cultivated species as well as their native forms has become apparent, indicating absolute necessity for urgent development of regional and national programmes to safeguard phytogenetic resources. Traditional or indigenous vegetables which have adapted to native agro-ecological conditions are sometimes more abundant in certain nutrients essential for the optimal development of organisms in comparison to vegetables of European origin Among these traditional vegetables, would include the leafy ones such as amaranth, manioc, patate aquatique and taro, which contains the same average constituents of protein as are present in legumes such as peanuts, soy beans and niebe. Would include the leafy ones such as amaranth, manioc, patate aquatique and taro, which contains the same average constituents of protein as are present in legumes such as peanuts, soy beans and niebe They possess seven times more calcium, twice the iron, one-hundred and ninety-one times more beta carotene, and seventy-eight times more vitamin C (Oomen et Grubben, 1978). The effective management of the local phyto-genetic resources requires us to focus on both the reassessment of local, traditionally consumed leafy vegetables and the careful itemization of their various medicinal and other uses
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