Indigenous knowledge on the uses and morphological variation among Strychnos spinosa Lam. at Oyemeni area, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

Mbhele, Zoliswa; Zharare, Godfrey Elijah; Zimudzi, Clement; Ntuli, Nontuthuko Rosemary

Indigenous knowledge on the uses and morphological variation among Strychnos spinosa Lam. at Oyemeni area, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

dc.contributor.author	Mbhele, Zoliswa
dc.contributor.author	Zharare, Godfrey Elijah
dc.contributor.author	Zimudzi, Clement
dc.contributor.author	Ntuli, Nontuthuko Rosemary
dc.coverage	Basel, Switzerland
dc.coverage.conference	issn
dc.date.accessioned	2026-01-22T07:56:31Z
dc.date.available	2026-01-22T07:56:31Z
dc.date.issued	2022
dc.departmentName	Botany
dc.description.abstract	The majority of rural communities in South Africa are characterised by insufficient nutrition and food insecurity at the household level. Due to a lack of information about indigenous fruit trees and their use, food-insecure households are missing out on the nutrition that these fruits provide. Strychnos spinosa Lam. (monkey orange; umHlala) has been identified as one of southern Africa’s top priority fruit species for domestication. However, indigenous information on S. spinosa usage and morphological diversity is still lacking. Indigenous knowledge of species characteristics might be a good place to start when attempting to understand variations in key phenotypic traits. Information on the use and morphological variation of S. spinosa was collected from participants of 100 randomly selected homesteads. Participants were interviewed using a structured questionnaire. The results indicate that S. spinosa is a multi-purpose tree with numerous uses. Most respondents (97%) mentioned that they use it for fermented maize meal (umBhantshi); and others mentioned fermented porridge (amaHewu); alcohol; fruit; juice; jam; homestead protection; snakebite; firewood; food allergy; livestock increase; and only 7% mentioned for stomachache. Morphological variation was observed in leaf colour and shape, fruit rind colour, size, rind texture, pulp colour, pulp texture, and taste. However, the most mentioned variety featured green (78%), rounded leaves (78%) and green (39%), large (46%), smooth-textured rind (73%) fruits that had brown pulp (54%) and tasted sweet (58%). Understanding local knowledge systems and preferences can thus inform the selection of ethno-varieties that hold importance to local people and the potential to improve livelihoods in externally led domestication and development programs.
dc.faculty	Faculty of Science, Agriculture and Engineering
dc.format.preprint	No
dc.identifier.citation	Mbhele, Z., Zharare, G.E., Zimudzi, C. and Ntuli, N.R., 2022. Indigenous knowledge on the uses and morphological variation among Strychnos spinosa Lam. at Oyemeni area, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Sustainability, 14(11), pp.1-20.
dc.identifier.issn	2071-1050 (online)
dc.identifier.other	https://doi.org/10.3390/su14116623
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10530/58552
dc.inproceedings	issn
dc.issuenumber	14 / 11
dc.keynote	issn
dc.language.iso	en
dc.pages	1 - 20
dc.peerreviewed	Yes
dc.publisher	MDPI
dc.subject	Strychnos spinosa
dc.subject	Indigenous knowledge
dc.subject	Use
dc.subject	Morphology
dc.subject	Food
dc.subject	Monkey orange
dc.title	Indigenous knowledge on the uses and morphological variation among Strychnos spinosa Lam. at Oyemeni area, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
dc.title.journal	Sustainability
dc.type	Journal Article
dspace.entity.type	Publication
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