The chocolate berry of Africa

01 May, 2016 - 00:05 0 Views
The chocolate berry of Africa

The Sunday Mail

GROWING up there was a past time we used to enjoy: looking for ripe fruits of the indigenous vitex payos.
At times we did not find any due to high demand but there was always another plan. We would harvest the green fruits and store these in plastic sleeves for a few days until ripe.
Then we could enjoy the chocolate berries. At least we were assured of healthy teeth afterward.

Vitex payos, or chocolate berry, is a common tree with a wide distribution in tropical Africa from DRC, Kenya, Tanzania Angola, Malawi, Zambia, Mozambique and Zimbabwe.

In Shona it is called mutsubvu or muhubva and in Ndebele, Umtshwankela.
It can reach a height of 8m and is part of the interesting verbenaceae family. It is widely distributed in most parts of Zimbabwe, occurring in open woodland and on termite mounds on loamy soils and at times near rivers on alluvial soils. This gives an idea of where to plant it in your garden.

The chocolate berry is a very good ornamental subject due to its size and attractive (white to dark blue in colour) flowers which are seen from November to February.

It has a rounded crown and its trunk can be 15-30cm in diameter whilst its leaves are actually five leaflets and densely hairy on top.

Vitex fruits are ovoid to spherical and are about 3-4cm long and 2,5cm wide with a single hard seed inside. When the fruits are ripe they have a smooth skin and are black in colour, they have a mealy texture with a sweet coffee like flavour and are available from February to June.

The fruits can be enjoyed cooked, raw or made into a jam. Some might consider the fruit odour offensive but for some its part of the enjoyment.

This tree is part of the rich African heritage as it produces a very hardwood, which is used for poles or to make spoons, furniture and tool handles as well as fire wood.

When it comes to propagation of the tree for garden use the truncheons easily take root whilst seed dormancy is broken by wild fires.

Like many plants in the savannah it has some medicinal uses such as treating stomach aches with the decoction of the roots.
The pounded bark is used to treat skin infections whilst boiled leaves are used as an appetiser.

It is widely sold in many markets, the fruits of vitex payos can serve as a source of income for marginalised families.
There is potential for the processing of the fruits into jams or juices.

There is ongoing research in the control of mosquito with compounds extracted from the plant, which inhibit the growth of the larva.

Vitex leaves are also useful as manure for soil improvement. If you have not tested the chocolate berry do explore this African flavor. Plant a few trees in your garden.

This tree will succeed with very little care but water small trees regularly until they are established.
To establish a tree dig a hole, one metre wide and to a depth of 75cm. Mix the excavated soil with well rotted compost (15-25kg).

Add a general fertiliser such as compound C or D at a rate of 250g per planting station. You can also add single super phosphate for quick establishment at the same rate as above.

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