The nutritional composition of African wild food plants: from compilation to utilization

The nutritional value of wild food plants is of interest to ethnobotanists, clinicians, chemists, nutritionists and anthropologists. There is no definitive resource available containing this information for African wild food plants. The aim of the study was to develop a methodology for compiling quantitative information from the literature. Taxonomy and nomenclature for 20 species of interest were checked using the recent Flora treatments and the International Plant Names Index (IPNI). Boolean strings incorporating accepted scientific name, scientific synonyms and available English vernacular names were used to search citation indices. Titles, keywords and abstracts were scanned by eye and articles relevant to nutrition selected. Citations with sufficient information for inclusion into a nutrient database were prepared for data entry. There were over 120 scientific names for the 20 species selected. Of 17 700 citations downloaded only 540 of these pertained to nutrition. Ninety-four references were prepared for inclusion into the database. Inaccurate data compilation (recycling) was found for the species Moringa oleifera Lam. Twenty-one different bases for expressing nutritional values were found in papers for final inspection. It is recommended that the literature be reviewed fully prior to any investigation into the nutritional value of an African wild food plant. Data recycling, if incorrect, can have major implications on research and operations. The multidisciplinary nature of investigating wild food plants should be taken into consideration when undertaking this type of work and all nutritional information should be in a standardized format.