Mongongo Nut. Manketti Tree

Medicinal Uses

Edible Uses

Edible Parts: Fruit  Oil  Seed | Edible Uses: OilFruit - raw or cooked[301 ]. A flowery pulp, when fresh it resembles a date, though it is not as sweet[299 , 301 , 398 ]. After boiling, it turns maroon and tastes like apple sauce[301 ]. The fruit can also be dried and ground into a powder for use in porridge[301 ]. It is a good source of carbohydrates, potassium and thiamine[325 ]. The fruit is an egg-shaped drupe. It is 35 x 20 - 35mm when dry, up to 70 x 50mm when fresh, and weighs 8 - 10g[325 ]. Seed - raw or cooked[299 , 301 , 308 ]. Tasty and nutritious[301 ]. When roasted, they taste like cashews or Brazil nuts, but after prolonged roasting they have the flavour of 'fine old cheese'[301 ]. The seed contains about 60% oil[63 ]. The seeds are up to 25mm long and 20mm wide and are contained in a hard shell[308 ]. An edible drying oil is obtained from the seed[46 , 301 ]. It is used locally for cooking[325 ]. The oil deteriorates rapidly once extracted from the seed[325 ]. The oil is extracted traditionally by boiling the shelled ( and crushed?) seeds in water and skimming the oil off the surface of the water[299 ]. Staple Crop: Protein-Oil.

Cultivation

Management: Standard  Staple Crop: Protein-oil  Wild Staple CropMongongo nut is a plant of arid to moist tropical and subtropical areas where it is found at elevations ranging from 50 - 1,500 metres, more commonly at the higher end of the range[325 , 418 ]. It grows best in areas where annual daytime temperatures are within the range 18 - 30°c, but can tolerate 10 - 40°c[418 ]. When dormant, the plant can survive temperatures down to about -7°c, but young growth can be severely damaged at -1°c[418 ]. It prefers a mean annual rainfall in the range 500 - 800mm, but tolerates 400 - 1,000mm[418 ]. It can tolerate mean rainfall as low as 150mm[325 ]. Grows best in a sunny position[418 ]. Requires a well-drained soil, and is not found on compacted clay soils or areas subject to flooding[325 ]. Prefers a pH in the range 6.5 - 8, tolerating 6 - 8.5[418 ]. Established plants are drought tolerant[325 ]. Strong winds often cause immature fruits to drop[299 ]. The growth from seedling to sapling stage depends very much on the fire regime prevailing in the area. Fires reduce young saplings back to ground level as long as their bark is too thin to protect them[299 ]. Plants coppice well when young[299 ]. Trees may start flowering and fruiting when about 20 years old, and can live up to 100 years[299 ]. Fruit production is very closely linked to the amount of rain of the previous season, with crop yields higher in years following heavy rains[299 ]. High rainfall after flowering has been found to damage the developing fruits, as do fires late in the dry season[299 ]. Limited data are available on yields, although some estimates indicate yields of 200 - 1000 kilos per hectare in northern Namibia, and about 300 kilos in Angola[299 ]. A dioecious plant, both male and female forms must be grown if fruit and seed are required[308 ]. Cultivated as a wild staple.

Known Hazards

None known

Habitats

Low to medium altitudes in sandy soil, well developed deciduous woodland on sand, short grassland with scattered trees, wooded hills and amongst sand dunes and sandy alluvium by rivers, sometimes forming pure stands, at elevations of 50 - 1220 metres[308 ]