Common Name: Gasso Nut

General Information

Gasso nut is a straggling shrub or vigorous climbing plant that can produce stems 30 metres or more long and up to 12cm thick[, ].
A multi-purpose plant that is very important to the local economy, providing food, medicines and commodities. The seeds of the gasso nut are often harvested from the wild by local people, and are often also sold, usually already cooked, in local markets[, , ]. The sale of seeds can provide substantial income for local communities[]. The plant also has a range of medicinal uses and is the source of a good quality fibre.

Known Hazards

The root-bark, dried and powdered, is poisonous[]. The plant Piliostigma thonningii is used as an antidote[, ].
Skin contact with the plant can cause itching and may result in sores[].

Botanical References

Range

Tropical west Africa - Sierra Leone to Central African Republic, south to Angola and DR Congo.

Habitat

Closed-forest or mixed deciduous evergreen forest[]. Forests, in both primary and secondary formations, becoming invasive in forest openings and in riparian forest. It is also found in roadsides, abandoned areas, fallow areas and plantations[].

Properties

Edibility Rating
Medicinal Rating
Other Uses Rating
Habit	Climber
Height	30.00 m
Growth Rate	Fast
Self-fertile	No
Cultivation Status	Wild

Cultivation Details

A plant of the moist tropics[].
Grows best in a sunny position[].
A fast-growing plant[].

Edible Uses

The seed is boiled and eaten[, ]. Mealy[, ]. The seed is about 25mm in diameter and surrounded by a thin brown shell[].

Medicinal

In African traditional medicine the root, stem, bark and leaf are all credited with analgesic properties; they are used in the treatment of conditions such as diarrhoea, stomach-ache, cough and bronchitis[].

The stem yields a red sap which rapidly goes tacky in air[]. Based on the 'Theory of Signatures', the plant is widely used to treat affections in which blood is manifest. It is considered to be haemostatic and cicatrizant on wounds, and good for treating dysentery, piles, haemoptysis, painful menses and dysmenorrhoea[, ].
A decoction of the stem is drunk as a treatment for blennorrhoea or gonorrhoea[, ]. A twig-decoction is used to treat a range of abdominal complaints[].
The bark and stem are chewed as a treatment for cough[].

The sap is made into a cough linctus[].
The red stem-sap is used topically on herpes and other dermal infections, and is also applied to carious teeth[].

The leaf-sap, combined with sugar-cane sap and other drug-plants, is sometimes used as a treatment for insanity[, ].
The leaf-sap is used topically on herpes and on other dermal infections and sores, including leprosy[, ]. It is applied as drops to treat ear problems[].

Young leaves, combined with kola nut (Cola spp.) and the seeds of maleguetta pepper, are used to treat tachycardia[].
The powdered dried leaves are sprinkled on sores[, ].

A decoction of young shoots and roots is considered a sovereign remedy for cough and bronchitis[].
A leaf, stem and root-decoction is drunk as a treatment for stomach-ache[].

The seeds are used as a treatment for haemorrhoids and blood disorders[].
The husk of the nut is chewed as a treatment for cough[].

A methanolic extract from the leaves contained flavonoids, tannins, phlobatannins, saponins and traces of alkaloids[].
The ethyl acetate fraction of a methanolic extract of the leaves showed anti-oxidant activity. Anti-inflammatory properties were demonstrated as well[].

Other Uses

The seed is a rich source of a drying oil, and could be used in making paints[]. Oil-content of Central African material has been recorded as about 50%[]. The oil is yellow and tasteless, thickening on exposure in thin films, suggesting a possible use in paint manufacture, but having an iodine value of only 101[, ]. Good quality drying oil has an iodine value of 125 to over 200[].

A strong, durable fibre is obtained from the bark[, ]. It resists rotting and is widely used for making ropes, lines and nets[, ].
In DR Congo it has been estimated that 20 kilos of green stems yield 2 kilos of bark from which 350g of fibre is extracted[].
Extraction of the fibre from the stem is slow and difficult. The stem is first cut into segments 1 - 2 metres long, which are scratched to remove the stellate hairs. Hand removal of the hairs can cause itching. The green stems remaining after the removal of the hairs are carefully incised with a knife, and the bark is removed in one piece. The strips obtained are separated from the cambium and other non-fibrous parts and sun-dried for several days. After the strips have been further softened by leaving them overnight outside, they are split into fibres by pounding them with a wooden mallet[].
The stems possess considerable strength and are used to make traps for hunting[]. The split stems are used in basketry[].

Propagation

Seed -

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