Common Name:

General Information

Cephalocroton cordofanus is a much-branched, erect or sprawling, shrub growing from 30 - 300cm tall. The plant has a stout taproot[].
The plant is harvested from the wild for local use of its edible seeds. The plant is occasionally cultivated for the seeds[].

Known Hazards

None known

Botanical References

,

Range

East tropical Africa - eastern Sudan, Ethiopia, Somalia, Kenya Tanzania. Also found in northern Nigeria.

Habitat

Dried-out river beds; seasonally waterlogged, open grassland; and in mixed open bushland; usually on sandy soils, less often on clayey soils (including black cotton soil); at elevations up to 1,200 metres[].

Properties

Edibility Rating
Other Uses Rating
Habit	Shrub
Height	2.50 m
Cultivation Status	Cultivated, Wild

Cultivation Details

The plant is mainly found in sandy soils in the wild, though it sometimes also grows on clays[].

Edible Uses

Seed[]. The ovoid to nearly globose seeds are around 7.5mm long and 6mm in diameter; they are smooth, evenly greyish or dark brown flecked and mottled, somewhat shiny[].

The seeds are rich in a highly unsaturated oil with a pleasant odour and taste. It is sometimes extracted and used for cooking[]. The oil consists chiefly of cis-12:13-epoxyoleic acid (62%) along with saturated acids (7%), oleic acid (10%), linoleic acid (17%) and 12:13-dihydroxyoleic acid (4%)[].

Medicinal

None known

Other Uses

The seeds are rich in a highly unsaturated oil. The oil consists chiefly of cis-12:13-epoxyoleic acid (62%) along with saturated acids (7%), oleic acid (10%), linoleic acid (17%) and 12:13-dihydroxyoleic acid (4%)[]. The presence of epoxy and hydroxy fatty acids in high concentrations make the oil an interesting raw material in chemistry[].

Propagation

Seed -

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