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Indigenous leafy
vegetables can play an important part in alleviating hunger and malnutrition in
sub-Saharan Africa, but they are often neglected in research. They are
important sources of micronutrients including vitamins A and C, iron and other
nutrients and are sometimes better nutritional sources than the modern
vegetables. The leaves of cultivated plants, such as pumpkins, melons and
cowpeas are used as a leafy vegetable, as well as leaves from wild and weedy
species from farmers' fields and the veld. These wild and weedy species include
amaranth species, Corchorus species and Cleome gynandra amongst
others, and all have the potential to be cultivated. The harvested leafy
vegetables are perishable, but can be processed and preserved by partial
cooking, blanching or drying. This paper provides ecogeographical information
and some botanical descriptions; we discuss the importance of leafy vegetables
in food security, the monetary value of some of these crops and report on some
of the research carried out at ARC–Roodeplaat (Pretoria), South Africa.

South African Journal of Botany
2004, 70(1): 52–59