24 Nutritious Vegetables From Africa

A lot of plants are grown for their leafy parts which are used for culinary and medicinal purposes all over the world. Vegetables refer to plants or parts of plants used as food. Leaf vegetables are the leaves of plants that are eaten as food (salad) or are used in cooking.

Africa is greatly blessed with vegetation so it is natural for Africans to use some leaves in cooking soups. Apart from having high nutritive values, a lot of leaves possess medicinal properties due to the many phytonutrients that are present in them.

Below is a list some of the plants whose leaves are used as vegetables that are used in cooking in Nigeria and other parts of Africa.

Talinum triangulare Water leaf in English Gbure in Yoruba
Telfairia occidentalis Fluted pumpkin, fluted gourd in English Ugu in Igbo Kabewa in Hausa
Amaranthus species. Amaranth in English Efo tete in Yoruba Inine in Igbo
Gongronema latifolium Bush buck in English Utazi in Igbo Madunmaro, arokeke in Yoruba
Vernonia amygdalina Ewuro in Yoruba Onugbu in Igbo Shiwaka in Hausa Etidot in Ibibio
Gnetum africanum African jointfir in English Ukazi in Igbo Afang in Ibibio Koko in Congo, Angola, DRC, CAR and Gabon Eru, orok, fumbua in Cameroon
Pterocarpus mildbraedii Oha in Igbo
Corchorus olitorius Vegetable jute in English Ewedu, eeyo in Yoruba Ahihiara in Igbo
Piper guineense False cubeb pepper, West African pepper, African black pepper in English Uziza in Igbo Iyere in Yoruba
Crassocephalum crepidiodes Thickhead, fireweed, Okinawa spinach, Yoruba bologi in English Ebolo in Yoruba
Solanium macrocarpon African eggplant in English Efo igbo in Yoruba Akukwo in Igbo
Ocimum gratissimum Basil in English Efinrin in Yoruba Nchawu in Igbo Daidoya in Hausa Ntong in Efik/Ibibio Aramogbo in Edo
Celosia argentea Plumed cockscomb, silver cockscomb, Lagos spinach, quail grass in English Shoko in Yoruba Mfungu in Swahili
Taraxacum officinale Dandelion in English Efo yanrin in Yoruba
Basella alba Malabar spinach in English Amunututu, toromoganna in Yoruba
Myrianthus arboreus Ebusere, ibisere in Yoruba Ujuju in Igbo
Manihot esculenta Cassava in English Paki, ege in Yoruba Akpu in Igbo
Moringa oleifera Ewe igbale in Yoruba Zogale in Hausa Odudu oyibo in Igbo
Adansonia digitata Baobab in English Ose in Yoruba Kuka
Lasianthera Africana Editan in Ibibio Kpurugiza, kpuruziza, nka-nka in Igbo Belele, itebele in Cameroon
Heinsia crinita Small false gardenia in English Atama in Ibibio
Ochthocharis dicellandroides Wild vegetable in English Nduru mmiri in Igbo Ngaku-wulo, ngaka-wui in Mende, Sierra Leone
Ceiba petandra Silk cotton tree Araba in Yoruba
Abelmoschus esculentus Okra, lady’s fingers in English Ila in Yoruba

These are some of the vegetable leaves we use in Africa. There are so many more from other areas and countries. Share what other ones that you know below. Follow on Twitter @heal2bwell.