Ethnobotanical Investigation of Mimusops zeyheri, an Underutilized Indigenous Fruit Tree in Gauteng Province, South Africa

Abstract

In developing countries, the livelihoods of millions of households heavily rely on wild fruit products to meet their basic needs. With its many nutritious assets, Mimusops zeyheri could, therefore, be valued as a natural resource for fighting hunger, poverty, malnutrition and food insecurity in developing countries. Indigenous fruit trees remain underutilized and harvested in the wild, with few cultivated sustainably. The study aimed to explore and document the various uses of M. zeyheri. Using face-to-face, semi-structured questionnaires, an ethnobotanical survey was collected among 53 participants using purposive sampling in the City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality. Descriptive statistics and ethnobotanical indices, such as Use Value (UV) and Relative Frequency of Citation (RFC), were used for analysis. M. zeyheri was reported to have various uses, which included but was not limited to food and medicine. It was found that the most commonly used plant components were fruits (47%) and leaves (22%). Decoction (39%) was the most popular method of preparation. M. zeyheri has become scarce in the surveyed communities, presumably due to extensive habitat destruction caused by population increases. Therefore, due to its scarcity, it does not significantly improve the livelihoods or overall well-being of local communities. This study suggests that M. zeyheri could improve food and economic security if thoroughly investigated and cultivated on a large scale.