Scientists from the Faculty of Forestry and Wood Technology at Mendel University (FFWT MENDELU) are studying the tree Schinziophyton rautanenii (Euphorbiaceae), known locally as mongongo, in Zambia. The fruit of this tree is one of the most important food sources for both the local population and wildlife in southern Africa. Rural communities heavily rely on harvesting these fruits, from which they extract edible seeds and mongongo nuts, often serving as a primary food source with excellent nutritional value. Besides being used as food, the nuts have potential in cosmetics, such as in the production of high-quality oil. Products derived from mongongo fruit could help diversify the income of rural populations directly in southern Africa. However, the trees are short-lived and have low natural regeneration. Therefore, the research team is also focusing on ensuring the highest possible seed germination rates and subsequently growing seedlings to restore the tree populations within sustainable landscape management.
The research is taking place in southwestern Zambia near the city of Livingstone and Victoria Falls, in the Sichiasa community under the jurisdiction of the Mukuni chieftaincy. Women from the community are involved in harvesting the fruit and possess traditional skills in processing them. Kamila Hejlíková Tembo from FFWT MENDELU, who has been living in the area for a long time, has established an oil-pressing cooperative with local women for producing mongongo oil. “Our goal is to find suitable methods for cultivating, utilizing, and commercializing Schinziophyton rautanenii to add value to non-timber forest products, which will support sustainable management of woody vegetation and contribute to landscape resilience. These activities will also strengthen the socio-cultural identity, knowledge, and skills of the local population, ensuring the sustainability of the project,” explained a scientist from the Department of Forest Botany, Dendrology, and Geobiocoenology at FFWT MENDELU.
The Booma Women Cooperative was established in 2023. It buys seeds from local women who traditionally gather them for household consumption and processes them into cosmetic oil and cooking oil, which it supplies to local shops, hotels, and wellness centres. “Booma means ‘seed’ in the local language of the species being studied. The cooperative plans to export the oils abroad and diversify seed processing with other local tree species such as baobab and marula. In this way, local women gain additional income for their households from the collection of fruits and the sale of products,” described Hejlíková Tembo.
Local people, especially women and young people, have traditionally been gathering and processing mongongo nuts for many centuries, at least since the Late Holocene, according to archaeological findings. “The traditional processing of mongongo fruit by breaking the hard seed coat with stones is currently the only known and effective method for obtaining the nutritious nuts for consumption and further processing. Therefore, it is necessary to preserve the traditional harvesting and processing of these nuts; otherwise, the survival of the species itself could be at risk,” the researcher pointed out. If mongongo is neglected, it may be replaced by other more commonly utilized species.
A risk factor for the restoration of S. rautanenii populations is the low germination rate of its seeds. Therefore, scientists at MENDELU laboratories are testing both the seed germination rates and the properties of the pressed oil. For researching the germination of this tree species, they have proposed two versions of seed pre-treatment and germination conditions. “In the first method, the seeds will be stored for three months at a constant temperature of 4 °C. After this cold period, a germination test will be conducted. The second method will observe the effect of the phytohormone ethylene. Tomatoes, bananas, or mangoes produce ethylene during ripening, and when stored together with the seeds in plastic bags, the released ethylene is expected to influence their germination. In the second method, part of the seeds will be treated with an aqueous solution of Ethrel, and the other part will be stored for a chosen period in plastic bags along with bananas and mangoes,” stated Lukáš Karas from the Department of Forest Botany, Dendrology, and Geobiocoenology at FFWT MENDELU.
Schinziophyton rautanenii naturally occurs from northern Namibia to northern Botswana, southwestern Zambia, and western Zimbabwe, as well as in eastern Malawi and eastern Mozambique. These regions have similar climatic conditions, with average annual temperatures around 20°C and maximum daily temperatures often exceeding 30°C. This species prefers hot, dry climates with minimal rainfall. In Zambia, it grows exclusively on deep sandy soils on the fringes of the Kalahari Desert.
The research was supported by the Embassy of the Czech Republic in Lusaka. The support included the supply of a press and technological equipment for measuring climatic and ecological aspects affecting the physiology of S. rautanenii. In addition to the Faculty of Forestry and Wood Technology at MENDELU, there is also collaboration with Zambian partners, primarily the Forestry Department, local cooperatives, and the Zambian Development Agency.
Contact for further information: Mgr. Kamila Hejlíková Tembo, Department of Forest Botany, Dendrology, and Geobiocoenology, FFWT MENDELU, +260 972 595 061, kamila.hejlikova@mendelu.cz
Photo: Traditional method of processing Schinziophyton rautanenii seeds, unchanged since the Stone Age (photo by Martin Čermák)