Diversity and nutritional characteristics of Garcinia kola in South-West and Central Cameroon

Bc. Anna Maňourová

Master's thesis

Abstract:

Garcinia kola (Clusiaceae) is fruit tree species indigenous to West and Central Africa. The tree is frequently called wonder plant because all its parts have medicinal use. In Cameroon, seeds of G. kola are widely used by locals for treatment of gastric problems. Studies on G. kola have mostly focused on its bioactive substances. However, information on intraspecific diversity and the exact nutritional values of the seeds remain unclear. Therefore, the objective of this study was to assess and describe morphological diversity and nutritional status among different populations of G. kola from Southwest region of Cameroon. For examination of the species management and utilization, we visited 50 farms and interviewed 48 farmers. Further, morphological characteristics of 759 fruits, 1,821 seeds and 402 leaves coming from 81 individual trees were examined and botanical descriptors were developed based on the species morpho-types. Seeds of each tree were subjected to nutritional analyses for: ash, moisture, crude fat, fibre, protein and NFE content. The nutritional values were determined as follows: ash 0.33 %, moisture: 42.3 %, crude fat: 1.48 %, crude fibre: 2.27 %, crude protein: 6.48 % and NFE: 47.19 %. As we did not find any significant differences in-between our study sites, the results suggested that morphological diversity within a single population is much higher than the diversity among populations from different sample sites. Process of G. kola domestication seemed to be at its very beginning, though we have identified efforts in terms of species targeted cultivation and selection. It is expected that this study may provide basics for the first steps of G. kola domestication. In the future, research on species population genetics as well as secondary metabolites content should be conducted to complement our data and fasten the domestication process.

Keywords

bitter kola, Central Africa, domestication, indigenous fruit trees, phytochemistry

Language used: English

Date on which the thesis was submitted / produced: 27. 4. 2017

Thesis defence

• Supervisor: doc. Ing. Bohdan Lojka, Ph.D.

Czech University of Life Sciences Prague

Faculty of Tropical AgriSciences

Master programme / field:
Tropical Agriculture / Tropical Crop Management and Ecology