Cadaba (Cadaba farinosa)

Cadaba (Cadaba farinosa Forssk.) is an evergreen shrub found in Africa that is mostly used as a browse for livestock. Fruits are edible and were referred to as famine food (UN-EUE, 2001).

Morphology

Cadaba farinosa is an evergreen tangled shrub, growing to a height of 5-8 m. Cadaba has many arching branches covered with smooth brown-reddish bark. Young twigs bear hairs or sessile scales. The leaves are alternate when young, clustered when they get older, simple. Leaf-blade is oblong or ellipitic in shape, rounded at the extremities, very variable in size (5-50 mm long x 3-30 mm broad), greyish in colour. The flowers may be clustered in small apical, flat-topped grapes, or solitary. Flowers are tetramerous, petals are linear, 12 mm long, creamy yellow to pale pink in colour, quickly caducous. Cadaba fruits are orange in colour, cylindrical, dehiscent capsules, 4 cm long x 4 mm in diameter, slightly constricted around the numerous seeds. Seeds are kidney shaped, 2.5-3 mm in diameter, embedded in a red or orange flesh (El-Kamali et al., 2013; Orwa et al., 2009). 

Uses

Cadaba farinosa is a multipurpose shrub. It is mostly used as a browse species relished by all classes of livestock but has numerous uses for human food. The leaves are used to flavour and spice dishes, and to flavour "Kunu", a cereal-based beverage (El-Kamali et al., 2013). Twigs and seeds are used for the starch liquefaction that occurs in the manufacture of Kunu beverage (Nkengbeza et al., 2012). In Konso language, cadaba fruits are called "herd's boy fruit" since young herders enjoy eating them while they are looking after animals. Cadaba fruits are considered a famine food in Ethiopia during severe food shortage as they can mitigate crisis (UN-EUE, 2001). Cadaba wood is used to make traditional stools in Kenya. It is a good firewood. The bark is useful for ropes and the twigs for toothbrushes. Cadaba roots infused with moringa leaves were reported to provide ethnomedicinal treatment of trypanosomiasis. The crushed leaves mixed with millet flour were used to treat coughs (Orwa et al., 2009; UN-EUE, 2001). Leaves extracts are widely used to induce and stimulate the milk production of women in Africa, particularly in Burkina Faso (Lompo-Ouedraogo, 2003). Cadaba has spiritual uses in the Sudan. It can help reducing soil erosion as it protects from wind and water erosion; it is thus used in sand dune stabilization. It is valued for making fences to livestock and it provides shade to small animals such as sheep and goats, or poultry (Orwa et al., 2009).