Mongongo

The mongongo is distributed widely through subtropical southern Africa. There are several distinct belts of distribution, the largest of which reaches from northern Namibia into northern Botswana, south-western Zambia and western Zimbabwe. Another belt is found in eastern Malawi, and yet another in eastern Mozambique.

It is also found in Angola, Tanzania and Zaire.^[1]

Taxonomy

The genus of Schinziophyton was circumscribed by John Hutchinson ex. Alan Radcliffe-Smith in Kew Bull. vol.45 (1) on page 157 in 1990.^[1]

The genus name of Schinziophyton is in honour of

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Mongongo nuts are a staple diet in some areas, most notably among the

Dry fruits are first steamed to soften the skins. After peeling, the fruits are then cooked in water until the maroon-colored flesh separates from the hard inner nuts. The pulp is eaten, and the nuts are saved to be roasted later. Alternatively, nuts are collected from elephant dung; the hard nuts survive intact through the digestive process after the elephant has consumed and digested them.^[3] Once dry, the outer shell cracks easily, revealing the nut, encased within a soft, inner shell. The nuts are either eaten intact, or pounded as ingredients in other dishes.

The oil from the nuts has also been traditionally used as a body rub in the dry winter months to clean and moisten the skin. The wood, being both strong and light, makes excellent fishing floats, toys, insulating material and drawing boards.

Nutrition

Per 100 grams shelled nuts:

• 24 g protein
• 57 g fat:
  • 44%
    polyunsaturated fatty acids
  • 18% monounsaturated fatty acids
  • 17% saturated fatty acids
• 193 mg calcium
• 527 mg magnesium
• 4 mg zinc
• 2.8 mg copper
• 565 mg vitamin E (tocopherol)^{[citation needed]}

Economic aspects

Richard Borshay Lee, writes

A diet based on mongongo nuts is in fact more reliable than one based on cultivated foods, and it is not surprising, therefore, that when a Bushman was asked why he hadn't taken to agriculture he replied: "Why should we plant, when there are so many mongongo nuts in the world?" ^[4]

See also

• Post-scarcity economy

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Schinziophyton rautanenii.