African Foods Packaging and Export

Foodstuff in Nigeria

Foodstuff in Nigeria are the common food items commonly found and consume by Nigerian. The food items offer many health benefits and varies according to the geo political zone or tribe. With over 250 tribes, there are so many food items making up a long list of foodstuffs in Nigeria

In Nigeria there are at least 1,140 edible plant species. Not all of these are yet well known.

Many need developments as crops and often ways to cook and prepare them could be improved.

Both good nutrition and stable food production are achieved by using a range of local or well adapted food plants.

Table of Contents

Categories of Foodstuff in Nigeria

Starchy staple crops, major foodstuff in Nigeria

English or common name	Scientific name	Description
Great yam	Dioscorea alata	This is probably the most widely grown yam in the tropical world but is probably not the most important yam in Nigeria. Yams suit hot humid places with a season dry period because they store well.
Cocoyams	Xanthosoma sagittifolium	Cocoyam is a taro family plant that suits hot moist places but it needs to be in a dry or well-drained soil. It produces small corms around the side that are eaten.
White Guinea yam	Dioscorea cayenensis var. rotundata	This is the most popular yam in Nigeria. It takes about 8‐10 months to grow and can be stored for about 2 months.
Cassava	Manihot esculentum	Cassavais an easy to grow and popular root crop. It will grow in poor soils and can tolerate dry periods. It must be cooked to remove the cyanide poison and a virus disease has been reducing yields in many places to Africa so planting material should be chosen carefully. Its one of the popular foodstuff in Nigeria
Banana	Musa spp.	Cooking bananas or plantains suit seasonally dry tropical places are very important in some areas of the lowlands of Nigeria.
Sweet potato	Ipomoea batatas	Sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas) can grow very rapidly on the humid tropical lowlands and give good yields on moderately fertile soils. It is planted from runners and these need to be in mounds if the soil is likely to be flooded.

Leafy greens

English or common name	Scientific name	Description
Okra	Abelmoschus esculentus
Amaranthus	Amaranthus spp.
Spiderplant	Cleome gynandra	This very common tropical plant is being rediscovered worldwide as a very easy to grow and highly nutritious leaf vegetable. Improved kinds are also being produced.
Jute	Corchorus olitorius	The leaves of this annual leafy plant are popular and nutritious. They are slimy unless fried and can be used to thicken soup. They can be dried and pounded and stored. This one the foodstuff in Nigeria commonly called Ewedu
Broad bologi	Basella alba	This climbing plant has thick dark green leaves and purple berries. It can be grown as an annual plant or climb over trellises and last for a few years. The leaves are usually cooked and are slimy and used to thicken soups.
Lagos bologi	Talinum triangulare	This small leafy vegetable has a 3‐sided flower stalk. It grows easily in damp places. They are slightly sour and turn a little brown during cooking. They are best steamed.
Sierra Leone bologi	Crassocephalum biafrae
Okinawa spinach	Crassocephalum crepidioides	This leafy green and several other similar Crassocephalum species plants are used as vegetables in West Africa. This one is sometimes called thickhead and a similar but climbing one is called Sierra Leone bologi. They are steamed and eaten and also have medicinal benefits.
Nightshade	Solanum americanum & S. nigrum	This small leafy plant with shiny black berries grows very quickly and the leaves are commonly cooked and eaten in many tropical countries. The berries should only be eaten once very ripe.
Bitter leaf	Vernonia amygdalina	This is a very popular leafy vegetable from West Africa that is also exported. It is a woody shrub that can be grown from seeds or cuttings. The leaves can be squeezed to reduce the bitterness and then used in soups.
Kale	Brassica oleracea var. acephala
Cock’s comb	Celosia argentea

Vegetables as Popular Foodstuff in Nigeria

English name	Scientific name
Smooth loofah	Luffa cylindrica
Angled loofah	Luffa acutangula
Eggplant	Solanum melongena
Snake gourd	Trichosanthes cucumerina
African eggplant	Solanum macrocarpon
Shallot	Allium cepa var. aggregatum
Fluted pumpkin	Telfairea occidentalis

Beans

English or common name	Scientific name	Description
Snake bean	Vigna unguiculata var. sesquipedalis	This climbing bean suits the hot humid tropical lowlands and gets less pest and disease than some other beans.
Lima bean	Phaseolus lunatus	This tall climbing bean can keep growing for a few years. The pods, seeds and leaves can be eaten. It grows better at a slight altitude above sea level.
Cowpea	Vigna unguiculata var. unguiculata	This spreading bean plant is an excellent cover crop for old garden sites protecting and restoring the soil. The pods stick out at an angle. The young leaves, pods and seeds can be eaten.
Soybean	Glycine max
Bambara groundnut	Vigna subterranea	This African bean puts in seeds in pods under the ground. It can be a bushy or trailing plant. The seeds pods and leaves can be eaten. It can tolerate drier periods.
Pigeon pea	Cajanus cajan	This bean grows on a small tree like plant. The plant is excellent at putting down deep roots to find moisture during dry periods and also to restore nutrients to the surface. It suits drier areas and can be grown as a hedge plant. The young pods, seeds and leaves are edible.
Peanut	Arachis hypogea	These nuts are also called groundnuts because the pods and seeds are produced underground. They need to be on well‐drained soils and preferable in flat beds so the pods properly form underground. Although tasty fresh, the nuts are better used by the body after being roasted.

Fruits

English or common name	Scientific name	Description
Boabab	Adansonia digitata
Pawpaw	Carica papaya	Pawpaws grow easily and well in the tropical lowlands. Fruit can be round or long. If long fruit are enjoyed, then the male trees that do not produce fruit are not needed as trees will set long fruit without them. The fruit are rich in Vitamin C.
Bush butter tree	Dacryodes edulis	This African fruit tree grows well in the lowland rainforest. The fruit can be softened in boiling water for a few minutes. Both male and female trees are needed for fruit.
African oil palm	Elaeis guineensis	African oil palm (Elaeis guineensis). This important African palm tree produces an edible oil used worldwide. It suits the hot humid tropics. This is one of the foodstuff in Nigeria popularly used for cooking various dishes.
Milk plum	Englerophytum magalismontanum	All the plants in this family have milky sap. It grows in lowland forest and can tolerate some cold. The tree can be grown from seeds or cuttings. Children especially enjoy the fruit.
African mangosteen	Garcinia livingstonei	This African member of the Asian mangosteen needs both male and female trees. Trees grow slowly. The fruit can be eaten or used for jams and drinks
Mango	Mangifera indica
Mobola plum	Parinari curatellifolia ssp. mobola	This tropical tree grows in the open forest. It is grown from fresh seeds. The flesh of the fruit is eaten after the skin and seed is removed.
Maroola plum	Scleroycarya birrea subsp. caffra
African orange	Strychnos spinosa
Sugar plum	Uapaca guineensis

Nuts

English or common name	Scientific name	Description
Gingerbread palm	Hyphaene thebaica	This is a branched palm. It suits drier areas. The fruit and nut can be eaten as well as sap, starch from the trunk and the growing tip.
Bush mango	Irvingia gabonensis	The kernel of the seeds is crushed and eaten in a range of dishes. The pulp of the fruit is also eaten. Usually, the plant is grown from seeds. It can be grown from cuttings using mist. This one of exported foodstuff in Nigeria with a short shelf life.
African apricot	Mammea africana	This large tree grows in tropical forest. The flesh of the fruit is eaten and the seeds are also eaten. Plants are grown from seeds.
Butter tree	Pentadesma butyracea	This evergreen tree grows in damp ground in tropical places. The young seeds are eaten and seeds are used to extract edible fat. The flesh of the fruit is also eaten.
Awusa nut	Tetracarpidium conophorum	This is a shrub or long creeper. It grows in secondary rainforest. It can be grown from seeds. The leaves and fruit are eaten and the nuts are boiled or roasted. They also produce oil.