Bitter leaf

Vernonia amygdalia

Bitter leaf is a shrub or small tree that grows up to 23 feet tall. The bark is gray or brown, rough, and flaked. Its branches are brittle. Leaves are green, oblong to lance shaped, veined, and with pale soft hairs beneath. Flowers are white, small, thistly, and clustered. Fruits are small, slightly hairy nutlets.

Other names

• Mujonso

Parts used

Pith, leaf, root.

Uses

Called mujonso by the Tanzanians, bitter leaf is eaten in many parts of Africa. The leafy greens are prepared like spinach and used in soups and stews, while" chew sticks" from the root and twigs are enjoyed as an appetizer. In the form of a tonic food called ndole, bitter leaf is also believed to restore stamina.

In the Mahale Mountains National Park in Tanzania, studies have shown that chimpanzees chew the pith of bitter leaf for its antiparasitic and other medicinal properties. African people also use bitter leaf to treat intestinal parasite infestation. Their traditional healers may have studied the behavior of sick animals. Bitter leaf's active constituents are steroid glycosides (type vernonioside B1), which possess antiparasitic, antitumoral, and antibacterial agents. Used primarily to treat schistosomiasis, a disease caused by parasitic worms, bitter leaf concurrently relieves related problems such as diarrhea and malaise. In sub-Saharan Africa, bitter leaf treats 25 more ailments, including fever, intestinal complaints, and malaria.

Habitat & cultivation

Bitter leaf is indigenous to Africa, especially sub-Saharan Africa, notably Tanzania. Bitter leaf is usually found on the margins of cultivated fields.

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