Mongongo/Manketti Factsheet
Botanical: Schinziophyton rautanenii (Schinz) Radcl.-Sm (syn. Ricinodendron rautanenii)
Family: Euphorbiaceae
Common: Manketti, Mongongo, Mangetti
Description
The Mongongo is a deciduous nut-bearing tree measuring 7 – 20m tall, 1.5cm in diameter with contorted branches bearing slender sprays of white to yellow flowers. The mature wood is golden in colour and has similar properties to balsa, being both lightweight and strong. It has dark green hand-shaped leaves (digitally compound).
Fruit
The elliptical fruits are reddish-brown and consist of a thin layer of sweet pulp surrounding a tasty nut kernel, comparable to an almond. In a good year these fruits may be knee deep under the trees, yielding 200-800kg/ha.
Distribution
The Mongongo tree grows on seasonal drylands, surviving unreliable rains and temperatures ranging from 14º F in winter to well over 100º F in summer, and is adapted to withstand several years of drought. The Mongongo trees of Southern Africa grow in large groves, stretching for several kilometres across the well-drained sands of the Kalahari Sand Plateau. In Namibia the trees have colonised relic sand dunes. Some groves have been estimated to stretch across areas of up to 60,000 ha and are found in abundance throughout the PhytoTrade membership countries.
Traditional uses
Whilst the Mongongo fruits are used from coast to coast across the Southern African region, the most notoriously documented uses are by the !Kung Bushmen of the Dobe region in Botswana, to whom Mongongo fruits are their primary food. This fruit has remained a mainstay of the bushmen’s diet, both historically and in modern day Africa, owing to its abundance and highly nutritional qualities. In the early fruit-fall bushmen will congregate in the groves. The !Kung bushmen are one of the few groups of the world whose blood pressure does not increase with age: whilst this is not entirely due to Mongongo, the predominance of this fruit in their diets suggests a link. The dried pulp is edible for as long as 8 months. It can be eaten raw or cooked into a thick sauce or porridge leaving the nut kernels. The tasty kernels (comparable to cashews or almonds) can then be roasted, pounded to a coarse meal or pounded to a pulp, releasing their oil. The very stable Mongongo nut oil is used as a body rub to protect the skin of the !Kung from the harsh Kalahari environment.
Known properties
The kernel of the Mongongo fruit is rich in both protein and a bright yellow oil. The nutritional content of the kernel is outstanding containing 20% protein and 57% fat: 43% polyunsaturated (almost entirely linoleic acid), 17% saturated fats (palmitic and stearic acids), and about 18% monounsaturated (oleic acid). The kernel has 26 grams of protein per 100g, an amount similar to peanuts and protein rich legumes. In addition the kernel is rich in calcium, magnesium, iron, copper, zinc, thiamine, riboflavin, nicotinic acid, and has extraordinarily high concentrations (around 560mg per 100 grams of kernel) of vitamin E (almost entirely as g-tocopherol). The large proportion of this essential linoleic acid (EFA), as well as the conjugated trienoic acid (α Eleostearic) mean that the oil is of huge importance for skin protection, both for hydration but also for the restructuring and regeneration of the epidermis. In particular the α Eleostearic acid reacts rapidly with UV light producing polymerisation and providing a protective layer. The very high g-tocopherol content also provides the oil with enhanced stability, this is proven in the African heat where the oil does not become rancid.
Technical specifications
INCI name |
Schinziophyton rautanenii (Mungongo) Seed oil |
CAS No |
68956-68-3 |
EINECS No |
273-313-5 |
Description |
Yellow coloured oil, which is liquid at room temperature |
Specific gravity |
0.92-0.93 |
Iodine value gI2/100g |
120-140 |
Saponification value mgKOH/g |
180-200 |
Acid Value mg KOH/g |
5 max |
Peroxide value mEq O2/Kg |
15 max |
Fatty Acid Composition
Fatty Acid |
Percentage |
|---|---|
16:0 palmitic |
6.0-10.0 |
16:1 palmitoleic |
Max 0.1 |
18:0 stearic |
4.0-8.0 |
18:1 oleic |
10.0-20.0 |
18:2 linoleic |
30.0-54.0 |
18:3 -eleostearic |
20.0-32.0 |
MANUFACTURING PROCESS: |
Cold pressing (T<60°C) - no solvents or chemicals used. Decanted to eliminate fines. |
STORAGE : |
keep away from light, heat (T<20°C) and in a dry place. Sparge with Nitrogen |
PACKAGING: |
5, 25 litre and 200 kg drums. |
Recommended applications
Skin: normal and dry skin emollient
Babycare: emollient
Hair: protection: dry, damaged and fragile hair shampoo
Lipstick
Soap
References
Anon (1917) Manketti nuts from south-west Africa. Bulletin of the Imperial Institute, 15 (1): 35-38.
Biesele, M. et al. (1979) A Kalahari food staple: Ricinodendron rautanenii In Proceedings of the International Arid Lands Conferences on Plant Resources, Texas Tech University, USA.
Chisholm, M. and Hopkins, C. (1966) Kamlolenic acid and other conjugated fatty acids in certain seed oils. The Journal of the American Oil Chemists Society, 43: 390-392.
Engelter, C. and Wehmeyer, A. S. (1970) Fatty acid composition of oils of some edible seeds of wild plants. Journal of Agriculture and Food Chemistry, 18 (1): 25-26.
Fox, F. and Norwood, Y. (1982) Euphorbiaceae In Food from the Veld. Delta Books, pp. 193-195.
Graz, F. (2002) Description and ecology of Schinziophyton rautanenii (Schinz) Radcl.-Sm in Namibia. Dinteria, 27: 19-35.
Lee, R. B. (1973) Mongongo: The ethnography of a major wild food resource. Ecology of Food and Nutrition, 2: 307-312.
Peters, C.R. (1987) Ricinodendron rautanenii (Euphorbiacaeae): Zambezian wild food plant for all seasons. Economic Botany, 41 (4): 494-502.
Truswell, A. et al. (1972) Blood pressures of !Kung bushmen in Northern Botswana. American Heart Journal, 84 (1): 5-12.
Wehmeyer, A. S. (1986) Edible wild plants of Southern African: Data on the nutrient contents of over 300 species, CSIR/Food Science.