Dorothy Luvai’s desire for growing thorny melon began in 2008 due to desperation for an income generating crop. “I come from an agricultural zone; I wanted to farm something different from the usual maize crop that is grown in Kitale.
After doing some research, with the help of the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute and the East African Seeds Company, I took the risk of growing thorny melon. Since then, I have neither looked back nor regretted,” she says.
She now grows the thorny melon, also known as the Horned Melon, a fruit native to Africa. It is a strange looking fruit that has a spiky skin. It is cultivated on farms and it also grows naturally in the fields and in the bush.
The fruit was the only source of water during the dry season in the Kalahari Desert. It was afterwards successfully cultivated in Australia and New Zealand. It has some resemblance to the kiwi fruit. “The fruit grows like the pumpkin plant since it forms tendrils,” Luvai says.
‘Tunda nyanya’ or ‘chingoso’ (due to its spiky nature) is the local name for the thorny fruit. A single creep can produce up to 30 fruits especially during warm seasons.
The fruit reproduces after 28-45 days. It then takes two weeks to mature, and when picked not ripe, it takes two to three days to ripen. The profit she makes is more than what she used to earn as a primary school teacher.
Before she began farming the fruit, she used to buy it from Kapsokwony in Mt Elgon. Now she grows it on her farm in Maliki, near Kitale. The transport was more than the profit she made, another reason why she opted to plant the crop.
The price ranges from Sh50-100 per fruit, while a kilo goes for Sh150 in the local supermarkets. George Lumbasi, an agro vet owner in Kitale town, says a can of thorny melon seeds costs Sh500.
“The fruit is easy to farm since it does not require the use of fertiliser, it is pest resistant and animals cannot eat it due to its spiky nature. One can use cow dung to add nutrients to the soil where it is grown,” he says.
Luvai says the thorny melon can be eaten young, mature green or when ripe (bright yellow or orange), “the brighter the orange, the riper and sweeter the fruit”. The fruit can also be used in cooking. Luvai says the fruit should be stored at room temperature for about 10 days.
She explains that the easiest way of eating the fruit is cutting it in half and scoop out its pulp. One can also make juice by blending the pulp with seeds.
To enhance its flavour, add a few drops of lemon or lime juice and a bit of sugar or honey. The seeds and pulp of thorn melon are also great spooned over ice cream, desserts or yogurt. They can be used to make salad dressing.
The fruit is also found in the neighbouring Uganda. It has densely populated natural forests and trees. This nutritious fruit is first spotted in Lugazi, 53km from Kampala.
Nabwaise, a fruit vendor, says she gets the fruit mainly from Kenya since it does not do very well in her region, due to the cold climatic conditions. The fruit requires medium temperatures. Apparently, she is the only one with the fruit in the entire market.
She uses the fruit to flavour her food when cooking. ‘You remove the spikes using a knife, then you cut it into two halves and squeeze out the juice. Sieve it to separate the juice from the seeds and use the juice just like tomato,” she says.
The main reason for removing the seeds is because they take long to get cooked. However, Dr Kichwen, a nutritionist and pharmacist, advises that it is not good to cook the fruit, since its nutritious values are lost in the process.He advises people to eat the fruit raw.
Kawanda is a small town to the north of Kampala, where the National Agricultural Research Organization of Uganda is located. Its goal is “to enhance the contribution of agricultural research to sustainable agricultural productivity, economic growth, food security and poverty eradication through generation and dissemination of appropriate technologies, knowledge and information”.
Eronie Luswata, the head of propagating, takes us around the Naro Centre. It covers 360 hectares of land. She acknowledges that the fruit is not available in most parts of Uganda.
Plans are underway to introduce the thorny melon to the farmers, with the possibility of introducing it to be grown in green houses. This is because most parts of Uganda do not favour the fruit.
The thorny melon has many nutritional values and gastronomical uses. According to Dr Kichwen, the horned melon is primarily a good source of vitamin C, potassium and iron.
The yellowish-green coloured pigment found in the seeds and pulps of horned melon contain vitamin A (beta carotene), which helps in strengthening of the body’s immune system and it also helps repair and protect DNA, thereby slowing the ageing process.
Vitamin A also helps to maintain eye and skin health. Additional minerals that are less abundant in thorn melon are magnesium, phosphorous, calcium and sodium. Furthermore, the seeds contain a number of fatty acids including linoleic acid which is one of the omega 6 fatty acid.
It is essential for human health. Besides, the seeds have the oleic acid, also found in olive oil, that is thought to be responsible for reducing effects of blood pressure, just as olive oil.
In addition, the seeds contain some traces of vitamin E responsible for healthy skin and proper functioning of the heart as the vitamin helps to neutralise, damaging free radicals that can cause cardiovascular disease and cancer.
The vitamin further helps in formation and strengthening of muscles, nerves, and boosts formation of the red blood cells. A research by the World Health Organization identified the thorny melon as highly nutritious, which could provide the necessary nutrients and micro nutrients in order to combat deficiencies and nutritional diseases that affect Africa and other regions of the developing world.
Moreover, since majority of people on the African continent live below the poverty line, and are not able to acquire the necessary nutrients and supplements, it will be cheaper for them to get the nutrients from the thorny melon.
However, one limitation of the thorny melon fruit is the fact that it has to be grown on its own portion of land, due to its spreading nature unlike other fruits and plants which can be planted with other crops. The thorny melon has the potential to improve nutrition, boost food security, foster rural development and support sustainable land care.
Luvai and Eronia hope that the thorny melon will be embraced by many and, eventually become a staple fruit not only in Kenya and Uganda, but in sub-Saharan Africa. This will help in boosting food security in Africa.
This report was produced with the support of The African Story Challenge organised by the African Media Initiative.
Source: allAfrica.com