Soap berry
Deinbollia borbonica

Family: Sapindaceae

What it is like

A shrub or small tree. It grows between 1-7 m high. The trunk is not branched. The leaves are 30 cm long. There are 3-8 stalks of leaflets and the small leaflets are 4 mm long. The main leaflets are 5-14 cm long by 2-5 cm wide. They are narrowly oval. There are 14 pairs of side veins. The flowering cluster can be 45 cm long. The flowers are small and white and separately male and female along branched heads. The fruit occur in groups of 1-3. The fruit is 12 mm long and 10 mm wide. It is oval. There are seeds in the white flesh.

There are 30-40 Deinbollia species.

Where it is found

A tropical plant. It grows in open woodland on sandy soils. It grows in the lowlands. It is common in coastal areas of Kenya. In Tanzania it grows from sea level to 1,000 m above sea level.

Countries/locations it is found in

Africa, Comoros, East Africa, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Reunion, Somalia, Southern Africa, Tanzania, Zambia

How it is used for food

The pulp of the fruit is sweet and eaten raw as a snack.

The fruit are eaten especially by children.

Edible parts

Fruit

How it is grown

Plants can easily be grown from seeds.

Fruit are collected from September to December.

Its other names

Local names

Kajambalame, Lovoa, Mbotomwaka, Mdala-mwaka, Mkilimu, Mkunguma, Mlangola, Mmoyomoyo, Mpungamaoka, Mpwakapwaka, Mudala-mwaka, Mukakinya-kusia, Mukovate, Mupalamwaka, Mwakamwaka, Mwenda-kuzimu, Tlambi

Synonyms

Deinbollia borbonica f. glabrata Scheff.; Radik.;