Tetrapleura tetraptera
Tetrapleura tetraptera is a species of flowering plant in the family Fabaceae native to Western Africa and Central Africa.[1] The plant is called prekese (or, more correctly, prɛkɛsɛ aka soup perfume) in the Twi language of Ghana.[2] It is also called uhio (uhiokrihio) in the Igbo language of Nigeria.
| Tetrapleura tetraptera | |
|---|---|
 | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Rosids |
| Order: | Fabales |
| Family: | Fabaceae |
| Subfamily: | Caesalpinioideae |
| Clade: | Mimosoid clade |
| Genus: | Tetrapleura |
| Species: | T. tetraptera |
| Binomial name | |
| Tetrapleura tetraptera (Schumach. & Thonn.) Taub. | |
Tetrapleura tetraptera - MHNT
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The tree has many uses. Its sweet fragrance is valued, its fruit is used to spice dishes, such as Banga soup, and its bark is used for supposed medicinal purposes. The major constituents are tannins, flavonoids and starch.[3][4] It is mostly used to prepare palm nut soup and other types of soups called light soup because of its aroma.
References
- Margaret Steentoft, Flowering plants in West Africa, Cambridge University Press, 1988, ISBN 978-0-521-26192-0,
... aidan tree (Tetrapleura tetraptera) fruits are similarly useful, the seeds being rich in oil ...
- Paul Osei-Tutu; Kwabena Nketiah; Boateng Kyereh; Mercy Owusu-Ansah; Joseph Faniyan, Hidden forestry revealed: Characteristics, constraints and opportunities for small and medium forest enterprises in Ghana, IIED, ISBN 978-1-84369-454-0,
... Prekese (Tetrapluera tetraptera) – prekese tea bags, syrup as medicine and spices ...
- Thomas E. Kyei; Jean Marie Allman, Our days dwindle: memories of my childhood days in Asante, Heinemann, 2001, ISBN 978-0-325-07042-1,
... Prekese The tree bore large fruits, bits of which were used as spice in soups. The pungent scent of its fruit earned for it the ... ("Prekese, the insuppressible, whose presence permeates houses as he touches at its outskirts ...
- Herbert M. Cole; Doran H. Ross, The arts of Ghana, Museum of Cultural History, University of California, 1977,
... A plant with a strong, sweet scent (Soup Perfume) is the fourth umbrella subject. It signifies that the chief's presence ... The Asantes call it "prekese(Soup Perfume) the sweet scenter, whose fodor is felt in all houses when it starts from the end of town" ...
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