Ceratotheca sesamoides(false sesame, 200/$5, shipping $10, phyto certificate $12

200 seeds/ purchase

Note: only the leaves and flowers are known to be edible in Ghana.

False sesame is an annual plant growing up to 1.2 metres tall, sometimes with a woody rootstock. Growth can be erect, but the stems are more commonly prostrate with each plant producing 10 or more stems scrambling along the ground.

A popular vegetable in many parts of Africa, where the plant is often harvested from the wild for local use of its edible seeds and leaves as well as its medicinal virtues. The plant is often protected when occurring as a weed and is also sometimes cultivated. The leaves and seeds are often sold in local markets.

Edible Uses:

Leaves and young flowering shoots - cooked as a vegetable or added to soups. They are mucilaginous. The leaves are collected, wilted in the sun, cooked alone or mixed with other vegetables such as peas or amaranth, groundnut paste added and eaten with ugali. The leaves can be dried in the sun with those of peas or amaranth, and then ground into a powder - this powder is then boiled into a thick paste, mixed with groundnut paste and eaten with ugali.