Critical Review on Wild-Edible Fruit Species in Ethiopia

Table 5

Suggested priority wild edible fruit species for domestication and improvement in Ethiopia.

No.	Priority species	Justification	Source
1.	Ziziphus spina-christi	A multipurpose tree with high nutrient content and high commercial value. The species is also highly valued for fodder, timber, fuelwood, fencing, and medicinal values. It is a promising drought-tolerant agroforestry species for arid regions.	[55]
2.	Balanites aegyptiaca	A multipurpose tree with fruit, leaves, and extracted oil from seeds used for food and high agro-industrial exploitation. It is also very important for fodder, fencing, fuel-wood, and charcoal production. The species is under high harvesting and browsing pressure, indicating the need for conservation.	[37, 56]
3.	Ximenia americana	A most preferred multipurpose tree for fruit, medicine, fodder, and other uses. The species have the potential to diversity food and improve nutrition and have considerable market value for income generation. The species is rare and threatened, indicating the need for conservation and domestication.	[54]
4.	Carissa spinarum	A multipurpose shrub with highly nutritious and protein-rich fruits. It is also drought-resistant, effective for fencing, and recommended species for land rehabilitation and soil conservation.	[57]
5.	Tamarindus indica	A multipurpose tree that has the potential for food provision, fodder, timber, nutritional and medicinal values. It has well-known and processed commercial products elsewhere (e.g., in India). It is a recommended species for integration with cereal crops in farming systems. Furthermore, the species under serious anthropogenic threats justify the need for its conservation.	[58]
6.	Vitex doniana	Multipurpose species used for food and medicinal value; improve nutrition, locally and regionally marketed for its fruit and leaves. The fruit has high sugar content and is used as a sweetener. It is locally threatened with extinction mainly due to high utilization pressure, showing the need for conservation.	[59]
7.	Berchemia discolor	A multipurpose tree mainly used for food (fruit), has high nutrient content and potential to improve nutrition and good candidate agroforestry species.	[54]
8.	Dobera glabra	An important wild food source (particularly in the Afar region, Ethiopia), potential fodder species, and provide timber used for making household furniture	[60]
9.	Mimusops kummel	A multipurpose species with testy marketable fruit, and provides other multiple uses including medicinal value, timber, firewood, and charcoal	[61]
10.	Syzygium guineense	A multipurpose wild edible fruit species. It is valuable for honeybee forage, medicinal value, and timber and fuel-wood production.	[62]
11.	Dovyalis abyssinica	The species has testy fruit and is an important ornamental hedge and live fencing species. The fruit has the desired characteristic for processing jams, jellies, and juices. It has also medicinal value and used for bee forage.	[63]