The tree has always been at this same
position in the mechanic place along the way to school. But, it never fascinated me until few weeks back when I saw the small yellow fruits on that tree with clustered bright green leaves.

I walked towards the tree, picked three fruits and asked an old man seated nearby the name of the fruit. He said, “iyeye”. I smiled, appreciated him and left. I went on to board a bike and the bike man saw me with the fruits. There, he started a conversation, “You must have lived in a village before. Or how come you know the fruit?”.

I followed the conversation and asked him if he knew of the trust’s health importance. He said,  “it’s used as a stomach cleanser but children of these days don’t know about it”.  Well, I didn’t know about it too so after the conversation, I went online for my own further research and here’s the report.

About Hog Plum

Hog Plum also known as yellow mombin or monkey mombin is a small drupe fruit with a slightly thick skin and thin pulp surrounding it’s cork-like seed. The fruit is scientifically known as Spondias mombin. It belongs to the family Anacardiaceae, same family as Cashews, Mangoes and Pistachios. The fruit comes in a range of colors, including green, purple, red, orange and yellow. In Yoruba (Western Nigeria), it is known as Iyeye or Ebo. In some parts of Eastern Nigeria, it is known as Ngulungu and Isada in Hausa(Northern Nigeria)

Hog plum is native to Central America and the Caribbean, though it has also naturalized in some parts of Africa but is rarely cultivated. It grows during the Nigerian rainy season between July and August. Infact, I noticed the tree in July cause of its blossomed yellow fruits. It’s taste can be found somewhere between sweet and sour.

The fruit can be eaten raw or processed to make jams and jellies.
It can be juiced for use in ice cream and cold drinks.
The green fruits can be pickled into vinegar and eat them like olives with salt and chili (Kitchenbutterfly, 2016)

NUTRITIONAL BENEFITS OF HOG PLUM

According to (Adedokun MO et al., 2010), Spondias mombin is used in some parts of Nigeria for the following:

The leaves are used for Child birth aid, cough, sore throat, efu dudu, antiseptic soap, malaria and stomachic.

The bark is used to aid Child birth, as inflammation concortion, to treat fever, stomachic, malaria and efu dudu.

The fruit is used for dizziness, stomachic, and fibroid

The seed can also be used as child birth aid, fibroid and stomachic.

Hog plum is rich in Vitamin A and C, which is an essential vitamin by the body and is a natural antioxidant, protecting the body from damage caused by free radicals (Dannie, 2015). It contains Iron which aids in production of hemoglobin and myoglobin. Minimal amounts of protein and fat are also present. Although, yellow hog plums have more of both nutrients.

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References

Kitchenbutterfly, September 12, 2016.
“In Season: Iyeye, Hog Plum” Extracted from http://www.kitchenbutterfly.com/2016/09/12/in-season-iyeye-hog-plum/

Adedokun MO, Oladoye AO*, Oluwalana SA, Mendie II. Socio-economic importance and utilization of Spondias mombin in
Nigeria. Asian Pacific Journal of Tropical Medicine 2010, 232-234

Marie Dannie, December 17, 2015.
Hog Plum Health Benefits
Extracted from http://www.livestrong.com/article/413726-plums-and-diet/

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