Six administrative regions of Senegal were investigated. Forty species of vegetable leaves which are traditionally consumed in Senegal have been inventoried. All species are members of twenty-one families the most numerous of which are
Amaranthaceae Juss.,
Malvaceae Juss.,
Moraceae Link., the
Papilionaceae Giseke and
Tiliaceae Juss. The species are subdivided into three groups: cultivated leafy vegetables, plants gathered annually, perennial sub-ligneous and ligneous species. The gathered species represent 67.5% of the inventory, 40.7% of which is ligneous. Cultivated species account for 32.5% of the inventory. The species are consumed for their medicinal properties, nutritive value and eating habits linked to specific ethnic traditions. During the drought years, with the scarcity of main food (millet, mays) consumption of leafy vegetables is high. All species reported except
Sesuvium portulacastrum
L. are consumed like vegetable herbs. The species of
Hibiscus are eaten in spinach and condiment form while
Sesuvium portulacastrum L is cooked in salad. Of the forty species examined, eleven are widely consumed. Within the entire study area,
Hibiscus sabdariffa
predominates among species consumed, followed by Moringa oleifera Lam. and
Senna obtusifolia
Link. A high consumption level of some species like amarante,
Corchorus tridens
L.,
Corchorus aestuans
L.,
Leptadenia hastata
Decne. and
Vigna unguiculata
(L.) Walp is confined to certain areas. In addition to their consumption as vegetables, the medicinal uses of 57.5% of these is of primary importance. The most commonly exploited parts are, respectively, leaf (40%), roots (20%), and bark (13.3%). Among the numerous pathologies treated, abscess, constipation, and rheumatism are predominant followed by aphrodisiac uses. The
Amaranthus
spp. L.,
Leptadenia hastata
Decne.,
Senna obtusifolia Link.,
Adansonia digitata
L. and
Tamarindus indica
L. are species with multiple medicinal uses.
