CPBT Focus Species
While the CPBT grows over 25 species annually in our community garden, our research focuses on four different crops: amaranth (Amaranthus spp. L.), Cleome (Cleome gynandra (L.) Briq., Ethiopian mustard (Brassica carinata A. Braun), and jute mallow (Corchorus spp. L.). These four crops were chosen from the following criteria:
- Consumed as a fresh vegetable, making it difficult to ship from warmer climates
- Ability for crop to produce seed within a growing season
- Lack of adapted germplasm or existing breeding programs to meet the demand for these crops
To learn more about our focus crops and how they were chosen, please see our open-access publication in Crop Science.
Amaranth
Amaranth is a crop that has many species within the same genus, Amaranthus. The species of Amaranthus have several other names including but not limited to: doodo, litoto, aleho, callaloo, red amaranth, green amaranth, prince's feather, and tricolor amaranth.
The CPBT has grown Amaranthus cruentus, Amaranthus dubius, Amaranthus hybridus, Amaranthus hypochondriacus L., and Amaranthus tricolor L.
Cleome
Cleome gynandra, or cleome, has several names including: spiderwisp, spider plant, cat’s whiskers, spider flower, chinsanga, and African cabbage.
The leaves and flowers are boiled and used in stews, used as a leafy green side dish, or pickled. Cleome will flower extremely early in the growing season when plants are short, and should be harvested before plants flower for best tasting leafy greens.
Ethiopian Mustard
Ethiopian mustard (Brassica carinata A. Braun) has several names including: Abyssinian mustard, Ethiopian cabbage, African cabbage, gomenzer, Ethiopian kale, and hamli adri'.
Ethiopian mustard is grown as a leafy vegetable and oilseed throughout northeast Africa, a practice that has been carried on since the 4th and 5th millenia BC. As a member of the cabbage family, many note that Ethiopian mustard tastes similar to cabbage or kale.
Jute Mallow
Another leafy green, jute mallow (Corchorus olitorius & Corchorus capsularis), is also called: molokhia, ewedu, nalta jute, tossa jute, wild jute, and bush okra.
Jute mallow is grown for use as a leafy vegetable and as a major fiber crop for industrial or commercial use. In some parts of Africa, the leaves are boiled to form a sticky soup or sauce served with balls of fufu or yam flower.