# Plants Utilization and Perceptions in the Context of Novel Indigenous Food Spicing and Flavoring Among the Vhavenḓa People in the Vhembe Biosphere Reserve, South Africa

## TL;DR

This study explores how the Vhavenḓa people in South Africa use local plants to spice and flavor traditional foods, highlighting new plant species and their cultural and nutritional significance.

## Contribution

The study identifies and documents novel plant species and preparation techniques for indigenous food spicing and flavoring previously unreported in South Africa.

## Key findings

- Twenty-seven plant species are used for spicing and flavoring indigenous Vhavenḓa foods.
- Participants reported improved food taste, nutrition, medicinal benefits, and cultural identity through indigenous spicing.
- Eight previously unreported plant species and their preparational techniques were identified for food spicing and flavoring.

## Abstract

Local innovations regarding plant-derived spice and flavorant formulations and preparation techniques are mostly recorded nowhere and usually passed on generationally through word of mouth. This study aimed to inventory the utilization of plants and perceptions of novel indigenous food spicing and flavoring among the Vhavenḓa people in South Africa. This study adopted face-to-face interviews with 360 participants using semi-structured questionnaires. This study investigated a total of twenty-seven plant species used to spice-flavor novel indigenous Venḓa foods, including mukokoroshi meat stew, mopane worms, vegetables, homemade achar, eggs, samp meal, potatoes, and sweet potatoes. Based on the perceptions by participants from different age groups, indigenous foods spicing and favoring significantly improved food taste and nutrition (43.1%), providing medicinal benefits (33.3%) and cultural identity (23.6%). No study had ever reported the uses of Lannea edulis (Sond.) Engl., Mangifera indica L., Centella asiatica (L.) Urb., Warburgia salutaris (G.Bertol.) Chiov., Plectranthus fruticosus L′Hér., Hibiscus sabdariffa subsp. Cannabinus L., Oxalis semiloba subsp. semiloba, and Ziziphus mucronata subsp. mucronata and their preparational techniques for novel indigenous foods, spicing, and flavoring before, in South Africa, or elsewhere. The current study provided insights about spice and flavoring plants that could be used to develop alternative marketable commercial products. The findings of this study provide necessary baseline information for evaluating and profiling the nutritional content of spice-making and flavoring plants in the Vhembe Region.