The Masau Fruit

Continuing our focus on underutilised resources we take a look at Spore's coverage of the Masau fruit:

Found in Zimbabwe, Malawi, Mozambique and Zambia, is wine coloured and wizened, with a sweet and slightly sour taste. The shape and texture are reminiscent of dried plums. Masau are chewy, and you need to use your teeth to tear the flesh off the seed. The fruit is rich in vitamin C and beta carotene..."Whilst we eat it fresh, we can also dry it for use later or make it into bread and Masau jam", explained Forbes Shiri, a village head in Muzarabani. Local communities use the fruit as a base for distilling an alcoholic beverage called kachasu. In traditional medicine, masau is used to treat a variety of ailments including colds and flu...[continue reading]