Abstract:
Although researchers, agriculturalists and policy makers, have largely neglected them African leafy vegetables have
over the years featured prominently in diets of many communities especially in resource poor areas. They are mainly
used in the preparation of relishes that supplement and add flavour to diets, which are usually based on starchy
staples. These vegetables fall in many species and are widely distributed. Among the important ones are Spiderplant
(Cleome gynandra L.), Jute mallow (Corchorus spp.) and African nightshade (Solanum nigrum L. Complex). Since
these vegetables gained the attention of researchers only recently, there are still wide knowledge gaps in the various
aspects of production. One important area where knowledge is required is that of seed production, handling and
storage. Information on the current methods of seed production, harvesting, drying, processing and storage is
important in identifying bottlenecks that hamper productivity and subsequent commercialization of these vegetables.
For commercialization, more uniform crops are desirable and methods of breaking seed dormancy, which is common
in these crops, should be studied. A review of seed production and handling of three indigenous vegetables
spiderplant, jute mallow and African nightshade complex is presented.
