Radio Scripts
Package 46, Script 5
October 1997
The Many Uses of Bitter Leaf
By Samuel Ugochukwu, Nigeria
In tropical countries, bitter leaf (Vernonia amygdalina) is a widely used vegetable, especially in the southern part of Nigeria. This small evergreen plant grows well in both the dry and rainy seasons, and has many uses.
Rural and urban women earn extra income by selling the leaves in the market. They must wash the leaves to remove the bitterness before selling them. Bitter leaves are delicious in soup and add flavour when cooking fresh fish. You can also use the leaves to wash out mucus from snails and fish before cooking.
Bitter leaf is resistant to disease. During the dry season when fodder is scarce, it makes a good feed for goats. You can also use bitter leaf to make a fence for your vegetable garden, or interplant it as a flower and prune it like other flowers.
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