THE BLUE SOUR PLUM TREE

Scientific name: Ximenia americana

Common name: Blue sour plum

A woman’s hair is her crown – a source of pride, beauty and femininity. And every afro hair growth journey includes a drop of plant-based oil, whether the oil is extracted traditionally or with modern machinery.

The Sahel region stretches from West to East Africa and includes countries like Nigeria, Burkina Faso and Mali, which are known as the “shea belt” countries. These countries get the popular shea oil from the karite tree commonly known as the African shea tree. Chad extracts chebe oil from the seed of the chebe tree, but it is undebatable that the eemheke oil extracted from the seed of the blue sour plum tree is Namibia’s native afro hair growth miracle.

The deciduous sour plum tree is found in most areas within the northern and central regions of Namibia and extends through to the Zambezi Region. The leaves of the sour plum are simple, hairless, semi-succulents with ovate-oblong blades. It has a smooth, pale grey bark with white flecks. Blue sour plum trees flower from August to May, with November being the peak flowering month. Their flowers are small and greenish white – comparable to that of the bird plum – and bear stone-sized fruits that turn yellow when ripe. These fruits often appear to be blueish as they dry, hence it is commonly referred to as the blue sour plum. Unfortunately, due to land clearing for the expansion of crop fields and residential establishments, the distribution of the blue sour plum tree has become patchy over the years.

The fruits are mainly collected to be dried for the purpose of extracting cosmetic oil which is known to have skin-softening and anti-ageing properties, while it is commonly used as a haircare product. Although the preparation of the oil dates back in history prior to my generation, it is not surprising that every elder I came across has an exact preparation method, regardless of it not being a historically documented method. I have come to the succinct conclusion that it is within our African culture to master procedures, methods and recipes by heart. This is primarily how cultural intellectual property was protected: skills were passed by word of mouth, with the consent of the original founders. A slight deviation in preparation meant that it is that particular family’s unique recipe.

Times have changed, and information has become more accessible, hence there is no harm in sharing a brief process of how oil from the blue sour plum seeds is manually extracted. The hard shells of the seeds are cracked open to remove the kernels. The kernels are then roasted, crushed and boiled. Boiling the crushed seeds allows fatty acid bonds to break, changing form from solids to the liquid oil. The oil slowly separates from the solid particles which could not be broken down by the heat.

The second phase of separation is where oil is scooped from the boiling container and transferred into another container where the intense boiling continues. The oil becomes very dark and a strong, unpleasant smell indicates the readiness of the emollient oil. Experts know when it is ready. It is rather unfortunate that this hair growth oil is not something you can apply in its natural state – the scent just won’t allow you. A mixture of oils with a more pleasant scent needs to be added in order to balance the unpleasant smell. Yet, regardless of the smell, what cannot be denied is that it moisturises the scalp and the hair growth effect is miraculous.

Noticing the patchy distribution of the blue sour plum is the first step to restoring this species to its former glory, but it will take great effort. The 103 seeds of the blue sour plum which I have received from a friend are destined to be planted as trials within our communities. Today’s seedlings are tomorrow’s forests.

Agnes Shekupe Shivute