Achyranthes aspera L. is an herbaceous plant from the tropics and subtropics, mainly used for food and ethnomedicine, and consumed by ruminants, horses, and rabbits (Ruffo et al., 2002; Malzy, 1954).
Morphological description
Achyranthes aspera is a perennial or annual shrubby herb than can grow from (30-) 60-80 (-200) cm in height. It can become somewhat woody with maturity. It is taprooted. The leaves are simple and opposite, very variable in size and colour. The limb is usually long-oval up to 15 cm, often softly hairy on one or both surfaces, and very variable. The inflorescence is a terminal or axillary spike, silvery green to pink-red in colour. It bears small (3-7 mm) flowers that point downward at maturity. The fruit is a small (1.6-2.5 mm), few-seeded capsule, that is mostly dispersed in animal furs and human clothing. The seeds are very small, sometimes used as famine food (Le François, 2021; Ruffo et al., 2002).
Uses
In Tanzania, the leaves are used and cooked like spinach in side dishes of staple food. They can be mixed with sesame seeds, pounded peanuts or sunflower seeds to make them more palatable. It is grazed by ruminants and horses, and it is fed to rabbits (Ruffo et al., 2002). It is an important source of forage for buffaloes in East Java (Djufri, 2017). It is referred to as a good fertility indicator in soils (Ruffo et al., 2002). In India, a leaf protein concentrate had been tested to enrich human diet in times of scarcity (Rathore, 2010). The seeds, roots and shoots of Achyranthes aspera are widely used in Africa and India for their ethnomedicinal properties and phytochemicals extracted from them are under study (Ruffo et al., 2002; Ghimire et al., 2015).
