Aiele fruits

Olive-like fruits produced by the aiele tree, Canarium schweinfurthii, widely consumed in West African countries — also known as African black olives, mbeu or black fruit. Both pulp and kernel are rich in oleic and palmitic acids, and the oils pressed from the fruits show similarities to olive oil in composition. They represent an underutilised indigenous oil fruit: nutritious, adapted to local agroforestry, and largely unknown outside the region. As interest in traditional African food resources grows, aiele fruits are candidates for wider food use and value-added oil production.