09/08/2025
Let's talk about Upcycling Indigenous Foods Today
Voila! I grew up in a family that always had a garden, no matter the location.
My father planted fruit trees like Malay apple (Syzygium malaccense), soursop, guava, pawpaw, tangerine, sweet orange, mango, plantain, and lime, including pineapple. I don't know if I should call this an orchard. My mother focused on vegetables, and I added herbs because of my love for healing using plants.
I can't remember buying fruits from the market, except for watermelon. We had fruits to eat throughout the year. There was, however, a time we harvested large watermelons that grew from seeds we accidentally discarded.
After collecting fluted pumpkin leaves (Telfairia occidentalis), known as Ugwu in Nigeria, my mother went on to prepare the seeds. We had the leaves for soup and then the seeds to add as egusi for the same soup. I’ll tell you an honest truth. That egusi soup from fluted pumpkin remains the most delicious I have ever eaten!
If you're also struggling with lactating well as a breastfeeding mother, you may want to consider adding fluted pumpkin seeds to your diet. Get ready to flow a river.
Every other part of Telfairia occidentalis is valuable. Among other uses, the ripe pulp is occasionally used to make marmalade as well as a suspending agent in pharmaceuticals, while the pods are processed into animal feed.
There is really no waste in food. We only need the knowledge and expertise to upcycle food waste into sustainability, wellness, and wealth.
Upcycling indigenous foods means creatively transforming underutilized or discarded food parts into nutritious, marketable products while preserving cultural heritage. This could be turning food peels into animal feed or biofuel, using overripe fruits like mangoes for jams, or processing tigernut chaff into high-fibre snacks.
Some of these food by-products are also superfoods (functional foods) with medicinal benefits. An example of this is the seed of avocado with anti-hyperglycemic, anti-hypertensive, and anti-inflammatory properties.
Upcycling is a sustainable approach that boosts nutrition, creates economic opportunities, reduces post-harvest losses, and celebrates the overall richness of our local food systems.
What food by-products or presumed wastes do you think receive less attention and should be upcycled into value-added products to improve our food systems? Please share.
I'll also like to indicate that I am very open to research collaborations and opportunities on product development and upcycling of food products. Thank you.
(Fluted pumpkin is traditionally known as Ugwu in Nigeria.)
Funmilola Deborah Olomola, MNIFST, CFSN
