Black benniseed (Sesamum radiatum Schum. et Thonn.) cultivated as leafy vegetable in Benin

Sesamum radiatum is a nutraceutical traditional leafy vegetable highly consumed in Benin. In spite of its importance for food security, nutrition and income generation, very little is known about in the scientific community and it falls into the group of so-called neglected and underutilised species. In order to document the diversity and the various traditional cultural practices associated with the production of this species and assess its “bringing into cultivation” levels across zones, a survey was conducted in 10 villages randomly selected from different agroecological and ethnic zones of both northern and central Benin. Data were collected in the different sites through application of Participatory Research Appraisal tools and techniques and analysed using both simple descriptive statistics and multivariate analysis. The study revealed a rich folk nomenclature essentially centred on the slimy texture of the sauce. No apparent intraspecific diversity was reported within S. radiatum at village level but the agromorphological characterisation of 18 accessions collected from different regions of the country revealed the existence of clear and well-structured intraspecific diversity exploitable in breeding for the development of new varieties with the potential to attract premium prices in local markets. In most of the households surveyed S. radiatum was found at the steps 1–4 in the “bringing into cultivation process”. The production of S. radiatum is still traditional and biologic (no fertilisers, no pesticides). The cultural practices used vary with the producers and are grouped into four categories. Further agricultural experiments are needed to identify appropriate cultural practices for the large production of this species for food, nutrition and income generation. Strengthening the existing germplasm of this species with additional collection from more agroecological zones is proposed for thorough genetic characterisation.