Tetrapleura tetraptera

{{Short description|Species of legume}} {{Speciesbox | image = Tetrapleura tetraptera-NMNH-13158020.jpg | image_caption = | genus = Tetrapleura (plant) | species = tetraptera | authority = (Schumach. & Thonn.) Taub. }}{{Cookbook|Aidan Fruit}}[[File:Tetrapleura tetraptera MHNT.BOT.2017.10.22.jpg|thumb|270px|''Tetrapleura tetraptera'' - MHNT]] thumb

'''''Tetrapleura tetraptera''''', also known as '''prekese,''' '''aidan fruit''', or '''four corner spice'''<ref>{{Cite web |title=Cameroon Recipe Glossary- Ingredients Starting With The Letter F |url=https://www.kengskitchen.com/cameroonian-recipe-ingredients-glossary-f |access-date=2026-04-17 |website=kengskitchen |language=en-US}}</ref>, is a species of flowering plant in the family Fabaceae native to Western Africa and Central Africa.<ref name="ref87mupay">{{Citation | title=Flowering plants in West Africa | author=Margaret Steentoft | date=9 June 1988 | publisher=Cambridge University Press, 1988 | isbn=978-0-521-26192-0 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mdzr7NNWZv0C | quote=''... aidan tree (Tetrapleura tetraptera) fruits are similarly useful, the seeds being rich in oil ...''}}</ref> The plant is called ''prekese'' (or, more correctly, ''prɛkɛsɛ'' aka soup perfume) in the Akan language of Ghana.<ref name="ref82riyiz">{{Citation | title=Hidden forestry revealed: Characteristics, constraints and opportunities for small and medium forest enterprises in Ghana |author1=Paul Osei-Tutu |author2=Kwabena Nketiah |author3=Boateng Kyereh |author4=Mercy Owusu-Ansah |author5=Joseph Faniyan |date=2010 | publisher=IIED | isbn=978-1-84369-454-0 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bZ9_pC-SlmwC | quote=''... Prekese (Tetrapluera tetraptera) – prekese tea bags, syrup as medicine and spices ...''}}</ref> It is also called ''uhio'' (''uhiokrihio'') in the Igbo language of Nigeria.

The tree has many uses. Its sweet fragrance is valued, and its fruit is used to spice dishes, such as Banga soup.<ref name="ref97lufec">{{Citation | title=Our days dwindle: memories of my childhood days in Asante |author1=Thomas E. Kyei |author2=Jean Marie Allman |date=2001 | publisher=Heinemann, 2001 | isbn=978-0-325-07042-1 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yWBmAAAAMAAJ | quote=''... Prekese The tree bore large fruits, bits of which were used as spice in soups. The pungent scent of its fruit earned for it the ... ("Prekese, the insuppressible, whose presence permeates houses as he touches at its outskirts ...''}}</ref><ref name="ref09quzed">{{Citation | title=The arts of Ghana |author1=Herbert M. Cole |author2=Doran H. Ross |date=1977 | publisher=Museum of Cultural History, University of California, 1977 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=v284rg4bdSYC | quote=''... A plant with a strong, sweet scent (Soup Perfume) is the fourth umbrella subject. It signifies that the chief's presence ... The Asantes call it "prekese(Soup Perfume) the sweet scenter, whose fodor is felt in all houses when it starts from the end of town" ...''}}</ref> It is mostly used to prepare palm nut soup and other types of soups called '''light soup''' because of its aroma.

== Description == A medium grey barked deciduous tree that can grow up to 25 m tall, the trunk is slender and straight while the slash is reddish and scented.<ref name=":0">Orwa C, A Mutua, Kindt R , Jamnadass R, S Anthony. 2009 Agroforestree Database:a tree reference and selection guide version 4.0. (http://www.worldagroforestry.org/sites/treedbs/treedatabases.asp {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090116145335/http://www.worldagroforestry.org/sites/treedbs/treedatabases.asp |date=2009-01-16 }})</ref> Its leaves are bipinnately compound, up to 5 - 9 of mostly opposite pinnae and each pinnae having 12 - 24 leaflets. Leaflets alternate, can reach 2 cm long and 1 cm wide, they are narrowly oblong to elliptic in shape and rounded at both the apex and the base.<ref name=":0" /> The inflorescence is arranged in spike-like axillary racemes with the flowers pinkish cream to orange brown in color.<ref name=":0" /> Its fruit is a shiny dark brown to almost black pod with four wing like ridges, two hard and woody ridges and two rather soft ridges, the latter two has an edible pulp.<ref name=":0" /> The fruit typically hangs at the edges of branches and<ref>{{Cite thesis |last=Olaniyi |first=Aishat |title=Phenology and Germplasm Variation of Tetrapleura tetraptera |date=2020 |degree=PhD |publisher=University of Ibadan}}</ref> inside the pod are tiny rattling black to brownish seeds.

== Distribution == Native to Tropical Africa, from Senegal in West Africa to Sudan and Kenya and southwards to Tanzania and Angola.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Tetrapleura tetraptera (Schumach. & Thonn.) Taub. {{!}} Plants of the World Online {{!}} Kew Science |url=http://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:521134-1 |access-date=2024-05-16 |website=Plants of the World Online |language=en}}</ref>

==References== {{Reflist}}

Category:Mimosoideae Category:Flora of Ghana Category:Flora of Cameroon Category:Plants used in traditional African medicine