''Tetrapleura tetraptera'' is a species of

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. The term "angiosperm" is derived from the Greek words ('container, vessel') and ('seed'), and refers to those plants th ...

in the family

Fabaceae The Fabaceae or Leguminosae,International Code of Nomenc ...

native to

Western Africa West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mali, Maurita ...

and

Central Africa Central Africa is a subregion of the African continent comprising various countries according to different definitions. Angola, Burundi, the Central African Republic, Chad, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Republic of the Congo, ...

. The plant is called ''prekese'' (or, more correctly, ''prɛkɛsɛ'' aka soup perfume) in the

Twi language Twi () is a dialect of the Akan language spoken in southern and central Ghana by several million people, mainly of the Akan people, the largest of the seventeen major ethnic groups in Ghana. Twi has about 17-18 million speakers in total, includ ...

Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...

. It is also called ''uhio'' (''uhiokrihio'') in the Igbo language of Nigeria. The tree has many uses. Its sweet fragrance is valued, its fruit is used to spice dishes, such as

Banga soup Palm nut soup is a soup made from palm fruit and it is common in the Ghanaian and Ivorian community. It originated from Akan tribe in Ashanti Region, Ghana. Palm nut soup has become a continental soup. In the Akan language (the native language o ...

, and its bark is used for supposed medicinal purposes. The major constituents are

tannin Tannins (or tannoids) are a class of astringent, polyphenolic biomolecules that bind to and precipitate proteins and various other organic compounds including amino acids and alkaloids. The term ''tannin'' (from Anglo-Norman ''tanner'', ...

flavonoid Flavonoids (or bioflavonoids; from the Latin word ''flavus'', meaning yellow, their color in nature) are a class of polyphenolic secondary metabolites found in plants, and thus commonly consumed in the diets of humans. Chemically, flavonoids ...

s and starch. It is mostly used to prepare palm nut soup and other types of soups called light soup because of its aroma.

References

Mimosoids Flora of Ghana Plants used in traditional African medicine {{Ghana-stub