Katunkuma: Bitter berries are Iga's gold

By Umar Nsubuga

Patrick Iga has maintained a vegetable farming business for many years, and like any other business, he has seen days of profits as well as the low ones of losses.

Today, he is earning handsomely thanks to a friend who introduced him to the idea of growing bitter berries – or pea eggplants – two years ago.

His change in strategy has not only benefited Iga, but also several other people in Luwero district whom he taught and are not growing the highly nutritious bitter berries (locally katunkuma) commercially.

Iga never earned as much from growing African eggplants (locally entula) as he does from kantunkuma, which he grows on a four-acre piece of land.

"I used to make a profit of one million [shillings] from the four-acre land, but with katunkuma I get almost double after every harvest. When you compare, there is a big difference," he says, urging more farmers to take on the agribusiness.

He did not hesitate to start growing bitter berries after his friend had explained to him the benefits.

To begin with, the first season of his new agri-venture saw most of Iga’s customers being his immediate clients. Today, he says, people travel from afar to buy the berries.

In fact, prices have since shot up, a factor that has seen the hardworking and equally inspiring farmer reap big from his beloved agribusiness.
 

Following his first harvest, he planted more of the ever-bearing variety and now he says that he will never stop because he has benefited from it.

 "My workers normally harvest them every day since they ripen very quickly and you can harvest them continuously for two years before uprooting them and planting new ones.

Every day, Iga and his workers make sure they harvest and keep the bitter berries clean at all times. He then sells when they are dry.

A kilogramme goes for sh5,000. Iga earns a monthly profit of sh2m – after harvesting and packaging the product.

Packaging, he says, allows him reach supermarkets where he sells his produce on time and when still fresh.

This also gives him enough time to return to his farm and plan for the next harvesting.

Nutritional and medicinal values

From the consumer point of view, katunkuma comes with plenty of nutritional benefits.

According to Sharon Naluwende, a nutritionist at Mulago Hospital, bitter berries are low in calories, fat and sodium, but contain essential minerals and dietary fibres.

They are also rich in antioxidants such as Vitamin C, polyphenols and carotenoids.

"Bitter berries help in preventing conditions like diabetes and hypertension," she says.

The ability of katunkuma to prevent high blood pressure comes about because the polyphenols in the berries aid the muscle layer of blood vessels around the heart to relax, which in turn regulates blood pressure, she explains.

How to cook them

Hadija Namatovu, who is her 60s, says that back in the day, bitter berries would be put in a banana leaf and steamed on top of food (matooke/bananas).

"And when the food was ready, the katunkuma would be quickly mashed and mixed with boiled water. A little salt to taste and your katunkuma sauce would be ready to serve with your matooke.

“Sometimes, it would be steamed, still on top of the food, together with dodo or nakati (local leafy vegetables) and they would be eaten together as vegetables to accompany the main sauce of beans or fish,” explains Namatovu.

To benefit from katunkuma's medicinal value, Namatovu says you can cook it with groundnuts although people who find it bitter may be unable to eat that kind of sauce.

Although it has been with us for a long time, the medicinal value attached to bitter berries is slowly giving them a new face.