5.

Planting and management

5.1 Planting
It is characterized by slow rate of growth, it is unlikely that rural farmers would plant G.
kola on a large scale because the untreated seeds are dicult to germinate. Discouragingly,
farmers believe that the germination takes about six to twelve months and that only few
seeds germinate. They also believe that the tree takes a longer time of about eight to ten
years to reach reproductive phase. However, the demand is currently very high in Nigeria
and though few seeds are available in the markets, production of the species is limited due
to problem of seed dormancy. The seeds need to be treated to enhance germination.

5.2 Management
Weed around trees once every 3 months for the first year planting. Apply N:P:K when the
soil is poor and also do this at the beginning of the rainy season.
Pests
The seed of G. kola cannot be attacked by rodents because of it hardness and sticky nature
but the leaves are eaten up by Caterpillars.

Bibliography and further reading

Aduradola, A. M. (1999). Preliminary investigation of some factors aecting germination in seeds of Piliostigma
reticulatum Hochst L. Journal of Tropical Ethnoforestry 2(1): 47-52.
Agboola, D. A. and Adedire, M. O. (1998). Response of treated dormant seeds of three tropical tree species to
germination promoters. Nigerian Journal of Botany 11: 103-110.
Anegbeh, P. O., Iruka, C. and Nkirika C. (2006): Enhancing germination of bitter cola (Garcinia kola) heckel : Prospects for agroforestry farmers in the Niger Delta. Scientia Africana, Vol. 5 (1). pp 1SSN 1118-1931
Farombi, E. O., Adepoju, B. F., Ola-Davies, O. E. and Emerole, G. O. (2005). Chemoprevention of aflatoxin B1induced genotoxicity and hepatic oxidative damage in rats by kolaviron, a natural bioflavonoid of
Garcinia kola seeds. Eur J Cancer Prev.14(3):207-214
Taiwo, O., Xu, H. X. and Lee, S. E. (1999). Antibacterial activities of extracts from Nigerian chewing sticks.
Phytoter Res. 13(8): 675-679.

Prepared by

For more information contact :

Osazuwa Eseosa
Okwu Chioma
Onaiwu Bright
Amanze Joseph
Asaah Ebenezar
Esekhade Timothy
Tchoundjeu Zac

World Agroforestry Centre-West and Central Africa

Regional Oce P.O. Box 16317 Yaounde-Cameroon
Tel: (237) 22.21.50.84 / 22.23.75.60
Fax: (237) 22.21.50.89 / 22.23.74.40
E-mail: icraf-aht@cgiar.org
Web site: worldagroforestrycentre.org/aht

Published by World Agroforestry Centre, and Rubber Research Institute of Nigeria

This publication is an output from a Rubber Agroforestry Project financed by the Common Fund for Commodities (CFC),
an intergovernmental financial institution established within the framework of the United Nations, headquartered
in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
The views expressed are not necessarily those of CFC/IRSG/21.

Bitter Kola
orogbo - dun - cida goro - ngy - sagbe - bitikola

Family : Guttiferae

Information slip

Bitter Kola
Family : Guttiferae
1. Species identity
Names
Scientific name : Garcina kola Heckel
Common Name : Bitter Kola
Vernacular names : (Nigeria), Yoruba, Orogbo , Edo, dun,
Hausa cida goro ( Cameroon) Bafut ngy , (Sierra Leone )
Kono sagbe , ( Senegal ) Wolof bitikola.

Biophysical limits
It grows in coastal areas and lowland plains up to 300 m above sea level with average water availability equivalent to 2,000 - 2,500 mm of rainfall per annum. Temperature in these regions ranges
from 21.4C to 32.15C with a minimum relative humidity of 76.34%.

Reproductive Biology
The tree bears separate male and female flowers around December to March and May to August
respectively. Female flowers are yellow and fleshy while the male flowers are smaller with more
distinct stamens. The main pollinator are animals who feed on them and disperse the seeds. Garcina kola has regular fruiting cycle and the tree produces fruits once every year. Fruiting commences in July and ends in October. Fruit harvests continue intermittently as the ripe fruit falls
and is then collected for the extraction of seeds.

3. Uses
3.1 Products

Botanical description
Garcina kola Heckel is an indigenous medicinal tree. It is well
branched, evergreen, and
grows as a medium sized tree
reaching 12 m in height with a
girth up to 1.8 m. The tree has
a dense crown which is compact but not spreading. The
leaves are broad, elongated,
leathery with distinct resinous
canals. Male and female flowers are separate. The fruits are
smooth, reddish yellow about
6cm in diameter and each fruit
contains two to four brown
seeds embedded in an orangecoloured pulp. The seed coat is
brown with branched lines.

2. Ecology and distribution

Natural habitat and geographical distribution
The tree is distributed from Sierra Leone to Gabon and Zaire (Democratic Republic of Congo).
This encompasses part of the lowland warm humid tropic of West and Central Africa. In West
Africa, Garcina kola grows in Sierra Leone, Cte d'Ivoire, Ghana, Togo, Benin and Nigeria. In Central
Africa, it is found in Cameroon, Gabon, Central African Republic and Equatorial Guinea. The trees
are abundant in densely populated areas of natural and secondary forests where the predominant land use system is tree crop plantation farming. The major places where the commodity
is found growing wild are forest reserves and free areas of the rainforests. Its natural habitat is
subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests throughout West and Central Africa. Traditionally,
it occurs in the wet and moist semi deciduous forest zones as well as in the savannah. In Nigeria,
low populations of G. kola are found in home gardens and few stands are found in the wild due
to rapid deforestation and heavy exploitation in the natural forests.

Medicines : Bark and leaves are used for pulmonary and gastro-intestinal troubles, it is
used as a tonic in men to make their organs work well. The bark is added to palm-wine to
improve its potency. It is an aphrodisiac used in treating bronchial asthma or cough, and
vomiting. It is also used as a treatment for intestinal worms and to cure stomach pain...
Timber and wood : It is used for chew-sticks, carpentry, fuel and lighting wood.
Lipids : In Nigeria pharmacology extracts from stems, roots and seeds have shown strong
anti-hepatotoxic and hepatotropic activity. Petroleum ether and acetone extracts were found
to be markedly anti-microbial

3.2 Service
Its dense rounded crown makes it an ideal tree for shade around homestead.

4. Propagation methods
4.1 Germination
Seed pre-treatment : Nickled seeds
Substrate : 1:1 mixture of top soil and white sand
Success rate : about 50%
Germination period : 21 days
4.2 Marcotting
Rooting medium: Moist Decomposed sawdust
Type and Diameter of Branch: vertical and small
to medium diameter (2 4 cm)
Time before rooting start: 5 months
Success rate at rooting : 50 %
Survival rate after weaning : 55%

4.3 Grafting
Side tongue grafting, top cleft grafting
Survival rate : about 40%