[5][6][7] The seeds are eaten whole, made into a paste, ground into a powder, or pressed for a high-quality oil.

[2] The leaves can be eaten fresh or cooked and are used in Sub-Saharan Africa as a leaf vegetable.

[8] The leaves are also used medicinally as a laxative, an antidote to scorpion venom[3] and to treat sprains and ease childbirth.

It can grow on poor, rocky soils and it flowers even through drought conditions.

[2] This plant is vulnerable to the leaf spot disease Cercospora sesami.