Nadia Audhali and Dennis Stevenson
AFRICA: Preparation and Uses of Cycadsto make kaffir bread: The trunks of the plants are split and the pith is removed and placed in an animal skin and buried in the ground for 4-6 weeks until it is partially fermented. It is then dug up and ground up with water, shaped into loaves and baked (Dyer 1965, Thierret 1958). to make 'Ugali' To make the Ugali the trunk is chopped, fermented , washed and then dried in the sun before it is ground into gruel (Thierret 1958). how imfingo is made and what is can be used for One of these ritual potions is prepared by chopping the trunk or and allowing it to infuse in cold water for 24 hours. This can be given orally or as a suppository to induce vomitting which is thought to render the body invisible to harmful spirits. It can also be scattered around a property in order to ward off evil spirits. Burying the root of this plant by a house is said to protect it from lighting, and others have used the plant to relieve congestion, reduce blood pressure
(Osborne 1993).
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