Palm wine, a traditional beverage derived from the sap of various tropical palm trees, holds a significant place in the cultural and social fabric of many African communities, particularly in Ghana. This drink, known locally as "Nsafufuo" or "Dehaa," is deeply intertwined with cultural practices and regional customs, especially during ceremonies, celebrations, and traditional gatherings.
Palm wine in Nigeria
In its fresh state, palm wine is a mildly alcoholic beverage with an alcohol content of up to 4%, achieved through natural fermentation. Over time, the fermentation process intensifies, resulting in a stronger, more sour flavor, or even vinegar. Distillation of palm wine produces potent spirits known by various names globally, such as arrack, palm feni, and village gin, offering a stronger alternative to the original brew.
The Legend of Palm Wine in Ghana
According to legend, palm wine was first discovered in Ghana by Chief Nana Akora Frampong during a hunting expedition. Observing elephants extracting sap from palm trees, the chief tasted the sweet nectar and introduced it to his people, leading to its widespread popularity.
Nutritional and Health Benefits
Beyond its cultural significance, palm wine is valued for its nutritional content, containing B vitamins, potassium, and magnesium. It is also believed to possess antioxidant properties.
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Many health benefits have been attributed to the use of palm wine as a functional beverage. The health benefits attributed to palm wine are from yeasts, lactic acid, and acetic acid bacteria, which confer probiotic qualities to the wine and several antioxidants. Palm wine is claimed to be hypnotic and an antidepressant due to the presence of tryptophan, a precursor for serotonin.
Palm wine has a good content of vitamins B1, B2, B6, B12, and C, which play a critical role in catabolic and anabolic metabolism. High content of amino acid, potassium, zinc, and iron is linked to palm wine beverage. Saccharomyces yeast species in palm wine possess probiotic attributes.
In traditional medicine, palm wine is used for its potential health benefits, such as aiding digestion and boosting the immune system. In traditional medicine pharmacopeia, many health benefits of palm wine are reported. Palm wine is documented to be used in treating malaria, measles, and jaundice, as a laxative, and enhancement of eyesight.
Palm wine is used as a galactagogue to improve milk production in lactating nursing mothers. In Zambia, it is reportedly used for treating skin rashes and sexually transmitted infections (STIs). In Ghana, palm wine, which is known locally as “nsafufuo”, is reported to be used in traditional pharmacopeia for the treatment of human ailments. Traditional healers have reportedly used palm wine as an ingredient in the treatment of Buruli ulcer wounds.
Palm wine’s ability to fight cancer, improve eyesight, maintenance of healthier skin, hair, and nail, reduction in the risk of cardiovascular diseases, and promotion of lactation has frequently been cited as health benefits of consumption in the Ghanaian media.
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Ethnomedicinal Uses of Palm Wine in Ghana
A study aimed to document palm wine utilization for treating human ailments in Ghana and determine whether gender and age influence knowledge of the ethnomedicine application of palm wine was conducted in the Ho municipality of the Volta Region.
Study Area
The study was conducted in the Ho municipality of the Volta Region, which covers a total land area of 587 km2 and has a human population of 180,420. The municipality lies between latitudes 6˚20"N and 6˚55"N and longitudes 0˚12'E and 0˚53'E and shares boundaries with Adaklu and Agotime-Ziope Districts to the South, Ho West District to the North and West and the Republic of Togo to the East. Palm wine is one of the most widely consumed drinks in the municipality.
Sampling Procedure and Data Collection
The purposeful and snowball sampling approaches were used in this study. The purposeful sampling approach ensured that the selected participants could provide information pertinent to the study, and the snowball sampling approach used the targeted population to recommend other members of that population. Palm wine drinking spots in the Ho municipality, where buyers and sellers converge to trade palm wine, were chosen for the data collection.
Data on ethnomedicinal use of palm wine were collected from respondents through face-to-face interviews using a semi-structured questionnaire in August 2024. The free-listing technique was employed, and each respondent was allowed to list all the ailments he or she knows palm wine is used to treat. Verbal prompts and probes to motivate and elicit further information from the respondents.
Study Results
Of the 150 respondents, 69.3% (n = 104) were males, and 30.7% (n = 46) were females. The age group of the respondents revealed that most were between the ages of 31 - 40 years (n = 46; 30.67%) followed by ages 41 - 50 (n = 35; 23.33%), ages 51 - 60 (n = 31; 20.67%), ages 21 - 30 (n = 26; 17.33%), ages above 60 (n = 7; 4.67%), and ages 18 - 20 (n = 5; 3.33%).
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Regarding respondents’ last level of education, the majority had attained Senior High School (n = 45; 30%), Tertiary (n = 40; 26.67%), Junior High School (n = 27; 18.00%), Middle School Leaving Certificate (n = 18; 12.00%), basic/primary and no formal education had an equal number of participants (n = 10; 6.67).
A total of 40 ailments were mentioned to be treated with palm wine. Appetite stimulant received the highest number of mentions (n = 85) followed by immune booster (n = 75), breastmilk production (n = 64), eyesight improvement (n = 60), blood tonic (n = 60), infusion of traditional medicine (n = 53), healthy skin (n = 47), male fertility (n = 32). Sperm production and pain had the same number of mentions (n = 25; each), fever (n = 24), chicken pox (n = 20), stomach disorder (n = 16), and skin diseases (n = 14). Anxiety and headache (n = 13; each), blood cleanser and diabetes (n = 11; each), laxative (n = 10), clears throat (n = 9), sedative (n = 7), aids digestion, malaria, heart disease (n = 6; each), diarrhea and stomach pain (n = 5; each), retentive memory, and reduce stress (n = 4; each). Blood pressure, cancer, and strong bone had the same number of mentions (n = 3; each), likewise kidney disease, weight management, cholesterol, catarrh (n = 2; each), wound healing, aphrodisiac, rheumatism, detoxify body, and cataracts treatment (n = 1; each).
Ailments mentioned by participants to be treated with palm wine in the Ho municipality of the Volta region. Maximum mentions are 85 for appetite stimulant.
The chi-square test (χ2) results revealed a significant gender-specific influence on knowledge of palm wine application as infusion of traditional medicine (χ2 = 4.532, df = 1, p = 0.033), and the treatment male fertility (χ2 = 8.673, df = 1, p = 0.003) being frequent for men, breastmilk production (χ2 = 70.024, df = 1, p = 0.001), healthy skin (χ2 = 35.404, df = 1, p = 0.001), stomach disorder (χ2 = 5.513, df = 1, p = 0.019), and catarrh (χ2 = 4.583, df = 1, p = 0.032) being frequent for women.
Regarding age group, significant differences were observed for breastmilk (χ2 = 19.750, df = 5, p = 0.001), retentive memory (χ2 = 19.986, df = 5, p = 0.001), and aphrodisiac (χ2 = 20.566, df = 5, p = 0.001), with the frequency tilted toward older generation.
Many health benefits attributed to the use of palm wine in this study have been mentioned in previous studies. Palm wine, as a galactagogue to improve milk production in lactating nursing mothers, in this study was consistent with previous studies that reported on its health benefits. Likewise, the reported health benefit of palm wine for eyesight improvement has been cited in previous studies. The application of palm wine for the treatment of malaria, prevention of cataracts, and as a sedative and laxative has been reported in previous studies. The use of palm wine as an infusion for traditional medicine in this study was consistent with findings in Cameroon.
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Palm Wine Around the World
Palm wine, known by several local names, is an alcoholic beverage created from the sap of various species of palm trees such as the palmyra, date palms, and coconut palms. It is known by various names in different regions and is common in various parts of Africa, the Caribbean, South America, South Asia, Southeast Asia, and Micronesia.
In Africa, the sap used to create palm wine is most often taken from wild date palms such as the silver date palm (Phoenix sylvestris), the palmyra, and the jaggery palm (Caryota urens), or oil palm such as the African Oil Palm (Elaeis guineense) or from Raffia palms, kithul palms, or nipa palms.
In South Asian countries such as Bangladesh, India, and Sri Lanka, coconut palms and Palmyra palms such as the Arecaceae and Borassus are preferred.
Mexican tuba made from coconut sap is common in western Mexico, especially in the states of Colima, Jalisco, Michoacán, and Guerrero. Coconuts are not native to the Americas. They were introduced to Mexico from the Philippines via the Manila Galleons to Acapulco, along with tuba manufacturing. Mexican tuba is made in the same way as Filipino tubâ. The traditional sap collectors are known as tuberos (which also means "plumber" in both Mexico and the Philippines). Mexican tuba is also commonly sold as tuba fresca, a non-alcoholic version made from fresh coconut sap. It is traditionally sold by street vendors in large bottle gourds mixed with coconut milk, ice, and sugar.
Palm wines are widely consumed in the Philippines and are part of the traditional palm vinegar industry. They are gathered mostly from coconuts, nipa palms, or kaong palms. Palm wines fermented for a few days to a few weeks are generally referred to as tubâ.
Toddy tapper at work, India, c. 1920
Palm wine plays an important role in many ceremonies in many tribes and nations of Nigeria such as among the Igbo and Yoruba peoples, and elsewhere in Central and Western Africa. Guests at weddings, birth celebrations, funerals, and gatherings to observe important festivals and holidays are served in generous quantities.
Poyo is a fermented drink made in Sierra Leone from various species of palm trees. In Sierra Leone, poyo plays an important role among the local people. According to the Limbas people, one of the oldest ethnic groups in Sierra Leone, he who brings poyo brings life.
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