In Eritrea, currently, there are several cultivated and/or wild fruits, vegetables, and berries that may have a role in food supply and the prevention of communicable and non-communicable diseases. Currently, there is traditional knowledge concerning the health-promoting value of some fruits and vegetables that needs to be scientifically proven. So far, limited work has been done in documenting, cultivating, and preserving the wild variants for maintaining diversity in the food systems. The indigenous knowledge of wild fruits and vegetables and their utilization, traditional dietary habits, and processing techniques has been passed on through generations verbally. Hence, there is a need to document, preserve, and cultivate those wild fruits and vegetables and scientifically evaluate the knowledge for future reference. Such intervention promotes biodiversity, increases food diversity, and helps optimize nutritional intake leading to a holistic approach that regards the role of food and nutrition to be more than just the prevention of nutrient deficiency. Identifying, cultivating, and utilizing available wild vegetables and fruits helps diversify and improve nutrient intake. In addition, identifying the wild fruits and vegetables will lead to nutrition-sensitive value-addition, income-generating activities, improving livelihoods, and boosting the private and national economy.
Thus, these plants need to be investigated documented and cultivated/preserved. In addition, analysis of food content of macromolecules such as proteins, carbohydrates, and fats; and micro molecules vitamins and minerals is essential to make a database of nutrients in national foods, which is a fundamental step in preventing malnutrition and planning diets for disease prevention purposes.
Some examples of Eritrean wild vegetables
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Another untapped natural dietary resource is fish resource in general and small pelagic fishes in particular in the Red Sea. The Eritrean Red Sea is a palace for an extensive population of diverse marine species, with about 1,000 known species of fish and 220 species of corals. Eritrea has more than 1950 km of shoreline (from the Sudan border to the Djibouti border), accommodates over 350 beautiful islands, and seawater occupies up to 44% of Eritrea's surface.
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Reef fishes such as snappers, groupers, emperors, jobfishes, jacks, and trevallies are the main caught fishes making up 64%, Pelagic fish such as mackerels, barracudas, tunas are about 20% of the catch, shrimp is about 5%, and the rest are 11%.
Fish consumption in Eritrea is, however, traditionally low (about 1 kg/capita/yr). Meat from goat, lamb, and cow) is the preferred protein source almost everywhere in the country. Even the fishing communities rare the land animals for meat source. Fish promotion campaigns through television, radio, brochures, and other print media are undertaken by the Ministry of Fisheries to increase fish consumption in Eritrea.
Considering the abundance in the Red Sea and the nutritional value of Marine products, they should be an important contribution to the Eritrean diet.