Wild Olive

Plant photography
coming soon

Photo Credit

—

1 of 1

Common Names

Afrikaans

Olienhout · Wilde Olyfboom

English

Wild Olive · Ironwood Olive

Khoikhoi

not documented

Ndebele

umquma

San

not documented

Sepedi

mohlware

Sesotho

mohlware

Setswana

morolwe

Swati

umquma

Tsonga

ndzhovhela

Venda

muloiwa

Xhosa

umquma

Zulu

umquma

Common Name

Wild Olive

Scientific Name

Olea europaea subsp. africana

Family

Oleaceae

Native Region

Widespread across South Africa in forest margins and woodland.

Annual
Production

< 50 t

Export Revenue

R5–20m

Export Markets

EU, USA

Livelihoods

Limited

Protection & Benefit Sharing

No GI No GI protection. Significant underutilised commercial potential; oleuropein content in South African wild olive leaf confirmed via dedicated pharmacognosy study.

No BSA No formal agreement. Zulu communities associate umquma with spiritual protection; knowledge distributed across multiple language communities.

Organic Small certified organic leaf extract production.

Wild Harvest Primarily wild-harvested leaves. No sustainability concerns at current minimal commercial scale.

Provinces

ECEastern Cape

FSFree State

GTGauteng

KZNKwaZulu-Natal

LIMLimpopo

MPMpumalanga

NCNorthern Cape

NWNorth West

WCWestern Cape

Key

Registered farm

Certified organic

Introduction

A highly adaptable evergreen tree endemic to southern Africa. Its leaves are rich in oleuropein, offering a powerful, commercially untapped alternative to Mediterranean olive leaf extracts for cardiovascular and metabolic wellness.

Active Compounds

Oleuropein
Hydroxytyrosol
Oleacein
Oleocanthal
Luteolin
Oleanolic acid

Traditional Uses

Hypertension
Diabetes management
Fever
Wound healing
Digestive tonic

Clinically Validated

ACE inhibitory activity of oleuropein (Hansen et al., 1996)
Insulin secretagogue effects (antidiabetic)
Broad-spectrum antimicrobial activity
Antioxidant capacity comparable to commercial Mediterranean olive leaf (Briesen et al., 2019)

Cultivation

Extremely adaptable (Mediterranean to highveld); frost-tolerant; drought-resistant.

Widespread across all South African provinces.

Commercial & Trade Notes

Currently underutilised; vast potential for sustainable leaf harvest extraction.

Indigenous Knowledge

Known as Umquma (Zulu) and Olienhout (Afrikaans). Central to Zulu ritual protection traditions and widely used across all cultures for cardiovascular and diabetic tonic preparations.

Health