Anchote Coccinia abyssinica (Lam.) Cogn. is a neglected and underutilized root crop indigenous to Ethiopia. Despite its high-yielding potential, a lack of awareness of the nutritional importance, production practices, improved varieties, poor knowledge of methods of food preparation and consumption, product development, as well as its restricted production location, has limited the contribution of anchote to food and nutritional security. This article summarizes research output available on distribution, biology, genetic diversity, and agronomic practices, as well as its nutritional, cultural, and medicinal value, and brings anchote to the attention of researchers, growers, and policymakers. This review consolidates a wide range of both published and unpublished articles covering different domains of anchote research, observations, and experiences to illustrate how the crop is studied to date and highlights the gaps using a review of published literature and observational insights. The key articles published on anchote aspects were collected from the Google Scholar search engine. The article starts by introducing the importance, biology, propagation methods, and diversity of the anchote crop. It also highlights the nutritional and medicinal values of anchote. Moreover, it addresses how to cultivate, prepare, and consume anchote roots. As major anchote production is limited to the southwestern part of the country, this study provides information to other researchers and policymakers to promote the introduction and adaptation of the crop into new production areas and new cultural societies.
Dereje Haile Buko (Fri,) studied this question.