Kolanut curing, storage and trade: Panacea for increased kolanut production in Nigeria

The article examined kolanut curing, storage and trade. Kolanut thrives well in Africa, the Americas, Brazil and the West Indies. It is the fruit of the kola tree originating from the Cola genus. A desk research was employed using various published literatures on kolanut. It was unveiled that most farmers use chemical insecticides such as gammalin 20 and phostoxin in preventing kolanut from insect pests attack before storage, which is hazardous to the human body. Also, the methods used in extracting kolanuts from the pod, the methods used in curing and storage significantly determine the quality of the nuts. Furthermore, kolanut farmers can make more profits through exportation of the nuts rather than through domestic sales. Hence, efforts should be geared towards provision of better kolanut curing and storage methods and more awareness should be created about the benefits of exporting kolanuts to other countries.