It is trite that most Indigenous food resources in former politically colonised nations have been given English or some other Western common or trivial names. The oppressed people especially in southern Africa were not spared from derogatory and/or racist names such as Kaffir or Kafir, a derogatory reference name equivalent to Nigga or Negro that was used in America. Over time and as political freedom and independence were gained through liberation struggles between the colonisers and the colonised, the use of derogatory and/or racist names against the formerly oppressed people became legally actionable. It is almost forgotten that the offensive, derogatory and/or racist names were not limited to the oppressed people. The natural environments, land and other resources such as Indigenous plants, fruits, rivers, serene spaces and animals were also apparently named by the colonisers and Western botanists or those who allegedly discovered these resources, even though the Indigenous names for such resources existed before the arrival of different agents of colonialisation.
Although, human society in general has learnt to no longer use racist and/or derogatory words such as Negro, Nigga, Kaffir or Kafir as common names or nouns, the scientific community seems to lag behind. Some questions arise such as has the scientific community learnt this lesson? Have scientific communications and their related communication platforms such as editors and publishers learnt this lesson?
From literature, the use of racist, derogatory words such as Negro, Nigga, Kaffir or Kafir as common names or nouns had seemingly ended. However, this piece points out that there is continued use with ease, of the words Kaffir, Kafir and their derivatives, Kaffirin and Kafirin as nouns especially in the scientific databases, as recently as in journal articles published in 2022. This is especially evident in relation to Thai lime, Sorghum cereal grain and its alcohol-soluble proteins. With the onset of decolonisation and a move towards equitable science and academia, this piece aims to highlight the need for researchers and scientists, publishers and authors to be sensitive against the continued use of derogatory and/or racist names for Indigenous food resources. While there are many Indigenous food resources’ names that warrant to be decolonised of their derogative names, this piece focuses on Sorghum and Thai lime as examples. The argument of this contribution is not dissimilar to the context of the current Black Lives Matter movement. Science and academia must not simply note, but must act (Nature, 2020)! This is therefore a call to action on the decolonisation of specific names by the scientific community. One of the impactful and direct actions is for scientists and allied professionals in the editorial and publications platforms to be vigilant and not allow the use of racist words as common names. This article essentially calls for just that (the discontinuation of the use of racist, derogatory words as common names). Finally, it proposes the use of Sorghumins instead of Kaffirins or Kafirins in reference to alcohol-soluble proteins (prolamins) of Sorghum.
Why the Continued and Persistent Use of Kaffir, Kafir, Kaffirin or Kafirin as Common Nouns?
Kaffir or Kafir is a derogatory and racist word (Williams, 2015) especially in southern Africa (particularly Namibia and South Africa). With the independence of Namibia in 1990 and the subsequent South Africa political uhuru in 1994, the use of this derogatory and racist reference name towards people became legally prohibited. In this context, the use of Kaffir or Kafir as a reference name towards food resources in this case Sorghum ought to have been discontinued and could just be limited to the publications prior to 1994, which marked the end of the racist apartheid system. It goes without saying that science hardly listened, learnt and definitely barely changed. The word Kaffir and/or Kafir is still in use especially by scientists as per the quick scan of a few databases to illustrate the observation (Table 1).
The least number of publications since 1994 (accessed on 26 July 2022) in which Kaffir and Kafir as well as Kafirin and Kafirin (and/or their respective plural forms) appear.
Publications that pertain to especially food resources such as the cereal grain Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor) have continued to use Kaffir or Kafir corn. Some of its proteins are thus seemingly derivatively named as Kaffirins or Kafirins (Johns & Brewster, 1916). Thai lime (Citrus hystrix) is also prevalently called Kaffir lime in literature. It is important to bear in mind that the mere appearance of these terms in literature does not necessarily suggest that the author(s) endorsed their use. Our contention is, however, premised on the fact that these ethically questionable and racist words are still commonly used to identify Sorghum or Sorghum proteins or Thai lime. The use of racist words as common names raises questions regarding the scientific community, publications editors and reviewers included on the sensitivity of the use of inclusive language.
Context Matters
It is important to bear in mind that the appearance of these terms alone does not mean automatically that the author endorses their use with any ill intention. Consider for example this article. It uses the words, even though it is calling for their usage to be discontinued. However, this contribution’s context is rooted in the nonchalant uses of derogatory and racist names and their derivatives such as those attached to Sorghum, Sorghum beer, Thai lime and some trees as it appears in the following illustrative references. In some of the publications, the derogatory names are used as nouns, in non-title parts of the write-up, whereas for others, the derogatory names are used as common nouns, carelessly located in the titles of the publications. The latter places the referencing of these publications with credible scientific value about Sorghum, its beers and Thai lime in a dilemma. It should be noted that the prevalence of use of the Kaffir, Kafir, Kaffirin or Kafirin appears in African and international publications. It also spans across fields such as culinary, cultural, medicinal, microbiology, plant and cereal sciences, food science, agriculture, chemistry, processing technology and nutrition, animal and livestock sciences.
For illustrative purposes and without any ill intention against any of the authors from diverse fields, institutions and continents, the following references, listed in no particular order, can serve to highlight the continued use of derogatory Kaffir and Kafir or any of their variations in the content and/or title (the bolding of the derogatory word does not appear in the original title):
Anuchapreeda, S., Anzawa, R., Viriyaadhammaa, N., Neimkhum, W., Chaiyana, W., Okonogi, S. & Usuki, T. (2020). Isolation and biological activity of agrostophillinol from kaffir lime (Citrus hystrix) leaves. Bioorganic & Medicinal Chemistry Letters, 30(14), 127256.
Singh, A., Gupta, R., Tandon, S. & Pandey, R. (2018). Anti-biofilm and anti-virulence potential of 3, 7-dimethyloct-6-enal derived from Citrus hystrix against bacterial blight of rice caused by Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae. Microbial Pathogenesis, 115, 264–271.
Anuchapreeda, S., Chueahongthong, F., Viriyaadhammaa, N., Panyajai, P., Anzawa, R., Tima, S. … & Okonogi, S. (2020). Antileukemic cell proliferation of active compounds from kaffir lime (Citrus hystrix) leaves. Molecules, 25(6), 1300.
Warsito, W., Palungan, M. H. & Utomo, E. P. (2017). Profiling study of the major and minor components of kaffir lime oil (Citrus hystrix DC.) in the fractional distillation process. The Pan African Medical Journal, 27.
Adamiec, J., Borompichaichartkul, C., Srzednicki, G., Panket, W., Piriyapunsakul, S. & Zhao, J. (2012). Microencapsulation of kaffir lime oil and its functional properties. Drying Technology, 30(9), 914–920.
Suresh, A., Velusamy, S., Ayyasamy, S. & Rathinasamy, M. (2021). Techniques for essential oil extraction from kaffir lime and its application in health care products—A review. Flavour and Fragrance Journal, 36(1), 5–21.
Di Giulio, G., Signorini, G., Navarro, F. & Fioravanti, M. (2020). The wood species of the historic gala berlines of the Palazzo Pitti in Florence. Journal of Cultural Heritage, 41, 249–255.
C. V. Ratnavathi, U. D. Chavan, Chapter 2—Malting and Brewing of Sorghum. C. V. Ratnavathi, J. V. Patil & U. D. Chavan (eds.). Sorghum Biochemistry, Academic Press, 2016, pp. 63–105, ISBN 9780128031575, https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-803157-5.00002-2.
Cuevas, H. E., Prom, L. K., Isakeit, T. & Radwan, G. (2016). Assessment of Sorghum germplasm from Burkina Faso and South Africa to identify new sources of resistance to grain mold and anthracnose. Crop Protection, 79, 43–50.
Eburuche, O. B., Attaugwu, R. N., Ufondu, H. E. & Uvere, P. O. (2019). Composition and hardness of malting red and white kaffir Sorghum [Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench] dried under the sun. Journal of Food Science and Technology, 56(7), 3513–3523.
Chilton, S. N., Burton, J. P. & Reid, G. (2015). Inclusion of fermented foods in food guides around the world. Nutrients, 7(1), 390–404.
Adebiyi, J. A., Obadina, A. O., Adebo, O. A. & Kayitesi, E. (2018). Fermented and malted millet products in Africa: Expedition from traditional/ethnic foods to industrial value-added products. Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition, 58(3), 463–474.
Uvere, P. O., Ngoddy, P. O. & Nwankwo, C. S. (2014). Hardness as a modification index for malting red and white Sorghum (kaffir) grains. Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture, 94(5), 890–897.
Wu, X., Liu, Y., Luo, H., Shang, L., Leng, C., Liu, Z. … & Jing, H. C. (2022). Genomic footprints of Sorghum domestication and breeding selection for multiple end uses. Molecular Plant, 15(3), 537–551.
Queiroz, V. A. V., da Silva, C. S., de Menezes, C. B., Schaffert, R. E., Guimarães, F. F. M., Guimarães, L. J. M. … & Tardin, F. D. (2015). Nutritional composition of Sorghum [Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench] genotypes cultivated without and with water stress. Journal of Cereal Science, 65, 103–111.
Hufnagel, B., Guimaraes, C. T., Craft, E. J., Shaff, J. E., Schaffert, R. E., Kochian, L. V. & Magalhaes, J. V. (2018). Exploiting Sorghum genetic diversity for enhanced aluminum tolerance: allele mining based on the AltSB locus. Scientific Reports, 8(1), 1–13.
Awolu, O., Iwambe, V., Oluwajuyitan, T., Bukola Adeloye, J. & Ifesan, B. (2022). Quality Evaluation of “Fufu” Produced from Sweet Cassava (Manihot Esculenta) and Guinea Corn (Sorghum bicolor) Flour. Journal of Culinary Science & Technology, 20(2), 134–164.
Pandian, B. A., Sexton-Bowser, S., Prasad, P. V. & Jugulam, M. (2022). Current status and prospects of herbicide-resistant grain Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor). Pest Management Science, 78(2), 409–415.
Regarding Kaffirin and/or Kafirin and/or Kaffirins and/or Kafirins the following references can serve to highlight their continued use. This is purely for illustrative purposes, in no particular order and with no ill intentions against any of the authors from diverse fields, institutions and continents (the bolding of the derogatory word does not appear in the original title).
dos Santos D’Almeida, C. T., Mameri, H., dos Santos Menezes, N., de Carvalho, C. W. P., Queiroz, V. A. V., Cameron, L. C. … & Ferreira, M. S. L. (2021). Effect of extrusion and turmeric addition on phenolic compounds and kafirin properties in tannin and tannin-free Sorghum. Food Research International, 149, 110663.
Benmoussa, M., Chandrashekar, A., Ejeta, G. & Hamaker, B. R. (2015). Cellular response to the high protein digestibility/high-lysine (hdhl) Sorghum mutation. Plant Science, 241, 70–77.
Song, R., Segal, G. & Messing, J. (2004). Expression of the Sorghum 10-member kafirin gene cluster in maize endosperm. Nucleic Acids Research, 32(22), e189–e189.
Gómez Soto, J. G., Reis de Souza, T. C., Mariscal Landin, G., Aguilera Barreyro, A., Bernal Santos, M. G. & Escobar García, K. (2018). Gastrointestinal morphophysiology and presence of kafirins in ileal digesta in growing pigs fed Sorghum-based diets. Journal of Applied Animal Research, 46(1), 618–625.
Chiquito-Almanza, E., Ochoa-Zarzosa, A., López-Meza, J. E., Pecina-Quintero, V., Nuñez-Colín, C. A. & Anaya-López, J. L. (2016). A new allele of γ-kafirin gene coding for a protein with high lysine content in Mexican white Sorghum germplasm. Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture, 96(10), 3342–3350.
Umaraw, P., Munekata, P. E., Verma, A. K., Barba, F. J., Singh, V. P., Kumar, P. & Lorenzo, J. M. (2020). Edible films/coating with tailored properties for active packaging of meat, fish and derived products. Trends in Food Science & Technology, 98, 10–24.
Padalino, L., Conte, A. & Del Nobile, M. A. (2016). Overview on the general approaches to improve gluten-free pasta and bread. Foods, 5(4), 87.
Lins Rodrigues, M., Souza dos Santos Sanchez, M., Ernzen Pessini, J., Weiler, K. A., Deparis, A., Boscolo, W. R. … & Signor, A. (2020). Replacement of corn by Sorghum and phytase supplementation in silver catfish (Rhamdia quelen) diets: growth performance, physiological variables and bone mineralization. Journal of Applied Animal Research, 48(1), 142–150.
Masenya, T. I., Mlambo, V. & Mnisi, C. M. (2021). Complete replacement of maize grain with Sorghum and pearl millet grains in Jumbo quail diets: Feed intake, physiological parameters, and meat quality traits. PloS One, 16(3), e0249371.
de Souza, T. C. R., Árres, I. E. Á., Rodríguez, E. R. & Mariscal-Landín, G. (2019). Effects of kafirins and tannins concentrations in Sorghum on the ileal digestibility of amino acids and starch, and on the glucose and plasma urea nitrogen levels in growing pigs. Livestock Science, 227, 29–36.
Li, A., Jia, S., Yobi, A., Ge, Z., Sato, S. J., Zhang, C. … & Holding, D. R. (2018). Editing of an alpha-kafirin gene family increases, digestibility and protein quality in Sorghum. Plant Physiology, 177(4), 1425–1438.
Cereal grains contain alcohol-soluble proteins (prolamins) generally grouped as prolamins. The prolamins of the major cereals have trivial names derived from the genus name of the cereal (Table 2). For instance, maize or corn prolamins are known as Zeins. This is derived from its genus name, Zea. The prolamins protein fraction of Sorghum, which was derogatorily and/or racially named by colonisers as Kaffir corn or Kafir corn are referred to as Kaffirins or Kafirins. Kaffir or Kafir are doubtlessly offensive, derogatory and racist words (Williams, 2015). This warrants the question: why are these still in continued use as common names especially in scientific publications?
Decolonise Sorghum, its Proteins and Thai Lime
Science must listen attentively, learn faster and take prompt action towards positive change, respect for all people, avoidance of offensive and exclusionary terms. On the common use of derogatory and/or racist terms, scientists, researchers, academia, publishers, editors and database-holders in several fields must respectfully act and stop the perpetual use of the racist words that henceforth ought to belong in the archives only.
It is our considered submission that the alcohol-soluble proteins of Sorghum should be renamed. We thus suggest the use of the word Sorghumin in place of Kaffirin or Kafirin. The use of Kafir or its variation as one of the Sorghum race or species must also be reconsidered. Thai lime can simply be referred to as such and the use of the Kaffir or Kafir as part of its common names can be discontinued.