Egusi seeds are used in making Egusi soup; the soup is thickened with the seeds. Melothria sphaerocarpa from which egusi seeds are from grows throughout central to western Africa and is used by different ethnic groups in these regions to prepare the soup, and the origins of the soup are deeply rooted in the African culinary.  Egusi soup is a very popular soup in West Africa, with considerable local variations. Besides the seeds, water, and oil, egusi soup typically contains leafy greens, other vegetables, seasons, and meat. Leafy greens typically used for egusi soup include Efo Tete, scentleaf, okazi/afang (wild spinach), bitterleaf (onugbu), pumpkin leaf (ugu), uziza leaf, celosia and spinach.