BAMBARA GROUNDNUT (Vigna subterranea) - POTENTIAL FOR VALUE

CHAIN IN NIGERIABy:

ATOYEBI, O.J., ABBERTON, M., OYATOMI, O. A. OSILESI, O. and ADEBAWO, O .O.

Introduction

• Bambara groundnut (Vigna subterranea (L.) Verdc.) is an annual, creeping legume with glabrous, trifoliate leaves.

• It is cultivated primarily for its seeds, which are used as human food. In Africa, it is the third most commonly eaten legume after groundnut and cowpea (Omoikhoje, 2008).

• It’s a complete food, yet a NUS.

BG growing plant

•

.. Presently 1973 BG collections are in the IITA genebank.

. Work on 300 are being done for GD studies using morphological description and DArT.

Nutritional importance

• BG contains • 60% carbohydrate, • 20% protein, • 6% oil • It also contains micronutrients like zinc (0.81mg),• iron (2.51mg), phosphorous (0.21mg),• calcium (2.19mg) e.t.c., per 100g of the nut.• (Abdusalam and Sheriff, 2010).

Promoting Utilisation

• Promoting BG food products / utilisation needs to involve Improved value chain for the crop.

• Adequate awareness of its nutritional importance.

Promoting Utilisation

• BG do well even under extreme conditions.

• Annual world production stands at 300,000 tonnes; predominantly from W/A.

• The yield is ranging between 300 – 800 KG / Hectare.

Bambara seeds picture

BG Food products

‘OKPA” in Nigeria Cooked beans with oil / fish

BG food pdts contd.

Voanjobory sy henakisoa ( Madagascar) BG cooked with pork. BG Milk

BG food pdts. Contd.

Some research data

S / N

Seed colour Plant height (cm)

No of leaves Flower pigmented

No of pods / plant

1

TVSU – 514 (Brown) 19 96 yes 10

2

TVSU – 516 (Black) 17 81 yes 10

3

TVSU – 565 (Black) 15 102 yes 13

4

TVSU – 618 (Brown) 14 87 yes 18

5

TVSU – 1078 (Pink) 20 69 yes 12

BG Research constraints

• Hardness of the seeds.

• Long cooking time.

• Anti-nutrient factors.

• A NUS species.

Conclusion

BG and its products, due to its immense nutrient potentials, if well utilised, can serve as a future crop that can assist developing countries, towards solving the problems of malnutrition (hidden hunger) and food insufficiency.

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