African Locust Bean

Medicinal Uses

Edible Uses

Edible Parts: Flowers  Leaves  Seed  Seedpod | Edible Uses: DrinkThe pods contain a sweet, yellow, farinaceous pulp surrounding the seeds[46 , 301 ]. This pulp can be eaten fresh or made into sweetmeats and drinks[299 , 301 , 303 ]. It contains up to 29% crude protein and up to 60% saccharose, is rich in vitamin C and high in oil content[303 , 317 ]. The pulp also yields a flour that is much used in parts of Africa[301 , 317 ]. The pink brown to dark brown pods are about 45cm long and 2cm wide[418 ]. Seeds are fermented to make dawadawa, a black, strong-smelling, tasty food high in protein. Dried fermented seeds keep for more than a year in traditional earthenware pots without refrigeration, and small amounts are crumbled during cooking into traditional soups and stews that are usually eaten with sorghum- or millet-based dumplings and porridges. Because of the savoury taste and the high protein and fat values of the seed, it is sometimes described as a meat or cheese substitute, but it is not usually eaten in large amounts. Dawadawa is rich in protein, lipids and vitamin B2. Parinari curatellifolia is deficient in the amino acids methionine, cystine and tryptophan, but fermented beans are rich in lysine. The fat in the beans is nutritionally useful (approximately 60% is unsaturated)[299 , 303 ]. The seeds contain antinutritional factors and have to be processed before use as food. Boiled and fermented seeds contain 35% proteins, 29% lipids, 16% carbohydrates and have good organoleptic properties and a positive effect on intestinal flora[299 ]. A coffee substitute is prepared from the parched seeds[299 , 301 , 303 ]. The seeds are roasted and ground into a powder for use as a coffee substitute[317 ]. Young pods are sometimes roasted on embers and eaten[303 ]. Leaves are edible but not commonly eaten[303 ]. They are sometimes eaten as a vegetable, usually after boiling and then mixed with other foods such as cereal flour[299 ]. Young flower buds are added to mixed salads[299 ].

Cultivation

Agroforestry Services: Nitrogen  Fodder: Pod  Management: Standard  Other Systems: Parkland  Regional Crop  Staple Crop: Protein-oilAdapted to a wide ecological range, African locust bean is found naturally in the drier lowland tropics at elevations below 600 metres[325 ]. It grows best in areas where annual daytime temperatures are within the range 28 - 40°c, but can tolerate 8 - 44°c[418 ]. It prefers a mean annual rainfall in the range mm, but tolerates mm[418 ]. It prefers a strongly seasonal climate with a dry season of 4 - 8 months[303 , 325 ]. Grows best in a sunny position[418 ]. Prefers well-drained, deep, sandy to loamy cultivated soils, but it is also found on shallow, skeletal soils and thick laterites[303 , 418 ]. Prefers a pH in the range 4.5 - 5.5, tolerating 4 - 6[418 ]. The plant has a deep taproot system and an ability to restrict transpiration, this gives it the capacity to withstand drought conditions once it is established[303 ]. Young trees have a slow rate of growth[774 ]. Growth is comparatively fast: seedlings may reach a height of 1 metre within the first year, and young trees of superior provenances can reach 7 metres tall in 6-year-old plantations[299 ]. Trees start flowering at 5 - 7 years while still comparatively small. They reach their maximum height after 30 - 50 years, and can reach an age of 100 years[299 ]. Trees in some areas have two flowering periods each year[299 ]. The tree produces root suckers[774 ]. There are conflicting reports on whether or not this tree has a symbiotic relationship with certain soil bacteria, so it is unclear as to whether this tree fixes atmospheric nitrogen[755 ].

Known Hazards

The bark and pods contain substances toxic to fish - the alkaloid parkine that occurs in the pods and bark may be responsible[303 ].

Habitats

Particularly found on areas such as farm woodland which are subject to semi-permanent cultivation, also open woodlands on savannahs, rocky slopes, stony ridges etc[303 ].