Chapter 12 - Underutilized Protein Resources From African Legumes

Abstract

There are a number of underutilized legume crops (marama bean, bambara groundnut, cowpea, pigeon pea, yambean, and lablab) in Africa, which due to their rich nutritional profile, high adaptability to adverse climatic conditions, and ability to grow in poor soils are highly advantageous for sustainable cultivation. Among these, marama bean (Tylosema esculentum) and bambara groundnut (Vigna subterranea) are two nutritionally important underutilized legume crops of Africa. Due to their high drought tolerance and excellent nutritional profile comparable to commercially available legume crops (soybean, peanut, and navy bean) these could potentially provide sustainable food and feed resources in the future. The richness of these crops in proteins can support the global protein demand in future to partially or completely replace other animal proteins in the human diet. However, in spite of having huge potential for sustainable agriculture, the marama bean is still in wild, while the bambara groundnut is cultivated by small landholders as a subsistence crop. Intensive agronomic, genetic, and food research is required to move these crops out of obscurity and to use their potential as cash crops.