**6. Harnessing the rich nutritional and health properties of Bambara groundnut and** *M. oleifera* **for human nutrition**

Bambara groundnut is a leguminous crop with great potential of sustaining the dietary needs of many people in both rural and urban communities. This indigenous African legume have been frowned upon as a 'poor man's food', but as more information emerges on the rich nutritional profile of BGN the importance of this crop to human nutrition is becoming more evident. In our laboratory we have demonstrated that Bambara groundnut could be used to produce a probiotic beverage as well as a rich source of soluble and insoluble fibre that can be used to enhance the nutrition and textural properties of white bread [80-81].

*Moringa* could be incorporated into programs on malnutrition. With four times the betacarotene of carrot, *Moringa* has especial potential for programs dealing with avitaminosis, the vitamin A deficiency that causes 70 percent of childhood blindness. Consumption of diet supplemented with *M. oleifera* leaves could protect against diseases induced by oxidative stress. Many *Moringa* nutritional supplements exist in the market including *Moringa* dry leaf powder, capsules, nutrition shake and health booster. Perhaps using the multi mix approach of food product development more food products could be developed especially for programs on malnutrition.
