**1. Introduction**

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#### **1.1. Bambara groundnut**

Bambara groundnut (*Vigna subterranea* (L.) Verdc.) [BGN] is an easy-to-cultivate legume seed classified under the family Fabaceae, sub-family Faboidea and genus *Vigna* [1]. Two botanical varieties exist, namely *V. subterranea* var. *spontanea* (wild varieties) and *V. subterranea* var. *subterranea* (cultivated varieties). BGN originated in West Africa from the Bambara district near Timbuktu and is now widely grown throughout tropical Africa, Indonesia, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Central and South America and some parts of Northern Australia [2-4]. BGN is known by many common names such as Madagascar groundnut, baffin pea, voandzou, indhlubu, underground bean, nzama [Malawi], Epa-Roro [Nigeria], jugo beans [South Africa] and Nyimo beans [Zimbabwe] [1, 5]. Considered as one of the main attributes of BGN, is its tolerance of poor soils and drought, as well as its ability to yield in conditions in which groundnut fails completely. BGN also has an extremely tough seed coat, which makes it resistant to weevil attack and allows for storage of the seeds for long periods without loss [6]*.* Favourable characteristics making BGN an ideal crop includes its ability to be intercropped with other crops (i.e. maize, babala and sorghum), therefore not taking up areas designated to crops seen as more lucrative/important, its abundance in nitrogen which improves soil fertility and makes it useful in crop rotation, and the possibility to be grown without the use of expensive chemicals and fertilisers which are usually difficult to obtain in isolated areas [4].

BGN is propagated by its seeds which can be bought at local markets or are retained from the previous harvest. The larger seeds are used for cultivation and to retain maximum viability the seeds are dehulled before sowing [5]. As a leguminous annual short-day plant, BGN is

© 2014 Jideani and Diedericks; licensee InTech. This is a paper distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Figure 1.

grown for its underground seeds. Similar to the peanut, the BGN plant grows close to the ground and pods and seeds are formed on or below the soil surface [5]. Depending on the cultivar and weather conditions, the BGN plant matures in three to six months. The flowers and pods have been identified as essential parts of the plant [7]. The onset of flowering is 30 – 35 days after sowing, followed by pod development 30 days after the fertilisation process and the seeds developing after the pods in ten days. Pods are approximately 1.5 cm long, they may be wrinkled and slightly oval or round shaped containing one to two seeds. Pod colour varies from yellowish-white for unripe pods to yellowish-brown or purple for mature pods [2, 6]. BGN seeds are usually round, hard and smooth and vary in size. The colour of the seeds vary from black, dark-brown, red, white, cream or a combination of these colours and it may also be speckled with or without hilum colouration [1,6]. Illustrations of the BGN plant and various seed varieties are shown in Figure 1. nitrogen which improves soil fertility and makes it useful in crop rotation, and the possibility to be grown without the use of expensive chemicals and fertilisers which are usually difficult to obtain in isolated areas [4]. BGN is propagated by its seeds which can be bought at local markets or are retained from the previous harvest. The larger seeds are used for cultivation and to retain maximum viability the seeds are dehulled before sowing [5]. As a leguminous annual shortday plant, BGN is grown for its underground seeds. Similar to the peanut, the BGN plant grows close to the ground and pods and seeds are formed on or below the soil surface [5]. Depending on the cultivar and weather conditions, the BGN plant matures in three to six months. The flowers and pods have been identified as essential parts of the plant [7]. The onset of flowering is 30 – 35 days after sowing, followed by pod development 30 days after the fertilisation process and the seeds developing after the pods in ten days. Pods are approximately 1.5 cm long, they may be wrinkled and slightly oval or round shaped containing one to two seeds. Pod colour varies from yellowish-white for unripe pods to yellowish-brown or purple for mature pods [2, 6]. BGN seeds are usually round, hard and smooth and vary in size. The colour of the seeds vary from black, dark-brown, red, white, cream or a combination of these colours and it may also be speckled with or without hilum colouration [1,6]. Illustrations of the BGN plant and various seed varieties are shown in

taking up areas designated to crops seen as more lucrative/important, its abundance in

height, with a straight trunk (10-30 cm thick), whitish or gray, corky bark with longitudinal cracks. It has a tuberous taproot whose presence helps the species' tolerance to drought conditions. The tree is normally umbrella shaped with a lax crown of graceful, airy foliage, whose feathery effect is due to the finely tripinnnate division of the leaves (Figure 2). The leaves

Nutritional, Therapeutic, and Prophylactic Properties of *Vigna subterranea* and *Moringa oleifera*

http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/57338

189

Primarily grown for human consumption, BGN seeds are consumed in various ways in both immature and fully matured form. Whilst immature, the BGN seeds may be consumed fresh (raw), grilled or it may be boiled before consumption. These seeds are also more palatable compared to the mature seeds which are hard. To soften the mature seeds and render them more pleasant tasting and sweet, the seeds are boiled or roasted [7, 5]. Immature seeds are frequently consumed as a snack by boiling the fresh seed with salt or roasting the seeds, and may also be pounded with or without hulls and boiled into a stiff porridge [8, 4, 13]. Mature seeds may be consumed as is by boiling in water, or it is often ground into flour and consumed as porridge by mixing the flour with butter or oil. The seeds may also be dried, boiled and

are densely crowded at the tops of the branchlets [12].

**Species Origin** *Moringa oleifera* India

*M. cocanensis* India

*M. oleifera* India

*M. drouhardii* Madagascar

*M. hildebrandtii* Madagascar

*M. arborea* North Eastern Kenya

*M. borziana* Kenya and Somalia

*M. stenopetala* Kenya, Ethiopia *M. pygmaea* Northern Somalia *M. rivae* Kenya, Ethiopia

*M. ruspoliana* Kenya

1Adapted from [12]

**Table 1.** *Moringa* species1

**2. Food uses of the crops**

**2.1. Bambara groundnut**

*M. ovalifolia* Namibia and extreme southwestern Angola

*M. peregrina* Horn of Africa, Red sea, Arabia *M. longituba* Kenya, Ethiopia, Somalia

Figure 1. Bambara groundnut plant and seeds (A) Bambara groundnut flowering plant (1 – flower, 2 – fruits, 3 – seed); (B) Several varieties of Bambara groundnut seeds [8-9] **Figure 1.** Bambara groundnut plant and seeds (A) Bambara groundnut flowering plant (1 – flower, 2 – fruits, 3 – seed); (B) Several varieties of Bambara groundnut seeds [8-9]

#### **1.2.** *Moringa oleifera*

*1.2 Moringa oleifera* 

The family of plants Moringaceae consists of 13 species outlined in Table 1. Out of the 13 species only *M. oleifera* has been accorded extensive research and development. They are important multipurpose crops in Africa and India. The species reported to have originated in India and Africa, are now grown around the world. Major production include Ghana, Senegal and Malawi, smaller production are in New Zealand and Fiji and more recent production in Nicaragua and Bolivia [10]. *Moringa* species are highly tolerant to arid conditions due to the formation of very large tuberous roots, and hence are often important famine foods [11]. Some common names for *M. oleifera* are detailed in Table 2. *Moringa* is a medium sized tree of 10 m height, with a straight trunk (10-30 cm thick), whitish or gray, corky bark with longitudinal cracks. It has a tuberous taproot whose presence helps the species' tolerance to drought conditions. The tree is normally umbrella shaped with a lax crown of graceful, airy foliage, whose feathery effect is due to the finely tripinnnate division of the leaves (Figure 2). The leaves are densely crowded at the tops of the branchlets [12].


**Table 1.** *Moringa* species1

grown for its underground seeds. Similar to the peanut, the BGN plant grows close to the ground and pods and seeds are formed on or below the soil surface [5]. Depending on the cultivar and weather conditions, the BGN plant matures in three to six months. The flowers and pods have been identified as essential parts of the plant [7]. The onset of flowering is 30 – 35 days after sowing, followed by pod development 30 days after the fertilisation process and the seeds developing after the pods in ten days. Pods are approximately 1.5 cm long, they may be wrinkled and slightly oval or round shaped containing one to two seeds. Pod colour varies from yellowish-white for unripe pods to yellowish-brown or purple for mature pods [2, 6]. BGN seeds are usually round, hard and smooth and vary in size. The colour of the seeds vary from black, dark-brown, red, white, cream or a combination of these colours and it may also be speckled with or without hilum colouration [1,6]. Illustrations of the BGN plant and various

**A B** 

**Figure 1.** Bambara groundnut plant and seeds (A) Bambara groundnut flowering plant (1 – flower, 2 – fruits, 3 –

The family of plants Moringaceae consists of 13 species outlined in Table 1. Out of the 13 species only *M. oleifera* has been accorded extensive research and development. They are important multipurpose crops in Africa and India. The species reported to have originated in India and Africa, are now grown around the world. Major production include Ghana, Senegal and Malawi, smaller production are in New Zealand and Fiji and more recent production in Nicaragua and Bolivia [10]. *Moringa* species are highly tolerant to arid conditions due to the formation of very large tuberous roots, and hence are often important famine foods [11]. Some common names for *M. oleifera* are detailed in Table 2. *Moringa* is a medium sized tree of 10 m

seeds [8-9]

*1.2 Moringa oleifera* 

**1.2.** *Moringa oleifera*

seed); (B) Several varieties of Bambara groundnut seeds [8-9]

Figure 1. Bambara groundnut plant and seeds (A) Bambara groundnut flowering plant

(1 – flower, 2 – fruits, 3 – seed); (B) Several varieties of Bambara groundnut

taking up areas designated to crops seen as more lucrative/important, its abundance in nitrogen which improves soil fertility and makes it useful in crop rotation, and the possibility to be grown without the use of expensive chemicals and fertilisers which are usually difficult

 BGN is propagated by its seeds which can be bought at local markets or are retained from the previous harvest. The larger seeds are used for cultivation and to retain maximum viability the seeds are dehulled before sowing [5]. As a leguminous annual shortday plant, BGN is grown for its underground seeds. Similar to the peanut, the BGN plant grows close to the ground and pods and seeds are formed on or below the soil surface [5]. Depending on the cultivar and weather conditions, the BGN plant matures in three to six months. The flowers and pods have been identified as essential parts of the plant [7]. The onset of flowering is 30 – 35 days after sowing, followed by pod development 30 days after the fertilisation process and the seeds developing after the pods in ten days. Pods are approximately 1.5 cm long, they may be wrinkled and slightly oval or round shaped containing one to two seeds. Pod colour varies from yellowish-white for unripe pods to yellowish-brown or purple for mature pods [2, 6]. BGN seeds are usually round, hard and smooth and vary in size. The colour of the seeds vary from black, dark-brown, red, white, cream or a combination of these colours and it may also be speckled with or without hilum colouration [1,6]. Illustrations of the BGN plant and various seed varieties are shown in

seed varieties are shown in Figure 1.

Figure 1.

to obtain in isolated areas [4].

188 Antioxidant-Antidiabetic Agents and Human Health
