Bambara Groundnut: The Peanut Cousin Who Thrives on Punishment
Vigna subterranea
If a stranger calls you a “peanut” in America, I suppose you should prepare to physically defend yourself. As much as we all love peanut butter, the peanut is associated with weakness, insignificance, and the phrase “working for peanuts” (i.e. nothing). Now, the Bambara Ground Nut has an entirely different reputation.
Let’s imagine Vigna subterranea is the peanut’s insane third cousin. Where the Peanut needs the kind of coddling and protection only a devoted mother can provide, the Bambara Groundnut is born to kick butt. Its covered in face tattoos. Its hands are raw-hide wrecking balls.
The Bambara Groundnut is known to survive a drought better than any other legume in Africa [3]; it thrives in poor soil, high heat, salt-stress, and punishing droughts [1][3]. It presents handsome yellow flowers on the ground to be pollinated by ants before punching its pregnant pods into the burning soil to produce globular subterranean beans. Yes, the Bambara Groundnut life-cycle is pretty amazing, and it survives in conditions that would invariably destroy the peanut [3].
Almost every recent academic publication on the Bambara Groundnut includes the word, underutilized. Perhaps— with global climate change and desertification becoming increasingly serious existential threats— it is time we take a more serious look at this outstandingly tough plant.
Get ready for a crazy trip, Traveler. Today we ride to Zimbabwe to meet with Chinhoyi University of Technology Professor, Dr Juliet Mubaiwa, and ethnobotanist, Dr. Gus Le Brenton to gain more insight into the Bambara Groundut than the internet has ever seen. Let’s crank up the music, roll down the windows, and step on the gas.
Welcome to the nitty-gritty world of Vigna subterranea:
The Bambara Groundnut.
Synonyms — Glycine subterranea, Voandzeia subterranea
Family — Fabaceae
Family Characteristics — Fabaceae family members have flowers with a classic “banner, wing, and keel” morphology.
Aliases — African Peanuts, African Round Bean, Angolan Mandubi, Angola Pea, Baffin Pea, Bambara, Bambara Bean, Bambarra, Bomba Groundnut, Congo Goober, Earth Nut of Natal, Earth Pea, Ground-Bean, Hog-Peanut; Jinguba de Cambambe, Viélo, Viélu (ANGOLA); Mandubi de Angola, Mundubi d’ Angola (BRAZIL); Atob, Debbi, Deppi, Djué, Jwə, Kezo Ke Zon, Mogran, Matob, Matoba, Matobɔ, Matop, Mendzo Wah’a Mah, Metop, Moto, Mɔto, Motobo, Ndzu, Ndən, Ngalaa-Ji, Souonchié, Wondenkana (CAMEROON); Pistache Malgache, Pois Arachide, Pois Bambara, Pois de Terre, Voandzou (FRANCE); Kriechende Erdbohne (GERMANY); Voaandzou (DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO); Ekpa-ro-ro, Gub-a-Gubs (GHANA); Juijiya (HAUSA); Okpa Otuanya (IBO); Katjang bogor (ISLAND OF JAVA); Voanjobory (MADAGASCAR); Nara Pusi (MALAYSIA); Litlo, Nzama (MALAWI); Tiganikrou (MALI); Mjugu mawa (MOZAMBIQUE); Epa Orubu, Gujia, Kawaruru, Mgangala, Paruru (NIGERIA); Nlubu, Nyimo (RHODESIA); Inhlubu, Tindlohu, Voanjobory (SOUTH AFRICA); Njugu Mawe (SWAHILI); Ndzugu (TANZANIA); Manterin, Mpande, MpandI, Senterinko (UGANDA); Epi Roui (YORUBA); Nyimo Bean (ZIMBABWE).
Vigna subterranea Etymology— The Vigna genus is named for the Italian botanist, Dominico Vigna [6].
Binomial Pronunciation: — VIG-nah sub-ter-AIN-ee-uh
Nyimo Culinary Uses
According to the reporting of the Belgian botanist, Émile Auguste Joseph De Wildeman, the seeds of Bambara Groundnut were served roasted with salt, processed into flour, or mashed into a paste after boiling in late-19th-century Congo [2].
In present day Zimbabwe, Bambara Groundnuts are have a myriad of uses after boiling for 2-4 hours. They can then be eaten as a snack (called mutakura in this form), or can be mashed and mixed with various other ingredients like tomatoes, peanuts, maize, and cowpeas. When mutakura is mixed with potatoes and/or sweet potatoes, it is known as Jambalaya. Mashed Bambara Groundnuts are also sun-dried and milled into a flour. Roasting is said to further contribute to the flavor complexity of the Bambara Groundnut [5].
Like other “nuts,” Bambara Groundnut produces a “milk” as well as a popular dark-roasted coffee substitute in the Uzumba district of Zimbabwe [5].
Image, by Ton Rulkens, retrieved under Creative Commons licensure from https://www.flickr.com/photos/47108884@N07/4350578751
Insights with Dr. Juliet Mubaiwa
Chinhoyi University of Technology (Zimbabwe)
Recently, PullUpYourPlants.com [PUYP] had the pleasure and privilege to speak with Dr. Juliete Mubaiwa [DJM] from the Chinhoyi University Institute of Technology in Zimbabwe about the Bambara Groundnut. Dr. Juliete’s recent study on the Bambara Groundnut, Utilization of bambara groundnut (Vigna subterranea (L.) Verdc.) for sustainable food and nutrition security in semi-arid regions of Zimbabwe [5], is a treasure chest of of hard-won information that resides at the nexus of between culture and statistics… where numbers sing.
[PUYP] Could you tell us a little about yourself (education/background/scientific focus), and your current research?
[DJM] I obtained a BSc Honours degree in Food Science and Technology at the Chinhoyi University of Technology, Zimbabwe. Before enrolling for a master’s programme, I was working as an Assistant Research Scientist in the Food and Biomedical Technology Institute (FBTI) at Scientific and Industrial Research and Development Centre (SIRDC). One of the main projects I was involved in entails the exploitation of indigenous food crops including legumes for food and nutrition security. The vision was to come up with nutritious products that are locally available, accessible, and affordable and of highest quality. The exposure obtained cemented my desire to continue focusing on products that are beneficial to nutrition. From 2009-2011, I earned an MSc in Food Technology from Gent University/ KU Leuven (Belgium).
Upon completion of my MSc degree, I then returned to Zimbabwe and joined Chinhoyi University of Technology from which I became a Lecturer at the Department of Food Science and Technology. However, because I still had a dream to know more about indigenous legume processing, the interest continued to grow intensely, hence prompted me to enrol for PhD in the Food Quality and Design at Wageningen University in collaboration with the Chinhoyi University of Technology as from 2013-2018.
My scientific focus is to research on healthy and sustainable diets and functional foods and nutraceuticals using available underutilized indigenous foods.
Currently, I am collaborating on an INREF project entitled ‘Traditional fermented foods to promote food and nutrition security-Entrepreneurship, value chains, product development and microbial ecology in Zambia, Zimbabwe and Benin’ funded by Wageningen University, The Netherlands.
*** [PUYP] Quietly hides his resume under the bed.
[PUYP] What led you to your research of the Bambara Groundnut?
[DJM] As a food science intern (2005-2006) at Makonde Industries Private Limited, Zimbabwe, I had an opportunity to work in the production of supplementary feeding products e.g. Corn soya blend (CSB) used to alleviate malnutrition in the Zimbabwean population. However, I always wondered about the possibility of substitution of soya bean with our locally available legumes i.e. cowpea and bambara groundnut in the blending. This was on the backdrop that soya-bean is expensive to grow (more herbicides required, combine harvesters and also irrigation), but bambara groundnut is a sustainable crop that suits the local conditions and it is already widely grown in rural Zimbabwe.
[PUYP] Your paper entitled, Utilization of Bambara Groundnut (Vigna subterranea)(L.)(Verdc.) for sustainable food and nutrition security in semi-arid regions of Zimbabwe, mentioned women being traditional custodians of crops like the Bambara Groundnut that are not considered "cash crops." What are the main forces that decide the value of Bambara Groundnuts in Zimbabwe (e.g. is it local or foreign market forces)?
[DJM] The main forces that determine the value of bambara groundnut are demand and supply which is dependent on season and end use. Soon after harvest (April-August) when there is surplus of the crop, the value decreases. However, towards the farming season (October to December), it becomes more expensive. This is just like value for any other other crop.
The situation for bambara groundnut is a bit special, maybe to make it clearer, if we go to the market, we can find that raw bambara groundnut is more expensive than raw groundnut or sometimes they are almost the same price, but that’s were it ends. Value of bambara groundnut could be higher if we have demand for its use in commercial product processing e.g. as observed in the groundnut value chain.
[PUYP] Your paper entitled the Utilization of Bambara... mentioned some select landraces of Bambara Groundnut being purchased for religious purposes. Can you expand on how the Bambara Groundnut is used for religious purposes? What landrace is used?
[DJM] The black bambara groundnut, but am not privy of the rituals done. The traders I asked about the uses of bambara groundnut did not shed more light on it.
[PUYP] A major theme in the aforementioned paper was the hard-to-cook problem involving a whole host of issues including firewood scarcity. Speaking particularly about 'milling," how exactly are Bambara Groundnuts traditionally milled?
[DJM] Traditionally bambara groundnut are milled using mortar and pestle, you have to roast them first before the milling process, this is a tedious process which takes a lot of time to accomplish. We can imagine that the rural woman has already a busy schedule, this makes the process unsustainable. Fortunately, nowadays, there is use of village/ community milling equipment (that is normally used for maize and other small grains)
[PUYP] In your fantastic processing flowchart, I noticed that fermentation is not utilized as a passive processing tool (lacto-fermentation or otherwise) at any stage for the Bambara Groundnut. Is this technique not utilized generally in Zimbabwe, or is the Bambara Groundnut simply not amenable to fermentation of any kind?
[DJM] Lactic acid fermentation is a very popular processing technique is Zimbabwe mainly in the production of fermented cereal beverage known locally as mahewu, fermented maize porridge and sour milk etc. Bambara groundnut on its own is not fermented, unless if it is blended with maize in the production of mahewu (this blending is not very common, we are actually trying to promote this process so that we improve the nutritive value of the mahewu beverage-this will be part of the INREF project).
[PUYP] Do you have any personal stories involving the Bambara Groundnut that you would like to share? What is your favorite preparation?
[DJM] My favourite preparation is definitely the boiled bambara groundnut, the taste and texture is the best. Secondly, bambara groundnut rupiza (the roasted, milled to grits and boiled with peanut butter flavour is also my other favourite). Rupiza is commonly made from cowpeas (I think this is because cowpea is a bit easier to process than bambara groundnut), but for me, the bambara groundnut version is tastier.
Personal bambara groundnut stories, interesting, when I went to my Promoter Prof Vincenzo Fogliano as a new PhD student, showing him my seeds and ideas on the direction of the research to embark on which was on bioactive compounds in the crop (I was very happy so proud of my pitch). He said I heard everything you have said, but first tell me what to do with these rocks, these are rocks (Vincenzo was referring to what became my main research area-the hard-to-cook phenomenon in bambara groundnut processing). What is funny was that Vincenzo kept the samples in his office in a container on his desk, well 2 or 3 months later, I visited his office for an update and we saw that his rocks had been attacked by weevils, well that made me happy because my seeds were not rocks after all.
I extend my sincerest thanks to Dr. Mubaiwa for taking the time to speak with us about her work and the Bambara Groundnut. You can access her recent study here: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/comments?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0204817
Insights with Dr Gus Le Brenton:
The African Plant Hunter
Gus Le Brenton is a Yale and Cambridge educated ethnobotanist living in Zimbabwe who has spent 20 years researching African plants with potential economic value that may benefit small farmers. I highly recommend following his work at https://africanplanthunter.com and https://www.bio-innovation.org. The latter website is dedicated to helping rural inhabitants of Zimbabwe and their environment by transforming underutilized native plants into commercial crops… truly fascinating stuff.
Recently we [PUYP] had the privilege of corresponding with Gus Le Brenton [GLB] on the Nyimo Bean. Here is what he had to say.
[PUYP] On your website, you made a very interesting assertion: " I believe that the key to conserving Africa's medicinal plants is to give them real economic value." Usually we hear of economic value contributing to the over-harvest and endangerment of wild plants (Panax quinquefolius- a.k.a American ginseng- comes to mind). Can you explain how fanning a plant's economic value could potentially support its conservation?
[GLB] The biggest cause of biodiversity loss in Africa** is not over-harvesting but conversion of native biodiversity to monocultural arable cropland. The economy of most African countries is still predominantly based on agriculture, and most rural Africans are in a daily battle for survival. For them, the decision to clear native vegetation and replace it with cash cropping is just about the money. The native vegetation may have all sorts of intrinsic values (providing food, fodder, medicine, firewood, building materials etc), but if it can’t generate cash it will always lose out in the competition with arable crops. BUT, and here’s the thing, if you can give the indigenous plants tangible economic value, it changes everything. It starts to make economic sense to retail the indigenous vegetation, rather than converting it. So for me, it’s all about trying to find market opportunities for indigenous plants that will allow poor rural farmers to keep them and look after them rather than convert them into arable agriculture.
Your point is about over-harvesting, and of course this can be an issue. But there is very strong evidence to show that, if people can a) see the value in conserving a plant and b) have confidence that they (and not someone else) will be the beneficiary if the plant is conserved, then they will look after it. This really comes down to ownership. If the resource is common property, there is less incentive to conserve and manage it sustainably. But if the resource is private property, people are much more likely to look after it. Tenurial regimes over plant resources vary from country to country, but in my country Zimbabwe there are strong individual property rights over plants that mean individuals have a clear incentive to conserve plants (assuming those plants are also generating economic returns).
Just FYI, we also work with the Fair Wild Foundation to certify the ecological sustainability of some of our products. Check them out: https://www.fairwild.org/
**A quick note to point out that “Africa” is a continent of 54 different countries, and there are obviously big differences between different countries. However, there are also many commonalities between all the countries, including the fact that agriculture is the main revenue-earner in just about every country.
[PUYP] Can you speak of the potential economic value of the Nyimo bean in particular?
[GLB] I’m going to speak here specifically about Zimbabwe, rather than the rest of Africa, because the situation with Nyimo/Bambara varies widely.
Potentially Nyimo could be a hugely important cash crop. However, at the present it isn’t, because there is little demand for it either locally or internationally.
Local demand: Although Nyimo beans are well-known in Zimbabwe, the demand for them is low and they are not much cultivated. This is caused by two factors. The first is that the Zimbabwean government has historically promoted a very narrow range of crops for farmers, and these have not included Nyimo beans. In fact they focus almost entirely on crops that originate outside of Africa, with the main legumes being the groundnut (peanut) and soya. So farmers are mentally “conditioned” to grow these species and not Nyimo. The second is that Zimbabwean consumers have been brainwashed by the food industry to prefer “western” style foods over their traditional foods. For them, Nyimo beans are considered a traditional, and therefore inferior, food. Crazy, but true.
International demand. There is currently no international demand for Nyimo beans because, for whatever reasons, they have never been put through the safety trials needed to meet FDA GRAS and EU Novel Foods regulations. If I had the money to do it myself, I would. But sadly I don’t!
My view is that, if someone could somehow finance the process to get FDA and EU approval, the Nyimo bean could become a a wonderful new export crop, potentially worth hundreds of millions of dollars a year to African farmers. But someone needs to take it through that process.
[PUYP] I have to ask, what does the Bambara Groundnut taste like?
[GLB] Beautiful! They are a lot like a chick pea, but with a slightly smokey flavour. I love them.
[PUYP] Are you aware of any contemporary medicinal uses of the Bambara Groundnut?
[GLB] I don’t know of any medicinal uses in Zimbabwe. However, this is from a pamphlet prepared by the international organisation Bioversity in Rome:
It has been used to cure diarrhea by boiling a mixture of maize and bambara groundnut, and then drinking the water. The leaves can be mixed with those of Lantana trifolia L., and pounded and added to water to wash livestock and serve as an insecticide as well.
When dry, the leaves are pounded with traditional salt, and fed to cattle infected with ‘tuoolao’ (a type of mouth disease). The leaves cauterize and heal the animals’ wounds.
[PUYP] Is there any story involving the Bambara Groundnut that you wanted to share?
[GLB] I can tell you many stories about Nyimo beans. I used to be a partner in a company called Tulimara that canned them and sold them in supermarkets. So whenever we want camping in the bush as a family (which we did often when my kids were younger), we always took boxes and boxes of tinned Nyimo beans with us. Problem is when you eat too many of them, your bowels become a full-time methane factory. Eventually we had to institute a rule that the first 30 minutes of any car journey conducted the morning after a meal involving Nyimo beans had to be driven with all the car windows wide open! “Fart fuel”, my kids rather unflatteringly refer to them as…….
On a more serious note, Nyimo beans are perhaps the one thing I get asked for most often by Zimbabweans who live outside Zimbabwe and who are craving a nostalgic taste of home. Ironic, given how low the demand is for them within Zimbabwe. But when people leave the country, it weirdly becomes something they hanker after. Don’t ask me why!
[PUYP] How large is your team and what are your current projects?
[GLB] We are a small core team of 5 people, but we work with a bigger network of freelance consultants and interns who we pull in when we need them. We’re currently working on a few projects:
preparing a book on the top 50 useful plants of Zimbabwe
systematically undertaking botanical resource inventories in each of the 50 districts of Zimbabwe to ascertain which indigenous plants are found where and what their commercial potential is.
Developing commercialisation strategies for 25 indigenous plants in South Africa, for the South African government
Developing a new model for restorative agriculture to incorporate indigenous plants that can be used by small scale farmers in Zimbabwe
Several individual commercial product development trials for different species (e.g. Myrothamnus flabellifolia, Ximenia caffra, Schiziophyton rautanenii)
I extend my sincere thanks to Gus LE Brenton for taking his time to help us learn more about the Bambara Groundnut and his work. It was a true pleasure corresponding with you!
Bambara Groundnut Nutrition
In and of itself, the Bambara Groundnut is a wisp shy of offering everything a human needs for a complete diet with the exception of sulfur-containing proteins. It is therefore suggested to combine the Bambara with maize to make a complete protein. Additionally, this crop is rich in calcium, iron (higher in red varieties), potassium and zinc [5].
How to Cook Bambara Groundnut
If you are fortunate enough to be able to cook with the Nyimo bean, there a couple of exciting recipes on Gus Le Brenton’s website, bio-innovation.org. Further, I have found a few outstanding video tutorials.
Nyimo Beans Hummus
https://www.bio-innovation.org/recipes/nyimo-beans-hummus/
Nyimo Bean Salad
https://www.bio-innovation.org/recipes/nyimo-bean/nyimo-bean-salad/
More Videos on the Bambara Groundnut
Conclusion
The Bambara Groundnut seems to have great potential to small-scale farmers located on arid lands. Its hardiness in the face of weather extremes is another reason to consider it as a viable crop of the future. Perhaps, one day, we will make it to Zimbabwe to explore the Bambara Groundnut even further. Until then, please share your experiences, stories, and memories of this extraordinary plant.
