Aframomum melegueta

Description

A ginger family herb. It keeps growing from year to year. It has underground stems or rhizomes. These are 2-3 mm thick and short. The leaves are broadly sword shaped. They are 35 cm long and 15 cm wide. The leaves reach 0.8-2 m high. The flowers are on 5 cm stems that emerge just above ground level. They are purple and trumpet shaped. The fruit are pear shaped and 10 cm long. They are red to orange and contain many seeds. The seeds are light grey and dull. They are almost round with irregular flat spots.

Edible Uses

Melegueta pepper is commonly used in the cuisines of West and North Africa, from where it has been traditionally transported by camel caravan routes through the Sahara desert and distributed to Sicily and the rest of Italy. Mentioned by Pliny as "African pepper" but subsequently forgotten in Europe, they were renamed "grains of paradise" and became a popular substitute for black pepper in Europe in the 14th and 15th centuries. The Ménagier de Paris recommends it for improving wine that "smells stale". Through the Middle Ages and into the early modern period, the theory of the four humors governed theories about nourishment on the part of doctors, herbalists, and druggists. In this context, John Russell characterized grains of paradise in The Boke of Nurture as "hot and moist". In 1469, King Afonso V of Portugal granted the monopoly of trade in the Gulf of Guinea to Lisbon merchant Fernão Gomes. This included the exclusivity in trade of Aframomum melegueta, then called malagueta pepper. The grant came at the cost of 100,000 real annually and agreement to explore 160 kilometres (100 mi) of the coast of Africa per year for five years; this gives some indication of the European value of the spice. After Christopher Columbus reached the New World in 1492 and brought the first samples of the chili pepper (Capsicum frutescens) back with him to Europe, the name malagueta, and Spanish and Portuguese spelling, was then applied to the new chili "pepper" because its piquancy was reminiscent of grains of paradise. Malagueta, thanks to its low price, remained popular in Europe even after the Portuguese opened the direct maritime route to the Spice Islands around 1500. This namesake, the malagueta chili, remains popular in Brazil, the Caribbean, Portugal, and Mozambique. The importance of the A. melegueta spice is shown by the area's designation from the St. John River (near present-day Buchanan) to Harper in Liberia as the Grain Coast or Pepper Coast in honor of the availability of grains of paradise. Later, the craze for the spice waned, and its uses were reduced to a flavoring for sausages and beer. In the 18th century, its importation to Great Britain collapsed after an act of Parliament during the reign of George III forbade its use in alcoholic beverages. In 1855, England imported about 6,800 to 8,600 kilograms (15,000 to 19,000 lb) per year legally (duty paid). By 1880, the 9th edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica reported: "Grains of paradise are to some extent used in veterinary practice, but for the most part illegally to give a fictitious strength to malt liquors, gin, and cordials". The presence of the seeds in the diets of lowland gorillas in the wild seems to have some sort of beneficial effect on their cardiovascular health. They also eat the leaves and use them for bedding material. The absence of seeds in the diets of captive lowland gorillas may contribute to their occasionally poor cardiovascular health in zoos. Today, the condiment is sometimes used in gourmet cuisine as a replacement for pepper, and to give a unique flavor in some craft beers, gins, and Norwegian akvavit. Alton Brown is a fan of the condiment, and he uses it in okra stew and his apple-pie recipe on an episode of the TV cooking show Good Eats.

Traditional Uses

The seeds have a flavour like mild cardamom. They are hot and peppery. They are used to flavour wines, beer, cordials, liqueurs, meats and breads. They are used in soups and stews. The fruit pulp around the seeds are eaten or chewed as a stimulant. The leaves are used for tea.

Medicinal Uses

In West African folk medicine, grains of paradise are valued for their warming and digestive properties, and among the Efik people in Nigeria have been used for divination and ordeals determining guilt. A. melegueta has been introduced to the Caribbean and Latin America, where it is used in Voodoo religious rites. It is also found widely among Protestant Christian practitioners of African-American hoodoo and rootwork, where the seeds are employed in luck-bringing and may be held in the mouth or chewed to prove sincerity.

Distribution

It is a tropical plant. It can grow in arid places. It grows in forest and savannah. It is often in swampy locations. It grows in shade.

Where It Grows

Africa, Angola, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central Africa, Central America, Congo R, Congo DR, Côte d'Ivoire, East Africa, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinée, Guyana, Haiti, India, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mali, Nigeria, North Africa, Sao Tome and Principe, Sierra Leone, Togo, Uganda, West Africa, West Indies,

Cultivation

Plants are grown by division. It can be grown from seeds.

Propagation

Seed - Division of rhizomes as new growth begins.

Other Uses

The seed oil is used as a flavouring agent in perfumery. This report almost certainly refers to the essential oil in the seed.

Production

Plants begin fruiting after 3 years and produce for another 4 years. The seeds are removed from their pod for drying.

Other Information

It is a cultivated food plant.

Notes

There are about 50 Aframomum species.

Synonyms

Also Known As

Alegata pepper, Alligator pepper, Guinea pepper, Guinea grains, Ketchou, Maniguette, Ndon, Ndondo, Ndungu zi nzo, Ntondo, Ntuenubokk, Ose oji, Poivre de Guinee, Taku

References (44)

• Altschul, S.V.R., 1973, Drugs and Foods from Little-known Plants. Notes in Harvard University Herbaria. Harvard Univ. Press. Massachusetts. no. 455 (As Aframomum granum-paradisi)
• Ambasta S.P. (Ed.), 2000, The Useful Plants of India. CSIR India. p 18
• Bircher, A. G. & Bircher, W. H., 2000, Encyclopedia of Fruit Trees and Edible Flowering Plants in Egypt and the Subtropics. AUC Press. p 11
• Brouk, B., 1975, Plants Consumed by Man. Academic Press, London. p 304
• Brown, D., 2002, The Royal Horticultural Society encyclopedia of Herbs and their uses. DK Books. p 105

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