Parkia biglobosa

Parkia biglobosa, the African locust bean, is a perennial deciduous tree in the family Fabaceae. It is found in a wide range of environments in Africa and is primarily grown for its pods that contain both a sweet pulp and valuable seeds. Where the tree is grown, the crushing and fermenting of these seeds constitutes an important economic activity. Various parts of the locust bean tree are used for medicinal and food purposes. As a standing tree, locust bean may have a positive effect on the yield of nearby crops, like other leguminous plants.

Description

A large tree. It grows to 20 m tall. The trunk is 1 m across. The crown is spreading. The bark is scaly. The leaves are dark green and twice divided. There are 50-70 pairs of leaflets along 14-30 pairs of leaflet stalks. The flower clusters are pink or red. These are in round balls on stalks 30 cm long. The fruit are pods 50 cm long. A cluster of pods occur together. The ripe seeds develop a yellowish tinge when ripe. There is pink, dry, powdery flesh around them. The fruit are edible.

Edible Uses

The pods contain a sweet, yellow, starchy pulp surrounding the seeds, which can be eaten fresh, made into sweetmeats and drinks, or processed into a flour widely used across parts of Africa. The pulp contains up to 29% crude protein, up to 60% saccharose, is rich in vitamin C, and has a high oil content. The pink-brown to dark-brown pods are about 45cm long and 2cm wide. Seeds are fermented to make dawadawa, a black, strong-smelling, protein-rich food. Dried fermented seeds keep for more than a year in traditional earthenware pots without refrigeration and are crumbled in small amounts into soups and stews typically eaten with sorghum- or millet-based dumplings and porridges. Dawadawa is rich in protein, lipids, and vitamin B2; though deficient in methionine, cystine, and tryptophan, fermented beans are rich in lysine. Approximately 60% of the fat is unsaturated. The seeds contain antinutritional factors and must be processed before eating; boiled and fermented seeds contain 35% proteins, 29% lipids, and 16% carbohydrates, have good organoleptic properties, and a positive effect on intestinal flora. Roasted seeds can be ground into a powder and used as a coffee substitute. Young pods are sometimes roasted on embers and eaten. Leaves are edible but not commonly consumed; when eaten they are usually boiled and mixed with cereal flour or similar foods. Young flower buds can be added to mixed salads.

Traditional Uses

The seeds are normally roasted. They are then bruised and allowed to ferment in water. They are then washed and ground into powder. It can be stored for long periods. The seeds can be processed into a vegetable cheese. This is used as a spice to season sauces and soups. The flesh of the fruit is edible. A drink is also made from the flesh of the fruit. The bark is used in relishes and chutneys as a flavouring.

Medicinal Uses

The bark is used as a mouthwash, a vapour inhalant for toothache, and a treatment for ear complaints. It is macerated in baths for leprosy and used for bronchitis, pneumonia, skin infections, sores, ulcers, bilharzia, fever washes, malaria, diarrhoea, violent colic and vomiting, sterility, venereal diseases, guinea worm, oedema, rickets, and as a poison antidote. Leaves are used in lotions for sore eyes, burns, haemorrhoids, and toothache. Seeds are taken for tension, and the pulp is used for fevers, as a diuretic, and as a mild purgative. Roots are used in a lotion for sore eyes. An alcoholic extract of crude seeds showed antihypertensive activity, a contractile effect on intestinal smooth muscle, and increased uterine tonus and mobility. Ichthyotoxic and molluscicidal activities have been recorded for the seeds due to the presence of saponins. The bark, leaves, and pod husks are rich in tannins, which have general antidiarrhoeal activity. Bark extracts have demonstrated analgesic and anti-inflammatory activity. Flavonoid aglycones in the leaves have spasmolytic activity on smooth muscle as well as vasodilatory and antiseptic effects. Coumarin derivatives in leaf extracts have anticoagulant activity.

Known Hazards

The bark and pods contain substances toxic to fish - the alkaloid parkine that occurs in the pods and bark may be responsible.

Distribution

It is a tropical plant. It often grows near water. It grows in the Sahel. It grows in savannah. It grows in areas with a rainfall between 500-700 mm per year. It is best on deep loamy sands. It can grow in arid places. In Rockhampton Botanical Gardens.

Where It Grows

Africa, Antigua and Barbuda, Asia, Australia, Barbados, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Caribbean, Central Africa, Central African Republic, CAR, Chad, Congo DR, Côte d'Ivoire, Cuba, Dominican Republic, East Africa, Gambia, Ghana, Grenada, Guinea, Guinée, Guinea-Bissau, Haiti, Indonesia, Ivory Coast, Jamaica, Malawi, Mali, Martinique, Niger, Nigeria, Puerto Rico, Sahel, Sao Tome and Principe, SE Asia, Senegal, Sierra Leone, St Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Trinidad and Tobago, Uganda, Virgin Islands, West Africa, West Indies, Zambia,

Cultivation

Plants can be grown from seeds. The seeds are put into boiling water then allowed to cool to improve their germination. They can be transplanted after 10-14 weeks. Plants can be grown from root suckers. Plants can be budded.

Propagation

The hard seedcoat benefits from scarification before sowing. Pour a small amount of nearly boiling water over the seeds (taking care not to cook them) and soak in warm water for 12–24 hours until they have swollen and imbibed moisture. If they have not swollen, carefully nick the seedcoat without damaging the embryo and soak for a further 12 hours before sowing. The plant produces two seed types per pod — reddish-dark seeds with thinner coats that germinate more easily and quickly, even without scarification, and black seeds. Sow in individual deep containers as young plants quickly form a deep taproot. Around 75% of seeds can be expected to germinate. Seedlings are typically ready to plant out at 10–14 weeks. Can also be propagated by cuttings of mature wood or by grafting.

Other Uses

Pods and roots contain fibres used as sponges and as strings for musical instruments. Twigs are used to clean the teeth; the bark stains the mouth red and contains saponins that clean the teeth. A mucilage from part of the fruit is made into a fluid for hardening earth floors and giving a black glaze to pottery. Fruit pods are processed into an insecticide powder added to water and sprayed on crops. Pod husks mixed with indigo improve the lustre of dye products, and boiled pods are used to dye pottery black. Ash is applied as a mordant. Seeds and bark are a source of tannins. Wood ash is used as a source of potash in making soap and indigo dye. The wood is whitish, moderately heavy (580–640 kg/cubic m air-seasoned), relatively hard, and solid; it smells unpleasant when freshly felled but seasons without major distortion and is easily worked by hand or power tools, nailing, gluing, varnishing, and painting well. It is used as a light structural timber for vehicle bodies, agricultural implements, boxes, crates, barrels, furniture, mortars and pestles, bowls, planks, and carvings. Branches are lopped for firewood. The tree is a useful windbreak and shade tree; soils under it are improved by leaf fall, and crops such as maize, cassava, yams, sorghum, and millet are commonly grown under its canopy.

Production

Initial plant growth is slow. First fruit develop after about 8 years. Flowers are fruit develop during the dry season.

Other Information

It is an important food in West Africa. It is commonly used. It is an important fruit tree in Nigeria. It is also cultivated. Fruit tend to be available in the drier more hungry season.

Notes

Also as Mimosaceae.

Nutrition

Synonyms

Also Known As

African locust, Ahouatin, Ahwatin, Anjambane, Ayidan, Biaie, Billire, Buiai, Bu nalay, Bu niok, Canhando, Caroubier-africain, Daddawa, Daudawa, Dawadawa, Dodoli, Dondo, Donm, Dooso, 'Dorawa, Dorowa, Dours, Dowa, Dso, Duaga, Em-bando, Faroba, Farroba, Farrobe, Fernleaf Nitta-tree, Gante, Igba, Iru, Irugba, Iyere, Kalwa, Kariah, Kolgo, Mehante, Mimosa-poupre, Munuan, Muwassademu, N'andu, Nando, Narehi, Nere, Neri, Netch, Nete, Netetu, Netto, Niere, Nitta tree, Nitta-Nut, Nune, Nutta-Nut, Olele, Ogiri, Oule, Poroba, Roanga, Runo, Sikomu, Ulele, Unhando

References (87)

• Abbiw, D.K., 1990, Useful Plants of Ghana. West African uses of wild and cultivated plants. Intermediate Technology Publications and the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. p 48 p 42, 48 (Also as Parkia clappertonia)
• Achigan-Dako, E, et al (Eds), 2009, Catalogue of Traditional Vegetables in Benin. International Foundation for Science.
• Akintayo, E. T., 2004, Characteristics and Composition of Parkia biglobosa and Jatropha curcas oils and cakes Bioresource Technology. 92: pp. 307-309.
• Akande, F. B., Adejumo, O. A., Adamade, C. A., & Bodunde, J., 2010, Processing of locust bean fruits: Challenges and prospects, African Journal of Agricultural Research, 5(17), pp. 2268–2270
• Akinola, R., et al, 2020, A Review of Indigenous Food Crops in Africa and the Implications for more Sustainable and Healthy Food Systems. Sustainability 2020, 12, 3493;

More from Fabaceae

Lotus unifoliolatus var. unifoliolatus

Prairie trefoil

Lupinus affinis

Fleshy lupine

Lupinus albus

White Lupin

Lupinus albus graecus - (Boiss.&Sprun.)Franco.&P.Silva.

Lupinus angustifolius

Blue Lupin, Narrowleaf lupine

Lupinus arboreus

Tree lupin