The potential of the underutilized pulse bambara groundnut (Vigna subterranea (L.) Verdc.) for nutritional food security

Halimi, Razlin Azman; Barkla, Bronwyn J.; Mayes, Sean; King, Graham J.

doi:10.1016/j.jfca.2018.12.008

Cited by 85 publications

(39 citation statements)

References 139 publications

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“…Most germplasm planted by famers is in the form of landraces with high genetic variability. This is reflected by the wide variations in morphological ( 16 ) and nutritional ( 9 ) traits across Bambara groundnut landraces. Genetic variability can act as a form of insurance for farmers as some members of the landrace population can provide local adaptation, stress tolerance, and yield stability ( 17 ), thus giving farmers a higher chance of obtaining some form of seed yield in times of drought or other stresses.…”

Section: Closing the Food Supply Gap Through Improved Production Of Bmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This nutrient-dense legume is sometimes termed a “complete food” due to its balanced macronutrient composition. Bambara groundnut contains ~64.4% carbohydrate, 23.6% protein, 6.5% fat, and 5.5% fiber and is rich in minerals ( 9 ). It is relatively underutilized compared with major cash crops and has often been associated with small-scale, subsistence farming, with women being the major producers and processors ( 6 , 10 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The utilization constraints of Bambara groundnut include the knowledge gap in improved seed system, agronomic practices, processing, and utilization. Genetics, agronomy, and nutritional aspects of Bambara groundnut and its food uses have recently been reviewed by other authors ( 7 , 9 , 11 , 12 ). This paper gives an overview of the value chain and discusses the potential role of Bambara groundnut in closing the gaps in the food system to ensure sustainability of food and nutritional security.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Bambara Groundnut: An Underutilized Leguminous Crop for Global Food Security and Nutrition

et al. 2020

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Rapid population growth, climate change, intensive monoculture farming, and resource depletion are among the challenges that threaten the increasingly vulnerable global agri-food system. Heavy reliance on a few major crops is also linked to a monotonous diet, poor dietary habits, and micronutrient deficiencies, which are often associated with diet-related diseases. Diversification—of both agricultural production systems and diet—is a practical and sustainable approach to address these challenges and to improve global food and nutritional security. This strategy is aligned with the recommendations from the EAT-Lancet report, which highlighted the urgent need for increased consumption of plant-based foods to sustain population and planetary health. Bambara groundnut (Vigna subterranea (L.) Verdc.), an underutilized African legume, has the potential to contribute to improved food and nutrition security, while providing solutions for environmental sustainability and equity in food availability and affordability. This paper discusses the potential role of Bambara groundnut in diversifying agri-food systems and contributing to enhanced dietary and planetary sustainability, with emphasis on areas that span the value chain: from genetics, agroecology, nutrition, processing, and utilization, through to its socioeconomic potential. Bambara groundnut is a sustainable, low-cost source of complex carbohydrates, plant-based protein, unsaturated fatty acids, and essential minerals (magnesium, iron, zinc, and potassium), especially for those living in arid and semi-arid regions. As a legume, Bambara groundnut fixes atmospheric nitrogen to improve soil fertility. It is resilient to adverse environmental conditions and can yield on poor soil. Despite its impressive nutritional and agroecological profile, the potential of Bambara groundnut in improving the global food system is undermined by several factors, including resource limitation, knowledge gap, social stigma, and lack of policy incentives. Multiple research efforts to address these hurdles have led to a more promising outlook for Bambara groundnut; however, there is an urgent need to continue research to realize its full potential.

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Section: Closing the Food Supply Gap Through Improved Production Of Bmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Bambara Groundnut: An Underutilized Leguminous Crop for Global Food Security and Nutrition

et al. 2020

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“…Bambara groundnut is rich in proteins, with content varying between 14 and 24 g per 100 g, and is also rich in carbohydrates, with 28 to 40 g per 100 g [21]. The crop also provides fatty acids and minerals: A 100 g portion serving of Bambara groundnut fulfils more than half the recommended daily allowance for potassium intake for children and adults and covers the entire recommended daily allowance for magnesium and zinc [22]. Praised for its agronomic properties, Bambara groundnut is relatively drought-tolerant and requires minimal chemical inputs.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fonio and Bambara Groundnut Value Chains in Mali: Issues, Needs, and Opportunities for Their Sustainable Promotion

et al. 2020

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As the effects of climate change are severely straining West African agricultural systems, the adoption of more incisive interventions in support of sustainable development agendas for the region is highly critical and cannot be further delayed by governments. Neglected and underutilized species (NUS) are one important ally in pursuing resilience in both production and food systems because of their promising traits in terms of nutrition, adaptation to local agroecosystems, and economic potential for local populations. Focusing on fonio, a gluten-free traditional cereal, and Bambara groundnut, a protein-rich leguminous crop, we investigate issues in their production, commercialization, and consumption in southern Mali. The aim was to assess needs and opportunities for improving their value chains and increasing their use and societal benefits. Using a Rapid Market Appraisal method, we surveyed traders, producers, processors, and consumers of target crops in 2017 and 2018. Our findings indicate that while both crops are consumed and praised by local populations, critical bottlenecks inhibit their wider socioeconomic potential. Lack of access to inputs and equipment and presence of sand in the commercialized product are important issues for fonio, whereas the Bambara groundnut value chain suffers from poor processing facilities and lack of market promotion. Policy recommendations to tackle the identified bottlenecks are proposed.

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“…As a use case we analyzed grain legume datasets organized using the controlled vocabulary and hierarchical relationships within the CDN‐DF. Although this indicated that bambara groundnut was under‐represented compared with the other four crops, we were able to establish that reported variation in the concentrations of protein, fatty acid, and minerals covered a similar range as major crops such as chickpea, cowpea and mungbean . However, gaps in data available for starch digestibility, vitamins, and the majority of phytochemicals and anti‐nutritional factors highlight where additional datasets could be generated.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Bridging the food security gap: an information‐led approach to connect dietary nutrition, food composition and crop production

et al. 2019

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BACKGROUND: Food security is recognized as a major global challenge, yet human food-chain systems are inherently not geared towards nutrition, with decisions on crop and cultivar choice not informed by dietary composition. Currently, food compositional tables and databases (FCT/FCDB) are the primary information sources for decisions relating to dietary intake. However, these only present single mean values representing major components. Establishment of a systematic controlled vocabulary to fill this gap requires representation of a more complex set of semantic relationships between terms used to describe nutritional composition and dietary function. RESULTS: We carried out a survey of 11 FCT/FCDB and 177 peer-reviewed papers describing variation in nutritional composition and dietary function for food crops to identify a comprehensive set of terms to construct a controlled vocabulary. We used this information to generate a Crop Dietary Nutrition Data Framework (CDN-DF), which incorporates controlled vocabularies systematically organized into major classes representing nutritional components and dietary functions. We demonstrate the value of the CDN-DF for comparison of equivalent components between crop species or cultivars, for identifying data gaps andpotential for formal meta-analysis. The CDN-DF also enabled us to explore relationships between nutritional components and the functional attributes of food. CONCLUSION: We have generated a structured crop dietary nutrition data framework, which is generally applicable to the collation and comparison of data relevant to crop researchers, breeders, and other stakeholders, and will facilitate dialogue with nutritionists. It is currently guiding the establishment of a more robust formal ontology.

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The potential of the underutilized pulse bambara groundnut (Vigna subterranea (L.) Verdc.) for nutritional food security

Cited by 85 publications

References 139 publications

Bambara Groundnut: An Underutilized Leguminous Crop for Global Food Security and Nutrition

Bambara Groundnut: An Underutilized Leguminous Crop for Global Food Security and Nutrition

Fonio and Bambara Groundnut Value Chains in Mali: Issues, Needs, and Opportunities for Their Sustainable Promotion

Bridging the food security gap: an information‐led approach to connect dietary nutrition, food composition and crop production

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