Listing description
Despite its name, tiger
nut is a tuber. However, its chemical composition shares characteristics with
tubers and with nuts. It has been reported to be a “health” food, since its
consumption can help prevent heart disease and thrombosis and is said to
activate blood circulation and reduce the risk of colon cancer.
Detailed description
This
tuber is rich in energy content (starch, fat, sugar, and protein), minerals
(mainly phosphorus and potassium), and
vitamins E and C thus making this tuber also suitable for diabetics. Tiger nut
tubers contain almost twice the quantity of starch as potato or sweet potato
tubers. The oil of the tuber was found to contain 18% saturated (palmitic acid and stearic acid) and 82% unsaturated (oleic
acid and linoleic acid) fatty
acids.[21] The moderately high content of phytosterols further
enriches the quality and value of tiger nut oil as a food source.
According to the Consejo Regulador de Chufa de
Valencia (Regulating Council
for Valencia's Tiger Nuts),[22] the nutritional composition/100 ml of the
Spanish beverage horchata de chufas is as follows: energy content around 66
kcal, proteins around 0.5 g, carbohydrates over 10 g with starch at least 1.9 g, fats at least 2 g.
Uses
Dried tiger nut has a smooth tender,
sweet and nutty taste. It can be consumed raw, roasted, dried, baked or as
tiger nut milk or oil.
Use as food
The tubers are edible, with
a slightly sweet, nutty flavour, compared to the more bitter-tasting tuber of
the related Cyperus rotundus (purple nutsedge). They are quite hard
and are generally soaked in water before they can be eaten, thus making them
much softer and giving them a better texture. They are a popular snack in West
Africa, where they are known as ncɔkɔn in the languages Bamanankan or
Dyula.
They have various uses; in
particular, they are used in Spain to make horchata. “Horchata” is a nonalcoholic beverage of
milky appearance derived from the tubers of the tiger nut plant mixed with
sugar and water. It has a great economic impact in the Valencian region of
Spain.
Flour of roasted tiger nut is
sometimes added to biscuits and other bakery products as well as in making oil,
soap, and starch extracts. It is also used for the production of nougat, jam,
beer, and as a flavoring agent in ice cream and in the preparation of kunnu (a
local beverage in Nigeria).[23] Kunnu is a nonalcoholic beverage prepared
mainly from cereals (such as millet or sorghum) by heating and mixing with
spices (dandelion, alligator pepper, ginger, licorice) and sugar. To make up
for the poor nutritional value of kunnu prepared from cereals, tiger nut was
found to be a good substitute for cereal grains. Tiger nut oil can be used
naturally with salads or for deep frying. It is considered to be a high quality
oil. Tiger nut “milk” has been tried as an alternative source of milk in
fermented products, such as yogurt production, and other fermented products
common in some African countries and can thus be useful replacing milk in the diet of people intolerant to lactose to a certain extent.[6]
Tiger nuts should be eaten in only moderate amounts at any one time. Ingestion of 300 gms of the fibrous dehydrated nuts, chewed without being rehydrated,[12] has been known to cause rectal impaction.
Tiger nuts should be eaten in only moderate amounts at any one time. Ingestion of 300 gms of the fibrous dehydrated nuts, chewed without being rehydrated,[12] has been known to cause rectal impaction.
Use as oil
There is a global search for
alternative sources of fuel which could be cheaper, safer and more importantly,
environmentally friendly in comparison with widely used burning fuels. Since
the tubers of C. esculentus contain 20-36% oil, it has been
suggested as potential oil crop for the production of biodiesel.[21] One study found that chufa produced 1.5
metric tonnes of oil per hectare (174 gallons/acre) based on a tuber yield of
5.67 t/ha and an oil content of 26.4%.[24] A similar 6-year study found tuber yields
ranging from 4.02 to 6.75 t/ha, with an average oil content of 26.5% and an
average oil yield of 1.47 t/ha.[25]
Use in medicine and cosmetic industry
As a source of oils, the tubers
were used in pharmacy under the Latin name bulbuli
thrasi beginning no later
than the end of 18th century.[26] In ayurvedic medicine tiger nuts are used
in the treatment of flatulence, diarrhoea, dysentery, debility and indigestion.[18] Tiger nut oil can be used in the cosmetic
industry. As it is antidioxide (because of its high content in vitamin E) it
helps slow down the ageing of the body cells. It favours the elasticity of the
skin and reduces skin wrinkles.[17]
Use as fishing bait
The boiled nuts are used in the
UK as a bait for carp. The
nuts have to be prepared in a prescribed manner to prevent harm to the fish.
The nuts are soaked in water for 24 hours and then boiled for 20 minutes or
longer until fully expanded. Some anglers then leave the boiled nuts to ferment
for 24–48 hours, which can enhance their effectiveness. If the nuts are not
properly prepared, however, they can be extremely toxic to the carp. This was
originally thought to have been the cause of death of Benson, a
very large and very famous carp. The 54-lb. fish was found floating dead in a
fishing lake, with a bag of unprepared tiger nuts lying nearby, empty, on the
shore. An examination of the fish by a taxidermist concluded tiger nut
poisoning was not, in the end, the cause of death.[27]
Compatibility with other crops
C.esculentus is extremely difficult to remove completely
once established. This is due to the plant having a stratified and layered root
system, with tubers and roots being interconnected to a depth of 36 cm or
more.[12] The tubers are connected by fragile roots
that are prone to snapping when pulled, making the root system difficult to
remove intact. Intermediate rhizomes can potentially reach a length of
60 cm. The plant can quickly regenerate if a single tuber is left in
place. By competing for light, water and nutrients it can reduce the vigour of
neighbouring plants. It can develop into a dense colony of around 3 diameters.
Patch boundaries can increase by more than one meter per year. Tubers and seed
disperse with agricultural activities, soil movement or by water and wind. They
are often known as a contaminant in crop seeds. When plants are small they are
hard to distinguish from other weeds such as Dactylis glomerata and Elytrigia repens. Thus it is hard to discover in an
early stage and therefore hard to counteract. Once it is detected, mechanical
removal, hand removal, grazing, damping, and herbicides can be used to inhibit C.esculentus.
Similar native or non-native species that can confuse identification
·
Sedges (Cyperus)
have grass-like leaves and resemble each other in the appearance. They can
mainly be distinguished from grasses by their triangular stems.
·
Purple nutsedge (C.
rotundus) is another weedy sedge that is similar to the yellow nutsedge
(C. esculentus). These two sedges are difficult to distinguish from each
other and can be found growing on the same site. Some differences are the
purple spikelets and the tubers formed byC.rotondus are often multiple instead of just one
at the tip. In addition the tubers have a bitter taste instead of the mild
almond - like flavour ofC.esculentus.
PRICE
$48.09/KG OR
$21.85/IB
For more information:
mobile: +2348039721941
contact person: emeaba uche
e-mail: emeabau@yahoo.com
website: www.franchiseminerals.com
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