CHUFA SEDGE (TIGERNUT)
SCIENTIFIC NAME: Cyperus esculentus
OTHER NAMES: Nut grass, Yellow nut sedge, Tiger nut sedge, Earth almond.
ncɔkɔn in the Bamnara (Mali)
Nigeria: Aya (Hausa), Aki Awusa (Igbo), Ofio (Yoruba), Isip Osong (Efik).
Cyperus esculentus is a crop of the sedge family widespread across much of the world. They can be found in Europe, Africa, Madagascar, the Middle East, Indian, Ukraine, China, Hawaii, Indochina, New Guinea, New South Wales and various oceanic islands.
Cyperus esculentus can be found wild, as a weed, or as a crop. Evidence exists for its cultivation in Egypt since the sixth millennium BC, and for several centuries in Southern Europe. In Spain, C. esculentus is cultivated for its edible tubers, called earth almonds or tiger nuts, for the preparation of horchata de chufa, a sweet, milk-like beverage. In Nigeria, it is cultivated mostly in the northern part of the country. It is usually eaten fresh. And sometimes dried and later rehydrated and eaten. Also a snack is made by toasting the nuts and sugar coating it is popular among the Hausa children of Northern Nigeria. Also, a drink known as kunun aya is made by processing the nuts with dates and later sieved and served chilled.
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. 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. 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 kunun (a local beverage in Nigeria)
Tiger nut “milk” has been tried as an alternative source of milk in fermented products, in some African countries and can thus be useful replacing milk in the diet of people intolerant to lactose to a certain extent.
Tiger nuts should be eaten in only moderate amounts at any one time. Ingestion of 300 g of the fibrous dehydrated nuts, chewed without being rehydrated, has been known to cause fecal impaction.
NUTRITIONAL VALUES
Rich in Energy content (Starch). Tiger nut tubers contain almost twice the quantity of starch as potato or sweet potato tubers. sugar, and protein).
It contains minerals (mainly phosphorus and potassium).
It also contains a high quantity of vitamins E and C.
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.
HEALTH BENEFITS
It is used in the treatment of flatulence, diarrhoea, dysentery, debility and indigestion.
It is used to make cosmetics due to its high content in vitamin E. It helps slow down aging and reduce wrinkles by favoring the skin’s elasticity.
It is also a possible treatment source for people with diabetes.
Its consumption can help prevent heart disease and thrombosis and is said to activate blood circulation.
It also reduces the risk of colon cancer.
In China, tiger nut milk is used as a liver tonic, heart stimulant, drank to heal serious stomach pain, to promote normal menstruation, to heal mouth and gum ulcers.
In Ayurvedic medicines and is a powerful aphrodisiac (sexual stimulant).
The black species of the tiger nut is an excellent medicine for breast lumps and cancer.
It promotes the production of urine and this is why it is a preventive measure for cyst, prostrate, hernia, rectum deformation and prolapsed (anal feature-small painful flesh at the tip of the anus).
It is used to prevent endometriosis or fibrosis as well as blockage of the tip of the fallopian tube.
Tiger nut contains a good quantity of vitamin B1, which assists in balancing the central nervous system and helps to encourage the body to adapt to stress.
Natives of Ghana have been using this traditional medicine for decades for treating Erectile Dysfunction.
SWIT KITCHEN’S NOTE: Remember too much of everything is bad. Eat in moderation. Not too much and not too little. #Balanceyourlife