False African, yam
A tropical plant. It grows in tropical Africa. It grows in light sandy soils. It grows in woody savannah. It can tolerate drought.
Also known as:
Bankanas, Basouna, Bu bambulaf, Butima, Dagan, Em-handu, Foia, Foie, Furaban, Fu timay, Kouraban, Kuraba, Manacasso, Manasse, Mancanadje, Mancanasso, Manganace, Manganas, Manganasse, Manankaso, N'putme, Pane, Sila, Songol, Takwara, Unasse, Unassem
Synonyms
- Hirtella oliviformis Poir.
- Icacina senegalensis A. Juss.
- Mappia senegalensis (Juss.) Baill.
Edible Portion
- Seeds, Tubers, Root, Fruit, Caution
Where does False African grow?
Found in: Africa, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central Africa, Central African Republic, CAR, Chad, Congo, Côte d'Ivoire, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinée, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mail, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Togo, West Africa
Notes: It can be invasive and hard to remove.
Status: It is a famine food. It is a commercially cultivated vegetable. The fruit are especially eaten by children.
Growing False African, yam
Cultivation: About 440 plants per hectare occur.
Edible Uses: The young seeds can be boiled and eaten as peas. Caution: The tuber is poisonous without special preparation. The starchy tuber is cut up and leached in running water to remove the toxic element. The pieces are then dried, pounded, and strained to remove the fibres. They are either eaten without further processing or made into a paste with boiling water. The older seeds are put to steep in water for a week, which is changed every morning to rid it of its bitter element. They are then left to dry in the sun for two days. Finally, they are reduced to flour by pounding. The pink pulp of the fruit is edible.
Production: Tubers can be 45-100 cm long and 30 cm across. They can weigh 3-25 kg. Yields can be 3-20 t per hectare.
Nutrition Info
per 100g edible portion| Edible Part | Energy (kcal) | Protein (g) | Iron (mg) | Vitamin A (ug) | Vitamin c (mg) | Zinc (mg) | % Water |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tuber starch | 335 | 10.3 | 7 | - | - | - | 11.7 |
| Seed dried | - | - | - | - | - | - |
References
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Adansonia ser. 2, 15:194. 1975
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USDA, ARS, National Genetic Resources Program. Germplasm Resources Information Network - (GRIN). [Online Database] National Germplasm Resources Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland. Available: www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/html/econ.pl (10 April 2000)