Bambara Groundnut Perspective

Bambara groundnut (Vigna subterranea (L.) Verdc.) is a legume that originated from West Africa but has become widely distributed throughout the semi-arid zone of sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) (Hillocks et al. 2012) and some regions in Southeast Asia like Indonesia and Thailand (Mayes et al. 2019). Bambara groundnut derived its name from a tribe in Mali called “Bambara” (Murevanhema and Jideani 2015; Yao et al. 2015). It is the third most important legume in the semi-arid Africa after groundnut (Arachis hypogaea) and cowpea (Vigna unguiculata) (Bamshaiye et al. 2011). The Bambara plant is an erect- bushy or prostrate annual herb that could reach between 10 and 15 cm in height. The plant is highly branched with hairy stems having short internodes and a well-developed taproot with profuse geotropic lateral roots bearing nitrogen-fixing nodules (Lim 2012). The pods are ellipsoid-globular and can have varying lengths between 1.5 and 2.5 cm with one seed per pod (Plate 1.1a). The grains of Bambara groundnut come in different shapes, sizes and colours (Plate 1.1b–e) (Oyeyinka 2017) and may have up to seven varieties differentiated by their colour ranging from black, red to cream/black (Oyeyinka and Oyeyinka 2018).