Page 18 - University of Pretoria Research Review 2017

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Marama beans have long been known for their food value, and have been identified as an ‘orphan crop’ and as one of the ‘Lost Crops of Africa’*. While extensive research has been conducted on one species, Tylosema esculentum, the focus has been on its potential food value, and not its evolutionary history.
Nigel Barker and Lizo Masters Inset: The Marama bean flower
Realising the
potential of
Marama beans
Nigel Barker, Department of Plant and Soil Sciences
Tylosema esculentum is endemic to the semi-arid regions of Namibia, Botswana and parts of South Africa. It is known to survive periods of drought, high temperature and low rainfall because of a massive underground tuber. The tuber, along with the seeds, are a staple source of food for local populations in the Kalahari Desert. In some cases, up to 75% of the vegetable content of Kalahari tribes’ diet is made up of Marama bean. The nutritional quality of Marama seeds rivals not only that of soy and peanuts in terms of protein and oil content, but also most commercially available legumes and even other wild crops with agricultural potential.
T. esculentum is thus of considerable interest to disciplines associated with food security and, over
the years, researchers at UP have studied a number
of aspects related to its nutritional value. Before any serious efforts can be made to introduce this plant as an economically viable crop, a deeper understanding of its biology is needed.
To this end, Professor Nigel Barker, Head of the Department of Plant and Soil Sciences, and MSc student Lizo Masters, initiated a study in 2017 on the evolutionary relationships, population genetic diversity and comparative growth physiology of the plant. The study was undertaken in collaboration with Professor
* National Research Council. 2006. Lost Crops of Africa: Volume II: Vegetables. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. https:// doi.org/10.17226/11763.
Lizo Masters