African Traditional Locust Beans

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Locust beans are a very popular ingredient that we normally use in our food. In the Yoruba tribe, we call it 'iru,' 'ogi' in Igbo, and 'dawa dawa' in Hausa. This fermented condiment gives us a good taste when we use it to prepare eguisi and okra soup.

Locust beans are rich in protein and other nutrients that are useful for our health. We have two different types of locust beans: whole seeds (Iru woro) and mushier (iru pete).

Although these types of fermented locust beans are mainly found in the southwest, some people often dry them under the sun to preserve their lifespan, but this mostly occurs when there is no electricity to help preserve them in the freezer.

The aroma of the locust beans is fantastic, especially when we use them to prepare the vegetables that we eat with our family. These locust beans are also used to make soap, and the tree or wood is used for cooking and providing shade for people and animals from the hot sun.

Fermented locust beans is always available in our kitchen because it's the main ingredient we used in preparing our meal in Nigeria without them in our stew such stew will lack flavor. The people who always engage in this kind of occupation of locust beans processing are women and most of them are usually situated in rural area.

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Locust beans promote our health because it has the powerful antioxidant as well as helping us to manage our blood sugar level and cholesterol, Locust beans also recommend for both young and adults because it aid our vision to see clearly.

Another benefits of this amazing locust beans is that it protects our skin from infection. I could remember in those days when my mum would send me an errand to bought locust beans from an elderly woman who normally sell locust bens at our nearby house, believe me I would eat half of it in a raw form due to it taste goods and nice.