TIGER NUT (CYPERUS ESCULENTUS); MORPHOLOGY, PRODUCTS, USES AND HEALTH BENEFITS

Abstract

Tiger nut or Cyperus esculentus originated from Africa and tropical Asia considered some authors, while other authors consider that it is native to tropical and subtropical regions throughout the world. It belongs to Cyperaceae family, which produces rhizomes and spherical tubers. C. esculentus grows very well on all soil types. This plant is fast growing up with 20 to 70 cm tall. It lives in a moderate climate with a temperature between 20 °C and 30 °C and cannot resist in soil with high salinity. It can be eaten in different conditions; dry, raw, roasted, or grated, also it can be transformed into milk called “Horchata”. With the use of Tiger nut for food purposes mainly in raw consumption (gluten-free flour, ice-cream milk type extract) due to its unique sweetness, as well as, a valuable source for vegetable oils, add to that it has a lot of medicinal benefits (it reduces the risk of colon cancer, used as a heart stimulant, effective remedy for diarrhea and an anti-inflammatory) and used as high added value compound such as starch, glucose, protein, and minerals (potassium, phosphorus, vitamin E and C). Despite all these previous mentioned benefits and advantages, low focus had been putting into Cyperus esculentus’s researches. Therefore, this work has an aim to review the work done before and mention the great importance of valorizing Tiger nuts. This study gives a brief introduction about Cyperus esculentus and describes its morphology and its world distribution.

Keywords

• Tiger nut
• Cyperus esculentus
• Nutrition
• Oil
• Health

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