ABSTRACT
This chapter provides information on the uses, folk medicine, chemistry, germplasm, distribution, ecology, cultivation, harvesting, yields, energy, and biotic factors of Tigernut. Nuts used as substitute for coffee; or for almonds in confectionery, or made into a kind of chocolate. Roasted nuts are ground and sieved to produce a fine meal, a high caloric value, which is added along with sugar and other ingredients to water as a beverage, or even eaten dry. According to J. L. Hartwell, the tubers are used in folk remedies for felons and cancers. Tubers are relished by hogs, which are used to suppress the plant when it becomes weedy. They contain 20 to 36% of a nondrying, pleasant tasting edible oil, similar to olive oil. Tubers are harvested 5 to 6 months after planting. Two crops can be attained in rainy season. Chufa Oil is obtained by pressing cleaned tubers.
