PROSOPIS: ONE OF THE MOST HEAT TOLERANT NITROGEN FIXING FOOD LEGUMES OF THE WORLD. PROSPECTS FOR ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT IN ARID LANDS

PUPPO M.C.; FELKER P.

Elsevier

Lugar: Cambridge; Año: 2021 p. 250

9780128233207

The legume family (Fabaceae) contains many genera and species that through their nitrogen fixing process provide high protein food and feed for humans and animals. As evidenced by its presence in Death Valley, California that holds the record for the highest temperature in the world, the genus Prosopis is perhaps the most heat tolerant food producing legume on the planet. The subtropical semi arid tropics cover approximately 25 % of the earth?s surface and contains the world?s most destitute people, the greatest environmental degradation, and the greatest political volatility which is a breeding ground for social conflicts. Due to the low soil moisture which is a major factor affecting soil temperature and the high air temperatures, the soil bacterial respiration is very high leading to the world´s lowest soil organic carbon and nitrogen contents. This results in very poor physical structure as well as low nutrient content. The world?s leading centers are using advancedbiotechnology tools to adapt the cultivated annual crops of their European and North American ethnocultural heritage to these extreme conditions. It is unfortunate that these scientists are not cognisant of the food plants of the indigenous Panamint, Shoshone or Chemehuevi people who lived for centuries in equally harsh areas of the North American Mojave desert including DeathValley the hottest place on earth, or the Ici people of the Peruvian deserts, the Hualfines people of the Argentine deserts or the Vishnoi people of the Rajasthan desert whose sustenance was heavily dependent on the indigenous nitrogen fixing trees with 10 meter deep, saline adapted roots , and 45 C temperatures. This book describes the enormous historical importance of these trees as a human food source and reviews the contemporary food science of the fruit derived from these trees. As well this treatise reviews the native genetic resources of this genus on 4 continents and classical genetic and horticultural techniques that could help stabilise the environment and alleviate human suffering on some of the world?s most destitute agro-ecosystems. It is also important to count with a book that covers an integral view of the genus Prosopis (commonly named as algarrobo or mesquite), since it is a tree or a shrub depending on the specie that in some places contributes to the forestation of arid areas with high salinity, subjected to high temperatures and in which the cultivation of common grains such as cereals and legumes is not possible. This is a positive and desirable aspect of algarrobo trees, in addition this tree / shrub provide wood for furniture and has an edible fruit that has a high content of sugars and dietary fiber and it is proven that its proteins are free of toxic prolamines responsible for celiac disease. It also has the advantage of the presence of aromatic volatile species that give it an aroma similar to that of cocoa, so it is used as a substitute of cacao and also for coffee replacement; and in the production of syrups like honey. Because of this condition, it is ideal for cookies, breads and baked goods in general. Due to the great potential of application in food that has the flour of this fruit, it is that one must have an integral knowledge of the planting conditions, the genetics, the characteristics of the fruit, the nutritional properties and the action of the different molecules with biological activity, as fiber and antioxidants, in the prevention of chronic non-communicable diseases, such as certain types of cancer, among others.For this reason it is that the management of the harvest, conservation and conditions of grinding and storage of this fruit and its flour must be carried out in a safely form, based on the previous existing knowledge about it, which will be provided by the results of the different authors throughout all the chapters of this book. On the other hand, in some regions such as the Horn of Africa, Prosopis is endemic and policies must be implemented to manage this species, so that the application in foods of the fruit coming from an overproduction, will allow the control of the species in the region. Nevertheless, in spite of the thorny, multi stemmed and very low palatable pod, the endemic Prosopis has in some cases been beneficial. Finally, a non-minor and very important aspect, to say that it is the beginning of everything, is the anthropological knowledge that can be obtained from the interpretation of the ancestral processing of Prosopis-based foods through ethnobotany and experimental archeology. This knowledge will allow to know the use that the first populations of America gave to the fruit, so as to rescue the gastronomic virtues of this fruit that were lost with time and recovering ancestral knowledge applicable to the modern gastronomy.