Nutraceutical and antimicrobial potentials of Bambara groundnut (Vigna subterranean): A review

Ebere Lovelyn Udeh; Monde A Nyila; Sheku Alfred Kanu

doi:10.1016/j.heliyon.2020.e05205

Nutraceutical and antimicrobial potentials of Bambara groundnut (Vigna subterranean): A review

Heliyon. 2020 Oct 22;6(10):e05205. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2020.e05205. eCollection 2020 Oct.

Authors

Ebere Lovelyn Udeh¹, Monde A Nyila², Sheku Alfred Kanu^{1

3}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Agriculture and Animal Health, College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences, University of South Africa, South Africa.
² Department of Life and Consumer Sciences, College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences, University of South Africa, South Africa.
³ Department of Crop Science, Njala University, Njala, Sierra Leone.

Abstract

Bambara groundnut (Vigna subterranea (L.) Verdc.) [BGN] is an easy-to-cultivate vegetable crop neglected over the past years. It is a drought-tolerant crop with nutritional and medicinal values and as a result, the crop is referred to as nutraceuticals. Based on this, there exist a need to review the beneficial potential (nutraceutical value) of this neglected and underutilized crop to protect and promote its cultivation for food (source of nutrients) and medicines especially among rural poor communities in sub-Saharan Africa. This review systematically examines the background information and uses of BGN. The antimicrobial properties of BGN were also considered and examined to ascertain its nutraceutical importance. BGN has been reported as a crop possessing antioxidant and antimicrobial properties. Clinically, the extracts of BGN have been reported to exhibit antimicrobial activities against bacteria such as Klebsiella pneumoniae subsp. pneumoniae ATCC 700603, Pseudomonas aeruginosa ATCC 27853, Staphylococcus aureus subsp. aureus ATCC 33591, Escherichia coli, Bacillus cereus, yeast (Candida albicans) and mold (Aspergillus niger). This review outlines the uses of BGN as a functional food crop as well as its nutraceutical and antimicrobial potentials. However, there exist paucity of knowledge and literature on the crop's antimicrobial activities especially against plant pathogens of economic importance. Hence, this review proposes that more research be geared towards assessing the nutraceutical value and antimicrobial potentials of this crop against plant pathogens of economic importance and the promotion of the crop's cultivation.

Keywords: Agriculture; Antimicrobial potential; Antioxidants; Bambara groundnut; Food science; Nutraceuticals; Nutrition; Phytochemicals; Plant pathogens.

Publication types

Review