Pod-bearing legume tree. The yellow pod pulp is sweet and eaten fresh; the seeds are the source of dawadawa when fermented. Raw seeds provide substantial protein (28-35%), fat (30%), and carbohydrate plus iron, zinc, and vitamin B2. The seed pulp provides significant energy and natural sugars. Every part of the tree has documented use: leaves as vegetable, bark as medicine, roots as anti-malarial.
Fresh pods not widely available outside West Africa. Dried seeds at West African specialty markets. Fermented dawadawa/iru at West African grocery stores in major cities (Houston, Atlanta, New York, DC, Minneapolis, Columbus). Growing availability online.
In regions of West Africa where imported Western foods have not displaced traditional diets, the African locust bean tree provides complete nutrition — protein, fat, vitamin C from the pod pulp, minerals from the seeds. Fermentation into dawadawa (iru) transforms the seeds into a probiotic, umami-rich condiment that also inhibits alpha-amylase — the enzyme that digests starch — making it a traditional anti-diabetic food. The bark contains compounds that are active against Plasmodium falciparum (the malaria parasite) in laboratory studies — documented in multiple ethnobotanical surveys. The leaf extract reduces blood glucose in animal models. For APEX, the locust bean represents the principle that every part of a traditional food tree was used and nothing was wasted.
Pod pulp: eat raw or make into a sweet drink. Seeds (as dawadawa/iru): fermented and available at West African markets. Seed extract: available as traditional medicine at African herbal medicine shops. Not a mainstream food in the US — the fermented form (dawadawa) is more accessible.
Free, no account needed to ask.