Morama bean values

There has been very little research conducted on the morama bean, largely because it is found in the wild and only consumed by a small percentage of the population in the coimtries where found. However, in these areas, it is used by indigenous communities as a source of food, feed, shelter, and medicine, thus contributing to improve the quality of life in traditional agricultural and forest systems in various ways. The morama has enormous potential value that needs to be exploited for the... 

The pH of the morama bean soils (0-120 cm) collected from Namibia ranged from 5.08 0.08 to 6.90 0.26. A significant difference was found between morama bean soils from Sandveld Sites 1 and 2, and Buitepos, and nonmorama bean soils from Sandveld Site 4. The soils from Botswana showed mean pH values of 5.04 0.21 to 7.40 0.25 for morama bean-growing areas and 4.04 0.03 to 4.89 0.16 for... 

Wehmeyer et al. (1969), Bower et al. (1988), and Amarteifio and Moholo (1998) reported the content of carbohydrate to be 23%, 24%, and 19%, respectively. These values have been obtained indirectly as the difference between 100% and the content of proteins, lipids, and minerals. Holse et al. (2010) found that the content of carbohydrate was dominated by total dietary fiber as it varied between 18.7% and 26.8% dm (Table 5.2). The majority of the dietary fiber is insoluble as only about 4% of the dietary fibers are soluble. Comparing the content of total dietary fiber of morama bean with the content of peanut (9% dm) and soybean (10% dm) (U.S. Department of Agriculture, 2007), it appears that the morama bean has a considerably higher level of indigestible carbohydrates. Holse et al. (2010) also reported a very low starch content, which is in contrast to other legumes, in which starch is usually the most abundant carbohydrate... 

An analysis of competing products and potential substitutes revealed that morama products will potentially compete with a number of other, well-established products and brands that are already commercialized. These include soy-based products such as soy milk, soybean oil, and high protein soy flour. The direct implication of this is that for morama bean products to compete on price directly with the competing products, it will need to do so based on the health benefits or other novelty value identified by the current Marama II FP-6 project consortium. Without these, it may prove to be very challenging to the feasibility of these products. 

Ripperger-Suhler, J. A. and Longenecker, J. B. (1982). Assessment of the nutritional value of Morama Bean. Division of Graduate Nutrition, University of Texas, Austin Report to the Center for the Study of Human Adaptation. 

Mean values within a row with different letters differ significanfly (p < 0.05), PDUH = partially defatted morama flour from unheafed beans, PDH = partially defatted flour from heafed beans (150 °C for 20 min. 

---