Cordeauxia

Cordeauxia edulis is a leguminous plant (Fabaceae) from the genus Cordeauxia. The genus Cordeauxia is in subfamily Caesalpinioideae and tribe Caesalpinieae, and is closely related to the genera Caesalpinia and Stuhlmannia. There are at least two varieties of the species C. edulis: Moqley and Suley. Other names are Yebb, Hebb, Ye'eh, Yi-ib, Yehib or Yicib. In amharic it is called Ehb, Qud or Quda. ==History==

The yeheb nut bush has been known to the Somali nomads for centuries. The first recovery of his existence dates back to 1871, when the Italian esplorer Luigi Robecchi Bricchetti noticed the plant when traversing Somalia to Bari. The bush has been named after Cordeaux, a botanic who first obtained botanical specimens in the Ogaden province (Somali Galbeed) which were found to be a leguminous plant belonging to a hitherto unknown genus in the Caesalpinaceae. Afterward, Hemsley gave the plant the generic name Cordeauxia, with the specific epithet edulis (edible). In 1929, the yeheb bush covered half of the vegetation of large territories in Somalia and Somali region. In 1983 the distribution has been reduced to small regions. ==Distribution==

The yeheb tree is native in the arid and semi-arid areas in Somalia (Ogaden). found that the species had disappeared from the Haud plateau of Somaliland, although still to be found on the Ethiopian side of the border. It is exotic in Israel, Kenya, Sudan, Tanzania and in the Republic of Yemen. Today there is germplasm collection in Ethiopia (ILRI Addis Ababa), Kenya (National Genebank, Kikuyu) and the USA (Southern Regional Plant Introduction Station, Griffin, Georgia). ==Biology==

It is an evergreen, multistemmed shrub The leaves measure 3–5 cm. They curl when the soil moisture gets low. • Flowers: The flowers are yellow and contain both sexes. They are 2–5 cm in diameter and have 5 petals. They are grouped in corymbs with very few flowers at the end of the branch. Flowering occurs throughout the year but is more profuse during the rainy season. They are pollinated by insects. The flowers develop at the first stage of the fruit formation, exhibit a dormancy through the dry season and continue the development at the onset of the next rainy period. After that, they mature within a few days. • Seeds: They have the size of a big hazel-nut, weight 1–3 g and are red-brown. The indehiscent pods include 1–4 round or ovoid seeds, they are by mistake called nuts. The germination rate is about 80% growth. • Trunk and Bark: They have a yellow-brownish color. • Growth: The growth in the first developing stages is slow due to small proportion of reserve proteins and the development of the taproot system. • Chromosome number: 2n=24 • Inflorescence: The inflorescence is a terminal few-flowered raceme. ==Cultivation==

C. edulis is cultivated on a small scale in Somalia and near Voi in Kenya. It has only recently been a subject to domestication, therefore little knowledge about propagation, the agronomic practices and its potential for selection as well as breeding exists. The potential of this multipurpose plant is very promising, especially for other arid, hot regions as an important food and fodder resource. Harvest The yeheb seeds are usually harvested from wild plants. but in Somalia nowadays the harvest is reported to occur twice a year. This is possible if both rainy seasons occur within their normal extent and contribute enough rain for the plant. The Yeheb-Nut is mainly harvested manually by children and women, The estimated average forage production is 325–450 kg/ha. Postharvest treatment and storage The seeds are rarely eaten fresh by Somali children, more often they are first dried in the shade during 7–10 days and then the hard seed coat is removed. For storage, the seeds have to be roasted or boiled to prevent fungal attack, to kill insects eggs and larvae inside the seeds and to harden the seed coat. After roasting in the hot ash, which leads to yield losses due to damage of the seeds, the seeds are coated in weed ash and stored in sacks in the house for personal use or for trade at local markets at a later time. The seeds treated this way are storable for about one year. Pastoralists keep the seeds in containers out of dried and tanned camel leather, where they can be stored for many years. The firewood for roasting is often taken from the shrub, which hampers the regeneration of the population in addition to the complete removal of all the seeds. ==Use==

The seeds are usually consumed by local people and rarely sold in town. The demand exceeds the supply, because the plant population is declining. Sometimes the seeds of C. edulis is the only available food for Somali nomads during droughts. The seeds are nutritious and taste sweet with a chestnut flavour after roasting. but the shrubs cannot withstand long-term grazing pressure. During the rainy season, the animals usually avoid the plant because of its high content of tannins in the leaves (see table below). C. edulis can cause intestinal disorders in goats when eaten as the sole diet. ==International trade==

There is some trade between Ethiopia, Somalia and Arabia, but no quantitative information available. The Yeheb seed is suggested by many studies to have a potential market in Europe as a "dessert nut". ==Pests and diseases==

• Seeds: weevils and moth larvae • Shrubs: rarely any insect pests ==Nutritional aspects==

The seeds are rich in starch, sugar, protein and fat. The Suley variety shows higher protein and fat content than the Moqley variety. Their carbohydrate and protein contents are less than those of most other legumes eaten in the Horn of Africa. However, C. edulis grows where it is impossible for the usual legumes to grow. The amino-acid composition of C.edulis is close to that of the Papilionaceae (e.g. Methionine-deficient). The seeds of yeheb are rich in sodium, potassium and phosphorus; thus they contain a small amount of calcium and magnesium. Both varieties contain a lot of amino acids; yeheb seeds have a high content of the essential amino acids lysine and arginine, but are deficient in tryptophan and isoleucine. Phytohaemagglutinin, a toxic lectin often present in legumes, is absent in Yeheb seeds; this is an additional nutritional advantage. == References ==