Mesquite flour

Mesquite flour is made from the dried and ground pods of the mesquite (Prosopis spp.). The tree grows throughout North America in arid climates. The flour made from the long, beige-colored seed pods has a sweet, slightly nutty flavor and can be used in a wide variety of applications. It has a high-protein, low-glycemic content and can serve as a gluten-free replacement for flours.[1] In the past, Indigenous American Indians relied on these mesquite pods as an important food source.[2] The bean pods of the mesquite tree are dried and ground into a flour (pinole). This flour is rich in dietary fiber (25%) and protein (13%).[3] It also contains significant quantities of calcium, magnesium, potassium, iron, zinc, and the amino acid lysine, and it is low in fat (around 3%).

References

  1. Deborah Small. "Native Cultures: Mesquite Flour". Deborah Small's Ethnobotany Blog. Retrieved 2012-08-26.
  2. Honey mesquite in Texas
  3. Mesquite, Medicinal Plants of the Southwest
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 1/3/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.