IMO STATE GOVERNOR; ROCHAS OKOROCHA ROASTING CORN BY THE ROAD SIDE...

Gov. Okorocha showing people around how to roast corn!

In East Africa it’s one of the most popular and available snacks on the street.  It’s cheap, easy to eat, filling and delicious!  

In Nigeria,it is usually eaten with roasted pear (ube) or coconut. Ube is a word that both Microsoft and Apple document software draw the dotted red line underneath – a signal that no such word is present in their culinary records. I don’t mind, one right click adds it to my personal word bank, and it is no longer a stranger….on my screen.

Dacryodes edulis or safou is a fruit tree native to Africa, sometimes called African pear, Nsafu, bush butter tree, or native pear. The name of the genus (Dacryodes) comes from the Greek word for tear, dakruon. This is a reference to the resin droplets on bark surface of its members. The species name edulis means edible.
It is called Ube is in southeast Nigeria and ‘Eleme’ in the southwest.

The African Pear….. is an annual fruit. This fruit is about 7cm long and 3cm in diameter. It contains a leathery shelled stone surrounded by a pulpy pericarp about 5mm thick. This pericarp is butyraceous i.e. resembling or having the qualities of butter! It is this portion of the African Pear which is eaten, either raw or cooked to form a sort of “butter”.

The pulp is rich in oil and vitamins.

Interestingly, the annual harvesting of “ube” the African Pear, is concurrent with that of maize (or corn). Culturally, the appearance of ‘ube” signifies that harvest time for field crops has arrived!

So back to Ube – this long, hard purple fruit becomes edible when dipped for a few minutes in freshly boiled (hot) water, or grilled over hot coals. Notice the change in size, and colour in the photo below. The one on the left is raw, hard and uncooked. The one on the right has lightened in colour, and has plumped up. After 4-5 minutes, sometimes a bit longer, other times somewhat shorter, your Ube will be ready to eat.

The strong outer flesh softens, and the pulp turns to mush, which is reminiscent of creamy, slightly tart avocado flesh. It is very much enjoyed when salted. 

With a corn of cob, one ’ll often devour 3 or 4 Ube. The creamy green pulp isn’t liquid.

To eat it, one plunges the fruit into one’s mouth and clamps teeth down.

Teeth that meet seed.

THE NUTRITIONAL VALUES OF CORN AND AFRICAN PEAR
Corn: 
Basic nutrition; One cup of sweet corn contains 125 calories, 5 g of protein, 2.9 g of dietary fiber and 27 g of energy-providing carbohydrates. The total fat content of 1.9 g includes no cholesterol and 1.4 g of healthy unsaturated fats. 
Vitamins; A cup of sweet corn contains 10 mg of vitamin C, which is an important antioxidant and also necessary for the synthesis of collagen. It provides all of the B vitamins except vitamin B-12. A one-cup serving delivers 0.23 mg of thiamine, 0.08 mg of riboflavin, 2.56 mg of niacin, 0.14 mg of vitamin B-6 and 61 mcg of folate. Corn contains a small amount of vitamins E and K. Yellow corn contains 271 IU of vitamin A, while white corn only has 2 IU. 
Minerals; One serving contains 3 mg of calcium, but this is just a trace amount based on the recommended daily intake of 800 mg/day established by the Institute of Medicine. Corn provides 0.8 mg of iron, 129 mg of phosphorus and 392 mg of potassium, compared with recommended adult daily intakes of 4,700 mg/day for potassium, 700 mg/day for phosphorus and 6 to 8 mg/day for iron. Corn also contains 0.24 mg of the trace mineral manganese, which functions as an antioxidant and is essential for metabolism.
Essential fatty acids; Omega-3 and omega-6 are essential fatty acids because they're needed for brain function and vision. Higher consumption of essential fatty acids is associated with a reduced risk of cardiovascular disease. Corn provides 0.84 g of omega-6 and 0.025 g of omega-3. The adequate intakes for omega-3 are 1.6 g/day for men and 1.1 g/day for women, and for omega-6 they're 17 g/day for men and 12 g/day for women, according to the Linus Pauling Institute.

African Pear (Dacryodes edulis or safou):

A traditional food plant in Africa, this little-known fruit has potential to improve nutrition, boost food security, foster rural development and support sustainable landcare.

The main use of D. edulis is its fruit, which can be eaten either raw, cooked in salt water or roasted. Cooked flesh of the fruit has a texture similar to butter. The pulp contains 48% oil and a plantation can produce 7-8 tons of oil per hectare. It is also rich in vitamins. The kernel can be used as fodder for sheep or goats. The flowers are useful inapiculture. Shade tolerant traditional crops, such as Xanthosoma sagittifolium and taro can be co-cultivated with D. edulis.

The plant has long been used in the traditional medicine of some African countries to treat various ailments such as wound, skin diseases, dysentery and fever.

The African Pear is of medicinal uses...thus;

The extracts and secondary metabolites have been found to show biological activities such as antimicrobial, antioxidant and anti sickle-cell disease.^{[citation needed]}

A wide range of chemical constituents such as terpenes, flavonoids, tannins, alkaloids and saponins have been isolated from the plant.

Sigh...I will be sad when the season comes to an end.Though to be honest, I know something else will replace it. Will make me forget it in minutes. Who believed that I would survive after mango season? But hey, I did and am still here. I live to eat another fruit (in season)!