i Parkia biglobosa - School of Forest Resources & Environmental ...

The process of producing soybean dawadawa is similar with only one critical and
major difference. The first major step of boiling the seeds of P. biglobosa for fourteen
hours is changed to only one hour of boiling of the soybeans. The composition of P.
biglobosa seed is 30% testa and 70% cotyledons (Campbell-Platt 1980) compared to
soybean which is10% testa and 90% cotyledons (Wolf 1971). The soybeans have a thin
seed coat; the bran is easily removed after only one hour of boiling. An alternate method
of removing the bran is to dry roast or fry the soybeans, imparting a golden brown color
to the soybeans, then the beans are pounded to remove the bran (Odunfa 1986). The
sequence of steps then follows the traditional method. I observed Mary Nso, Perpetua
Nso, and Roberta Abonsponsu produce both the traditional and soybean versions of
dawadawa.
The traditional dawadawa is greatly preferred for taste over the soybean version.
Every person I interviewed for this study preferred the traditional. I believe this is due to
the recent introduction of soybeans and slow adoption or acceptance of new foods.
Konlani et al (1999) states that tonou in Togo is now prepared from soybean. However,
those interviewed would only use the soybean version because it was a cheaper substitute
or because the traditional dawadawa was not available.
One of the major advantages, perhaps a critical advantage in the future, is the
shorter boiling period of the soybeans. The traditional dawadawa takes an enormous
amount of fuel wood to boil the P. biglobosa seeds for fourteen hours when compared to
the one or two hours necessary to boil the soybeans. Fuel wood is a precious commodity
in all of West Africa and a major factor driving deforestation in northern Ghana. A
familiar sound throughout the bush is the rhythmic thud of a cutlass chipping away at low
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