Mesquite

Mesquites are deciduous or semi-evergreen shrubs and small trees with feathery compound leaves, thorns and deep roots that reach water in arid country. The fruit is a long, narrow, slightly curved pod, tan to reddish, containing numerous hard seeds embedded in a sugary, fibrous pulp. The pulp has a sweet, nutty flavour reminiscent of caramel, cinnamon and molasses. The pods are dried and milled whole into a pale brown flour, which is sold as mesquite flour or meal. The seeds themselves are very hard and usually removed or sieved out before milling, though traditional methods also made use of the seed.

The genus Prosopis grows in arid and semi-arid regions of the Americas, Africa and Asia, with the greatest diversity of species in North and South America. In the United States the honey mesquite and velvet mesquite are native to the Southwest and Texas, while algarrobo species grow in Peru, Argentina, Chile and neighbouring countries. The word mesquite comes through Spanish from mizquitl in Nahuatl, the language of the Aztecs. Mesquite was gathered from wild trees rather than domesticated in the usual sense, although some stands were managed by the people who depended on them.

Mesquite pods were a major food for many indigenous peoples of the American Southwest and northern Mexico, including the Tohono O'odham, Pima, Seri, Apache and Cahuilla, who gathered pods in summer and ground them in wooden or stone mortars into meal. The meal was made into cakes, porridge and a fermented drink. In South America, algarrobo pods were similarly essential to peoples of the Peruvian coast and the Gran Chaco, where flour called algarrobina syrup and chicha beverages are still made.

European settlers largely used mesquite wood for fuel, fence posts and barbecue, and the trees were later regarded as a rangeland weed because they spread in overgrazed grassland. Interest in the pods as food was revived in the late twentieth century by ethnobotanists, chefs and gluten-free bakers, who value the naturally sweet flour. Some mesquite species, such as Prosopis juliflora, have become invasive in parts of Africa, Asia and Australia, where they were introduced for shade and fodder.

Mesquite flour is added in small proportions, often 10 to 25 percent, to breads, pancakes, muffins, cookies and tortillas to give a sweet, smoky, nutty flavour. It is stirred into smoothies and porridge and used in energy bars. Traditional foods include pinole-style cakes, syrup boiled from the pods and fermented beverages. Mesquite gum, exuded by the bark, has been used as a sweet and as a medicinal remedy and a glue. The wood is widely used for grilling and smoking meat, and as hard, decorative timber for furniture.

Mesquite pod flour contains fibre, natural sugars and some protein, along with calcium, potassium and iron. Its carbohydrates include galactomannan gum, a type of soluble fibre that slows digestion, and reports suggest the flour has a relatively low glycaemic response, but human studies are limited and results should not be overstated. It is naturally gluten free. Traditional claims that mesquite regulates blood sugar are not backed by strong clinical evidence. As an energy source and flavouring it can be part of a varied diet.