Dactyloctenium aegyptium
(L.) Willd.
Comb fringe grass, Coast Button Grass
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What to Eat
Edible parts: Seeds, Cereal, Rhizome, Root
The seeds are husked then boiled into porridge, or roasted in a hot pot to soften them, pounded into flour, and cooked into porridge. The rhizome or runners are eaten raw. It is used in kreb, a grain mixture eaten in Chad and Sudan, and serves as a famine food.
Known Hazards
Where to Find It
A tropical plant. It grows in disturbed weedy places especially on sandy soils in S China. It grows in tropical to warm temperate regions. It grows on clayey, sandy or black soil along the borders of ponds, swamps and bogs. In West Africa it grows from sea level up to 2,000 m altitude. It grows in alkaline and salty soils. It grows in areas with an annual rainfall between 100-1,580 mm. It can grow in arid places. In Sichuan and Yunnan.
Afghanistan, Africa, American Samoa, Angola, Anguilla, Argentina, Asia, Australia, Bahamas, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Benin, Bhutan, Bolivia, Botswana, Brazil, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Central Africa, Central African Republic, CAR, Central America, Chad, China, Chuuk, Colombia, Congo, Costa Rica, Côte d'Ivoire, Cuba, Cyprus, Djibouti, East Africa, East Timor, Ecuador, Egypt, Equatorial-Guinea, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Europe, Fiji, FSM, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Greece, Guatemala, Guianas, Guinea, Guinée, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Haiti, Hawaii, Himalayas, Honduras, India, Indochina, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Italy, Ivory Coast, Jamaica, Kenya, Kiribati, Korea, Kuwait, Laos, Lebanon, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Malaysia, Maldives, Mali, Marquesas, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mediterranean, Mexico, Middle East, Mozambique, Myanmar, Namibia, Nauru, Nepal, New Caledonia, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, North Africa, North America, Pacific, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, PNG, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Puerto Rico, Reunion, Rwanda, Sahel, Samoa, Sao Tome and Principe, SE Asia, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Socotra, Somalia, South Africa, Southern Africa, South America, South Sudan, Sri Lanka, St Helena, St. Kitts and Nevis, Sudan, Suriname, Swaziland, Syria, Taiwan, Tanzania, Thailand, Tibet, Timor-Leste, Togo, Tonga, Trinidad & Tobago, Tuvalu, Uganda, United Arab Emirates, UAE, Uruguay, USA, Venezuela, Vietnam, West Africa, West Indies, Yemen, Zambia, Zimbabwe,
How to Identify
An annual grass. The stems are slender. They can lie along the ground. These can form roots at the nodes. They can have runners and form mats. It is 15-60 cm high. The edges of the leaf sheaths have small hairs. The leaf blades are flat and 5-20 cm long by 0.2-0.6 cm wide. The surfaces are lumpy/hairy. It tapers to the tip. The flowers spread like fingers on a hand. There are 2-9 flower stalks. They are long and narrow. They often spread out horizontally. The spikes are on one side of the stalk. The tip is bare. The seed grains are about 1 mm across.
Nutrition Score: 64/100
| Part | Moisture | kJ | kcal | Protein | Vit A | Vit C | Iron | Zinc |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seeds | 11.4 | 1438 | 344 | 15.7 | — | — | — | — |
| Seeds | 7.5 | 1234 | 295 | 9.8 | — | — | 6.9 | 4.7 |
How to Grow
Plants can be grown from seeds.
Propagation: Seed - surface sow in situ and protect the seed from predation by covering with branches or some other method.
Medicinal Uses
The whole plant is used in a decoction to remedy lumbago. An infusion of the leaves, mixed with the seeds of Cajanus cajan, is used to accelerate childbirth. A decoction of the leaves, combined with Scoparia dulcis, is used as a remedy for dysentery.
Wikipedia
Source ↗Dactyloctenium aegyptium, or Egyptian crowfoot grass is a member of the family Poaceae native to Africa and Asia. The plant mostly grows in heavy soils at damp sites.
Production
The seeds are collected during the dry season. The seeds can be stored for several months.
Other Information
It is a famine food.
Notes
There are 13 Dactyloctenium species. Chemical composition (Sudan sample): Protein (crude) = 13.1% (dry). Oil = 1.9% (dry). Fibre (crude) = 4.4% (dry). Ash (insoluble) = 8.3% (dry). Sulphur = .18% (dry). Potassium = 0.39% (dry). Manganese = 0.22% (dry). Calcium = 1.07% (dry). Na = 0.02% (dry). K = 0.30% (dry). Zinc = 69 mg/kg-1 Iron = 121 mg/kg-1 (dry). Mn = 425 kg/kg-1 (dry). Copper = 7 mg/kg-1 (dry). Aluminium = 172 mg/kg-1 (dry). Carbohydrate (soluble): Starch = 46.9% (dry). Sucrose = 1.2% (dry). D-glucose = 0.2%(dry). D-fructose = 1.4% (dry). Amino acids (g [16g N ]-1): Aspartic acid = 6.1g. Threonine = 3.7%. Serine = 4.8g. Glutamic acid = 27.6g. Proline = 7.1g. Glycine = 3.5g. Alanine = 7.5g. Valine = 5.8g. Cysteine = 1.5g. Methionine = 3.2g. Isoleucine = 4.8g. Leucine = 9.9g. Tyrosine = 3.5g. Phenylalanine = 6.8g. Histidine = 2.4g. Lysine = 2.0g. Arginine = 4.2g. Fatty acids (saturated): 14:0 = <0.1g/100g-1. 16:0 = 21.5. 18:0 = 5.2. 22:0 = 0.6. 24:0 = <0.1g/100g-1; (monounsaturated): 16:1 = 0.1. 18:1 = 42.0. 20:1 = 0.4; (polyunsaturated): 18:2 = 28.5. 18:3 = 1.5. (Chemical composition (after Paton & Dunlop (grams per 100g) (Anchu Manchu): Protein = 12.87g. Fat = 2.08g. Carbohydrate (soluble) = 64.03g. Fibre = 4.86g. Ash = 4.58g. Water = 11.58g. Calories = 335. (Mali ): Protein = 8.41g. Fat = 1.45g. Carbohydrate (soluble) = 38.97g. Fibre = 36.95g. Water = 8.48g. Calories = 201.
Names & Synonyms
Abou Asabé, Absabe, Abuasabee, Achele, Ahitrombilahy, Anchu Manchu, Bahma, Betombo, Bou, Chikara, Chimbari, Crow’s Foot Grass, Crowfoot, Cuaci, Cunher, Didok-chi, Djinguilano, Duck grass, Eleusine, Ewuduwudu, Father of fingers, Kakuriya, Koreeb, Kreb, Maahui, Madhana, Makara, Makra, Makri, Manchi anchi, Manchi, Mathna, Muttengapilloo, Myet-lay-gwa, Najm, Naparapare, Nasei, Nsonko, Saddexo, Sodee, Tamida, Te utuete, Ukuku
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