▁benefits ▁ ▁Food - value ▁ ▁The ▁ed ible ▁parts ▁of ▁the ▁plant ▁are ▁the ▁high ▁nut rit ive ▁contents ▁of ▁the ▁k ern els . ▁The ▁d ried ▁and ▁ground ▁k ern els ▁are ▁used ▁as ▁a ▁flav our ing ▁agent ▁in ▁some ▁d ishes ▁in ▁West ▁and ▁Central ▁Africa . ▁The ▁paste ▁of ▁the ▁ground ▁k ern els ▁is ▁used ▁to ▁thick en ▁sou ps ▁and ▁ste ws . ▁O il ▁can ▁be ▁obtained ▁from ▁the ▁k ern els . ▁Only ▁a ▁small ▁amount ▁of ▁extracted ▁seed ▁oil ▁is ▁carried ▁out . ▁The ▁oil ▁has ▁a ▁yellow ish ▁colour ▁and ▁t ast es ▁similar ▁to ▁ground nut ▁oil . ▁Because ▁of ▁its ▁high ▁content ▁of ▁ γ - to cop her ol , ▁the ▁oil ▁is ▁very ▁stable ▁and ▁becomes ▁r anc id ▁only ▁slowly . ▁This ▁oil ▁is ▁interesting ▁as ▁cook ing ▁oil ▁and ▁marg ar ine . ▁ ▁Const itu ens ▁of ▁se eds ▁ ▁C ul inary ▁use ▁The ▁se eds ▁are ▁usually ▁d ried ▁for ▁used ▁as ▁flav our ing ▁agent ▁in ▁West ▁and ▁Central ▁African ▁food ▁d ishes . ▁The ▁whole ▁se eds ▁are ▁p ounded ▁in ▁a ▁p est le ▁and ▁mort ar ▁and ▁the ▁paste ▁of ▁ground ▁seed ▁is ▁added ▁as ▁a ▁thick ener ▁for ▁sou ps ▁and ▁ste ws . ▁The ▁prepared ▁se eds ▁( e ither ▁p ounded ▁in ▁a ▁p est le ▁and ▁mort ar ▁or ▁the ▁prepared ▁form ▁from ▁mark ets ) ▁are ▁ste amed ▁and ▁then ▁cr umbled ▁into