Foods and beverages of association influence health generally by provid-ing a greater array of consumables and a more diverse nutrient content.
Meats and other animal products increase dietary protein. Beyond that, the pharmacologic and nutrient potentials of particular foods and bev-erages have been outlined in the preceding discussion. Among kayan kwadayi, I draw additional attention to fermented foods and honey and bee products.
Nono, Kwaki, and Daddawa
The healthful qualities of nono, discussed above, extend as well to kwaki and daddawa. Fermentations improve palatability, nutrient solubility, and bioavailability. Protein metabolism, for example, releases a more diverse pool of amino acids, some of which are generated by the fermenting microorganisms. During fermentation, protein hydrolysis yields granules of smaller size, with relatively larger surface area, that are more acces-sible to enzymatic degradation in the gastrointestinal tract. Fats also
are more digestible after enzymatic metabolism. Bacterial fermentations yield B vitamins. Fermented foods enhance immune function; reduce blood pressure and serum cholesterol; and are antimicrobial, antioxidant, cancer-preventive, and antiatherogenic. The mechanisms of action have not been characterized but are likely to include altering gut pH; mediating immunomodulatory sites; competing with pathogens for nutrients, growth factors, and receptor and binding sites; and producing antimicrobial meta-bolites and lactase (Nagao et al. 2000; Ishikawa et al. 2003; Kim et al. 2003;
Seppo et al. 2003; Etkin 2006a:ch. 4; Parvez et al. 2006). Finally, customs of redistribution both cement community and ensure the circulation of nutrient and social benefits among a larger segment of the population.
Zuma (Honey) and Bee Products
The Hausa encourage bee (kudan zuma, ‘‘fly of honey’’) colonization of kwangi, which are beehives made from hollowed tree sections, or braided branches and grasses, that are placed in trees. Rounded calabash pieces seal both ends, with holes drilled to allow the bees to pass in and out. At least thirty-five plant species, representing eighteen families, are used to fabricate kwangi. These include shafin zuma, species that are used to line the beehive, which are identified by both their physical attributes (ap-pearance, physiologic effects) and the metaphors they project (plants that call and welcome). The most commonly used trees are palms. Zuma and the emptied honeycomb (totuwa) are consumed as kayan kwadayi and also as medicines. Some individuals specify autan zuma (auta, ‘‘youn-gest’’), a light-colored zuma that is the last out of the kwangi. To some extent, the kwangi foundation, especially the liner species, influences the chemistry of the honey produced, which has already been affected by the diverse phytochemistries of pollens and nectars from the plants on which kudan zuma forage, as well as by ecological and seasonal parameters. On this knowledge, Hausa selection of medicinal honeys is informed fully or in part by selecting for the particular construction elements of different kwangi. These species present considerable phytochemical diversity. For example, aduwa has cytostatic activity (Pettit et al. 1991), danya is anti-oxidant and antidiarrheal (Braca et al. 2003), and malaiduwa is antiproto-zoan and antimicrobial and protects red blood cells from sickling (Moody et al. 2003).
Pollen and nectar are collected by foraging bees, which express this food into comb cells, where the tongue and wing action of worker bees evaporates the water content of nectar to 15–20 percent; secretion of a salivary enzyme metabolizes sucrose to the simple sugars fructose and glucose. Honey is cached in capped comb cells and fed to adult bees. The primary carbohydrate source for honeybees, it contains small amounts of minerals, vitamins, colloids, and enzymes. Pollen contains lipids and high levels of calcium, iron, and vitamins, notably riboflavin. It is the primary protein source in kudan zuma diets, representing as much as 30 percent of the dry weight (Linskens and Jorde 1997).
Beyond the honey itself, comb constituents also offer phytochemical and nutritional potential. Beeswax is produced by the metabolism of honey in fat cells that are associated with wax glands located on the ventral side of the worker bee’s abdomen. Wax is used in the construction of honey and brood combs, networks of hexagonal compartments that house pupae and food. Propolis (from the Greek pro, ‘‘in defense,’’ and polis, ‘‘the colony’’), known as ‘‘bee glue,’’ is a necessary constituent of hive integrity, serving as a lining for insulation, for hive repair, and to reduce entry size in cold weather. A composite of bee activity and plant parts, propolis is both physiochemically and metaphorically complex. It contains beeswax, bioactive bee secretions, and pollen that is transformed by bees during its transport and manipulation by worker bees for hive construction, defense, and repair. Also present are botanical exudates that are conveyed from mandibles to corbiculae (pollen baskets) on the back legs of foraging bees, from which they are unloaded by the specialized middle legs of workers and are incorporated into hive construction and defense. A complex of more than 150 compounds makes up the aromatic fraction of propolis. Resins and balsams that bees collect from buds and bark lesions constitute 55–70 percent of the plant material. In addition, 25–30 percent is contributed by beeswax and 5–10 percent by volatile and essential oils (Seeley 1995).
Larvae and adult bees are fed beebread, a composite food confected with honey (about 12 percent), pollen, and worker bee secretions and cached in comb cells (see chapter 1, section on provisioning). An example of a composite being more than the sum of its constituents, those of beebread are biochemically transformed into a food with fermentation-enriched increased protein, vitamin K, and lactic acid levels. Royal jelly,
fed to the worker egg selected to be the next queen, is a dressed-up beebread that contains 34 percent honey, ten times more biopterin and pantothenic acid, and more mandibular and hypopharyngeal gland secre-tions (Moritz and Southwick 1992). These stored foods and the hive itself offer humans the same benefits they provide for bees.
Hausa use zuma and all parts of the hive for food and medicine. They understand that propolis has both metaphoric and physical ambiguity because its specific makeup varies by hive, season, and ecology. As men-tioned above, honey and other bee products offer substantial nutrient advantage. All bee products are antimicrobial. Honey is specifically anti-leishmanial in cutaneous infection and has long-standing and culturally diffuse applications in healing wounds and burns. The osmolarity of honey accelerates healing by encouraging dehydration. Dilute honey solutions have stronger antimicrobial activity because the hypopharyn-geal gland enzyme glucose oxidase catalyzes an oxygen-glucose reaction that produces the potent antimicrobial hydrogen peroxide and gluconic acid. Honey also is antioxidant and protects against gingivitis and peri-odontal disease. Royal jelly reduces serum lipids, is hypotensive, pro-tects against ulcers, and contains hormones that enhance fertility in some animals. Bee venom is inflammatory, hypotensive, and anti-oxidant. Immunotherapy by envenomation diminishes the risk of systemic allergic responses to bee sting. Flavonoids, the primary active constitu-ents of propolis, are strongly antioxidant and relieve some of the side effects of cancer chemotherapies. Immunostimulatory, antitumor, anti-inflammatory, and antimicrobial effects also have been reported (Ito et al.
2001; Husein and Kridli 2002; van der Weyden 2003; Orˇsoli´c et al. 2003;
English et al. 2004; Cimolai 2007; Sforcin 2007).
Conclusion
Foods and beverages of occasion, like those highlighted in earlier chap-ters, embody enormous diversity. This applies to sourcing, exchanging, presentation, nutrient content, pharmacologic potential, and meaning. A biocultural perspective nuanced by political economy is relevant to foods and beverages of occasion, as are the themes discussed elsewhere in the book: cultural constructions of commodities, globalization, identity, and agency in health promotion.