Tiger nuts were the major part of food eaten by man's ancient ancestors, Paranthropus boisei, who lived in east Africa between 2.4 million and 1.4 million years ago. This has been revealed in a research from Oxford University.

In addition to tiger nuts, man's ancestors also ate fruits, grasshoppers, and worms. These food products are rich in nutrients and provided the best nourishment to human ancestors who were nicked name as 'Nutcracker Man' because of big molar teeth.

Dr. Gabriele Macho is from the school of archeology in Oxford and the study author. He analyzed modern Kenyan baboons who survived in the same environment as Nutcracker Man did. His findings revealed that baboon also ate large quantities of tiger nuts. High amounts of minerals, vitamins, and the fatty acids were present in the food.

Dr. Macho further explained, "I believe that the theory - that "Nutcracker Man" lived on large amounts of tiger nuts - helps settle the debate about what our early human ancestor ate".

He added that people can easily get tiger nuts as available in health food shops. Tiger nuts are also widely used for grinding down and baking in many countries.

The study has revealed that medium-sized hominin with a large brain got a source of nourishment in the form of tiger nuts.