According to the Eastern culture, Chinese authors recommend the drink for stimulating of the appetite, as a tranquilizer and to obtain a general well-being.

In Northern Africa it has fame of aphrodisiac properties. In several African countries it is cultivated to take advantage of its 'pods' for human and cattle consumption.

In the former USSR and China, again, works have been published on the composition of the 'pods' and their potential in the human diet. Other studies talk of their nutritious value and the importance of their high fibre content. NASA is currently investigating its properties considering it a "bio-regenerative-life-support-food", and has classified it as a high strategic potential for its future trips to space. Russia is also investigating its applications for space trips.

Other medicinal properties have been attributed to the tiger nut, for example to fight inflammations of the respiratory routes and stomach upheavals.

In Egypt, its 'pods' were boiled with barley beer to make an exquisite drink. The tiger nut was also toasted and used as a substitute of coffee and as an additive to cakes for its aroma.

In Germany it was cultivated on a small scale and medicinal emulsions from the tiger nut could be found in the markets. At the moment it is used, amongst other things, for cereal elaboration and is considered more nutritious than muesli.

An oil of great quality can be extracted from the tiger nut. In countries such as Italy and Egypt it has been used as food. Its great unsaturated fat content means that it has been collected throughout history for the extraction of its oil, for its consumption in feeding and for perfumes due to the percentage of essential oils that it contains. According to contemporary specialists, the oil obtained from the tiger nut is one of the best for the table, richer than the olive oil in oleic acid (71% versus 76% respectively), whereas its flour is beneficial for diabetic people. Testimonials from the XIIth century are known to tell of "tiger nut milk" used as an infallible medicinal remedy for certain diseases. It is said that it palliated the diseases of the chest and the flank, urine burn and improves the sanguineous circulation.

Read more at " Nutritive and medicinal Properties " of the orgeat.

At the present time it is cultivated on small scale in some countries like the Ivory Coast, Ghana, South Africa, Iraq, Egypt, Mali, Niger, Burkina Fasso, China, Cuba, etc … dedicated fundamentally to human consumption raw and not as a drink.