Baobab
Description
The baobab is probably the best known tree in Africa. Its thick, grey, fibrous trunk (reaching, in some instances, over 25 metres in circumference) and large, spreading crown, seasonally devoid of foliage, are instantly recognisable. Sometimes called the ‘upside-down tree’, because of their unusual, root-like branch formations, baobabs are extremely long-lived, with some specimens believed to be as much as 3,000 years old. The baobab belongs to its own family, Bombacaceae.
Fruit
The digitate (hand-shaped) leaves, and ovoid fruit, with a hard woody shell covered in yellowish-green velvety hairs, are again easily identified. Inside its shell, the fruit contains a number of seeds, embedded in a whitish, powdery pulp. Tangy and nutritious, the pulp makes a tasty food or, after soaking in water or milk, a refreshing beverage.
Distribution
The baobab tree is found throughout Africa, generally at low altitudes and in the hotter, drier areas. In fact, so widespread is the tree that, to many people, it is an icon, symbolic of the continent itself. It is found, in abundance, in each of the five countries from which PhytoTrade Africa members are drawn.
Traditional uses
There can be few African trees with a greater array of traditional uses than the baobab tree. As a food, its leaves are commonly eaten as a relish, especially in times of drought, and its fruit are a favourite of cattle-herders and children across Africa. When dissolved in milk or water, the resultant liquid is taken straight, as a drink, or as a sauce for food, a substitute for cream of tartar in baking, and a fermenting agent in traditional brews. The seeds, which may be eaten raw or roasted, yield an edible oil, which is a useful substitute for vegetable oil, and are sometimes ground up to produce a coffee-like hot beverage.
Medicinally, it has many applications. The pulp is consumed to treat fever, diarrhoea, malaria, haemoptysis and scorbutic complaints (vitamin C deficiency). The bark and leaves are also useful in the treatment of fever, and are reported to have anti-inflammatory and diaphoretic properties. The seed is either pulped and applied externally, or drink in water, to cure gastric, kidney and joint diseases. In the Kalahari, San bushmen use the seeds as an antidote to Strophanthin, a common plant-derived arrow poison.
Although the extremely high moisture content of the wood (40% or above) renders it unusable as a timber, its bark makes and excellent fibre, employed in basket, rug and rope-making, and has been used variously to make fishing nets, animal snares, sacking and even strings for musical instruments.
All parts of the tree are extensively eaten by animals, and the bark is especially popular with elephants, who strip away large sections at a time. The tree’s regenerative properties are such that this has little long term impact.
Known properties
The baobab is best-known for its high vitamin C content. The pulp has levels of vitamin C averaging 300mg/100 g, nearly 6 times higher than that of an orange. 20 g of an average baobab fruit would provide the daily vitamin C requirement for a human.
The pulp also has high values for carbohydrates, calcium, potassium, thiamine and nicotinic acid, with appreciable quantities of tartaric acid and potassium bitartrate.
The bark, which contains several flavonols, has been sold commercially in Europe under the name ‘cortex cael cedra’, as a fever treatment, and substitute for cinchona bark.
The seed oil is interesting. Described as semi-fluid, golden yellow and gently scented, it is strongly non-siccative (non-drying), and has a demonstrably longer shelf-life than many other oils. Containing almost equal measure of palmitic acid, oleic acid and linoleic acid (as well as some small quantities of stearic and cyclopropenoid acids), it is used in the cosmetics industry.
The seedcake, as well as the shells from the fruit, are a useful stockfeed, being high in protein, calcium, vitamin B1 and vitamin C.
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