The Miraculous“Baobab”Tree

The Miraculous“Baobab”Tree

Family: Bombacaceae
Scientific name: Adansonia digitata L.
Common names : African baobab, baobab, monkey bread tree, Ethiopian sour gourd, cream of tartar tree, upside down tree (English) Baobab, arbre aux calebasses, arbre de mille ans, calebassier du Sénégal (French). Local names include: mbuyu (Swahili), mwamba (Kamba). olimisiera (Maasail, toega (Moon,), Sira (Bambara). mramba (Kiparc), isimuhu (Zulu) .

African baobab occurs naturally in semiarid regions of tropical Africa, including most countries south of the Sahara except Liberia, Uganda, Djibouti, Burundi and the Central African Republic. In Chad, it is found only in the west, and in South Africa it is mostly limited to the Transvaal. It is found in diverse ecosystems including coastal areas of both eastern and western Africa. The northern limit of its range is where semi-desert scrubland begins. In the east, from Eritrea to Mozambique, it is typically found in the lowlands, but it occurs in the Nuba Mountains in Sudan. In Tanzania it also occurs on upland plateaus that have otherwise been cleared for cultivation. It occurs in the woodland in Namibia, as a component of savannah ecosystems throughout Zimbabwe and northern South Africa and in both ecosystem types in Angola.

The African baobab is an extremely important indigenous fruit tree species for humans and animals in the dry areas of Africa. It offers shelter and provides food, fibre and medicine,as well as raw materials for many purposes. The white pulp is rich in vitamin C and used for making juice. The roasted seeds are very nutritious, rich in proteins and fats and this socioeconomically important species is essential in the local diet.

Leaves are used fresh as a leafy vegetable or are sun dried, milled and sieved to produce a green powder used as a flavouring agent in sauces in many parts of Africa.  Leaves, fruit and seeds are collected and sold by many households to local companies.

The fruit pulp is either eaten fresh or added to cooked gruels. Avoiding cooking the fruit pulp preserves the vitamins in it. The pulp is also mixed with water or milk to make a drink or used as a supplement mixed with staple foods such as corn meal and cassava. Seeds and kernels are widely used, despite the thick hard shell to thicken soups, but they are also fermented and used for flavouring or roasted and eaten as snacks. The baobab tree also provides fibre from the bark, used for making rope, fodder for livestock (leaves) and medicinal products made from various parts of the tree and used to treat a variety of medical problems. Leaf extracts are very effective against dysentery. They are also diuretic, diaphoretic, tonic and generally used against fever, diarrhoea, dysentery, colic, lumbago or ophthalmia, Guinea worm and urinary tract infections. They are also effective in the treatment of asthma. Plants constitute an alternative source of proteins in the human diet, with advantages over animal proteins because of their low content of saturated fats and absence of cholesterol.

The leaves, bark and fruit of African baobab are used as food and medicinal purposes in many parts of Africa. The leaves are an excellent source of protein, containing all the essential amino acids, as well as most of the non essential amino acids. The fruit pulp is particularly rich in vitamin C ,calcium and iron .

The roots are used as a tonic indicated for the treatment of malaria. The fruit pulp is used in healing and strengthening children, treating diarrhoea, dysentery and inflammation of the intestine and liver. The seeds are used in the treatment of dental caries, gingivitis, malaria, measles and gastritis. The sap is given to stop tooth decay. The gum used as a disinfectant for wounds and in the treatment of toothache.