Baobab

Overview

Baobab may have originated from the savannas and savanna woodlands of Sub-Saharan Africa, or they may have occured first in Madagascar (which has six endemic Adansonia species), from where they would have spread to continental Africa and Australia. This is a true multi-purpose tree with a very wide range of used for local people. There is evidence that the baobab fruit was being sold in the markets of Egypt over 4,500 years ago. It is still widely used by local peoples in the areas of the tropics where it grows wild or is naturalised, and is often left standing when land is cleared for cultivation.

Vernacular Names

Gorakh cinch (India), Noce d'Egitto (Italian), Affenbrotbaum (German), Habhab (Egypt), Isimuhu (South African), Majoni ya mbuyu (Tanzania), Boho orohi (West African), Muwuyu (Zimbabwe).

Agroecology

Plants succeed in the lowland drier tropics up to an elevation of 1,500 m. They grow best in areas with a mean annual temperature in the range 20 - 30 °C. Prefer a mean annual rainfall of 250 - 1,000 mm, but can tolerate it as low as 100 mm or as high as 1,500 mm. Requires a position in full sun in a sandy, well-drained soil.

Morphology

• Roots - root system extending up to 2 m deep and horizontally further than the height of the tree.
• Trunks - often of vast girth.
• Barks - smooth, variable in colour; branches stout near the trunk, young branches often tomentose.
• Leaves - alternate, simple or digitately compound, at the apex of branches; stipules early caducous; petiole up to 16 cm long; compound leaves 5–7(–9)-foliolate, c. 20 cm in diameter; leaflets sessile or shortly stalked, elliptical, 5–15 cm × 1.5–7 cm, base cuneate, apex acuminate, mucronate, entire.
• Flowers - solitary or paired, axillary, pendulous, bisexual; pedicel up to 90 cm long, tomentose; bracteoles 2, calyx 3–5-lobed, shortly tomentose outside, velvety pubescent inside; petals 5, overlapping, very broadly obovate to oblate, base shortly clawed, apex rounded, white; stamens very numerous, united at base into a staminal tube.
• Fruits - woody, indehiscent capsule, globose to ovoid or oblong-cylindrical, up to 40(–55) cm long, covered by velvety tomentum, filled with dry, mealy pulp, many-seeded.
• Seeds - reniform, c. 1.5 cm × 1 cm, smooth, dark brown to black, with thick seedcoat.

Cultivation

Propagated by seeds - sow in containers. Germination is usually 90-100% and takes 1-3 months at 21 °C. It is preferable to sow the seed directly into the soil. When seedlings emerge it is best to shade them for 8 days, then provide half shade for 4 - 7 days before exposing them to full sun. Seedlings need to be 3 - 4 months old, reaching a height of 40 - 50 cm, before transplanting.

Chemical Constituents

Ascorbic acid, linoleic acid, oleic acid, palmitic acid, stearic acid, uronic acid, flavonol glycosides, hydroxycinnamic acid glycosides, procyanidins, phenolics, iridoid glycosides, phenylethanoid glycosides.

Traditional Medicinal Uses

• The leaves are hyposensitive and antihistamine. They are used to treat kidney and bladder diseases, asthma, general fatigue, diarrhoea, insect bites, and guinea worm.
• Seeds are used to cure gastric, kidney and joint diseases. They are roasted then ground and the powder smeared on the affected part or drunk in water. The seed paste is used for curing tooth and gum diseases.
• The fruit pulp, seed and bark are reputedly an antidote to Strophanthus poisoning. The pulp is widely used in Africa as a diaphoretic to combat fevers, and to treat dysentery.
• The gum from the bark is used for cleansing sores. It is also used as an expectorant and a diaphoretic.
• The bark is used in steam baths for calming shivering and high fever. The bark is boiled and taken as a cure for body pains. This infusion is also used to treat colds, fever and influenza.
• A decoction of the roots is taken as a remedy for lassitude, impotence and kwashiorkor.