Baobab

"Baobab" is the common name for trees in the genus Adansonia. Of the nine Adansonia species, six are endemic to Madagascar, two are native to Africa and one (A. gregorii) to Australia. It grows in loose, well-drained soils in dry areas such as savannah or dry forests.

Adansonia are the largest succulent (water-storing) plants in the world—their trunks, which can grow higher than twenty-five metres and broader than ten metres diameter, are glossy (to reflect sunlight) and contain water-storing fibres that allow them to produce their large egg-shaped fruit during the dry season. Their tall trunk ends in a corona of branches and leaves. A. digitata usually lives for about 500 years, though there are some thought to be over 1,200 years old, and it may be able to live up to 5,000 years. Every part of the tree is useful, whether for nutrition, medication or crafting.

A. digitata, native to mainland Africa, is the most widespread species of baobab and the most commonly studied. All baobabs are in the kingdom Plantae, the division Magnoliophyta, the class Magnoliopsida, the order Malvales, and the family Malvaceae.

Brief History

Adansonia split from the rest of Bombacaceae about 100 million years ago. The earliest split between surviving African Adansonia species occurred 36–58 million years ago. The largest evolutionary split, when Australia's A. gregorii separated from the African lineages, occurred around 17 million years ago. By that time, the Gondwana supercontinent had split and Australia had almost drifted to its current location. This shows that Adansonia spread across seas, possibly through floating fruit or seeds. The exact mechanism of its arrival in Australia is not known.

Humans spread baobabs throughout Africa in prehistoric times, as well as to the Indian subcontinent. Baobabs spread to the Caribbean during the European colonial era. In Australia, humans spread A. gregorii across geographic barriers to its wide range over the northwest of the continent. The ancient dispersal by humans shows how long it has been an important part of human culture. It is so important that there are traditions preventing the felling of baobabs.

Its trunk offers shelter and water. Some store more than 120,000 litres. Its fruit provides food, and is used in drinks as well as in cooking. The seeds are high in protein and fat and are used in cooking and to produce vegetable oil. The leaves are comparatively high in protein, and can be eaten in many ways, for example as a leafy vegetable, or dried and ground as a base for soups and porridges. Its bark yields fibres useful for cordage and weaving, and tannin, useful for curing hides. Glue can be made from the pollen. Even the roots can be eaten, and the leaves can be burned as an insect repellent.

As medicine, baobab is traditionally regarded as a cure-all. It has specifically been used to treat malaria, tuberculosis, fever, microbial infections, diarrhoea, anaemia, dysentery, toothache and other pain, inflammation, kidney and bladder diseases, scurvy and asthma.

Aboriginal Australians used the trees for all of these purposes, and European settlers also came to use them as a source of food. It is also commonly claimed that European Australians used hollowed-out baobabs as makeshift cells when transporting Aboriginal prisoners in the nineteenth century, but this story did not appear until 1910 and many historians regard it as apocryphal. Nevertheless, supposed "prison trees" near Wyndham and Derby remain tourist attractions.

Because of its myriad uses and spread across continents, baobab is known by many local and traditional names, including "the bewitched tree" (due to its believed cure-all properties), "monkey-bread tree" (as it provides food for some primate species), "upside-down tree" (as the branches resemble a root-ball) and "tree of life" (due to its dry season fruiting). In Australia they are often known as "boab", a shortening of "baobab".

Baobab Today

While A. digitata is too useful to be threatened, and A. gregorii too isolated, the six species native to Madagascar are threatened by climate change and destruction of their habitat, dry deciduous forests. Two of the baobab species, A. perrieri and A. suarezensis, have very small wild populations, though they have also been cultivated in places such as the George Brown Darwin Botanic Gardens, which is noted for its large collection of African baobabs. A. grandidieri has a larger population, but is also considered endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, as the population is declining severely.

The first patent application for a substance produced from the baobab, "Process for manufacturing plastic mass", was granted in 1905. Later patents have mostly been for skincare and nutritional purposes. Most of these patent applications, especially skincare and cosmetic uses, are not well supported by scientific research.

In the twenty-first century, baobab's main market segments are food and beverages, botanical remedies and nutraceuticals, and natural cosmetics. It is one of the most important non-forestry timber products, which are often women's main or only source of income.

The fruit pulp has a high fibre and pectin content, which means it is a good thickener or filler in drinks, ice creams, jams and other sweets. It is high in vitamin C, calcium, magnesium, iron, carbohydrates, energy, potassium, thiamine and nicotinic acid. However, these figures vary significantly between species, regions, and even individual trees, pointing to the importance of research and quality testing for baobab products.

The leaves are a viable protein source for populations lacking animal sources, and are high in beta-carotene, iron, calcium, iron, potassium, magnesium, manganese, molybdenum, phosphorus and zinc.

Compared to other plant seeds, the protein- and fat-rich seeds have a high lysine content, and the oil is high in mono- and poly-unsaturated fats, though it is not widely used as a food oil. It also has industrial uses, including in cosmetics. The natural cosmetics market is a fast-growing segment. It attracts consumers who are attracted to branding with health and natural themes, and are prepared to pay a premium.

Similarly, the botanical and natural remedies market also responds well to such branding. Research has shown that baobab extracts can be effective for treating pain, fever, diarrhoea, some strains of bacteria, inflammation, sleeping sickness, some viruses and liver conditions.

In addition to the tree's practical uses, some Aboriginal artists in the Kimberley region carve baobab tree nuts or paint on them.

Bibliography

Bell, Karen L., et al. "The History of Introduction of the African Baobab in the Indian Subcontinent." Royal Society Open Science, 9 Sept. 2015, doi:10.1098/rsos.150370. Accessed 27 Feb. 2017.

Kamatou, G. P. P., et al. "An Updated Review of Adansoniadigitata: A Commercially Important African Tree." South African Journal of Botany, vol. 77, no. 4, 2011, pp. 908–19, doi:10.1016/j.sajb.2011.08.010. Accessed 18 June 2024.

Platt, John R. "Climate Change Is Killing These Ancient Trees — But That’s Just Part of the Story." The Revelator, 15 June 2018, therevelator.org/climate-change-baobab/. Accessed 18 June 2018.

Rahul, Jitin, et al. "Adansoniadigitata L. (Baobab): A Review of Traditional Information and Taxonomic Description." Asian Pacific Journal of Tropical Biomedicine, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, pp. 79–84, doi:10.1016/S2221-1691(15)30174-X. Accessed 27 Feb. 2017.

Rangan, Haripriya, et al. "New Genetic and Linguistic Analyses Show Ancient Human Influence on Baobab Evolution and Distribution in Australia." PLOS One, vol. 10, no. 4, 2015, doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0119758. Accessed 27 Feb. 2017.

Stapleton, Paul. "Characterizing Baobab, the Nutritious African 'Tree of Life.'" Phys.org, 8 Jan. 2015, phys.org/news/2015-01-characterizing-baobab-nutritious-african-tree.html. Accessed 18 June 2024.