45,938
edits
Changes
no edit summary
'''Products derived from the fruit pulp The Baobab tree grows in different regions of Madagascar and comes in many shapes and seeds sizes. Six out of the nine Baobab species in the world exist only in Madagascar, making the baobab tree can be used in a variety of food symbolic to the country. The tree and its fruits have many uses from practical and drinks as well as for cooking nutritional to medicinal and massage oilsspiritual.'''
[[File:Morondava_0030.jpg|600px]]
<HTML5video type="youtube" width="600" height="338">VH9E6sGNk_0</HTML5video>
The dry powder from the fruits is used to produce delicious and nutritious drinks, while the seeds are used to produce cooking and massage oils. [[File:Baobab_011.jpg|600px]] The Baobab name originates from the Arabic phrase ''bu hibab'' meaning fruit with many seeds. The fruit can contain several hundred seeds. Baobab belong to the Bombacaceae family of trees which includes the [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ntV9vEWa1iw Kapok tree]. The first botanical description of the baobab was made by French botanist Michel Adanson and a species waslater named Adansonia. The sixth and the last Malagasy species wasdiscovered and described in 1960.
Baobabs are found in dry and semi-arid areas which receive less than
environments thanks to their water storage capacity in
their thick and swollen trunks which contain up to 80% water.
[[File:Morondava 0035.jpg|600px]]
The baobab only bear leaves in the rainy season and are leafless during
the dry season which limits their water loss.
The large flowers of baobab live only for one night and open almost
simultaneously for all individuals of the same species. Baobabs are pollinated
by sphinx moths, bats and to a lesser extent bees.
Birds such as sunbirds and
certain lemurs also visit baobab flowers and can
are alive. This explains their exceptional
healing and regeneration capabilities.
man-made mutilations well and easily regenerate which
sometimes gives them astonishing forms.
The fruit contain contains a dryand chalky pulp with interestingmanynutritional qualities, pulp. Pulp,which when mixed with water andsugar, constitutes makes a refreshing andvitamin-rich drink. The baobab fruit has many nutritional properties: * High natural Vitamin C content (at least 150mg/100g) * Strong antioxidant properties: Integral Antioxidant Capacity (IAC) - 11.1 mmol/g. This value is significantly higher than that of an orange pulp (IAC = 0.103 mmol/g), and grape seed Oligomers (IAC = 10.25 mmol/g). * A natural source of minerals including Calcium (293 mg/100g), Phosphorus (96-118 mg/100g), Iron (7-8.6 mg/100g) and Potassium (2.31 mg/100g). * Vitamin B2 (riboflavin) and Vitamin B3 (niacin). * Vegetal source of amino acids. * Soluble and insoluble dietary fibers with prebiotic effects (44.6g/100g) * The acidulous taste is attributed to the presence of organic acids, such as citric acid, malic acid and succinic acid The Baobab fruit has twice as much Calcium as milk and six times the Vitamin C of an orange. According to the International Centre for Underutilized Crops at the University of Southampton (UK), the Baobab is "a fruit of the future", rich also in vitamin B1, B2. It also containshigh levels of iron and potassium. Baobab dried fruit pulp contains powerful antioxidants. Ranking of ORAC values (Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity, method of measuring antioxidant capacities in biological samples) shows Baobab dried fruit pulp to have double the capacity of pomegranate and cranberries, and even more than fruits such as blueberries, raspberries and blackberries. The flavour of the pulp is somewhere between marshmallow and tamarind. [[File:Baobab_014.jpg|600px]] Baobab seeds are oilseeds,
richer in oil than peanuts. Baobab oils contain different
fatty acids (palmitic, oleic, linoleic) but also cyclopropenic
acids which must be degraded by cooking in order to make
edible oil. The seeds are sometimes roasted and used for coffee.
[[File:Baobab_004.jpg|600px]] In the South, women prepare beauty masks from the bark. On the Mahafaly plateau, baobabs (A. a) are thesubject of a unique practice in the world! Their trunk is
hollowed out and the cavities
rainy season, they are filled with
water. These reserves allowmen to survive in for the dry season ina particularly aridand hostile environment.
For the [[Sakalava ]] ethnic group, thebaobab is a sacred tree. The species (A.grandidieri ) is called "reniala", meaningwhich means "mother of the forest". The [[Mikea]], an ethnicgroup from the southwest of Madagascar, use Baobab woodto make coffins. In the bay of [[Diego-Suarez]], several baobab species gatheredon an islet serve as graves for stillborn children. Theirbodies wrapped in shrouds are abandoned inthe forks of the branches.
The Sakalava associate the
and children. The ceremonies,
which take place at their foot, focus
on the fertility of women, the
good health of children or even and the
fertility of the land, particularly
during a symbolic ritual called
"fitahan-jaza". A Malagasy legendsays that Imbelo, the first man,created woman by carvingher from baobab wood. Manyother legends are dedicated tobaobab.
A Malagasy legend says that Imbelo, the first man,
created the woman by carving her from baobab wood. Many
other legends are dedicated to baobab.
[[File:Baobab Avenue 008.jpg|600px]]
The tree has many legends, in particular, one African
legend explains that the baobab was once a very beautiful tree but
that was a little too pretentious. One day, this angered
God who tore it up to punish him and replanted it upside down. Another legend is that it was the devil who pulled out the tree and planted it upside down.
The fruits of baobabs or pods
are fleshy, dry, large berries
coated in a white, chalky pulp.
It is likely that giant tortoises, the elephant bird (aepyornis[[Aepyornis maximus]]) and large lemurs,
were good seed dispersers. This role is probably ensured today
by animals introduced by man (zebus, goats, bush pigs) or
by water which can sometimes transport the fruits and their
valuable cargoes of seeds over great long distances. The appearance of the unopened fruit pods do not degrade for manyyears and can be used for decoration.
The pulp is very
to the ground.
Baobab fruit seeds are bean -shaped.Their size and color colour vary depending on the
species.
Almost all parts of the tree are used, except the
trunk. The fruits are picked
from the ground or the tree several
tens of meters high using
rudimentary ladders.
[[File:Baobab Avenue 009.jpg|600px]]
All Malagasy species are included on the red list of endangered species.
There are numerous sites for observing
baobabs. The most famous of
them is [[Baobab Avenue]] 20 kilometers north of [[Morondava]].
And [[Majunga]] is home to
a baobab that measures
22 meters in circumference. It is
represented on the city's coat
of arms and is one of its
main tourist attractions.
In Madagascar, many natural
baobab sites remain little visited
because they are difficult to
access.
== Additional information ==
* [[Baobab Avenue]]
* [[Baobab tree]]
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pe1W1UGK8j4 Baobab coffee]