This tree is one of the most famous species in West-Africa. Sometimes it is nicknamed 'the tree that God planted upside down', because it has the impression of having its roots in the air when she looses her leaves during the dry season.
The leaves, fruit pulp and seeds are all edible and have very high nutritional values, making this plant and important addition to the diet of the sahelo-sudanian peoples. The leaves are usually used in the preparation of sauces due to their slimy properties, a characteristic that is highly appreciated in the West-African cuisine. Still, their consumption should be even further stimulated due to high iron contents, which are direly needed to combat the widespread deficiencies. The leaf powders are already sold on local markets and can be boosted competitively if the drying and pounding are done in conditions that are guarantied to be sand free, and if local publicity campaigns were to emphasize the nutritional values more.
The fruit pulp can be used to make juices and is one of the richest products in vitamin C. To increase the storage length, these juices are often cooked, leading to a loss of those vitamins which could help fill the nutrient deficiency gap. It would be interesting to find a way to make soluble powders, so that storage duration and nutrients no longer have to be trade-offs. In fact, these fruits are often exported to Western countries, sometimes qualified as 'superfruits'.
Baobab trees like to have a perimeter of a few meters of clear space around themselves to thrive. They develop a large crown, which birds like to perch on. To conserve water and survive droughts, the trees use a mechanism inside of their trunks, that allows them to store water. This makes them able to grow and thrive in a range from 300mm of rain per year to 800mm. With a lifespan that can be longer than a millennium, the baobab tree is the perfect symbol of sustainable food production.
