Lost Crops of Africa Volume II: Vegetables (2006) / Chapter Skim
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3 Baobab
3 Baobab
Pages 74-91
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From page 75... ...
Indeed, dozens more stories surround the baobab, a species that not only incites imagination but also induces something akin to reverence. Senegal chose it for its national tree and throughout the lands below the Sahara the sight of a baobab inspires poetry, legend, compassion, even devotion.
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From page 76... ...
Bursting into foliage a little before the rains begin, the trees remain green until a little after the rains have ceased. In a food class renowned for transitory availability, baobab is thus a leafy vegetable that yields through a very long season.
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From page 77... ...
These majestic trees are found throughout much of Africa. It is hard to conceive anything more promising for Africa's long-term future than a native tree beloved by the people, that seemingly lives forever without much maintenance, and that provides nutritional food (William F
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From page 78... ...
In the continent's western half, however, thousands of tons are consumed annually, and baobab greens are a commonplace in the markets as well as the daily meals of millions. Baobab leaf is sometimes steamed and eaten as a side-dish like spinach, but most goes straight into soups, stews, sauces, relishes, and condiments that end up being poured over the yam, cassava, maize, millet, sorghum, and so forth to complete the main dish.4 A recent survey in Mali found that baobab leaves occurred in 41 percent of these "soups."5 This widely used name does something of an injustice to such concoctions, which are more akin to sauces.
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From page 79... ...
Beyond quality protein, young and tender baobab leaves contain good levels of provitamin A, and it is notable that the trees thrive in the kind of dry and impoverished locales where a lack of vitamin A constitutes one of the worst nutritional deficiencies. In addition, the levels of both riboflavin and vitamin C have proved adequate in the leaf samples tested so far.
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From page 80... ...
However, in certain areas the trees thrive where annual rainfall reaches 1,250 mm, actually growing with almost twice-normal speed. Indeed, along the Kenyan coast baobab grows vigorously where annual rainfall ranges up to 2,000 mm.
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From page 81... ...
Hausa-speaking peoples in particular consider it the main ingredient of a soup called miyar kuka (kuka being their name for dry baobab leaves)
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From page 82... ...
The gigantic trunk is occasionally coopted for use as storage sheds, bus stops, bars, dairies, toilets, watchtowers, grain stores, shelters, stables, or even tombs. Water stored inside may keep for months or even years without fouling (as long as the hole in the trunk is carefully covered to block contamination from the outside)
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From page 83... ...
Vitamins Baobab leaves contain a very high level of the carotenoids that give rise to vitamin A The actual amounts (9-27 mg per kg)
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From page 84... ...
In certain samples, however, some of these elements occurred at lesser levels, probably reflecting deficiencies in the soil where the particular tree grew. One test indicated that 100 g of baobab leaves provide about three times the daily calcium requirements, twice the daily magnesium and copper requirements, and four times the daily manganese requirement.
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From page 85... ...
elephants can break the branches and bring down even the biggest of these botanical monarchs. HARVESTING AND HANDLING There is no secret about harvesting baobab leaves.
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From page 86... ...
One way to foster immediate increases is to raise the juvenile survival rate. With their slim stems and simple leaf form, saplings look too handsome to be baobabs.
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From page 87... ...
Although vitamin A deficiency is a chronic health problem in places such as rural Mali, the curative nature of baobab leaves goes almost unappreciated by the masses. In the fight against malnutrition these leafy materials offer sweeping future advances.
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From page 88... ...
This would involve a swap of germplasm likely to benefit all. Nutritional Research With their 15-percent crude protein content, the leaves should be a useful source of this vital food type, but the crude fiber and tannins may reduce its digestibility.
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From page 89... ...
Linnaeus sometimes selected names meant as insults, so the fact that baobab is fat and ugly might also have been in his mind.
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From page 90... ...
It perhaps arrived with Arab traders who carried the seed out of Africa centuries ago. Beyond Africa Baobabs have long been planted in locations throughout the tropics, and have been introduced into the Americas and Asia.
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From page 91... ...
Rainfall Baobabs are most common where mean annual rainfall is 2001,200 mm. However, they are also found in locations with as little as 90 mm or as much as 2,000 mm mean annual rainfall.
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