In Senegal, villagers have always known about the health benefits of baobab fruit, which only now have been discovered by Europe in what could spell magic for localities like Fandene.
In Senegal, villagers have always known about the health benefits of baobab fruit, which only now have been discovered by Europe in what could spell magic for localities like Fandene.
The ancient, hardy species also known as the "tree of life" is scattered across the African savannah, some said to date back to the time of Christ.Locals use nearly every part of the tree, whose processed fruit was approved for European import last month.
"You use the monkey bread fruit if you have a belly ache," said farmer Aloyse Tine, using the local name for baobab fruit. "If you're tired you eat the leaves, they are good for you."
The seeds can be pressed to extract oil used for cooking and the bark can be used to make ropes. In the past, the hollow bark was also used to bury "griots", a special West African cast of poets, musicians and sorcerers.
Vitamin C Rich Exotic Fruit Will Soon Dock in England
Baobab fruit, an exotic fruit, claimed to have six times the vitamin C of an orange, will soon be hitting UK markets under an EU ruling.
Baobab fruit, an exotic fruit, claimed to have six times the vitamin C of an orange, will soon be hitting UK markets under an EU ruling.
Three years ago, he started selling instead to the Baobab Fruit Company, a Senegalese firm run by three Italians. It is the country's only industrialised producer of dried baobab fruit pulp, which it exports for use in cosmetics and certain dietary supplements.
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Facts and Fictions of Fruit Juice
Drinking a glass of 100 percent fruit juice has long been thought of as a healthy daily habit for both adults and children.
Drinking a glass of 100 percent fruit juice has long been thought of as a healthy daily habit for both adults and children.
Enter PhytoTrade Africa, a non-governmental organisation that focuses on developing fair trade and environmentally sustainable natural products.
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"Approval for the baobab is fantastic news for Africa," said PhytoTrade's Cyril Lombard after the EU decision.
"Opening the European market to this product will make a real difference to poor rural communities there, offering them a potentially life-changing source of income."
One of these is Thiawe Thiawe, where 41-year-old Delphine farms some 20 baobab trees scattered outside her house.
"I've collected the fruits since I was a little girl with my grandmother," she told AFP. Like Tine, her life is a little easier since she started selling to the Baobab Fruit company rather than hawking her own goods.
"It's better to sell here than there, you don't have to wear yourself out going to Thies."
The Baobab Fruit Company says it already sees a spike in interest from Europe, where the pulp will likely be used in cereal bars and health drinks.
"Now we collect 150 to 200 tonnes of baobab fruit each harvest. In the last weeks there has been an explosion in demand," Laudana Zorzella told AFP at the factory in Thies.
"We are thinking we will need a much bigger harvest next time," she said. "In Senegal alone we estimate we could collect 13 thousand tonnes of fruit."
But what can baobab fruit, also known as monkey's bread, bring to health-conscious Europe?
According to the International Centre for Underutilized Crops at the University of Southhampton, the baobab is "a fruit of the future", rich in vitamin C, B1, B2 and calcium and chock-full of anti-oxidants.
In Senegal, its pulp is mostly used to make Bouye, a milky, tart juice made by boiling the pulp and seeds with water and sugar.
Some scientists calculate the fruit has three times as much vitamin C as oranges and has more calcium than a glass of milk.
And the tree is well adapted to arid conditions, tolerating both drought and poorly drained soil, and is fire resistant. Also known as the "upside down tree" for its bulbous trunk and spindly branches that look like roots, it can grow to be hundreds if not thousands of years old.
A study for PhytoTrade Africa conducted by the Natural Resources Institute in Britain suggested that wild harvesting of baobab fruit could generate trade of up to one billion dollars (640 million euros) a year for African producers.
Some environmentalists fear such commercial exploitation could lead to extinction of the iconic tree.
But Zorzella dismissed this, stressing that her company uses only the fruit and leaves the tree intact. "And if it becomes an important revenue the farmers will know that they have to protect the tree," she said.
In Fandene, Aloyse said this lesson has already been learned. As new baobabs sprout spontaneously, they are protected and allowed to grow.
"There are cattle herders that cut the leaves (to feed their animals) but we are starting to stop them now. That's not good because we need the trees to produce fruit," he said.
After the EU's approval, "everybody is asking for our products so they can test them," Zorzella said.
She estimated Europe's major food companies would need up to eight months for research and development before consumers there can actually get their own sip of a baobab smoothie or health bar.
Source-AFP
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