Baobab The Gentle Giant

Nourish your well-being by Elisa Voltolina

• Pages 79
• Format: 13.5×21
• Year: 2010

The creation of this book was possible thanks to the invaluable collaboration of numerous people who made their skills and knowledge available.

“… If I had to summarize in a few words the properties of Baobab that have struck me the most, I would start by analyzing the pulp of the fruit. Its particular composition makes it, naturally dried on the plant, the vegetable richest in fiber (almost 50%) balanced at the origin in the two components, the soluble and the insoluble in water, one useful for overcoming constipation and the other for fighting excessive evacuation: a normalizer, therefore, of intestinal functions. Nor would I leave out the richness of calcium, a substitute source of milk for intolerant people, nor the consistent supply of vitamin C which together with fiber make it a special food for women… ” From the PREFACE by Dr. Stefano Manfredini.

Baobab is a resource with multiple uses known above all by African populations and which is receiving increasing consensus also in Western countries.

The Baobab is a tropical tree from the African continent renowned for its large size and its many nutritional and pharmacological properties. It is commonly called the “pharmacist tree”, “tree of life” or “magic tree” due to its characteristic of being therapeutic from the fruit to the root. Its most significant name is “the gentle giant” because the products made with its pulp and seeds contribute to rebalancing the main functions of the body and the epidermis, providing well-being and energy.

The pulp of its fruits is used as food and has antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial properties. It is particularly rich in vitamin C, calcium and fiber; furthermore, taken before meals, it aids digestion, eliminates swelling and lowers cholesterol levels. Dissolved in water, it is an excellent alternative to milk and a good supplement during pregnancy.

A quantity of about 5 grams of pulp per day is useful to maintain the state of well-being of the organism, as it regulates the intestine, glycemia and blood cholesterol levels, gives strength, energy and resistance, rebalances the mood and alleviates menstrual disorders. It is also anti-anemic, anti-febrifuge, anti-inflammatory.

An oil is extracted from the seeds that is used both in food and in cosmetics. It is rich in essential fatty acids, in particular linoleic, linolenic and oleic acids. In dermatology it is used to relieve the pain of sunburn, excellent for dry skin, even senile dryness, and is also used as a soothing agent to regenerate epithelial tissue in cases of psoriasis.

The toasted seeds are edible, their flavor is similar to that of pistachios. From the leaves, commonly cooked and eaten like spinach, a powder is extracted that has antiseptic and antifungal action.

In the rainy season, the Baobab stores water in its leaves, fruits and seed pods. In the drought period, water is stored in the hollow and spongy trunk, which can hold up to 120 thousand liters of liquid, the pulp dehydrates until it freeze-dries and the pH reaches 3.2, while the pod closes. Ultimately, the tree becomes a sealed and sterile container. Its boiled roots are a resource in times of famine, the woody shells are used to make precious household containers and can be worked to obtain jewelry or burned as fuel; even the ash, rich in potassium, is used to produce soap.

Thanks to this multiplicity of uses, it is in the traditional African pharmacopoeia that Baobab finds its maximum therapeutic expression: each of its components solves, in fact, one or more specific problems. A very important aspect is the great interest that companies, in the cosmetic and food fields, have shown in recent years towards this plant, so much so that the European Community has given the green light to the marketing of the product with a note published in the Official Journal of 27/06/08 which authorizes the marketing of the dehydrated pulp of the Baobab fruit as a new food ingredient pursuant to EC Regulation no. 258/08 of the European Parliament and of the Council.

All this means that this product has been classified as “Novel Food” and therefore there is a green light in Europe for its importation and that of its derivatives, previously considered only food supplements and therefore included in a limited market. On an ethical level, the growing demand for this product of nature means that the poorest rural communities can be recognized as new sources of income to help improve their livelihood. On the other hand, however, the consumer will have to make sure to buy a product that respects the necessary parameters to guarantee “fair and equitable” trade and above all that protects the territory of origin.