THE AFRICAN BAOBAB Adansonia digitata

Bombacaceae/Malvaceae

By: Caroline Stedman

African Folklore

❖ Kung Bushmen of Botswana tell the tale of how the hyena got its laugh

Traditional Uses ❖  Wolofs of Senegal use

baobab to prepare a baptismal dish

❖  In Gambia, baobab is used to create Easter dish known as nan mburu

❖  In Senegal the women and young girls sing and dance around a mortar while crush baobab leaves in water to bring the rains

Human Nutrition ❖  Fruit Pulp: usually made into thin porridge; added to soups

and drinks

❖  Bark: can extract edible gum

❖  Leaves: serve as a spinach-like vegetable raw or cooked

❖  Seeds: ground into a meal; used as substitute for coffee beans; can extract seed oil

❖  Flowers: eaten raw or used to flavor drinks

Medicinal Value ❖  Bark: febrifuge and anti-

periodic for malaria

❖  Leaves: hypertensive and diaphoretic properties

❖  Fruit Pulp: anti-inflammatory

❖  Seeds: febrifuge and anti-dysenteric

Additional Uses