Baobab

Adansonia digitata L.

Family:

Bombacaceae (also sometimes included in Malvaceae)

Other common names:

Cream-of-tartar tree; monkey-bread tree; upside-down tree

Botanical drug used:

Fruit pulp (in Africa all plant parts are used in traditional medicine, including bark, roots, leaves, flowers and seeds, but these are not generally available in the European Union).

Indications/uses: The nutrient rich fruit pulp is being marketed in the US and EU as yet another ‘super food’. In Africa baobab fruit pulp has many uses including in baking and ice cream, as a cream of tartar substitute and medicinally to treat fever. In Malawi, the fruit pulp has been used in traditional medicine as an antidysenteric and in the treatment of measles and smallpox (Bosch et al. 2004).

Evidence: There is limited clinical evidence, although baobab fruit pulp has high levels of antioxidants, which may account for its reputed uses.

Safety: The fruit pulp is generally regarded as safe (has US GRAS approval and EU novel foods authorisation). However, the use of other parts of the plant during pregnancy/lactation, and for long-term use, is not recommended due to lack of safety data.

Main chemical compounds:

A number of aromatic compounds have been isolated from the fruit pulp of baobab, including isopropyl myristate and nonanal. The pulp also contains organic acids including citric, tartaric, malic, succinic and ascorbic acid (vitamin C), which is found at levels seven to ten times higher than in orange. It has high amounts of carbohydrates (ca 70%), crude fibre (ca 11%), a low amount of ash (ca 6%), protein (ca 2%) and traces of fat. Amino acids isolated from the pulp include alanine, arginine, glycine, lysine, methionine, proline, serine and valine. The fruit pulp and/or leaves have been shown to contain vitamins B1, B2, B3 and A. The minerals copper, iron, potassium, magnesium, manganese, sodium, phosphorus and zinc have also been isolated from the fruit pulp (Kamatou et al. 2011).