Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Superfruit comes from upside down tree
The baobab fruit has long been a part of the Senegal culture. Locals depend of the tree in many aspects of their daily life, for which the tree has been nicknamed, “The Tree of Life”.
In fact there is a special use for virtually every part of the Baobab tree. Locals use the tree’s seeds for cooking oil, its fruit for relief from stomachaches, its leaves to cure insomnia, its pulp for juice, and its bark for ropes and caskets. The tree is richer in vitamin C than oranges and has more calcium per glass than milk.
The hearty trees can live for thousands as they are drought and fire resistant. They have a large trunk with long spindly branches, giving them an appearance of being upside down.
Now the western world has discovered the tree. This Senegalese secret could easily become a billion dollar or 650 thousand Euro industry for the continent in need of jobs and income. And this estimate is based on the current unsophisticated farming of the trees -- with marketing and organized orchards, the industry could easily become ten to twenty times larger. ¶ 8/19/2008
The baobab fruit has long been a part of the Senegal culture. Locals depend of the tree in many aspects of their daily life, for which the tree has been nicknamed, “The Tree of Life”.In fact there is a special use for virtually every part of the Baobab tree. Locals use the tree’s seeds for cooking oil, its fruit for relief from stomachaches, its leaves to cure insomnia, its pulp for juice, and its bark for ropes and caskets. The tree is richer in vitamin C than oranges and has more calcium per glass than milk.
The hearty trees can live for thousands as they are drought and fire resistant. They have a large trunk with long spindly branches, giving them an appearance of being upside down.
Now the western world has discovered the tree. This Senegalese secret could easily become a billion dollar or 650 thousand Euro industry for the continent in need of jobs and income. And this estimate is based on the current unsophisticated farming of the trees -- with marketing and organized orchards, the industry could easily become ten to twenty times larger. ¶ 8/19/2008
