BaoBab
Legend says that the African god Cagn (also called Thora) had a garden in the heavens with a plethora of vegetation growing within it, but the Baobab tree was thought to be ugly by the god. So the creator cast the Baobab tree out of their garden where it fell to the earth and kept growing upside down! My favorite story is one that tells of the Baobab being so full of Life that wherever it was planted it began to walk about. As a result God would plant the trees upside down. This, no doubt is due to the strange appearance of the tree. (pictured below) Aside from the Legends the Baobab Tree is know as Africa’s Tree of Life. The tree can live up to 5,000 years and can survive dry climates by swelling its trunk and filling it with water. The trees bark also has tons of uses. The people of the savanna use the bark for shelter, water reservoirs , rope and other tools etc… The tree really earns its name from its nutrient rich fruit, which have saved many villages from famine. The pulp of the fruit can be eaten or dried and mixed with water and the seeds are ground up into powder and eaten as well.
Baobab has been shown to be extremely anti-oxidant. Anti-oxidants eliminate free radicals in the body which protects your body against things like aging, cancer, inflammation and cardio vascular disease. This is due to its very high Vitamin C contents. Baobab fruit has also been proven to have analgesic (pain killing) properties, due to having high amounts of sterols, saponins and triterpenes. In a study conducted in 1997 the pulp of the baobab fruit was ground into powder and mixed with water and researched side by side with W.H.O.’s antidiarrhoeal formula and it performed just as well, making it a safe treatment for diarrhea. The fruit was also proven to be an effective antidote for strophanthus poisoning. The pulp and the seeds of the fruit have been shown to be hepatoprotective which in laymen’s terms is protective and regenerative of the liver.
Baobab has approximately 3 times the amount of vitamin C per serving than an orange. The minerals found in Baobab are Calcium, Copper, Magnesium, Iron, Potassium, Zinc. A few of the Vitamins that are in Baobab are A, B6 and Thiamin. Baobab is also very very high in Fiber.
