Baobab africano senegales Madagascar Polpa del frutto

Baobab africano senegales Madagascar Polpa del frutto

Baobab (Adansonia, L. 1758) sono un genere di piante appartenente alla famiglia delle Bombacaceae (o ...
African ‘tree of life’ recast as European superfruit

African ‘tree of life’ recast as European superfruit

In Senegal, villagers have always known about the health benefits of baobab fruit, which only ...
Reaping a few bob with the baobab

Reaping a few bob with the baobab

Fruit has a tart, zesty taste - some say like sherbet. It is highly nutritious, ...
Hot nutrition trend for 2009 — the baobab?

Hot nutrition trend for 2009 — the baobab?

What makes a fruit a superfruit? We earlier listed the ideal traits -- a superfruit ...
Aceite de Baobab para cara y cuerpo

Aceite de Baobab para cara y cuerpo

Aceite de Baobab para cara y cuerpo La semilla del Baobab: Representa una parte importante en la ...
БАОБАБА МАСЛО /Adansonia digitata L/

БАОБАБА МАСЛО /Adansonia digitata L/

БАОБАБА МАСЛО /Adansonia digitata L/ Ботаническое название: Adansonia digitata L Синонимы:Baobab Seed Oil, Adansonia digitata seed oil, ...
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Baobab africano senegales Madagascar Polpa del frutto

Baobab (Adansonia, L. 1758) sono un genere di piante appartenente alla famiglia delle Bombacaceae (o Malvaceae secondo la classificazione APG) e comprendente otto specie: una diffusa in Africa, una in Australia, e sei endemiche del Madagascar.

Il nome « baobab » verrebbe, secondo alcune fonti, dal senegalese « albero di mille anni » (riferito alla leggendaria longevità della piante); secondo altri, sarebbe di derivazione araba, e significherebbe « frutto dai molti grani ». Il nome scientifico è un omaggio a Michel Adanson, il naturalista ed esploratore francese che descrisse il baobab africano (Adansonia digitata).

Specie [modifica]

Le otto specie del genere Adansonia vengono comunemente suddivise, in base alle differenze morfologiche del fiore (morfologia del germoglio florale, orientamento del fiore e lunghezza del tubulo staminale), in tre sezioni:

* Sezione Adansonia
o Adansonia digitata – baobab africano
* Sezione Brevitubae
o Adansonia grandidieri – baobab di Grandidier
o Adansonia suarezensis
* Sezione Longitubae
o Adansonia gregorii (sin. A. gibbosa) – baobab australiano
o Adansonia madagascariensis – baobab del Madagascar
o Adansonia perrieri – baobab di Perrier
o Adansonia rubrostipa (sin. A. fony)
o Adansonia za

Morfologia

Sono alberi caducifogli con grandi tronchi, che raggiungono altezze tra i 5 e i 25 m (eccezionalmente 30 m); il diametro del tronco può raggiungere i 7 m (eccezionalmente 11 m). Sono famosi per la loro capacità d’immagazzinamento d’acqua all’interno del tronco rigonfio, che riesce a contenere fino 120.000 litri d’acqua per resistere alle dure condizioni di siccità di alcune regioni. I rami, disposti a raggiera alla sommità dei tronchi, sono del tutto spogli durante la stagione secca. La chioma si riempie, per pochi mesi all’anno, di foglie composte palmate. Nell’epoca, temporalmente molto limitata, della fioritura esibiscono grandi fiori molto odorosi, che si schiudono la notte. Producono frutti ovoidali con un pericarpo commestibile e un grosso seme reniforme.

Impollinazione

Le specie del genere Adansonia hanno una impollinazione zoocora, cioè legata alla azione di diverse specie animali.
La impollinazione di A. digitata è mediata da alcune specie di pipistrelli, analogamente alle due specie della sezione Brevitubae, alla cui impollinazione contribuiscono anche alcune specie di lemuri notturni. Le cinque specie della sezione Longitubae invece sono usualmente impollinate da farfalle notturne della famiglia Sphingidae.

Diffusione e habitat

Sei delle otto specie note (A. grandidieri, A. madagascariensis, A. suarezensis, A. perrieri, A. rubrostipa e A. za) sono endemiche del Madagascar.

A. digitata è ampiamente diffusa in Africa continentale mentre l’unica specie non africana è A. gregorii, endemica dell’Australia nord-occidentale.

Analisi cladistiche hanno mostrato che la differenziazione tra le specie africane e quella australiana è avvenuta molto tempo dopo la frammentazione del supercontinente Gondwana e pertanto deve essere intervenuto un meccanismo di dispersione ad opera delle correnti marine.

Usi

* Le foglie sono usate come vegetale commestibile in tutte le aree di distribuzione del continente africano, compresi il Malawi, lo Zimbabwe e il Sahel. Sono mangiate sia fresche che sotto forma di polvere secca. In Nigeria, le foglie sono localmente note come kuka, e sono usate per produrre la zuppa di kuka.

* La polpa secca del frutto, dopo la separazione tra i semi e le fibre, viene direttamente mangiata o mescolata nel porridge o nel latte.

* I semi sono usati principalmente come addensante per le zuppe, ma possono anche essere fermentati in condimenti, arrostiti per un consumo diretto, o tritati per estrarre olio vegetale. L’albero è anche una fonte di fibre, tinture e carburante.

* Il boab (ovvero la specie australiana Adansonia gregorii) era usato dagli australiani aborigeni come fonte di acqua e cibo, mentre le foglie erano utilizzate per scopi medici. I frutti venivano scolpiti e dipinti, per poi essere usati come ornamenti. Un boab molto grande e vuoto a sud di Derby, nell’Australia Occidentale, fu usato negli anni ’90 come camera di sicurezza per i prigionieri aborigeni diretti a Derby per la loro sentenza; questo « albero-prigione » esiste ancora ed è una meta turistica.

Curiosità

* Il baobab è l’albero nazionale del Madagascar.
* Ne Il Piccolo Principe di Antoine de Saint-Exupéry il protagonista è preoccupato dal fatto che i baobab crescendo possano occupare tutto lo spazio del suo asteroide.
* Rafiki, personaggio del film di animazione Il re leone, ha la sua casa dentro un albero di baobab.
* Baobab è il titolo di una serie dell’autore di fumetti Igort.

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African ‘tree of life’ recast as European superfruit

In Senegal, villagers have always known about the health benefits of baobab fruit, which only now have been discovered by Europe in what could spell magic for localities like Fandene.

The ancient, hardy species also known as the « tree of life » is scattered across the African savannah, some said to date back to the time of Christ.

Locals use nearly every part of the tree, whose processed fruit was approved for European import last month.

« You use the monkey bread fruit if you have a belly ache, » said farmer Aloyse Tine, using the local name for baobab fruit. « If you’re tired you eat the leaves, they are good for you. »

The seeds can be pressed to extract oil used for cooking and the bark can be used to make ropes. In the past, the hollow bark was also used to bury « griots », a special West African cast of poets, musicians and sorcerers.

Farmer Tine, like others, used to lug his fruit to sell in the market in the nearby town of Thies.

Three years ago, he started selling instead to the Baobab Fruit Company, a Senegalese firm run by three Italians. It is the country’s only industrialised producer of dried baobab fruit pulp, which it exports for use in cosmetics and certain dietary supplements.

The new income has already made changes. It « allows me to send my kids to school, » he said.

Enter PhytoTrade Africa, a non-governmental organisation that focuses on developing fair trade and environmentally sustainable natural products.

Sensing potential, it launched in 2006 the process that would open European Union markets to this nutritious African oddity. Under EU rules, any « novel » food — one not commonly consumed in Europe before 1997 — requires special approval for use in the 27-member bloc.

« Approval for the baobab is fantastic news for Africa, » said PhytoTrade’s Cyril Lombard after the EU decision.

« Opening the European market to this product will make a real difference to poor rural communities there, offering them a potentially life-changing source of income. »

One of these is Thiawe Thiawe, where 41-year-old Delphine farms some 20 baobab trees scattered outside her house.

« I’ve collected the fruits since I was a little girl with my grandmother, » she told AFP. Like Tine, her life is a little easier since she started selling to the Baobab Fruit company rather than hawking her own goods.

« It’s better to sell here than there, you don’t have to wear yourself out going to Thies. »

The Baobab Fruit Company says it already sees a spike in interest from Europe, where the pulp will likely be used in cereal bars and health drinks.

« Now we collect 150 to 200 tonnes of baobab fruit each harvest. In the last weeks there has been an explosion in demand, » Laudana Zorzella told AFP at the factory in Thies.

« We are thinking we will need a much bigger harvest next time, » she said. « In Senegal alone we estimate we could collect 13 thousand tonnes of fruit. »

But what can baobab fruit, also known as monkey’s bread, bring to health-conscious Europe?

According to the International Centre for Underutilized Crops at the University of Southhampton, the baobab is « a fruit of the future », rich in vitamin C, B1, B2 and calcium and chock-full of anti-oxidants.

In Senegal, its pulp is mostly used to make Bouye, a milky, tart juice made by boiling the pulp and seeds with water and sugar.

Some scientists calculate the fruit has three times as much vitamin C as oranges and has more calcium than a glass of milk.

And the tree is well adapted to arid conditions, tolerating both drought and poorly drained soil, and is fire resistant. Also known as the « upside down tree » for its bulbous trunk and spindly branches that look like roots, it can grow to be hundreds if not thousands of years old.

A study for PhytoTrade Africa conducted by the Natural Resources Institute in Britain suggested that wild harvesting of baobab fruit could generate trade of up to one billion dollars (640 million euros) a year for African producers.

Some environmentalists fear such commercial exploitation could lead to extinction of the iconic tree.

But Zorzella dismissed this, stressing that her company uses only the fruit and leaves the tree intact. « And if it becomes an important revenue the farmers will know that they have to protect the tree, » she said.

In Fandene, Aloyse said this lesson has already been learned. As new baobabs sprout spontaneously, they are protected and allowed to grow.

« There are cattle herders that cut the leaves (to feed their animals) but we are starting to stop them now. That’s not good because we need the trees to produce fruit, » he said.

After the EU’s approval, « everybody is asking for our products so they can test them, » Zorzella said.

She estimated Europe’s major food companies would need up to eight months for research and development before consumers there can actually get their own sip of a baobab smoothie or health bar.

by Stephanie van den Berg

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Reaping a few bob with the baobab

Fruit has a tart, zesty taste – some say like sherbet. It is highly nutritious, and might be imbued with the souls of dead chieftains. If you live in Europe, it could be headed to a smoothie near you.

The baobab tree – thick-trunked icon of the African bush – does not look appetising. But European firms may soon be using the pulp of its fruit as a flavouring for cereal bars or drinks after it won European Commission approval as a novel food.

The decision in July has planted the gourd-like fruit on the product development radar of food processors. Trade and development experts hope that move – a landmark for a wild-harvested fruit – will also plug millions of poor African bush dwellers into a lucrative, sustainable market.

A 2007 report for Britain’s Natural Resources Institute estimated that in southern Africa alone, harvesting the baobab could generate more than €700m worth of trade a year and employ over 2.5m households.

‘The potential is huge… We’re quite confident that it’s going to represent significant returns for rural producers,’ said Dr Lucy Welford of PhytoTrade Africa, a trade organisation that lobbies for the sustainable use of African natural products.

For centuries, people across Africa have enjoyed the baobab fruit’s refreshing vitamin-filled pulp. Naturally dehydrated, it is credited with medicinal properties, ranging from a cure for fever or diarrhoea to a calcium-rich pick-me-up.

Plucked from the gnarled, swollen-trunked baobab trees, the large brown pods covered with a velvety fur are often split by hungry children who suck the pulp as a snack.

‘I’d say it’s somewhere between grapefruit and tamarind as a kind of flavour,’ said Dr Welford, who expects baobab fruit to be used at first to flavour smoothies and cereal bars. It could also be used in juices, ice-creams and jams or bakery products.

Mystical Lore

Experts say the giant baobab, whose bottle-shaped trunks and twisted branches dot the African bush from the savannas of the south to the parched Sahel, carries its own mystical identity and history that will provide a powerful sales pitch.

‘The tart flavour, the interesting vitamin and nutrition profile and the sexy story that goes with it – that it’s wild harvested from a very lovely tree – these things add value to the existing products,’ said marketing economist Ben Bennet, who wrote the 2007 Natural Resources Institute’s report.

Variously known as the ‘Upside-down tree’ for its bizarre shape, the ‘Bottle tree’ for its ability to hold water, or simply as the ‘Tree of life’, the baobab has long fascinated naturalists and explorers.

The most common species across Africa is Adansonia digitata, named after the 18th-century French explorer and naturalist Michel Adanson who came across the tree while hunting antelope in what is now Senegal, where the tree is the national symbol.

He recalled he had to ‘embrace’ the mighty trunk 13 times with the span of his arms to cover its circumference.

Other species also exist in Madagascar and Australia.

The common name baobab is believed to come from the Arabic ‘bu hibab’ meaning ‘fruit with several seeds’. Baobab fruits were sold in the 16th-century markets of North Africa, brought from the south by the trans-Saharan slave caravans.

The tree normally lives for about 500 years, but it is believed some are up to 5,000 years old and they enjoy the veneration and respect traditionally accorded to age in Africa.

In Senegal, the bodies of chiefs and ‘griots’, or bards, were traditionally buried in the hollows and crevices of the baobab whose bark and flesh then grew around the corpse, enveloping it in a natural grave. A refreshing juice made from baobab fruit pulp, known as ‘bouye’ is widely served.

UN officials have reported one study showing an aqueous solution of baobab fruit pulp is almost as effective for rehydrating children with diarrhoea as comparative World Health Organisation (WHO) anti-diarrhoea remedies.

Even today, the solid trunks and shade-giving branches of baobabs are traditional meeting places for families and elders.

Fruit of the Future?

Some outsiders had recognised the value of the baobab tree even before the EU green light.

An Italian company, the Baobab Fruit Company Senegal (BFCS), has been producing a range of baobab products in Senegal for several years – including fruit pulp, seeds and oil – for sale in Europe as dietary supplements and cosmetic products.

For six months each year during the December-June harvest, it employs more than 950 collectors in the southwest Tambacounda region and operates a small processing plant with around 100 workers in the city of Thies.

The company produces between 150 to 200 tonnes of baobab raw material products a year. Like PhytoTrade, its representatives say they are excited about the EU novel foods approval, which has triggered increased commercial enquiries.

‘For us, it’s a fruit of the future, it will have a huge impact on Africa,’ said Laudana Zorzella, the production and commercial representative in Dakar of BFCS, which has been studying the baobab’s potential for over a decade.

But she cautions it could take time for the product pipeline to be able to benefit African farmers: ‘It’s not just around the corner.’

In the baobab forests around Tandene village in Senegal, local farmers said they looked forward to earning much more from the trees. Prices for a kilo of baobab fruit varied between 175 to 500 CFA francs (€.26-.76), they said.

‘If people know (that European consumers will buy the product) then they’ll look after the trees better and feed them less to their animals,’ said farmer Alassane Sy.

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Hot nutrition trend for 2009 — the baobab?

What makes a fruit a superfruit? We earlier listed the ideal traits — a superfruit should have a hard-to-pronounce name, be unfamiliar to Westerners, come from far, far away and have been used in native medicine. It should also be expensive. We noted the emergence of an upstart fruit from the baobab tree, which has got to be one of the most preposterous-looking trees we have ever seen.

Now the baobab is poised to catapult to stardom according to an article at foodnavigator.com. The article quotes the market research firm Mintel as saying: « Each year, there’s one hot new superfruit and this year, exotic baobab seems to be the one. » Baobab fruit is available in the European Union and its marketers are seeking « generally recognised as safe » status from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

We’re all in favor of the baobab — we admit it, entirely because of its looks. (Yes, yes, its fruit contains vitamin C, riboflavin and niacin — but really, what fruit doesn’t?)

Mintel also says in the article that quinoa will have a good year in 2009, partly because « consumers are intrigued by its status as an ancient grain. » The sweetener stevia may do well because of an ongoing interest in natural ingredients.

OK, so the 2009 superfruit spot may be sewn up. But what comes after that? Me, I’m rooting for Hydnora africana. Everything about it shrieks exotic: It’s a plant parasite, it looks like a huge, toothy mouth, it emits a characteristic odor to attract dung beetles and carrion beetles, and jackals eat it. I’m sure it must have a fruit. And I am sure that it is brimming with antioxidants.

– Rosie Mestel

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Aceite de Baobab para cara y cuerpo

Aceite de Baobab para cara y cuerpo

La semilla del Baobab:
Representa una parte importante en la composición del fruto (cerca del 40%). Está formado por un sutil epicarpio (externo) con un endocarpio (interno) blanco y aceitoso. La semilla contiene: Alfa y Beta Caroteno, Ácidos Grasos (Palmítico, esteárico y oleico), Aminoácidos, Taninos, Tiamina y Riboflavina.

Este aceite (extracto lipolico) obtenido MOLIENDO EL NUCLEO DE LA SEMILLA en el interior de un soporte aceitoso (Helianthus annuus) se acerca al método utilizado hace siglos en los pueblos africanos. El cataplasma que ellos obtienen exprimiendo la semilla es aplicado sobre quemaduras, abrasiones o hematomas (para aliviar el dolor), en casos de descamación de la piel y mejora la cicatrización de la piel. Su utilización como cosmético es una valiosa ayuda para devolver a la epidermis de la cara y cuerpo su elasticidad y esplendor.

El extracto lipólico de la semilla, rico en saponinas, representa un extraordinario nutriente para la epidermis. Su uso diario ayuda a contrarrestar el paso del tiempo y a descubrir una piel tónica e hidratada. Además, la novedosa técnica de extracción con ultrasonidos a bajas temperaturas por medio del aceite de girasol, permite la extracción de TODOS LOS PRINCIPIOS ACTIVOS contenidos en el INTERIOR DE LA SEMILLA DE BAOBAB. Es ideal para el tratamiento de la piel seca, predispuesta a la formación de arrugas, dejando sobre la epidermis solamente un ligero velo, no untuoso, y una discreta luminosidad.

Cor Oleum, obtenido exprimiendo el corazón de la semilla, permite aprovechar al máximo todos los aminoácidos, ácidos grasos y vitaminas presentes en las semillas.

Este aceite, delicado y potente al mismo tiempo, penetra profundamente en la piel y no la deja untuosa. Su utilización como cosmético es una valiosa ayuda para devolver a la epidermis su elasticidad y esplendor, además de nutrirla e hidratarla.

ESTA INDICADO:
Para pieles expuestas al sol o al frío (también las más sensibles), como antiarrugas, como after-sun, para otorgar fuerza y brillo a las uñas y para suavizar callos y durezas.

Devuelve el equilibrio natural a la piel y elimina los puntos rojos que aparecen después del depilado y el afeitado.

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БАОБАБА МАСЛО /Adansonia digitata L/

БАОБАБА МАСЛО /Adansonia digitata L/

Ботаническое название: Adansonia digitata L
Синонимы:Baobab Seed Oil, Adansonia digitata seed oil, Африканский Баобаб, Баобаб дланевидный, Адансония пальчатая, Бутылочное дерево, Cream of Tartar tree, monkey-bread tree, lemonade tree
Семейство: Bombacaceae (Бомбаксовые)
Описание: Ботаническое название африканского баобаба – Adansonia digitata, но на самом деле люди придумали для него еще несколько имен. Из-за своей необычной кроны его называют «деревом, растущим корнями вверх». Из-за своего массивного ствола, который по своей форме напоминает бутылку – «бутылочным деревом». Баобаб не очень высокое дерево – 18-25 м, хотя толщина его ствола просто удивительная – она достигает 25, а то и 40 м в окружности. Листья овальные, заостренные на концах, блестящие, темно зеленого цвета. Крупные белые цветки с пятью лепестками и пучком многочисленных тычинок раскрываются поздно вечером и живут всего одну ночь, привлекая ароматом опыляющих их летучих мышей. Через некоторое время развиваются своеобразные плоды – коробочки, размером и формой напоминающие дыню и покрытые серым войлочным опушением. Внутри у них кисловатая белая мякоть со множеством мелких черных семян. Особой тягой к баобабам известны слоны. Они поедают эти деревья почти целиком – от листьев и веток до ствола включительно, отдавая слонятам сочные волокна сердцевины. Жизнеспособность баобабов поразительна. Пожар может выжечь сердцевину дерева, но оно будет расти как ни в чем не бывало. Кора, если ее содрать, нарастет снова. Корни в поисках воды способны разрастаться от дерева на сотни метров. Продолжительность жизни баобабов 2 – 3 тысячи лет, хотя многие биологи уверяют, что некоторые из них доживают до 4 – 5 тысяч. В Африке баобаб считают чудо деревом. Лекарствами, которые готовят из плодов, листьев и коры баобаба, местные лекари лечат почти все болезни.
Цвет: светло-желтый.
Аромат: приятный мягкий ореховый запах
Метод получения: метод холодного прессования
Используемая часть растения: семена
Область произрастания: Африка
Другие виды: Adansonia za, Adansonia suarezensis, Adansonia rubrostipa, Adansonia grandidieri, Adansonia madagascariensis, Adansonia alba, Adansonia perrieri
Характеристика: Имеет высокое содержание витаминов А, D, E и F, выглядит как очень жидкая маслянистая жидкость.
Химический состав: Линолевая кислота – 32.05%
Линоленовая кислота – 0.18%
Олеиновая кислота – 32.06%
Пальмитиновая кислота – 25.4%
Пальмитолеиновая кислота – 0.15 %
Стеариновая кислота – 3.32%

Действие: Масло Баобаба очень хорошо смягчает и питает кожу и волосы, помогает восстановлению липидного барьера эпидермиса. Оно быстро впитывается, улучшает эластичность кожи, способствует ее регенерации. Значительно снижает раздражение кожи, успокаивая ее, а также является активным увлажнителем. Благодаря своим великолепным заживляющим и регенерационным свойствам, является превосходным компонентом для создания специальных смесей, направленных для лечения экземы и псориаза. Также, хорошо способствует восстановлению разрушенных капилляров в коже. Входит в ухаживающие составы для химически обработанных, сухих и вьющихся волос, которые нуждаются в обильном кондиционировании перед выпрямлением.

Показания: Для ухода за чувствительной и раздраженной кожей. Для восстановления и укрепления ногтей, лечения чрезмерной сухости, ломкости и расслоения волос. Для залечивания трещинок на коже и предупреждения рубцов.

Cпортивное применение: Масло баобаба хорошо использовать при болях в мышцах и суставных болях.

Синергия с:
ЭМ Иланг-иланг и ЭМ Герани – для ухода за волосами;
ЭМ Розы и ЭМ Розового дерева – для противовозрастного ухода за кожей;
ЭМ Лаванды – для заживления;
ЭМ Мандарина – для предупреждения рубцов;
ЭМ Грушанки (Gaultheria procumbens) и Лавандина (Lavandula burnatii CT super acetate) – для снятия мышечных болей.

Другое применение

Методики применения: Используется для восстановления волос (маски, восстанавливающие шампуни), в средствах против старения кожи всего тела, используется как база для составления различных мазей. Масло можно использовать в чистом виде, так как оно совершенно не комедогенно. Для ухода за волосами можно использовать в чистом виде, для ухода за кожей рекомендуется вводить в состав смесей.
Меры предосторожности:

Срок хранения: Масло баобаба чрезвычайно устойчиво относительно прогорклости. Это очень стабильное масло. Срок хранения до двух лет в темном прохладном месте.

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