What can baobab be used for?
Traditionally, baobab leaves, bark, and seeds have been used to treat “almost any disease,” including malaria, tuberculosis, fever, microbial infections, diarrhea, anemia, toothache, and dysentery. The leaves and fruit pulp have been used to reduce fever and stimulate the immune system.
Is baobab a hardwood?
Given that the Baobab tree is a succulent plant, it does not have distinct growth rings typical of hardwood trees. Baobab wood is not good for ordinary timber because it is so fibrous and spongy and is more like balsa wood than hardwood.
What is special about the baobab tree?
It is a succulent, which means that during the rainy season it absorbs and stores water in its vast trunk, enabling it to produce a nutrient-dense fruit in the dry season when all around is dry and arid. This is how it became known as “The Tree of Life”. Baobab trees grow in 32 African countries.
Do they use baobab bark to make medicine?
Baobab leaves, bark, and fruit are used for food and medicinal purposes in southern Africa. The bark has astringent properties and has been used traditionally to alleviate colds, fevers, and influenza (a decoction made from the fresh bark is taken as a beverage for one week to treat the flu).
Is baobab good for pregnancy?
Baobab fruit is rich in vitamin C, calcium, potassium and iron. Many pregnant women consume baobab fruit as a source of calcium. It can be used to make jams and juices or stirred into stews and sauces. Aside from the fruit itself, the leaves and roots are known to lower fevers and help treat diseases.
Is baobab good for hair?
For scalp and hair The high omega-3 fatty acid in baobab oil is also good for your hair. When used as a hair mask or a leave-in conditioner, baobab oil may help moisturize dry hair and strengthen weak, brittle hair. The oil may not repair damaged hair like other protein-rich hair products can.
Do termites eat Baobab tree?
The Baobab tree is a tough tree and resists drought, fire and termites.
Why are Boab trees fat?
It is also called the tree of life. This tree is a vast storage tank, hoarding up to 120,000 litres of water in arid climes. Outside the tree, the world is sun scorched and parched, inside the swollen trunk is an immense collection of spongy tissue storing up water for the thirsty.
Why is baobab tree upside down?
The baobab tree also known as the “upside-down” tree, due to its branches looking like roots sticking up in the air, grows only in Africa, Madagascar and Australia.
How do baobab tree adapted to their environment?
The baobab tree has adapted to the savanna biome by only producing leaves during the wet season. The small size of the leaves helps limit water loss. Another adaptation that enables the baobab tree to survive the long months of drought is its ability to store water in its large trunk.
Is baobab acidic or alkaline?
By eating highly alkaline foods. The PRAL rating (potential renal acid load) is a measure of the alkalizing properties of foods. With a PRAL Rating of -52, Baobab Fruit Powder is one of the most blood alkalizing foods on the planet!
What are two uses human beings have found for the baobab tree?
It can provide shelter, clothing, food, and water for the animal and human inhabitants of the African savannah regions. The cork-like bark and huge stem are fire resistant and are used for making cloth and rope. The leaves are used as condiments and medicines.
Is the baobab tree hard or soft wood?
The bark and flesh are soft, fibrous, and fire-resistant and can be used to weave rope and cloth. Baobab products are also used to make soap, rubber, and glue; while the bark and leaves are harvested for traditional medicine.
Why is the baobab tree endangered?
The Baobab tree is on the endangered list for many reasons. For one, droughts within the tree’s habitat have caused them to not have enough water to grow properly. Also, these trees are often cut down so that people can use the trunks to store water in, which can hold about 2376 gallons of water.
What does a baobab tree look like?
Baobab trees reach heights of 18-100 feet and have a huge trunk, often 25-35 feet in diameter, with limbs sticking out that are leafless most of the year. The limbs look more like roots and this is how the Baobab Tree earned the Upside Down Tree nickname.
Where do baobab trees grow?
The Baobab tree is a strange looking tree that grows in low-lying areas in Africa and Australia. It can grow to enormous sizes and carbon dating indicates that they may live to be 3,000 years old.