Baobab (Adansonia digitata)

Common Names
Baobab, monkey-bread tree, dead-rat tree, cream-of-tartar tree (En); calebassier du Sénégal, arbre de mille ans, pain de singe (Fr); baobab, árbol botella (Sp); 猢猻木 (Cn)

Plant Distribution
Tropical Africa, Indian Ocean islands, Arabian Peninsula

Edible Parts
Young leaves and tender shoots are eaten raw, boiled or stir-fried, or dried and powdered to thicken soup and sauce. Flowers are also eaten raw, and seeds raw or roasted to thicken soup, or fermented.

Health Values
Beta-carotene: medium; vitamin E: medium; riboflavin: medium; folic acid: medium; ascorbic acid: extremely high; calcium: high; iron: medium; protein: 3.6%. Leaves contain mucilage, and older leaves develop tannins.

Read more: Baobab from Discovering Indigenous Treasures: Promising Indigenous Vegetables from Around the World. 2009. AVRDC – The World Vegetable Center.