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'''Products derived from the fruit pulp The Baobab tree comes in many shapes and seeds sizes in different areas of Madagascar. Out of nine existing species in the world, six exist only on Madagascar, making the baobab tree can be used in symbolic to the Big Island. Apart from being a variety of food and drinks as well as for cooking tasty fruit, the baobab has many uses from practical and massage oilsmedicinal to spiritual.'''
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The dry powder from the fruits are used to produce delicious and nutritious drinks, while the seeds are used to produce cooking and massage oils. The Baobab name originates from Arabic phrase ''bu hibab'' meaning fruit with many seeds. The fruit can contain several hundred seeds. Baobab belong to the Bombacaceae family of trees which includes the Kapok tree. The first botanical description of the baobab was made by French botanist Michel Adanson and a species waslater named Adansonia. The sixth and the last Malagasy species wasdiscovered and described in 1960.
Baobabs are found in dry and semi-arid areas which receive less than
The baobab only bear leaves in the rainy season and are leafless during
the dry season which limits their water loss.
The large flowers of baobab live only for one night and open almost
simultaneously for all individuals of the same species. Baobabs are pollinated
by sphinx moths, bats and to a lesser extent bees.
Birds such as sunbirds and
certain lemurs also visit baobab flowers and can
are alive. This explains their exceptional
healing and regeneration capabilities.
man-made mutilations well and easily regenerate which
sometimes gives them astonishing forms.
The fruit contain a dry
and chalky pulp with interestingmanynutritional qualities, pulp. Pulp,
which mixed with water and
sugar, constitutes makes a refreshing andvitamin-rich drink. The flavour of the pulp is similar is somewhere between marshmallow and tamarind. Baobab seeds are oilseeds,
richer in oil than peanuts. Baobab oils contain different
fatty acids (palmitic, oleic, linoleic) but also cyclopropenic
acids which must be degraded by cooking in order to make
edible oil. The seeds are sometimes roasted and used for coffee.
In the South, women prepare beauty masks from bark. On the Mahafaly plateau, baobabs (A. a) are thesubject of a unique practice in the world! Their trunk is
hollowed out and the cavities
rainy season, they are filled with
water. These reserves allow
men to survive in the dry season in
a particularly aridand hostile dry environment.
For the Sakalava ethnic group, the
baobab is a sacred tree. The species (A.grandidieri ) is called "reniala", meaningwhich means "mother of the forest".
The Sakalava associate the
and children. The ceremonies,
which take place at their foot, focus
on the fertility of women, the
good health of children or even theand
fertility of the land, particularly
during a symbolic ritual called
"fitahan-jaza". A Malagasy legendsays that Imbelo, the first man,created woman by carvingher from baobab wood. Manyother legends are dedicated tobaobab.
A Malagasy legend says that Imbelo, the first man,
created woman by carving her from baobab wood. Many
other legends are dedicated to baobab.
The tree has many legends, in particular, one African
God who tore it up to punish him and replanted it upside down.
The fruits of baobabs or pods
are fleshy, dry, large berries
coated in a white, chalky pulp.
by animals introduced by man (zebus, goats, bush pigs) or
by water which can sometimes transport the fruits and their
valuable cargoes of seeds over great long distances.
The pulp is very
species.
Almost all parts of the tree are used, with the exception of the
trunk. The fruits are picked
from the ground or from the tree several
tens of meters high using
rudimentary ladders.
All Malagasy species are included on the red list of endangered species.
There are numerous sites for observing
baobabs. The most famous of
them is the
Baobab Aavenue 20 kilometers north of
An Majunga is home to
to a baobab that measures
22 meters in circumference. It is
represented on the city's coat
of arms and is one of its
main todurist attractions.
In Madagascar, many natural
baobab sites remain little visited
because they are difficult to
access.
The Mikea, an ethnic
group from the southwest of Madagascar, use Baobab wood
to make coffins.
In the bay of Diego-Suarez, several baobabs species gathered
on an islet serve as graves for stillborn children. Their
bodies wrapped in shrouds are abandoned in
the forks of the branches.