Baobab (Adansonia digitata)

Baobab (Adansonia digitata) is one of the famous African plants. In particular its typical shape with a short, thick trunk make the Baobab highly memorable. The thick trunk allows the tree to store water deep inside, making it adapt at surviving long drought periods. Due its many uses locals in Tanzania often refer to the tree as the pharmacy tree. Both the pulp of the fruits and the oil of the seeds provide various health benefits.

Where does our Baobab come from?

Our Baobab products come from the north of Tanzania. As Baobab trees only grow fruits after approximately 20 years, they cannot be cultivated commercially. The Baobab fruits used in our products all come from organically certified wild collection. Baobabs can be found in many parts of Africa. South of the Sahara we find the trees in West-, South- and East Africa. Outside of Africa it is also possible to find the tree in Australia.

Baobab fruits can reach a length of up to 40 cm (15.8”). Despite the large size, they are however very light as the fruits already dry out completely within the shell. It is therefore important to only harvest the fallen fruits.

Tansania Baobab collection

Baobab trees at our partner in Tansania

Seeds of the Baobab fruit

High-quality standard collection

Fruits that are picked off the tree still contain a lot of moisture and therefore spoil quickly. When collecting the fallen fruit it is important to ensure that the thick shell of the fruits is still completely intact to protect the fruit pulp on the inside from outside contaminants. The africrops! GmbH, the company behind The Essence of Africa, has trained these and many more processes with the collectors to ensure a consistently high-quality standard.

In Tanzania the harvest takes place twice a year. For the harvest up to 1000 collectors come together. Due to the important contribution that the Baobabs now have towards local income creation more efforts are being put into their conservation. Whereas they would get regularly chopped down to clear land and gain wood, they are now seen as an important source of income.

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