16/08/2022
BAOBAB POWDER AS A LAXATIVE.
When a little-known, exotic fruit is catapulted onto the marketplace-at-large and is assigned the prefix “super,” we tend to be somewhat skeptical.
After all, the produce section is now teeming with Superfruits, and the beverage aisle can barely resist collapse under the burden of bottles filled with the magical elixirs of acai, pomegranate, and mangosteen among other juices of functional distinction.
No doubt then, when I mention that baobab, a fruit that is prevalent in Africa, but virtually unheard of outside of it, really is the next superfruit to look out for, this assertion will be met with rolling eyes, and plenty of them.
You see the baobab fruit’s super powers extend way beyond nutritional claims. This isn’t to say though that it isn’t purported to be a extremely healthful. It is.
According to the National Geographic blog, the fruit “contains six times as much vitamin C as oranges, twice as much calcium as milk, and plenty of B vitamins, magnesium, iron, phosphorous, and antioxidants.” Ah yes antioxidants. Where would the superfruit be without its store of antioxidants? And it’s definitely safe; the FDA says so. In fact, in the fall of 2009, the FDA approved the use of baobab in foods and drinks, and the dried fruit powder (which is actually the natural state of the fruit pulp) was assigned GRAS status. This means: generally regarded as safe.
In Africa, the fruit has been harvested for centuries for its medicinal qualities. Not only is it considered a general cure-all tonic, but it’s also commonly used particularly to treat fevers, malaria, gastric problems, and vitamin C deficiency among other ailments.
Let’s backtrack a little. The baobab fruit or pod basically resembles an oval gourd, or a slim downed version of a watermelon. The outside, with its woody shell and velvety green coating, admittedly offers the more attractive vista. Cut into the fruit and you’ll find flesh colored sinewy fibers, and hiding among them, white fruits that resemble misshapen marshmallows.
Only these marshmallows aren’t soft and tender, but the flesh around the oil-rich seeds is dry and powdery. Ironically, while this sounds somewhat unappealing for the gastronome, it’s actually ideal for the manufacturer.
There’s no need to figure out how to transform a moisture heavy, highly-degradable product into a form amenable to further processing (I’m definitely counting this as evidence of super-ness).
This powdery pulp is then merely milled and then packaged and transported to Europe and the US for use in smoothies, juices, nutrition bars, baked goods and countless other foods. And since the fruit has a high pectin content (around 25%) its offers the benefit of being a natural thickening and binding agent.
As for the taste, a whole continent of people can’t be wrong. With its sweet, tangy, and pear-like flavor profile, the baobab has been consumed for hundreds of years by locals.
And it’s not just the fruit that makes for tasty grub in the form of sauces and porridges and a refreshing lemonade-type beverage when combined with water and sugar, the leaves are pounded to form a kind of relish, and seeds are roasted, ground and treated like coffee. Perhaps, however, the real testament to how “super” tasty the baobab fruit could be to you and me, is the award of the Gin Trophy to a spirit made with the fruit at the recent 2011 International Wine & Sprits Competition – the most well regarded competition of its kind.
Whitney Neil London Dry Gin, is distilled with nine botanicals, and the one the company is most vocal about is the baobab fruit- which it refers to as a signature African botanical. The gin uses both the citrusy fruit pulp and the mocha-like seeds which, in combination, are said to be responsible for the distinctively bold and spritely character of the drink. So unique and superlative is the final product, that producer, Johnny Neill, has been credited with re-inventing gin.
But the most useful and profound significance of the baobab tree isn’t rooted in how tasty or nutritious it is, but rather in how much it’s helping impoverished African communities. Offering a hand in this process is the charity PhytoTrade Africa. The non-profit trade association which has developed an efficient workable system by which families are able to harvest the fruit and earn an income that can pay for healthcare, education and everyday necessities. According to the National Geographic blog, “women in Malawi are harvesting the fruits for commercial use and earning enough cash to pay children’s school fees.” According to a profile on the PhytoTrade website, Esnati, a Malawian mother, was able to send all her children to school, build a house, buy a bicycle and feed her family on the income provided by picking the baobab fruit (supplemented by having to occasionally sell rice or a goat).
If you thought that was the last of the litany of reasons why the baobab fruit deserves the Superfruit title, you’d be wrong. It’s also a… super-laxative. The fruit has a very high soluble fiber content – 5 grams of every 100 grams to be precise. Seeing that the FDA allows baobab powder to be used as an ingredient in blended fruit drinks at a level of up to 10% and up to 15% in fruit cereal bars, this could result in a laxative effect, according to a recent report by ConsumerLab.com. Per 100 grams, baobab actually has more soluble fiber than psyllium, the active ingredient used in laxatives. That’s sure super something!
Read my other work at www.nadia-arumugam.com, and follow my blog on urban culinary and gardening escapades at www.spadespatula.com.
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