Baobab (Adansonia digitata)

It's hard to find slippery elm bark here in Italy but the stuff works miracles for checking diarrea and healing intestinal tissue. It's also used as a nutritive especially when the person can't get any food down and they need nourishment. I'm trying out Baobab fruit powder instead. It is water soluble and easily added to drinks, especially in children who need extra nourishment. Isn't it ironic that so many babies in Africa are starving when these trees grow right outside their front door! At the same time some babies here in the western world have become so allergic due to the accumulation of metabolic atrocities brought on by our highly chemicalized, stress filled and SAD diet world that they are severely limited as to what they can eat and end up malnourised like the African babies. I'm hoping this Baobab powder can help nourish these allergic children until we can successfully remove their allergies with NAET. Perhaps it can be used in chronic diarrea and malabsorption disorders like Crohn's and celiac like slippery elm powder can.

The Baobab fruit company sells the product I'm using. The below article is taken from their website.

Use of Baobab in traditional pharmacopoeia
(download "pharmacopee traditionelle Senegalaise", FR)

Everywhere in Africa the various parts of the Baobab are exploited from the therapeutic and nutritional point of view, and numerous remedies based on Baobab are quoted in the traditional African pharmacopoeia.
Nearly all the parts of the tree are used:

Roots

In Sierra Leone the root decoction is used as stimulant for sexual activity. The dry root powder prepared as a cream is used as tonic on patients suffering from malaria.
In Zambia the root brew is used to bathe children to make their skin smooth and soft.

Bark

The bark is used as febrifuge (bark decoctions, boiled for a day are used) as substitute for cinchona bark. It is beneficial as febrifuge in anti-malaria and diaphoretic treatments.
The bark rich in mucilage is used as sedative to fight inflammation of the alimentary tract. When cut, a white, semifluid, odourless, tasteless, acidic and insoluble gum seeps out, used to clean sores and ulcers.
In East Africa the bark is used as antidote against strophanthin.

Seeds

An oil rich in essential fatty acids (oleic, linoleic, and linolenic in particular) is extracted from the seeds, which can be used in the human diet and in cosmetics. The oil extracted from its seeds alleviates pain from burns and regenerates the epithelial tissues in a short time, giving the skin tone and elasticity.

Leaves

The leaves are rich in vitamin C, uronic acid, rhamnose and other sugars, tannins, potassium tartrate, catechins, etc. The analyses conducted on young leaves dried in the shade and pulverized, revealed a high content of provitamin A with concentrations varying between 9 mg and 27 mg (retinol equivalents) per gram of powder analysed. The macerated and compressed leaves are used to wash out ears and eyes of ill children with anti-inflammatory effect.
The leaves are used in traditional medicine by virtue of the diaphoretic, expectorant, astringent, febrifugal, hypotensive and anti-asthmatic properties, and to hold excessive perspiration in check.
They are used in diseases of the urinary tracts, diarrhoea, inflammation, insect bites, and as vermifuge in treatments for expulsion of the so-called “Guinea worm”. The leaf is used for external use by virtue of its antioxidant, emollient and soothing properties which make the skin soft and elastic.

FRUIT PULP

In traditional medicine the pulp finds use as febrifuge, painkiller, antidiarrhoeal/antidysenteric drug and in treatment of smallpox and measles.
Moreover, the pulp together with the seeds and bark is commonly used as antidote against poisoning from strophanthin thanks to the presence of an alkaloid: adansonine. By virtue of the lubricating, binding and diluting properties related to the presence of pectin and glucides, Baobab pulp has recently been used as hydrophilic matrix in pharmaceutical formulations of paracetamol and theophylline sustained-release tablets (Download Article ). The pulp is considered a radical treatment for infantile diarrhoea.

Baobab fruit pulp has a high concentration of vitamin C varying between 2500 and 3000 mg/kg. The trees tested for content of vitamin C in Mali in 1994 reconfirmed their values in vitamin content also in 1997 and 1998.

Nutritional properties of Baobab fruit pulp

100 g of Baobab fruit bulb contains 75.6% total glucides, 2.3% protein and a very low content of lipids, equal to 0.27% of total lipids. The Baobab fruit is known for its high content of ascorbic acid (Vitamin C). In particular, the pulp can provide up to 300 mg of vitamin per 100 g, a quantity equal to about six times that contained in an orange. Ascorbic acid plays an extremely important role from both a nutritional and therapeutic point of view. For a long time known for its ability to prevent scurvy, vitamin C finds more and more significant use, because of its antioxidant properties and its ability to protect the organism against harm induced by free radicals. The fruit also contains appreciable quantities of other essential vitamins, such as thiamine (vitamin B1) and riboflavin (vitamin B2), essential for optimal development of the organism and for maintaining cellular integrity of the nerves, skin and ocular epithelia, and niacin (vitamin PP or B3), important to regulate many metabolic functions.

Furthermore, the fruit contributes to the injection of some essential minerals and fatty essential acids. In fact, 100 g of pulp contains on average 293 mg of calcium, 2.31 mg of potassium, 96-118 mg of phosphor and alpha-linolenic acid (27 mg of acid per gram of dry product).
The characteristic sourish taste of the pulp is due to the presence of organic acids, such as citric acid, tartaric acid, malic acid and succinic acid.
Owing to the nutritional properties described above, when soaking the fruit pulp in water a thirst-quenching, refreshing and nutritious drink is obtained.

Dietary fibres of Baobab fruit pulp

Baobab fruit pulp supplies a quantity of soluble (22.54%) and insoluble (22.04%) fibres which can reach up to about 45 grams per 100 grams of product. Dietary fibre has by now been established as an important component of our diet, as it can affect manifold aspects of the digestive physiology. Frequent consumption of dietary fibre associated with a diet rich in vegetables, cereals and fruit has been related to a reduction of the risk of onset of neoplasia of the digestive system, in particular colon-rectal cancer. The intake of dietary fibres by the Italian population is on average 21 g/day (of which about 1/3 soluble) with variations ranging between 18 g/day in the northern regions and 22 g/day in the central-southern regions. The ideal level of dietary fibre intake has not been defined, but it is now commonly accepted that fibres are an essential part of a healthy and balanced diet. A diet of foods rich in fibres has also been related to a reduction in the risk of developing various organic disorders, such as constipation and overweight. Insoluble fibres are not assimilated by the intestine and improve the intestinal passage thanks to their ability to increase the faecal mass and stimulate peristalsis. They are mainly used to combat constipation and induce a sense of fullness, which can be exploited in a low-calorie diet. Moreover, Baobab fruit pulp due to its high fibre content (soluble and insoluble) would appear to have interesting properties, at least in vitro, for stimulating growth of bacterial cultures of the intestinal microflora.

The studies carried out on the soluble fibres contained in Baobab fruit pulp, allow hypothesizing their use as prebiotic, i.e. an indigestible dietary ingredient which on the level of the large intestine selectively stimulates the growth and/or metabolic activity of a limited number of microbic groups, important for maintaining the various functions of the human organism.
Studies carried out highlight that the water-soluble fraction of the fruit pulp has stimulating effects on the growth of lactobacilli and bifidumbacteria, such as:

Bifidobacterium bifidum A3,
Bifidobacterium longum type,
Bifidobacterium infantis type,
Bifidobacterium bifidum B16.

The functional prebiotic activity of the bacteria determines:

• Improvement of the intestinal microflora balance;
• Improvement of lactose digestion;
• Prevention of diarrhoea;
• Immunostimulating activity.(Ask via mail the results)

Nutraceutic properties of Baobab fruit pulp

Anti-inflammatory, painkilling and febrifugal properties

Studies were carried out in the laboratory with the aim of analysing the biological activity of the aqueous lyophilised extract of Baobab fruit pulp. The studies conducted showed that doses between 400 and 800 mg/kg determine a marked anti-inflammatory effect and are able to reduce inflammation induced in the limb with formalin. The effect is comparable with that expounded when using a dose of phenylbutazone of 15 mg/kg used as standard. This activity may be attributed to the presence of sterols, saponins and triterpenes in the aqueous extract. Administration of 800 mg/kg of extract to mice also showed the appearance of a painkilling and febrifugal activity comparable with use of 50 mg/kg of acetylsalicylic acid taken orally. These results justify the widespread use of this plant in popular medicine as painkiller and febrifuge.

Antidiarrhoeal properties

The typical diet of indigenous African populations, in particular children, is characterised by a low-calorie, low-protein vegetable and floury diet, lacking milk, and may potentially lead to rickets and cause organic disorders such as diarrhoea and/or dysentery. The particularity of Baobab fruit pulp is that it is effective against diarrhoea. Appropriately used, it is able to act against this disorder so widely present in African countries. A study conducted on 160 children with an average age of about eight months, reports that an aqueous dispersion of Baobab fruit pulp has significant advantages compared to the traditional “WHO solution” (World Health Organization) used for rehydrating children suffering from diarrhoea. The important constituents for this activity seem to be the tannins (astringent), mucilage (wetting), cellulose, citric acid and other typical components in the fruit pulp. Another way the fruit pulp has been used in the treatment of diarrhoea and dysentery is by preparing decoctions or soaking the pulp in milk, which is then taken orally.

Parasiticidal activity

In the state of Bauchi in Nigeria, the Dracunculus medinensis or Guinea worm is hyperendemic. A study conducted in the field of human medicine demonstrated that patients treated with Adansonia digitata applied externally felt pain relief, and that the expulsion process of Guinea worms together with healing of the sore was accelerated.

Antimycotic, antiviral and antimicrobic activity

In a study conducted on the antimycotic activity of some medicinal plant extracts, it was highlighted that the methanol extract of Adansonia digitata performs an antifungal activity against Microsporum canis, Epidermophiton floccosum and Tricophiton rubrum.
It also proved to be a source rich in substances which perform antiviral activities (Herpex simplex 1 & 2, Vesicular stomatitis and Poliovirus) and antimicrobic activities (Streptococcus pyogenes, Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Bacillus cereus and Candida albicans).

Antioxidant activity

Recent studies have shown that the leaf and the fruit of the Baobab have a marked antioxidant activity, both water-soluble and fat-soluble, preventing and combating the formation of free radicals. Download the Article published on Acta Phy., 2002, from Ambrosialab webSite