Abstract
THE Hausa-speaking farmers and Fulani cattle owners who live in the savannah regions of Northern Nigeria make free use of the leaves and fruit of the baobab tree (Adansonia digitata Linn.). The leaves, either fresh or dried and pulverized, are used in the soup which is poured over the dish of porridge made from guineacorn (sorghum) or millet (pennisetum and eleusine) flour. During the season while the fruit of the tree is ripe, from February to April depending on the latitude, the pulp is removed from the fibres and seeds by kneading in cold water and then passing the emulsion through a sieve. The resulting white or whitish-yellow fluid (Hausa—gubdi) is used by the farmers to dilute the thick guineacorn dough (fura) to a thin gruel (kunu), which is the traditional morning or midday meal. The cattle-owning Fulani use the emulsion to adulterate milk. This milk and baobab fruit juice mixture is a popular drink with the Hausa farmer, and is available, if he has money to buy it, at a hot time of the year when new farms are being cleared, or hoeing of old farms is taking place, preparatory to sowing. The kernels of the seeds are used to make into a cake for flavouring soup.
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References
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NICOL, B. Ascorbic Acid Content of Baobab Fruit. Nature 180, 287 (1957). https://doi.org/10.1038/180287a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/180287a0
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