THE BAOBAB AND ITS HEALTH BENEFIT

Garba, U¹, Halilu, A. A², Achida, M.B³., Boyi, M.Y¹ and Aminu Shehu⁵

¹ Department of Chemistry Shehu Shagari college of Education Sokoto.

²Department of Chemistry Zamfara State College of Education, Maru

⁵Deparment of Physics Shehu Shagari college of education, Sokoto

³Shehu Shagari Staff Secondary School, Sokoto.

Email: umar.g4000@gmail.com

ABSTRACT

Baobab is the most wide spread of Adansonia specie and is native to African continent. The generic name honors Michael Adason, the French naturalist and explorer who describe Adansonia digitata. All baobab trees are deciduous, losing their leaves in the dry season and remain leafless for nine months of the years. They can grow to between 5-25m (16-82 ft) in height. They are in fact known both for their height and trunk’s girth. The trunk tends to be bottle-shaped and can reach a diameter of 10-14m(33-46ft). The Adansonia digitata (baobab) was bought from Sokoto state central market. The fruit (seed and pulp) were analyzed for proximate and mineral composition using AOAC (2003) method. The moisture content of baobab seed and pulp were found to be 8.0 ± 0.52 and 14.0 ± 0.52, the ash content 6.5 ± 0.52 for the seed and 5.5 ± 0.52 for the pulp, the % lipid; pulp contains 1.5 and seed was found to contain 8.5. The fiber in pulp was found to be trace and 1.5 in seed. The nitrogen free in pulp was found to be0.294 and in seed found to be 1.624. the % crude proteins in pulp was also found to be 1.84 and in seed was found to be 10.15. the % carbohydrate (CHO) in pulp was found to be 77.16 and that of sees found to be 65.35 respectively. For the minerals analysis, sodium (Na) in pulp was found to be 72.5mg/kg and in seed 87.5mg/kg, potassium in baobab pulp found to be 5500mg/kg and in seed found to be 3500mg/kg. calcium content was found to be 0.45mg/kg in pulp and 0.55mg/kg in seed, magnesium content was found to be  1.30mg/kg in  baobab pulp and 1.90mg/kg in seed and finally phosphorus content in baobab pulp was found to be 5.26mg/kg and that of baobab seed found to be 8.11mg/kg respectively.  The plant has many health benefits which include; anti-inflammatory, anti-diarrhea, antioxidant, antiviral, control of blood sugar, absorption of iron, anti-fever among other.