- Balanites aegyptiaca
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Balanites aegyptiaca 
Scientific classification Kingdom: Plantae (unranked): Angiosperms (unranked): Eudicots (unranked): Rosids Order: Zygophyllales Family: Zygophyllaceae Genus: Balanites Species: B. aegyptiaca Binomial name Balanites aegyptiaca
(L.) Delile, 1812Synonyms Ximenia aegyptiaca L.
Balanites aegyptiaca is a species of tree, classified either as a member of the Zygophyllaceae or the Balanitaceae.[1] This tree is native to much of Africa and parts of the Middle East.[2]
There are many common names for this plant.[3] In English the fruit has been called desert date; in Arabic it is known as lalob, hidjihi, and heglig. In Hausa it is called aduwa, in Swahili mduguyu,[4] and in Amharic bedena.[5]
Contents
Distribution
Balanites aegyptiaca is one of the most common trees in Senegal.[6] It can be found in many kinds of habitat, tolerating a wide variety of soil types, from sand to heavy clay, and climatic moisture levels, from arid to subhumid.[7] It is relatively tolerant of flooding, livestock activity, and wildfire.[7]
Description
The Balanites aegyptiaca tree reaches 10 m (33 ft) in height with a generally narrow form. The branches are thorny. The dark green compound leaves are made up of two leaflets which are variable in size and shape.[8]
The tree produces several forms of inflorescence bearing yellow-green bisexual flowers which exude nectar.[6] In Senegal, they are pollinated by halictid bees, including Halictus gibber, and flies, including Rhinia apicalis and Chrysomia chloropiza.[6] The carpenter ant Camponotus sericeus feeds on the nectar.[6] The larva of the cabbage tree emperor moth Bunaea alcinoe causes defoliation of the tree.[7]
Cultivation
Food
The yellow, single-seeded fruit is edible, but bitter.[7] Many parts of the plant are used as famine foods in Africa; the leaves are eaten raw or cooked, the oily seed is boiled to make it less bitter and eaten mixed with sorghum, and the flowers can be eaten.[3] The tree is considered valuable in arid regions because it produces fruit even in dry times.[7] The fruit can be fermented for alcoholic beverages.[8]
The seed contains 30-40% seed oil and contains the sapogenins diosgenin and yamogenin.[9] Diosgenin can be used to produce hormones such as those in combined oral contraceptive pills and corticoids.[6] The oil is used as cooking oil.[6]
The seed cake remaining after the oil is extracted is commonly used as animal fodder in Africa.[8] The seeds of the Balanites aegyptiaca have molluscicide effect on Biomphalaria pfeifferi.[10]
Medicinal
Medicinal uses of this plant are many. The fruit is mixed into porridge and eaten by nursing mothers, and the oil is consumed for headache and to improve lactation.[3] Bark extracts and the fruit repel snails and copepods, organisms that host the parasites schistosome and guinea worm, respectively.[9]
Agroforestry
The tree is managed through agroforestry. It is planted along irrigation canals and it is used to attract insects for trapping.[7] The pale to brownish yellow wood is used to make furniture and durable items such as tools, and it is a low-smoke firewood and good charcoal.[7][8] The smaller trees and branches are used as living or cut fences because they are resilient and thorny.[7][8][9] The tree fixes nitrogen.[7] It is grown for its fruit in plantations in several areas.[8] The bark yields fibers, the natural gums from the branches are used as glue, and the seeds have been used to make jewelry and beads.[8]
References
- ^ Aluka Species Profile
- ^ "Balanites aegyptiacus (L.) Delile". Germplasm Resources Information Network. United States Department of Agriculture. 2008-04-03. http://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/html/taxon.pl?6322. Retrieved 2009-10-02.
- ^ a b c Purdue Horticulture: Famine Foods
- ^ [1]
- ^ Yves Guinand and Dechassa Lemessa, "Wild-Food Plants in Southern Ethiopia: Reflections on the role of 'famine-foods' at a time of drought" UN-OCHA Report, March 2000 (accessed 15 January 2009)
- ^ a b c d e f Ndoye, M., et al. (2004). Reproductive biology in Balanites aegyptiaca (L.) Del., a semi-arid forest tree. African Journal of Biotechnology. 3:1 40-46.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Indigenous Multipurpose Trees of Tanzania
- ^ a b c d e f g World Agroforestry Centre
- ^ a b c International Agroforestry Resources
- ^ Hamidou T. H., Kabore H., Ouattara O., Ouédraogo S., Guissou I. P. & Sawadogo L. () "Efficacy of Balanites aegyptiaca(L.) DEL Balanitaceae as Anthelminthic and Molluscicid Used by Traditional Healers in Burkina Faso". International Conference on Emerging Infectious Diseases 2002. page 37. PDF
Categories:- Balanites
- Edible plants
- Energy crops
- Trees of Africa
- Flora of Northern Africa
- Flora of East Africa
- Flora of West Africa
- Flora of the Sahara
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