Baobab domestication

[Pattock]

Two scientists at Ho University in Ghana have published a paper on their first steps in helping make the baobab a more useful domesticated crop.

The baobab has recalcitrant seeds that are difficult to germinate. They found concentrated sulphuric acid was effective for breaking dormancy.

The baobab in the wild will not produce flowers until after 14 to 27 years of growth. By taking scions from mature, fruiting trees and grafting them onto seedlings, they reduced that time to only 2 years and 4 months from sowing.

The baobab has a great amount of variation across its huge range. Using grafting will enable selection of good varieties for yield, flavour, resistance to drought and nutrition.

The fruit has a certain amount of demand as a premium product in Europe and the USA, promoted as a superfood. I have tasted the dried powder and was not impressed, it was drinkable when mixed with water.

The fruit is often being harvested from the wild. Clearly, domestication would not only be an economic benefit to the growers but will take the pressure off the wild plants, the local people who eat the fruit and use other parts of the plant and the wildlife that the trees support.

https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101 ... 1.full.pdf

https://www.gna.org.gh/1.21025309

[fero]

Very interesting. I know that it is considered a sacred tree, and in the Gambia people don't plant it, It has to self seed. its seeds and pulp are made into a drink for all kinds of ailments especially stomach problems and is high in vitamin C. I have tried it not very palatable.