Levison Gombachika about Baobab
Levison Gombachika has travelled a long way from home. He comes from Chirimba, a township of Blantyre in Malawi. I meet him in Pretoria, South Africa, where he works as a manager in a guesthouse. He knows Baobabs and their fruit very well, since many of them grow in the region where he comes from – particularly around Lake Malawi and the Shire River area.
When he was visiting Malawi the last time he went to a local market. There he saw people who had produced juice from Baobab powder and sold it. He tasted the juice and found it quite tasty. He inquired about the recipe but the women on the market did not want to reveal their secret of how to make the Baobab fruit juice.
He remembers an easy recipe he particularly liked as a child because it tasted like a very good dessert to him. Levison took Baobab powder, mixed it with milk and added a little bit of sugar. The interesting flavour is a mixture of light sour and sweet because Baobab tends to taste like citrus fruit.
A very smart way in terms of reducing work load and to make a cool drink is to take the fruit powder including seeds directly from the fruit and dissolve it in milk. The seeds float in the milk and can be taken out easily. The beverage has the consistency of yogurt and tastes slightly sour.
A delicious breakfast porridge can be prepared with Baobab fruit powder as well. Take the porridge flakes and soak them in dissolved Baobab powder (either in milk or water), add some sugar and boil it.
But he remembers other uses of Baobab as well. Mats or ropes were made out of Baobab bark. The mats were used for sleeping. The ropes are very strong and well known for their tensile strength. Levison adds that Baobabs form a new layer of bark after it was removed.
The generation of his grandfather used parts of Baobab to treat diseases. In the morning a piece of bark was taken and soaked in water. In the afternoon the patient could be treated with it.
He finds it very interesting to hear that interest and attention for Baobab fruit and oil on the international market is growing because of their healthy contents and that both are even exported from Malawi. He saw a documentary on television about Marula the other day and how oil from the seeds is produced. He was reminded that plenty of Marula trees grow around Chirima, too.
The fruit are collected and eaten by children. Commercial use does not take place yet he says. The situation of Baobab fruit seems very similar. He sees a great potential for trade with both fruit for himself and others.
Very interesting but what illnesses do they treat with the fruits?
Hi Tobi, thanks for your inquiriy. Traditionally people in some areas treated diarrhea with giving fruit powder to patients. The fruit powder helps to regulate irritable tummies and is used by people suffering from irritable bowel syndrome. Since it has valuable ingredients, it boosts general health from the inside – it is useful for the skin. In case a person was malnurished and dehydrated he or she was given baobab powder to get back to good health and gain
weight. All the best for now – Heike
Varieties of juices can be made from different types of fruits. Some of the most commonly used fruits include orange, grapes, blackberry, aloe vera, pomegranate, chickoo, apple, strawberry, mango and so forth.
Thank you for the post, love this.
Thanks, Donald, yes – the baobab powder can be used as ingredient in many tasty combinations with other fruit, you are right! Kind regards, Heike
Good day this is matheus iiyambo from Namibia i am busy with making boabab juice but i fail to make it prefect can you assist me in this regard.
Thanks very much
Hi Matheus, I am sorry for the delay in my response – I am afraid that you have finished with making baobab juice by now. How would you like to have your baobab juice? The easiest way is to take a glass of water or milk and stir a table spoon full of the powder into it. If you’d like to have it as a sort of joghurt you need to take milk, add 1 table spoon of the powder and – if you like it sweet – some sugar, stir it until the powder dissolves and leave it for some hours or over night to allow it to thicken. That should be it. All the best to you! Kind regards, Heike
Hi sir,
Am in Zambia and I have interest in this business but I don’t know how to go about it like the machine I need, coz my area has plenty of this drink.
Dear Annie, thank you very much for getting in touch regarding baobab fruit drink. I am sorry but I neither buy nor sell baobab. I am a writer and I publish information on baobabs out of interest for the trees. Good luck with your business plans & all the best. Kind regards, Heike
I am also in Zimbabwe and i am interested in making this a business and export the baobab juice as well as the powder anyone interersted in the same or if you know who i can contact in that regards who can help please lets link up and share ideas to come up with a perfect product.You can contact me on my email below
samie.kays@gmail.com
Hi Sam, thank you for getting in touch. I am neither selling nor buying baobab – I write about the trees. You could try a company called B’ayoba in Harare. Kind regards, Heike
Get in touch with me on samie.kays@gmail.com
Hi Sam, see my answer below – kind regards, Heike