baobab Adansonia digitata, a broad, spreading tree with a thick, spongy trunk. It belongs to tropical Africa and bears fruits whose pulp is a popular food and seasoning. This is often called ‘monkey bread’. Another name, ‘cream of tartar tree’, refers to the whitish-yellow pulp of the fruit, which contains tartaric acid. Pastoral tribes use the pulp to sour milk. The fruit pulp is also remarkably rich in ascorbic acid.
Various kinds of porridge and gruel are also made, either from the seeds or the flesh of the fruit. The young shoots and leaves of the tree are eaten in soup or as a pot-herb.
