Bhopal: Do people of the capital Bhopal and other districts know what Mandu tamarind or Khorasani tamarind is? How does it look? The people of the capital Bhopal have got a wonderful opportunity to see this. This can be seen in the ongoing International Forest Fair in Bhopal. This is a rare tree. Concrete efforts are being made to conserve baobab trees with the mutual cooperation of Madhya Pradesh State Forest Research Institute and Madhya Pradesh State Biodiversity Board.
Its botanical name is Adansonia Digitata or African Baobab. It is the most widely spread tree species of the Baobab family. It is a native species of the African continent and the southern Arabian Peninsula i.e. Yemen Oman region. These are trees with a large round area. These are long lived trees.
History
The historic city of Mandu in Dhar district of Madhya Pradesh is the only place in India where baobab trees are in abundance. There are about 1000 to 1200 trees in the periphery of Mandu city. History mentions that the seeds of the Baobab tree were brought to Mandu by Afghan rulers or by Arab traders who came to Mandu around 1400 AD. Baobab tree is considered to be a special tree of Mandu, hence people also call it Mandu Tamarind. Baobab trees are also a source of income for the local people. Surprisingly, the number of these trees has decreased in recent times. Madhya Pradesh state government has taken concrete steps to conserve these trees.
According to scientific information, baobabs can live for a long time due to the ability of these trees to grow stems from time to time. Radiocarbon dating has shown that some trees are more than 2000 years old. Zimbabwe’s Pank Baobab was approximately 2,450 years old when it died in 2011, according to radiocarbon dating. It is considered to be the oldest angiosperm so far. Two other trees, Darslandboom in Namibia and Glencoe in South Africa, are estimated to be about 2000 years old. Another tree, known as Grootboom, was assessed after death to be 1275 years old.
What is Baobab like?
There is a Baobab tree inside the Golconda Fort in Hyderabad which is about 430 years old. African baobab is a tree that often grows alone. They grow from five to 25 metres. Their stem is usually very wide and curved or cylindrical. Often it is wide and spread out in shape. Its stems can be 10 to 14 meters in diameter. Its bark is brown in color and usually smooth. Thin bark emerges in summer. The main branches can be huge. The flowers are large white and hanging. The buds are round with a conical tip. The flowers are showy and sometimes occur in pairs but are usually single and sometimes in pairs at the end of hanging denticles about 15 to 90 cm long.
All trees produce large round hard fruits that can be up to 25 centimeters long with a woody outer covering. The shells of the fruit are 6 to 10 millimeters thick. Baobab fruits are variable in size. Can range from round to cylindrical. Inside the fruit there is a fleshy light pink pulp. As it dries, the pulp hardens and forms a seed coat, which turns into powder when crushed. This powder is sour in taste.
Baobab is known by many names. There are some facts associated with each name. Its common names are monkey bread tree, upside down tree and cream of tartar etc. In the fifteenth century, Sultan Alauddin Khilji of Mandu was gifted some talking parrots and baobab plants by the Sultan of Khorasan in Afghanistan. Since it was brought from Khorasan and its fruit pulp is sour like tamarind, it is called Khorasani tamarind. Baobab tree is considered to be a special tree of Mandu. That’s why many people also call it Mandu Tamarind. Many people also call it Gorakh tamarind.
Baobab is bottle shaped and has a wide trunk which becomes narrower as it moves upwards. It seems as if a tree is planted upside down, hence it is also called an upside down tree. Inside its vastness and thickness of the stem is the shell. According to the folk tales of Gujarat, its large shell was used to hide stolen goods, hence it is also called Chorambalo there.
Shopkeepers in Mandu area sell its fruits as souvenirs. It gets a good price according to its size. One fruit is sold for up to Rs 200. Apart from this, its pulp is sold separately for Rs 10 to 25 per packet. Baobab is a traditional food plant of Africa. It is rarely found elsewhere. It is a rich source of Vitamin C. It contains abundant amounts of antioxidants. It is used in the treatment of stomach related disorders.
