Dakar, Senegal - Costumes & Tree

Another part of their culture is their beautiful and colorful costumes that are worn every day. These colors and styles are not kept for special occasions but everyday dress when shopping and doing daily activities. Another interesting part of their culture is their dependence on each other and the baobab tree, Africa’s “Tree of Life”, an icon that represents the soul of Africa and the source of many remedies and folklore. We learned the baobab is a prehistoric species which predates both mankind and the splitting of the continents over 200 million years ago. Native to the African savannah (growing in 32 African countries and living up to 5,000 years) where the climate is extremely dry and arid, it is a symbol of life that has evolved and adapted in a landscape where little else can live. As a succulent, it absorbs and stores water in its vast trunk, enabling it to produce a nutrient-dense fruit in the dryer times. Also, due to their large size, Baobab trees provide shelter, food and water.

Baobab is the only fruit in the world that dries naturally on its branch. Instead of dropping and spoiling, it stays on the branch and bakes in the sun for 6 months - transforming its green velvety coating into a hard coconut-like shell. The pulp of the fruit dries out completely. This means the fruit simply needs to be harvested, deseeded and strained to produce a delicious pure fruit powder.

We found that every part of the baobab tree is valuable - the bark can be turned into rope and clothing, the seeds can be used to make cosmetic oils, the leaves are edible, the trunks can store water and the fruit is extraordinarily rich in nutrients and antioxidants. Also, women in Africa have turned to the baobab fruit as a natural source of health and beauty for centuries. Unlike many other supplements, baobab powder does not have to be spray-dried, freeze-dried or transformed in any way. It is 100% pure fruit in its natural form. Incredibly, the fruit has a natural shelf life of 3 years so there are no preservatives or additives whatsoever. Aduna Baobab Powder is one of the health and beauty world's best kept secrets. It is an extremely rich source of vitamin C, almost 50% fibre and has the highest antioxidant content of any whole fruit. The benefits of baobab include: energy release immune function, digestive health and healthy, younger-looking skin producing collagen.Read more