US market to see more natural baobab for use in cosmetics, food

A Canadian and an African company are set to tap the emerging market for baobab ingredients for use in cosmetic and functional food applications. The two firms recently teamed up to market the ingredient in North America.

The ingredients, derived from the African baobab tree and its fruit, contain naturally occurring vitamins and nutrients including riboflavin, niacin and vitamins C, A, D and E.

The seed oil, leaves and bark can be used in the cosmetics industry to make creams, masks, shampoos, conditioners, lotions and exfoliants.

The pulp is also reported to be prebiotic and stimulate the intestinal microflora, which has contributed to the ingredient's increasing popularity in functional food applications, including beverages, sauces, snack bars and breakfast cereals, as well as dietary supplements.

Senegal's Baobab Fruit Company claims to be the largest global harvester and producer of baobab ingredients. The African firm, which began by designing equipment capable of extracting raw materials from the tree in 1999, has recently joined forces with Canadian company BaobabTek, which is to market the ingredient in North America.

Also known as the 'tree of life', the baobab tree has traditionally provided the native population with food and medicine, and is used to help treat fever, diarrhea, dysentery, malaria, smallpox, and inflammation.

The tree bears fruit once a year. This contains naturally dehydrated fruit pulp, which contains six times the vitamin C present in oranges, as well as vitamins A, B1, B2, B6 and PP. Minerals present include calcium, phosphorus, potassium, iron, sodium, zinc and magnesium. The seed endocarp is also said to contain naturally occurring omega 3, 6 and 9.

BaobabTek, which aims to supply the cosmetic, food, nutraceutical and pharmaceutical industries with natural raw materials from the baobab tree, also claims to be helping to enhance the economic development of certain villages in Africa, through sourcing the ingredient as a by-product.

Products containing baobab ingredients are currently already available in Italy, France, Switzerland, Spain, the UK, Canada and the US.

BaobabTek said it is currently seeking partners and distributors to make this ingredient available and better known to the public in the North and South American markets.

Baobab For Metabolic Functions

Baobab as a Super Food contains dietary fibers, a diet rich fruit, vegetables and dietary fibers has been related to a reduction in the risk of colon-rectal cancer, constipation and obesity.

Out of Africa: Novel botanicals enter market

Functional food and beverage makers could soon be turning to Africa for more and more novel plant extracts, Vitafoods attendees heard yesterday.

While some extracts, like Devil's claw, honeybush, and rooibus extracts are currently available in Europe and elsewhere, novel products like extracts from the iconic baobab tree could be hitting European shelves sooner rather than later.

The southern Africa natural products trade association, PhytoTrade Africa, in collaboration with South African company, Afriplex, look set to introduce baobab fruit pulp products to industry.

Negotiations with several European companies are on-going, and Donnie Malherbe, Afriplex's operations director, told NutraIngredients.com that he expects baobab-containing products to be available in Europe "within the next year."

"We've been working for some time with Afriplex on the baobab fruit," explained Cyril Lombard, market development manager, PhytoTrade Africa. "With its long history of safe and traditional use on the continent, this is one of Africa's most exciting species.

Its nutritional profile and properties, as well as its inherent market appeal, make it an interesting novel ingredient for the food and beverage industry. Through this partnership, we will shortly be able to offer baobab fruit pulp to industry in a range of qualities and formats," said Lombard.

Dr Joerg Gruenwald from Germany-based Analyze and Realize told a packed auditorium at Geneva's PalExpo centre that the fruit pulp of the baobab has an atioxidant activity about four times that of kiwi or apple pulp.
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The fruit has a "good and long track record [of safety] amongst indiginous populations," said Malherbe, and was used in ancient Egypt as a treatment of fevers, dysentery and blood wounds.

The main nutrients include vitamin C, riboflavin, niacin, pectin and citric, malic and succinic acids, while the oil also contains the vitamins A, D and E.

As if a wealth of nutrients wasn't sufficient, the pulp is also reported to be prebiotic and stimulate the intestinal microflora.

Possible applications as a functional ingredient range from beverages, jams, sauces, snack bars and breakfast cereals, as well as in dietary supplements, said Gruenwald.

Although the baobab fruits are to be wild-harvested, concerns about sustainability are unfounded. "The volumes are there," said Malherbe. Indeed, Gruenwald told attendees that sustainable harvest could yield as much as 900,000 tonnes per year.

Accreditation as a novel ingredient in Europe is coming this summer, said a PhytoTrade Africa source, with demand already "huge".

Afriplex and PhytoTrade Africa are also collaborating on Kigelia africana, the African sausage tree, which has been interesting both nutraceutical and cosmetic industries.