Baobab

Fever with thirst and watery diarrhea in a hot climate, especially useful for children who will readily drink the sour-sweet pulp infusion

Chronic low-grade fatigue with poor appetite during convalescence, where the nutrient-dense pulp is used as a gentle restorative food-medicine

Overview. Adansonia digitata, the African baobab, is one of the most recognizable trees of the African savanna, prized for its enormous swollen trunk and long lifespan. The fruit pulp, leaves, seeds, and bark have all been used medicinally and as food across sub-Saharan Africa for centuries, and the dried fruit pulp was later taken up by nineteenth century eclectic physicians as a cooling, mildly astringent remedy for fevers and diarrhea, sometimes offered as a milder substitute for cinchona bark preparations.

Clinical Notes. The dried, powdery fruit pulp is the part most reached for today. Stirred into water it makes a pleasantly sour, slightly effervescent drink that was traditionally given to feverish patients, particularly children, both to cool the fever and to settle accompanying diarrhea.

Conservation. Baobab populations are generally stable and the tree is long lived, but wild harvesting pressure and habitat loss are monitored in some regions; sustainably wild-harvested or cultivated fruit pulp is preferred.