Balanites aegyptiaca

Balanites aegyptiaca
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
(unranked):	Angiosperms
(unranked):	Eudicots
(unranked):	Rosids
Order:	Zygophyllales
Family:	Zygophyllaceae
Genus:	Balanites
Species:	B. aegyptiaca
Binomial name
Balanites aegyptiaca (L.) Delile, 1812
Synonyms
Ximenia aegyptiaca L.

Balanites aegyptiaca is a species of tree, classified either as a member of the Zygophyllaceae or the Balanitaceae. This tree is native to much of Africa and parts of the Middle East.

There are many common names for this plant. In English the fruit has been called desert date; in Arabic it is known as lalob, hidjihi, and heglig. In Hausa it is called aduwa, in Swahili mduguyu, and in Amharic bedena.

Distribution

Balanites aegyptiaca is one of the most common trees in Senegal. It can be found in many kinds of habitat, tolerating a wide variety of soil types, from sand to heavy clay, and climatic moisture levels, from arid to subhumid. It is relatively tolerant of flooding, livestock activity, and wildfire.

Description

The Balanites aegyptiaca tree reaches 10 m (33 ft) in height with a generally narrow form. The branches are thorny. The dark green compound leaves are made up of two leaflets which are variable in size and shape.

The tree produces several forms of inflorescence bearing yellow-green bisexual flowers which exude nectar. In Senegal, they are pollinated by halictid bees, including Halictus gibber, and flies, including Rhinia apicalis and Chrysomia chloropiza. The carpenter ant Camponotus sericeus feeds on the nectar. The larva of the cabbage tree emperor moth Bunaea alcinoe causes defoliation of the tree.

Cultivation

Food

The yellow, single-seeded fruit is edible, but bitter. Many parts of the plant are used as famine foods in Africa; the leaves are eaten raw or cooked, the oily seed is boiled to make it less bitter and eaten mixed with sorghum, and the flowers can be eaten. The tree is considered valuable in arid regions because it produces fruit even in dry times. The fruit can be fermented for alcoholic beverages.

The seed contains 30-40% seed oil and contains the sapogenins diosgenin and yamogenin. Diosgenin can be used to produce hormones such as those in combined oral contraceptive pills and corticoids. The oil is used as cooking oil.

The seed cake remaining after the oil is extracted is commonly used as animal fodder in Africa. The seeds of the Balanites aegyptiaca have molluscicide effect on Biomphalaria pfeifferi.

Medicinal

Medicinal uses of this plant are many. The fruit is mixed into porridge and eaten by nursing mothers, and the oil is consumed for headache and to improve lactation. Bark extracts and the fruit repel snails and copepods, organisms that host the parasites schistosome and guinea worm, respectively.

Agroforestry

The tree is managed through agroforestry. It is planted along irrigation canals and it is used to attract insects for trapping. The pale to brownish yellow wood is used to make furniture and durable items such as tools, and it is a low-smoke firewood and good charcoal. The smaller trees and branches are used as living or cut fences because they are resilient and thorny. The tree fixes nitrogen. It is grown for its fruit in plantations in several areas. The bark yields fibers, the natural gums from the branches are used as glue, and the seeds have been used to make jewelry and beads.