Boabab - The new African 'superfruit'

At Fruit for the Office, we’re always on the look out for that new superfruit that’s hitting the shelves. Early this month, the baobab fruit saw its sales rise by 1600 percent in the UK which makes us ask – what is it and why has it become so popular?

It might not look like the most appetising fruit in the world but baobab has triple the amount of vitamin C found in an orange and is bursting with antioxidants. No wonder eager fruit-lovers are snapping it up because it’s also said to improve your energy levels and skin.

You’ll also find plenty of other nutrients in this superfruit including thiamine, potassium, vitamin B6 and calcium, so you can count on consuming more than enough of the good stuff in one serving.

Potassium can play a key role in lowering blood pressure, calcium is good for the bones and digestive system, and the polyphenols are said to help combat diseases such as cancer and type 2 diabetes.

Yet, with all these nutrients and health benefits, you might not expect baobab to taste that great. However, the taste has been described as a combination of pineapple and melon, which doesn’t sound too bad at all to us!

So, where is it from? How does it grow? The baobab fruit is grown in over thirty countries in Africa and carries a sentimental meaning as well as all that goodness because the baobab tree has been seen as a source of natural well being by local communities, acknowledged to benefit general health.

The fruit is unique in how it grows too because it dries on the branch before being harvested where then the seeds are taken out and made into a powder which is very popular as a substitute for sugar and in juices or smoothies.

Given all this fruits healthy benefits, we might just be seeing more of it in the future.