Sclerocarya birrea
The Mupfura or Marula tree grows throughout sub-Saharan Africa, from West Africa to Madagascar. There is evidence it spread with the bantu migrations, and it has been domesticated for centuries. They have been consumed for over 12,000 years. The archaeological evidence found in one location - Pomongwe Cave in Zimbabwe - amounts to over 24 million fruits eaten on site.
Description
It is a medium sized (up to 18 m tall), single stemmed tree with a wide spreading crown. It is characterised by a grey mottled bark. It is mostly found in low altitudes and open woodlands. It is indigenous to miombo woodlands.
The light yellow skinned, white fleshed fruits ripen between December and March. They fall when unripe and still green, and ripen to a yellow colour on the ground. The fruits are succulent and tart with a strong and distinctive flavour, and usually have a single seed in them. These stones, when dry, are also edible. The trees are dioecious, having male and female trees. One known tree in Pretoria produces one ton of fruit annually!
Sclerocarya birrea is divided into three subspecies: subsp. birrea, subsp. caffra and subsp. multifoliolata. These subspecies are differentiated by changes in leaf shape and size. They also grow in different areas in Africa. Subsp. birrea is found in northern Africa, subsp. caffra is found in southern Africa, and subsp. multifoliolata is only found in Tanzania. The leaves are alternate, compound, and imparipinnately divided. The leaflet shapes range from round to elliptical.
Sclerocarya birrea comes from Ancient Greek, skleros = hard, karyon = nut, and birrea from the common name 'birr', for this type of tree in Senegal.
The marula belongs to the same family Anacardiaceae as the mango, cashew, pistachio and sumac. Local names include:
Other common names include:
- jelly plum
- cat thorn
- morula
- cider tree
- maroola nut/plum
- maroela (Afrikaans)
The marula tree is protected in South Africa.
Uses
The fruit is used for food. They are high in vitamin C (protection against scurvy) and potassium, calcium and magnesium.
The fruit juice and pulp are mixed with water and stored and fermented to make marula beer.
A treatment for diarrhea, dysentery, rheumatism and the ill effects of insect bites is derived from the astringent bark.
A treatment from the leaves is used in healing spider bites, burns and abscesses.
The fruit is used to make Amarula, a cream liqueur and also sold as a frozen puree used in juice blends.
Virgin marula oil extracted from the kernels is rich in antioxidants and oleic acid and rivals olive oil for cooking. Marula oil is used as an ingredient in cosmetics to enhance healthy skin.
While the fruit (and tree) is commonly eaten by elephants and most animals, they would need a huge amount of fermented marulas to have any effect on them, and other animals prefer the ripe fruit.
Study
A project, started in 2010, provides income to a group of women from Natane area who harvest and process amarula to produce oil, jam and peanut butter. The group buys a cup of marula seed for $1 and then uses an oil pressing machine to produce oil. About 10 litres of oil is produced per week which they sell to pharmacists and other customers locally, in South Africa, Botswana and the UK. They package the marula oil in small 50ml or 100ml bottles which they sell for $3 and $6 respectively generating income for themselves. They are also making marula jam, oil and peanut butter and when sold, they make money to buy food, send children to school and to buy goats and cattle.
The group is the epitome of success in terms of how marula tree and fruit utilisation can help to uplift local communities from poverty to improved livelihoods characterised by hope and local enterprise. When local communities in Bulilima benefit from sustainable harvesting of marula fruits, it not only helps the poor to fight poverty and hunger but it also helps fight climate change, desertification, and deforestation. A dollar earned from marula fruit gives them a reason not to destroy their forests. It’s conservation through use. [1]
Further Reading
- ↑ Marula trees fight poverty in Bulilima district, The Chronicle, Published 5 February 2018, Retrieved: 18 August 2020
- ↑ Wikipedia, Wikipedia, Retrieved: 18 August 2020
- ↑ Wikipedia, Wikipedia, Retrieved: 18 August 2020
- ↑ Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine, Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine, Retrieved: 18 August 2020
- ↑ Zimbabwe Flora, Sclerocarya caffra, Zimbabwe Flora, Sclerocarya caffra, Retrieved: 18 August 2020
- ↑ Flora, Sclerocarya caffra, Flora, Sclerocarya caffra, Retrieved: 18 August 2020
