ACACIA FRUIT(DRY)[ACACIA NILOTICA]

Listing description

 A small to medium tree, 7 to 13 m tall, with a stem diameter of 20 to 30 cm. The crown is low, spreading and almost symmetrical, and can be flattened or a rounded umbrella-shape (in free standing specimens). The bark is very dark brown to black with deep regular vertical grooves in older specimens. The thorns are almost straight, paired at the nodes of the stem and usually pointing slightly backwards.

Detailed description

Common name: 

acacia, Egyptian mimosa, Egyptian thorn, red thorn. Babool, babul (in India). Burkill gives at least 129 different names for this plant as a whole or for the fruit and seeds.

Leaves: The leaves are bipinnate, 4.5 to 7 cm long, with 2 to 14 pairs of pinnae. The leaflets are 1.5 to 7 mm long. The trees generally lose their leaves during the dry season, though riverine subspecies can be almost evergreen.
Flowers: The flowers are bright yellow and borne on globe-shaped flower heads. The flowers are sweetly scented and appear near the beginning of the rainy season. Flowering is prolific, and can occur a number of times in a season. Often only about 0.1% of flowers set pods.
Fruits: The nutritious pods retain their seeds at maturity and are dispersed by animals. The pods are compressed, slightly curved, and vary from slightly constricted to almost rosary-like (like a string of beads). The pods are smooth or covered with fine hairs. A mature tree can produce 2,000 to 3,000 pods in a good fruiting season, each with eight to sixteen seeds, yielding 5,000 to 16,000 seeds per kg, depending on the subspecies.

Uses

Medicinal

Acacia nilotica has a wealth of medicinal uses. It is used for stomach upset and pain, the bark is chewed to protect against scurvy, an infusion is taken for dysentery and diarrhoea. In Nigeria it is one of the standard drugs for treating diarrhoea. It has also been used to eliminate stomach worms, as an antiseptic for open wounds and as an expectorant for treating coughs. The species has also been used in veterinary medicine, for example as a molluscicide to reduce liver-flukes in cattle.

Gum

Gum is present in the bark and tends to be dark in colour. This species may indeed have been the original source of true gum arabic which is now obtained commercially from Senegalia senegal. The Acacia nilotica gum, samogh or samuk (arabic) is sold in balls and is commercially of inferior quality. It has been used as an emulsifying agent and emollient. It is edible and is used to relieve throat and chest complaints.

Other uses

The pods are desirable as fodder for cattle, and the leaves, young shoots and young pods are thought to aid milk production.
Acacia nilotica wood burns without too much smoke and provides good charcoal. The flowers provide pollen and nectar for bees. This species is suitable for live fencing, mine timber, railway sleepers, boat building, wheels, and water wells as its wood is durable and resistant to borers and termites.
The sap-wood and heart-wood was used in ancient Egypt for house beams, furniture, panelling and statues as it was regarded as impervious to insect and fungus attack. The bark contains tannins and has been used to preserve and soften leather. Phytochemical analysis has shown the presence of two types of tannin (gallotannins and catechins) which explain its therapeutic action as well as its use in tanning hides.
Babul (subspecies indica) is a popular farm tree of the central plains of India. More recently, interest has centred on the fastigiate form (subspecies cupressiformis). This subspecies makes an ideal windbreak to surround fields as its narrow crown shades less than other windbreak species.
In shamanism Acacia nilotica has been used to drive away evil spirits.

PRICE

$90/KG OR $40.90/KG

For more information:

mobile: +2348039721941

contact person: emeaba uche

e-mail: emeabau@yahoo.com

website: www.franchiseminerals.com

DATES OR DABINO

Listing description

Dates have been a staple food of the Middle East and the Indus Valley for thousands of years. They are believed to have originated around what is now Iraq, and have been cultivated since ancient times from Mesopotamia to prehistoric Egypt, possibly as early as 4000 BCE. The Ancient Egyptians used the fruits to make date wine, and ate them at harvest. There is archaeological evidence of date cultivation in eastern Arabia in 6000 BCE.

Detailed description

There is also archeological evidence of date cultivation in Mehrgarh around 7000 BCE, a Neolithic civilization in what is now western Pakistan. Evidence of cultivation is continually found throughout later civilizations in the Indus Valley, including the Harappan period 2600 to 1900 BCE.^{[10][page needed]}

In later times, traders spread dates around South West Asia, northern Africa, and Spain. Dates were introduced into Mexico and California by the Spaniards in 1765, aroundMission San Ignacio.

A date palm cultivar, known as Judean date palm is renowned for its long-lived orthodox seed, which successfully sprouted after accidental storage for 2000 years. This particular seed is presently reputed to be the oldest viable seed but the upper survival time limit of properly stored seeds remains unknown.

Fossil records show that the date palm has existed for at least 50 million years.

Dates

The fruit is known as a date.^[14] The fruit's English name (through Old French), as well as the Latin species name dactylifera, both come from the Greek word for "finger", dáktulos, because of the fruit's elongated shape. Dates are oval-cylindrical, 3–7 cm long, and 2–3 cm (0.79–1.18 in) diameter, and when ripe, range from bright red to bright yellow in colour, depending on variety. Dates contain a single stoneabout 2–2.5 cm (0.79–0.98 in) long and 6–8 mm (0.24–0.31 in) thick. Three main cultivar groups of date exist: soft (e.g. 'Barhee', 'Halawy', 'Khadrawy', 'Medjool'), semi-dry (e.g. 'Dayri', 'Deglet Noor', 'Zahdi'), and dry (e.g. 'Thoory'). The type of fruit depends on the glucose,fructose and sucrose content.

The date palm is dioecious, having separate male and female plants. They can be easily grown from seed, but only 50 percent of seedlings will be female and hence fruit bearing, and dates from seedling plants are often smaller and of poorer quality. Most commercial plantations thus use cuttings of heavily cropping cultivars. Plants grown from cuttings will fruit 2–3 years earlier than seedling plants.

Dates are naturally wind pollinated but in both traditional oasis horticulture and in the modern commercial orchards they are entirely pollinated manually. Natural pollination occurs with about an equal number of male and female plants. However, with assistance, one male can pollinate up to 100 females. Since the males are of value only as pollinators, this allows the growers to use their resources for many more fruit producing female plants. Some growers do not even maintain any male plants as male flowers become available at local markets at pollination time. Manual pollination is done by skilled labourers on ladders. In some areas such as Iraq the pollinator climbs the tree using a special climbing tool that wraps around the tree trunk and the climber's back to keep him attached to the trunk while climbing. Less often the pollenmay be blown onto the female flowers by a wind machine.

Parthenocarpic cultivars are available but the seedless fruit is smaller and of lower quality.^{[citation needed]}

Dates ripen in four stages, which are known throughout the world by their Arabic names kimri (unripe),khlal (full-size, crunchy), rutab (ripe, soft), tamr (ripe, sun-dried).^{[citation needed]}

Dates are an important traditional crop in Iraq, Arabia, and north Africa west to Morocco. Dates are also mentioned more than 50 times in the Bible and 20 times in the Qur'an. In Islamic culture, dates and yogurt or milk are traditionally the first foods consumed for Iftar after the sun has set during Ramadan. Dates (especially Medjool and Deglet Noor) are also cultivated in America in southern California, Arizona and southern Florida in the United States and in Sonora and Baja California in Mexico.

Date palms can take 4 to 8 years after planting before they will bear fruit, and produce viable yields for commercial harvest between 7 to 10 years. Mature date palms can produce 68 to 176 kilograms (150 to 300 lb) of dates per harvest season, although they do not all ripen at the same time so several harvests are required. In order to get fruit of marketable quality, the bunches of dates must be thinned and bagged or covered before ripening so that the remaining fruits grow larger and are protected from weather and pests such as birds.

PRICE

$18.69/KG OR $8.49/IB

For more information:

mobile: +2348039721941

contact person: emeaba uche

e-mail: emeabau@yahoo.com

website: www.franchiseminerals.com

DATIL PEPPER FRUIT(FRESH)[CAPSICUM CHINENSE]

Listing description

The datil is an very hot pepper, a variety of the species Capsicum chinense (syn. Capsicum sinense). Datils are similar in strength to habaneros but have a sweeter, fruitier flavor.^{[citation needed]} Their level of spiciness may vary from 100,000 to 300,000 on the Scoville scale. Mature peppers are about 3.5 in long and yellow-orange in color.

Detailed description

Datil peppers are cultivated throughout the United States and elsewhere, but the majority are produced in St. Augustine, Florida.Many myths attempt to explain the origin of the Datil Pepper: some suggest the peppers were brought to St. Augustine by indentured workers from Minorca in the late 18th century, others posit that they were brought from Cuba around 1880 by a jelly maker named S. B. Valls.

Datil peppers are used by the Minorcan community in many recipes.

PRICE

$32.73/KG OR $14.87/IB

For more information:

mobile: +2348039721941

contact person: emeaba uche

e-mail: emeabau@yahoo.com

website: www.franchiseminerals.com

DESERT DATE OR ADUWA

Listing description

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, soap berry tree or bush, Thron tree, Egyptian myrobalan, Egyptian balsam or Zachum oil tree; in Arabic it is known as lalob, hidjihi, inteishit, and heglig (hijlij). In Hausa it is called aduwa, in Swahili mchunju and in Amharic bedena.

Detailed description

Balanites aegyptiaca is found in the Sahel-Savannah region across Africa. It is one of the most common trees in Senegal and Mauritania, one of its local names is teishit.^[6] 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.^[7] It is relatively tolerant of flooding, livestock activity, and wildfire.^[7]

Description

The Balanites aegyptiaca tree reaches 10 m (33 ft) in height with a generally narrow form. The branches have long, straight green spines arranged in spirals. The dark green compound leaves grow out of the base of the spines^[4] and are made up of two leaflets which are variable in size and shape.^[8] The fluted trunk has grayish-brown, ragged bark with yellow-green patches where it is shed.
The tree produces several forms of inflorescence bearing yellow-green bisexual flowers with five long greenish petals. In Senegal, they are pollinated by halictid bees, including Halictus gibber, and flies, including Rhinia apicalis and Chrysomia chloropiza.^[6] The carpenter ant Camponotus sericeus feeds on the nectar exuded by the flowers.^[6] The larva of the cabbage tree emperor moth Bunaea alcinoe causes defoliation of the tree.

Cultivation

Food

Balanites aegyptiaca has been cultivated in Egypt for more than 4000 years, and stones placed in the tombs as votive offerings have been found as far back as the Twelfth Dynasty. The tree was figured and described in 1592 by Prosper Alpinus under the name 'agihalid'. Linnaeus regarded it as a species of Ximenia, but Adanson proposed the new genus of Agialid. The genus Balanites was founded in 1813 by Delile.
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 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.
Where the species coexist, African elephants consume the desert date.

Medicinal

Desert date fruit is mixed into porridge and eaten by nursing mothers, and the oil is consumed for headache and to improve lactation. Oil from the fruit is used to dress
Bark extracts and the fruit repel or destroy freshwater snails and copepods, organisms that act as intermediary hosts host the parasites Schistosoma, including Bilharzia, and guinea worm, respectively. Existing worm infections are likewise treated with desert date, as are liver and spleen disorders. A decoction of the bark are also used as an Abortifacient and an antidote for arrow-poison in West African traditional medicine.
The seed contains 30-48% fixed (non-volatile) oil, like the leaves, fruit pulp, bark and roots, and contains the sapogenins diosgenin and yamogenin. Saponins likewise occur in the roots, bark wood and fruit. Diosgenin can be used to produce hormones such as those in combined oral contraceptive pills and corticoids.

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.

PRICE

$18.69/KG OR $8.49/IB

For more information:

mobile: +2348039721941

contact person: emeaba uche

e-mail: emeabau@yahoo.com

website: www.franchiseminerals.com