The Marura tree is one of the species of tree in Namibia and it is highly well known because of its mayor role that it is playing in:
ʜealthier
Œconomic
Œcology .
The Marula is a handsome, spreading tree of wooded savannah, and belongs to the mango [http:http://www.plantzafrica.com/plantqrs/sclerobirr](Anacardiaceae) family. It favours sandy soils in the warmer, eastern parts of the continent, where it may grow up to 15 metres in height.The tree is widespread in Zimbabwe at lower altitudes in warm dry areas on sandy soil. Male and female flowers appear on separate trees, growing in small stiff heads, dark red in bud, opening to pink, white and lilac lobes. The marula tree is a prolific bearer:between 0.2 and 1.5 metric tons of fruit per tree has been collected in one season in the wild. Mature fruit drops when still green and ripens to a yellow colour on the ground.[1]
marula oil contains a large proportion of monounsaturated fatty acids and natural antioxidants which make the oil very stable. The fatty acid composition of marula oil includes:
Although consumption of too mach fat can lead to diseases such as obesity and cardiouascular disease .On the other side is needed for the balance diet (nutrition)and can be essential to the human body in such way that fat can protect some dedicated organs in the body such as liver and kidney,it also provide a layer under the skin to generate warm when the body temperature is too low .
Tocopherols, sterols and flavonoids, with antioxidant action, procyanidin, galattotannin and catechins are also found in marula oil.
Marula oil has a clear, light yellow colour and a nutty aroma. It has a saponification value of approximately 188-199 and a specific gravity of 0.91-0.92 (at 15°C).
Traditional uses
The Tsonga people of South Africa and Mozambique have used the oil as a moisturising body lotion for women and also as a massage oil for babies. In the past, women used Marula oil rather than water to clean themselves.
Marula oil forms also an important part of people's diets, especially for people of the Inhambane Province in Mozambique, Owambo in north central Namibia, Northern KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa and the Zvishavane district of Zimbabwe. Furthermore, marula plays an important role in the diet of Bushmen and Bantu tribes. The Venda utilise the oil from the kernels to preserve meat, which enables it to last up to a year. Today, Marula oil is still considered a delicacy by local people, and is added to a wide variety of traditional and modern recipes.[3]
The Marula tree provide habits for many animals. Birds build their nest in this kind of trees and its easy for them to do so because this plants have leafs that are too close to each other,beside they fell more protected from their predators because this tree are taller enough.The marula trees are caterpillars` homes and they spend half of their lives in this tree especially during summer time when the plants recover their leaves fully and the whole tree is over green.Not to mention snakes they also like to stay within this tree and they can make their habits in the tree trunk.
[1]
Insects pollinate the flowers. Elephants, antelope, giraffe, zebra and many others browse the leaves. The tree bears a wealth of fruit for other living organisms, including humans. The larval stage of the beautiful green African moth Argema mimosae feeds on marula leaves.[4]
During summer time many women in the northern part of Namibia use to prepare the marula iiquer that takes two to three day to get ready to be consumed.The liquer is not only used for consumption by housemates but people can sell this liqeur so that they can earn money for themselves and their families. The wood is used for furniture, panelling, flooring, carvings and household utensils like spoons. The inner layer of bark makes a strong rope. Drums and yokes for certain animals are made from the wood of this tree. In Namibia some people use the wood for sledges. Boats are also made from the trunk. Red-brown dye can be produced from the fresh skin of the bark. The gum, which is rich in tannin, is mixed with soot & used as ink.
The fruit is edible, eaten either fresh or made into a delicious jelly. It also makes alcoholic beer known as Mukumbi by the Vhavenda people.The white nut is highly nutritious and is eaten as it is or mixed with vegetables. Fruit-farming communities prefer planting a couple of these trees to attract pollinators to their farm in early spring. [5]
){kind=link}