For those who live far away from Africa must thought this continent is unreachable and only consisting of plain desert and elephants. Well, if you are one of those people and then you thought wrong because Africa is so extensive and in some ways are gifted with both exotic animals and plants. So, you will be surprised about the list of African fruits and the health benefits because most of those fruits are only able to be found in Africa and not something you could find in the nearby grocery.
Miracle Fruit
When you firstly bite miracle fruit, the first flavor you will taste is sour but the longer you chew it the sweeter it becomes. That’s why this fruit is well known as miracle fruit aside from the fact that this fruit also contains some miracle properties. This fruit is originated from West Africa.
There are some intensive studies have been conducted since this fruit is loaded with important nutrients like vitamin C, vitamin K and some powerful antioxidants. When it comes to the health benefits of miracle fruit, the list could be endless and among those are anti-inflammatory properties and beneficial for diabetic patients.
African Mango
African mango is originated from Cameroon, Africa. The appearance and flavor of African mango is not really different with the common mango you know but the color of the peel is the shades of yellow to red.
There are a lot of health benefits of African mango but since the first time introduced to the world outside Africa continent, this fruit has become one of the most recommended fruits for weight loss. Due to its rich of minerals, African mango is highly recommended for mothers during pregnancy because it is rich of vitamin C that could help optimizing nutrient absorption and by those who have anemia issue because it is
Baobab Fruit
Baobab fruit is fruit from baobab tree that is native to Africa continent though the variety of this fruit also found in Australia. The baobab fruit has hard outer shell like coconut but a bit smaller in size while the flesh inside tastes really sweet almost similar to pear flavor.
Baobab fruit is so rich of vitamin C and excellent source of antioxidants. Some studies showed that antioxidants found in baobab fruit is six time more powerful than blueberry. A lot of people are consuming this fruit for the sake of the health benefits of baobab fruit especially those who have problem with this digestion since this fruit is so rich of dietary fiber.
Xylopia Aethiopica
Xylopia aethiopica is one of the herbal plants originated from Africa. This plant has been well known as traditional remedy by the locals for thousands of years and recently studied to be added as part of modern medication. The medicinal properties found in fruit of this plant is also one of the reasons why this plant is cultivated.
Due to its inflammatory properties, the fruit of Xylopia aethiopica has been used to treat bronchitis in the form of decoction, rheumatism and toothaches. It is only one of the health benefits of xylopia aethiopica because more studies showed that the fruit of this tree is excellent solution to dysenteric condition and asthma.
Shea Fruit
Shea fruit is the main ingredients of shea butter, one of the well known cosmetic ingredients. The shea butter is derived from the nut of shea fruit and one the health benefits of shea butter is promoting healthy skin. Though the fruit is edible but it is not typical thing you could find in dinner table unless you were in Africa where this fruit comes from because the African use shea butter as cooking oil.
As rich of fatty oil, shea butter derived from shea fruit has been used as natural skin moisturizer, skin sun block and treatment to dry skin. For skin face, shea butter is also effective to treat conditions like acnes, wrinkles caused by premature aging, eye bags even dark spot. Besides for skin, there are also a lot of health benefits of shea butter for hair that you should aware of.
African Cherry Orange
One more fruit from citrus family that originated from Africa that you should know, it is African cherry orange. The flavor and the appearance of African cherry orange is really similar to tangerine though it is quite smaller in size which is only about 2 – 3 centimeters long, that is why the name cherry comes from because this orange is taste like truly orange but appear in cherry-like size.
If the list of health benefits of tangerine impresses you, it goes the same with African cherry orange. The locals call this fruit as omuboro and this fruit has been used as herbal medicine since ancient time. Due to its antioxidant properties African cherry orange is used to treat several skin conditions, manage diabetes and promote healthy cell regeneration.
Bitter Kola Fruit
Bitter kola is a flowering plant from the family of Guttiferae or Clusiaceaewith scientific name Garcinia kola. This plant is considered to be important for some tribes in Nigeria due to its medicinal properties used in traditional remedy. Originated from Africa, this plant could be found in almost every regions of Africa like Benin, Cameroon, Congo, Gabon, Ghana and Nigeria.
According to the locals, bitter kola has been used as medicines since ancient time to treat conditions like cough and fever. All of the parts of the plant could be used as medicine like leaves, bark, fruit and seed but the most important part is the fruit where the seed is found. Bitter kola is the source of some vitamins and minerals like vitamin A and C, calcium and potassium. The most well know health benefits of bitter kola fruit is this fruit could help increasing those who have problem with low libido to improve sexual performance