Uses of Acacia Nilotica

The tall, feathery spread of the acacia nilotica tree is almost as synonymous with our mental picture of Africa as images of zebras and lions. Growing wild throughout the continent, this tree has served its people for centuries much the same way the buffalo was used by Native Americans. There is no part of the acacia nilotica that went to waste.

What is Acacia Nilotica?

• Acacia nilotica is tree a that grows naturally from Egypt south to Mozambique, and from Natal through to Burma, India and Pakistan. It is also cultivated in Australia and Zanzibar.

  The thorny trees are generally 5- to 20-meters (16- to 65-feet) tall. The branches and stems are dark, with long, fern-like leaves and long seed-pods that look like exaggerated pea pods. The trees contain a low-quality, red-colored gum. Blossoms are round and golden-yellow in color. In its native habitat, acacia nilotica (also called Egyptian thorn or thorn mimosa) grows best in areas that are flooded each season.

Agricultural

• In the wild, the pods--especially when dried--and leaves are consumed by small animals like sheep, but cattle also seem to find them very tasty. The pods are toxic to goats.

  In India, the branches are cut and used for fodder and the pods are dried and used as poultry supplements.

  There are many well-documented reports (such as the Oct . 23, 2007 AP report from Guahati, India) of elephants helping themselves to human stores of alcohol. One of the beverages they seem to enjoy is made from the acacia fruit.

Manufacturing

• The National Forage Testing Association states that "The dark brown wood is strong, durable, nearly twice as hard as teak, very shock resistant, and is used for construction, mine props, tool handles and carts. It is best carved in a green state. It has a high calorific value of 4950 kcal/kg, making excellent fuelwood and quality charcoal. It burns slow with little smoke when dry."

  The bark contains a 12 percent to 20 percent concentration of tannin, which is used in tanning all kinds of leather. The ink made from acacia nilotica has been used for centuries to dye calico cloth.

Domestic

• Because of the sharp thorns, many people in Africa use acacia nilotica as a natural fence or hedgerow.

  The pods have been used for centuries to make red, yellow and black dyes to color candles, woven fabrics and inks. The seeds are often dried, painted and used in jewelry.

Medicinal

• Even as far back as the 1900s when Mrs. Grieves published her book "A Modern Herbal", the nutritional and medicinal properties of acacia nilotica were known and appreciated. According to her book, acacia gum dissolved in equal parts alcohol and water was used for "inflammatory conditions of the respiratory, digestive and urinary tract, and is useful in diarrhoea (sic) and dysentery".

  Purdue University states that the acacia nilotica bark has historically been used in a wide range of folk treatments, including tuburculosis, diarrhea, dysentery and leprosy. The following list does not make or endorse any medical claims as to these uses, it is simply an accounting of how acacia nilotica has been used throughout the years.

  The bruised leaves were used by the Masai as poultices on ulcers, and they made an intoxicating brew of the roots and bark to give them courage and serve as an aphrodisiac.

  In West Africa, the sap, bark and leaves are chewed in the belief that it will prevent scurvy.

  In Lebanon, the resin is mixed with orange-flower infusion because they believe that it will hasten convalescence from typhoid.

  Egyptian Nubians believe that diabetics may eat unlimited carbohydrates as long as they take regular doses of powdered acacia nilotis pods.

In Food and Drink

• Acacia honey is prized for its delicately floral taste, clarity, smooth texture and because it is one of very few honeys that does not turn crystalline.

  Acacia also is listed as an ingredient in mass-produced foods and drinks such as Barq's root beer, Fresca, Full Throttle Unleaded Energy Drink, Langer's Pineapple Coconut Juice, Strawberry-Lemonade Powerade and in Altoids mints, Läkerol pastille candies and Wrigley's Eclipse chewing gum. Whether the "acacia" listed is specifically acacia nilotica is not clear.