World Fruit Tour - Zimbabwe
For most of us, fruits are snack foods or as a supplement to our staples. However, in some African countries, because of the lack of natural resources and the scarcity of food crops, local fruits have the same role as food, and play an important role in life, culture and other aspects.
Fruit sellers in Zimbabwe driving cars.
This issue of The Global Fruit Tour will take you to Zimbabwe, one of the world's poorest countries, those fruits that are eaten as food, drunk as wine, and eaten as snacks.
6 kinds of Zimbabwean fruits, in addition to eating, there are many uses
Zimbabwe has a hot and arid climate, and there are only those plants that are resistant to high temperatures and drought, so the locals do everything they can to maximize their role.
The most common fruit in Zimbabwe.
Local fruits are used to make lots of delicious food, from sweets and drinks to cakes to bread. Others are dried to become nuts, or made into fruit butter, or even use their leaves as an additive in dishes.
The following 6 Zimbabwean fruits are representative of this.
Muuyu (Shona), one of the symbols of Africa, the baobab tree
Baobab trees grow in hot, dry areas at low altitudes and can grow up to more than 15 meters. This ancient fruit tree not only provides food for the living beings of the African continent, but also becomes the material for people to make mats and baskets every day. In the past, people also hollowed out the middle of tall baobab trees for shelter or water storage.
Africa's most iconic fruit, baobab fruit.
Baobab fruit ripens and is harvested in April to June. It is oval in shape and wrapped in a greenish-gray shell and plush "hair". The fruit has a dry white powder and countless seeds inside, containing many kinds of nutrients and dietary fiber, and it will have a sour and spicy taste.
The appearance of the pulp of the baobab fruit.
Baobab fruit powder has a long shelf life and can and can be used to make refreshing, nutritious beverages or add to snacks, desserts and dishes.
Bird plums that can be made into furniture
Bird plum is also a fruit tree that can reach more than 20 meters in height, and it is commonly distributed in the Zimbabwe region.
The Bird plum has a six-month long picking cycle and can be eaten from January to July. It tastes like a date, sweet, but not thick and sweet. This fruit is very popular in the local area, in addition to being used to make beer or flavor porridge, it can also be ground and mixed with corn flour into a dough for baking or making bread.
It can grow up to 20 meters high.
Bird plums reach a height of up to 20 meters and grow in low-altitude regions of eastern and southern Africa. In addition to eating, the locals also use wood to make exquisite furniture and decorations, and the bark and fruit can also be used as dyes.
Kuratli Foliya papaya plum
It tastes like a sweet potato Mobola plum, with oval-shaped fruit. Every year from October to January, the Mobola plum begins to ripen, and the brown-red fruit hangs from the branches. Fresh or dried pulp can be eaten raw, porridge can be cooked, and can also be used to make preserves, and alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages.
Papaya plum ripe looks.
Because of the high sugar content, in some places, the fruit is used to boil it into a syrup, which is then mixed with cooked millet and rolled into a ball to make a snack called "Zwanbois".
When the papaya plum was still in the tree.
They have an abundance of flower nectar, making it a favorite of beekeepers. However, locals don't want the Mobola plum to bloom a lot of flowers, because then it may mean that the dry season is coming.
Marula, which can be made into beer overnight
Marula has a plum-shaped fruit that is yellow when ripe and the flesh is wrapped in a tough peel. Even from January to March, the fully ripe marula still has a sour taste, but the sweet and sour taste will give people a pleasant feeling.
Marula, which can be made into beer overnight
Marula pulp can be made into a variety of snacks, while juices can be soaked and extracted, beer fermented overnight, jams and jellies, etc., sometimes sold in supermarkets and specialty food stores.
The marula can grow up to 18 meters tall because of the leafy foliage, and the old zimbabwean people will sit under the trees.
Monkey oranges that can make musical instruments
If you travel to Zimbabwe between March and August, you can eat a local fruit called "monkey orange".
The ripe monkey orange flesh is soft, sweet and tastes like an apple.
Monkey orange tree and fruit.
Although monkey oranges are widely distributed in Zimbabwe and all have round shells and turn yellow when ripe, not all monkey oranges are edible, so be sure to consult the locals if you want to try this fruit.
In addition to being eaten raw, the monkey orange can also be used to flavor porridge, and the dried shell can also be used to make ornaments and a musical instrument called "Carl".
Wild loquat, which is seen as the rainy season is approaching
Mature from November to February, Wild loquat has a rounded shape and a seductive reddish-brown color. If the year bears fruit, it indicates that the rainy season is coming.
Wild loquat has a thick flesh and a honey-like sweet taste that you can usually buy on the side of the road or at the market.
If it is abundant, it proves that the rainy season will come.
Locals also take out the pulp and mix it with corn or millet as a snack. It can also be mixed with eggs and then fried or baked like a cake to eat. Of course, the honey-sweet flesh is also used to make refreshing drinks or fermented fruit wines.
Local fruits in Zimbabwe are entering the European and American markets as luxury goods
It is clear that Zimbabweans prefer exotic fruits such as bananas, oranges, apples and grapes to local indigenous fruits, and these fruits have become the main varieties of Zimbabwe's exports. In 2019, Zimbabwe exported nearly $40 billion in fruit to South Africa, Zambia, Vietnam, the United Kingdom, Bahrain and other countries.
Hopefully, local fruits can gain more access to the international market.
But for Europeans and Americans who don't grow in Zimbabwe, the local indigenous fruit is their favorite. Today, some of Zimbabwe's wild fruits are attracting international attention. Baobab fruit powder and marula nuts have become luxury goods sold to the US and European markets.
end:
Wild fruits have played an important role in Zimbabwe's diet, culture and landscape for thousands of years.
Zimbabwe has more than 60 indigenous fruit varieties, but commercial cultivation still has a long way to go, on the one hand, it is subject to human factors and reproductive difficulties; on the other hand, agriculture is underdeveloped, lack of improved planting, low pulp to seed ratio, low yields; and climate and geographical environment, slow tree growth.
Although poor, they are happy.
At the same time, this also seems to preserve the genes of Zimbabwe's primitive species very well, and perhaps one day as it develops, many of Zimbabwe's fruits will become popular in the world.
References in the text:
Zimbabwe Fruit and Vegetable Market - Growth, Trends, COVID-19 Impact and Forecasts\Indigenous Fruit Trees and Fruits in Zimbabwe\Zimbabwe Food Forum, Zimbabwe Traditional and Organic Food Forum...
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