The Delicious taste of Marula Fruit

South Africans love Amarula; this deliciously smooth drink is at its best served with crushed ice and nothing else. The marula fruit, which is the main ingredient in this drink, has an interesting African story to tell and no, it’s not a story about intoxicated elephants. The marula fruit actually has many different uses in food, medicinal purposes and, surprisingly, in arts and crafts.

The marula fruit’s scientific name is Sclerocarya birrea and the word itself is derived from the Greek words “hard” and “nut” and is a direct reference to the stone inside the fleshy fruit. The marula fruit tree is a medium sized tree which can be found in the miombo woodlands of Southern Africa, in Madagascar and the Sudano-Sahelian range of West Africa. This single stemmed tree has a wide spreading crown and is known for its mottled bark; it grows up to 18 metres and can be found in low altitudes and open woodlands.

The fruit is a light yellow colour when it’s ripe, is rich in vitamin C – about 8 times more than an orange – is juicy and has an extremely distinct flavour. Inside the delicious fruit you’ll find the walnut sized stone and when these stones dry they expose seeds by shedding two or three small circular plugs at the one end. The marula fruit has many uses and people keep on experimenting with this one-of-a-kind fruit.

Cooking

This fruit is known to improve nutrition; the seed kernels are especially high in protein and fat and have a somewhat nutty flavour. Marula oil can also be made from the seed kernel and this oil, rich in antioxidants and oleic acid, is a wonderful additive to African meals. The fruit can be eaten fresh or for other uses including juice, jelly and the popular drink Amarula, of course.

Medicinal Purposes

The medicinal value of the marula fruit tree is limitless as its bark is used for the treatment of malaria and is also a prophylaxis for the disease. The inner bark – when infused – can be used to treat scorpion stings and snake bites to lessen the pain. Leaves of the tree can be chewed to help indigestion and heartburn and for medicinal purposes the marula oil can be used for skin care.

Arts and Crafts

The gum which is found in the stem exudates, w and can be mixed with water and soot to make a dark ink which is used by certain tribes in the regions where you find the tree. Traditional African crafts are dyed with a red-brown substance which is yielded from the bark.

In popular culture the marula fruit is most noted for its use in the drink Amarula, but it’s quite clear its uses go far beyond this drink we all love so much. The movie, Animals are Beautiful People, portrayed elephants and other animals becoming intoxicated by the marula fruit. This is, however, not possible as it would take an extreme amount of marula fruits to intoxicate any animal. The movie, released in 1974 and directed by Jamie Uys, might be portraying an impossible scenario, but it’s still fun to imagine elephants becoming a bit tipsy when enjoying this delicious fruit.