Balanites aegyptiaca

Balanites aegyptiaca
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Zygophyllales
Family: Zygophyllaceae
Genus: Balanites
Species:
B. aegyptiaca
Binomial name
Balanites aegyptiaca
(L.) Delile, 1812
Synonyms[1]
  • Agialid aegyptiaca (L.) Kuntze
  • Ximenia aegyptiaca L.
Balanites aegyptiaca - MHNT
Detail of fruit

Balanites aegyptiaca (also known as the Egyptian balsam and Lalob in Sudan[2]) is a species of tree, classified as a member of either the Zygophyllaceae or the Balanitaceae.[3] This tree is native to much of Africa and parts of the Middle East.[4]

There are many common names for this plant.[5] In English, the fruit has been called desert date, and the tree soap berry tree or bush, Thorn tree, Egyptian myrobalan, Egyptian balsam or Zachum oil tree;[6] in Arabic it is known as lalob, hidjihi, inteishit, and heglig (hijlij). In Jieng it is called Thou or thau, in Hausa it is called aduwa, in Tamasheq, the Tuareg language taboraq, in Fulfulde (Pulaar) Murtooki or Tanni, in Swahili mchunju, in Kamba Kilului and in Amharic bedena.[7]

  1. ^ "Balanites aegyptiaca (L.) Delile". The Plant List. Retrieved 17 December 2016.
  2. ^ Ibnouf, Fatma Osman (2020-08-22). "Can Indigenous Foods Play Role as 'the Food of Survival'?". European Journal of Agriculture and Food Sciences. 2 (4). doi:10.24018/ejfood.2020.2.4.26. ISSN 2684-1827.
  3. ^ "Zygophyllaceae". The Plant List. Retrieved 27 November 2016.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference GRIN was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference purdue was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ Iwu, Maurice M. (1993). Handbook of African medicinal plants. Boca Raton u.a.: CRC Press. p. 129. ISBN 084934266X.
  7. ^ Yves Guinand and Dechassa Lemessa, "Wild-Food Plants in Southern Ethiopia: Reflections on the role of 'famine-foods' at a time of drought" Archived 2010-10-11 at the Wayback Machine UN-OCHA Report, March 2000 (accessed 15 January 2009)