Acacia

Acacia nilotica

Babool_(Acacia_nilotica)_flowers

NAME:  Acacia nilotica

FAMILY: Fabaceae

COMMON NAMES:  Acacia, Egyptian mimosa, gum arabic tree, thorn mimosa

LOCAL NAMES: Baani, booni, gabaruwa

USEFUL PART(s):  Fruits, bark, exudates

GENERAL USES:  

  • Farm animals consume the leaves and pods.

  • Twig of the tree serves as a toothbrush

  • The exudates of the tree are use for making paints, dyes and medicines.

  • The tree's wood is use for making tool handles.

GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION

  • Australia

  • Egypt

  • Mozambique

  • South Africa

  • Pakistan

  • India

 WHY IS IT GREEN? 

Acacia nilotica medicinal uses include:

  • Joint pain

  • Diabetes

  • Leucorrhoea

  • Anaemia

  • Burns

Babool_(Acacia_nilotica)_leaves_&_spines_at_Hodal_W_IMG_1251.jpg

 ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT

  • The infestation of the tree speed up erosion processes

  • Nutrient cycle change pattern in the soil due to the fixing of Nitrogen by the tree

FURTHER READINGS

Arts, N. (2013). Phytochemical Analysis of Leaf Extract of Plant Acacia nilotica by GCMS Method. Advances in Biological Research, 7(5), 141–144. https://doi.org/10.5829/idosi.abr.2013.7.5.1110

Bachaya, H. A., Iqbal, Z., Khan, M. N., Sindhu, Z. ud D., & Jabbar, A. (2009). Anthelmintic activity of Ziziphus nummularia (bark) and Acacia nilotica (fruit) against Trichostrongylid nematodes of sheep. Journal of Ethnopharmacology, 123(2), 325–329. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jep.2009.02.043

Banso, A. (2009). Phytochemical and antibacterial investigation of bark extracts of Acacia nilotica. Journal of Medicinal Plants Research, 3(2), 082–085.

Carter, J. O. (1994). Acacia nilotica: a tree legume out of control. In Forage tree legumes in tropical agriculture (pp. 338–351).

Kriticos, D. J., Brown, J. R., Maywald, G. F., Radford, I. D., Nicholas, D. M., Sutherst, R. W., & Adkins, S. W. (2003). SPAnDX: A process-based population dynamics model to explore management and climate change impacts on an invasive alien plant, Acacia nilotica. Ecological Modelling, 163(3), 187–208. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0304-3800(03)00009-7

Kriticos, D. J., Sutherst, R. W., Brown, J. R., Adkins, S. W., & Maywald, G. F. (2003). Climate change and the potential distribution of an invasive alien plant: Acacia nilotica ssp. indica in Australia. Journal of Applied Ecology, 40(1), 111–124. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-2664.2003.00777.x

Omara, E. A., Nada, S. A., Farrag, A. R. H., Sharaf, W. M., & El-Toumy, S. A. (2012). Therapeutic effect of Acacia nilotica pods extract on streptozotocin induced diabetic nephropathy in rat. Phytomedicine, 19(12), 1059–1067. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.phymed.2012.07.006

Walters, M., & Milton, S. J. (2003). The production, storage and viability of seeds of Acacia karroo and A. nilotica in a grassy savanna in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. African Journal of Ecology, 41(3), 211–217. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-2028.2003.00433.x

Wardill, T. J., Scott, K. D., Graham, G. C., & Zalucki, M. P. (2004). Isolation and characterization of microsatellite loci from Acacia nilotica ssp. indica (Mimosaceae). Molecular Ecology Notes, 4(3), 361–363. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1471-8286.2004.00697.x

Yadav, J. P., Sharma, K. K., & Khanna, P. (1993). Effect of Acacia nilotica on mustard crop. Agroforestry Systems, 21(1), 91–98. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00704929