Trees used for Food

Nutritional products that can be gathered from trees include fruits, nuts, seeds, leaves, bark and even sap. Tree products have been an important part of diets for thousands of years, from early humans gathering fruits and nuts (there is evidence of humans eating apples in the Neolithic period) to the first cultivation of important trees, such as mango (Mangifera indica) which has been grown for its fruit in India for over 4,000 years.

Today, products such as apples, oranges, pistachios and brazil nuts are routinely eaten the world over and form the basis for multi-million dollar industries - the apple industry is estimated to be worth US $10 billion a year, for example.

At the local level, edible tree products are often highly valued by local communities as a core part of their diet, as an important supplement or to sustain them when food is seasonally scarce or when harvests are poor. This role as ‘emergency’ food sources is particularly important and there are several examples of entire communities surviving periods of famine by collecting food from trees.

There are thousands of tree species that provide important food products, but some good examples include:

Brazil nut tree (Bertholletia excelsa)

All Brazil nuts are collected from the wild Brazil nut tree (Bertholletia excelsa). The tree takes a long time to reach maturity and can not be grown in plantations, so all brazil nuts are wild forest products. One of the most valuable forest products in international trade, the collection of the brazil nut has resulted in the species becoming threatened. It is currently classified as Vulnerable.

Maples (Acer saccharum and Acer nigrum)

Maple syrup, which is eaten, used in baking and as a flavouring and sweetener is derived from the sap of certain maple species. The sugar maple Acer saccharum and black maple Acer nigrum are the only two species that produce sap from which large quantities of good quality syrup can be made. Holes are bored in the trunk and a single tree can produce up to 100 litres of sap in one season, which will make around 3.5 litres of maple syrup. Canada is the largest producer of maple syrup and in 2008 the value of all maple products sold was estimated to be CAD$212 million. You can read about threatened maple species in the Red List of Maples, published by GTC in 2009.

Baobabs (Adansonia sp.)

There are eight species of baobab, six found only in Madagascar, one in mainland Africa and one in Australia. Both Grandidier’s baobab (Adansonia grandidieri) and Adansonia digitata are extremely important food sources. The fruit of both species is rich in vitamins, very nutritious and is eaten raw and made into juice. The seeds can also be turned into oil and the leaves of A. digitata are eaten. Baobab fruit has been called the new ‘superfood’ on the international market after it was approved for use in smoothies by the European Union in 2008.

Apples (Malus sieversii)

The apple is one of the world's most cultivated fruit trees, with over 7,000 different varieties in existence. Despite their great diversity, most domesticated apples can be traced back to a common ancestor, the wild apple of Central Asia – Malus sieversii. The wild species still exists in China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan but is now classified as Vulnerable due to the loss of its fruit and nut forest habitat. This species represents an important genetic storehouse of natural variation, which could, include disease and pest resistance that may be important in the future.

A Global Trees Campaign gallery of the fruit and nut species of Central Asia can be found here

More information about these and other important edible tree products can be found:

Forests, Trees and Food (1992) Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (available online)

Plant Consumed by Man (1975) Brook, B. Academic Press London.

New exotic fruit to hit UK shops, BBC News, June 2008.

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