A mine of exotic soapnut trees
JOBURG - Four identified soapnut trees have managed to brave the cold South African weather. And guess what they can do...
The urban forest, which is Johannesburg, has quite a few hidden exotic gems growing in its soil. Surprisingly, these exotic gems, have managed to survive the city’s harsh climate for decades. Brixton and Westdene residents Johan van der Walt and Anthoney Bosman made an exciting discovery when they stumbled upon four specimens of the soapnut tree, in region B.
“Soapnut trees are generally found in tropical regions like Indonesia, India, South China, South America, Mexico, Hawaii and Nepal with no record of indigenous African roots,” an elated Bosman told Northcliff Melville Times.
Bosman said the most striking thing about the soapnut tree (Sapindus Mukorossi) is the versatility of the fruit that it bears.
“Yip, it’s a fruit that grows on trees and can be used to wash dishes, clean laundry and even as shampoo. The versatile fruit can also be used for medicinal purposes to treat pimples, constipation, lice-infested scalp and eczema,” Bosman explained.
According to him, the fruit contains a natural surfacent known for its cleaning ability called saponin, which makes it a renewable and sustainable detergent.
Having tried it himself, he could attest to the fact that, less than a handful of the fruit could be used to wash, up to five bags of laundry.
Another peculiar characteristic of the fruit, is its inability to germinate on its own, which convinced Bosman that the trees might have been manually planted.
“The seeds take about three months to germinate and they have to be scarified because the seed coat is very hard, which means the embryo cannot escape on its own. The coat can be removed with a nail file, hammer or hydrochloric acid,” he explained.
Alan Buff of City Parks’s technical support and training confirmed that the city had planted soapnut trees about 20 years ago.
“The temperature in the areas where the trees were planted was about two to three degrees lower then than it is now and the trees were able to adjust to the climate,” Buff explained. Bosman has appealed to those who might come across soapnut trees to contact him.
Details: anthoney@ahprop.co.za
