The dried/fresh leaf of the Baobab Tree of Life — one of the most iron and calcium-dense edible leaves on earth. Used as kuka powder in northern Nigerian miyan kuka soup and as fresh greens across the Sahel.
Kuka (baobab leaf powder) is available at Nigerian grocery stores across US cities with Nigerian populations. The miyan kuka soup that northern Nigerian diaspora make with this powder is the ancestral iron-delivery system of the Hausa-Fulani diet.
Dried baobab leaf powder has extraordinary mineral density: 8.3mg iron per 100g and 307mg calcium per 100g — making it one of the most iron-rich and calcium-rich plant foods in existence. This concentration exceeds most iron and calcium supplements on a per-100g basis. The protein content (13-16% dry weight) is exceptional for a leafy vegetable. Fresh baobab leaves have high Vitamin C that enhances absorption of the non-heme iron present. Communities in the Sahel who regularly consume baobab leaf have historically maintained better iron and calcium status than comparable communities without baobab leaf access — this is one of the most direct food-as-medicine examples in sub-Saharan African nutrition research.
Fresh young baobab leaves: add to salads, pestle into sauces, cook as stewed greens (similar to spinach). Dried baobab leaf powder (kuka): stir into soups as a thickener and nutrient source (see miyan kuka recipe). Available at West African specialty stores as kuka (dried powder) or at Nigerian markets as fresh seasonal leaves.
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