The invention of the Pomme du Sahel

By Maxime Renaudin

Ziziphus trees are able to thrive and produce fruits, which in taste, are close to pineapple.

After a few years of research our friend Dov Pasternak from the ICRISAT, the biggest scientific research center in the Sahel region, realized that it could make sense to give a boost to the fruit produced by the Ziziphus. It is called Jujube and its nutritive properties are very interesting to say the least.

Custom has it that the fruit is regarded as only good for goats, which might be due to the fact that the fruit is rather small and difficult to eat. The ICRISAT as well as the INRAN have been grafting (which is a technique where the tissues of one plant are affixed to the tissues of another) the Ziziphus resulting in some spectacular results.

Take two Ziziphus, one grown in Niger and the other from India. The local variant is perfectly adapted to the soil conditions while the Indian one produces bigger and sweeter fruits. After a few months of growth you can graft the two by “fixing” the bottom of the Niger Ziziphus with the fruits of its’ Indian cousin. The new combined plant does not reproduce so there is no worry that a monster will come out of this wedding. The reason for the grafting lies in the fact that the fruit out of this combination are three times bigger and sweeter. In Sahelian countries, where malnutrition is a recurrent problem, this graft is a piece of miracle.

Dov also realized that the juice made out of the Jujube is actually very tasty, which in turn could be interesting for the local economy. The main problem however was the fact that nobody would eat the Jujube fruit because they consider it just good enough for goats. Not only being a talented scientist, Dov called up his dormant marketing skills and decided to rebrand the Jujube the Pomme du Sahel (Apple of the Sahel). Why Apple? Because during the colonization period the apple was regarded as an exotic and prestigious fruit brought over from France. This name actually took hold and most important, just as Dov hoped for, the image of the fruit changed! Now everywhere in Niger, people want to eat the Pomme du Sahel.

With the image side taken care off all we have to do is to perform the grafting and plant the trees!
This year (in 2011) we will increase its production and are planning to graft 5000.

A comparison of the Pomme du Sahel (grafted) with the Jujube fruit (non grafted, the small one)