Basul facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Basul
Scientific classification
Genus:	Erythrina
Species:	edulis

Erythrina edulis is a special tree that helps the soil by adding nitrogen. It grows naturally in the Andes mountains, from western Venezuela all the way to southern Bolivia. People in different countries call it by many names, like "frijol mompás" in Venezuela, "psonay" or "pajuro" in Peru and Bolivia, "chachafruto" in Colombia, and "guato" in Ecuador. Even though many people know about this tree, it's not grown everywhere. Scientists are still learning more about it, especially how it can be grown with other plants on farms.

The basul tree is a type of plant called a legume. This means it grows beans inside pods, and these beans are packed with protein. They can be used as food for people or animals. The leaves and branches of the tree can also be used to feed animals. Besides being useful on farms, Erythrina edulis can also be planted to make living fences.

How Basul Trees Grow

The Erythrina edulis tree is strong and grows very fast. It starts producing beans quickly, making it one of the easiest trees to grow. It doesn't like cold weather, so it only grows in warm, tropical places. It grows best when temperatures are between 15 and 22 degrees Celsius. You can find it growing at many different heights, from 900 to 3200 meters above sea level. In its natural home, it usually gets between 450 and 1800 millimeters of rain each year. Basul trees grow best in soil that drains well, like sandy or clay soil, with a pH level between 5.5 and 7.

It's very easy to grow new basul trees. You can cut a stem from an existing tree and plant it in the soil, and it will sprout new roots and grow. You can also plant the seeds, and most of them will sprout easily. Another way to grow them is by grafting, which means joining a part of one plant to another. This method helps the tree start making seeds even faster. It's important to plant the seeds very soon after you pick them, because they lose their ability to grow after about 8 days.

The Erythrina edulis tree has red flowers that grow in a cluster. Bees, wasps, and birds help pollinate these flowers. The seeds don't all ripen at the same time, which means you can harvest them over a period.

These trees can live for many decades. The older a tree gets, the more beans it will produce. A tree that is three or four years old can make about 30 kilograms of beans each year. But a 20-year-old tree can produce much more, from 120 to 210 kilograms of beans per year! Basul trees are special because they work with tiny bacteria called Rhizobium. These bacteria help the tree take nitrogen from the air and put it into the soil. This means the tree doesn't need extra nitrogen fertilizer to grow well.

Basul on the Farm

Erythrina edulis is a great tree for agroforestry. This is a way of farming where trees are grown together with other crops. Because basul trees add nitrogen to the soil, other plants growing nearby get more nitrogen. This helps them grow better. Basul trees can also help make land that isn't very good for farming become more productive.

Basul trees can provide food when other crops are scarce. Their beans are usually ready to pick when the food from the previous year is running out, but it's still too early for the new harvest. Farmers can grow basul trees alongside other important crops like sugar cane, coffee, and cacao.

A basul tree can grow quite tall, usually between 8 and 14 meters. Because it's so tall, it provides a lot of shade. This shade can protect crops that don't like too much sun from strong sunlight. Growing basul with other plants is good for both. The sun-sensitive crops are protected, and the basul tree is less likely to get pests when it's grown with other plants, compared to when it's grown alone. Farmers have seen good results when growing basul with coffee, cacao, pepper, and grapes.

Growing different plants together in an agroforestry system is becoming more popular because it's good for the environment and helps farms last longer. Even though basul is very useful, not many people know about it, even in the places where it naturally grows, except for some rural areas in Colombia.

Basul as Food

Basul can be a food source for both people and animals. The tree grows pods filled with beans. These pods can be from 15 to 65 centimeters long, with an average length of about 32 centimeters. You can eat the green pods, but it's more common to eat the mature beans inside. Each pod usually has 6 beans. These beans are between 1.4 and 6.4 centimeters long and weigh between 15 and 30 grams each.

Fresh basul beans have a lot of water in them, about 80%. Because of this, they don't store well for a long time. When dried, the beans have a lot of protein, usually between 18% and 23%. This protein is similar to what you find in most beans, with a good amount of lysine and some other important parts. The beans also have a lot of starch, between 26% and 40%. The nutrients in basul beans make them a good food to eat with grains and tubers.

To eat basul beans, you need to boil or fry them for at least 45 minutes. If you eat them raw too often, they can be harmful because they contain some natural chemicals called alkaloids. Other types of Erythrina trees have many more of these chemicals and are much more harmful. Some of these other trees look similar to E. edulis. People who know a lot about plants can tell the difference, but it's important to be careful when picking and eating the beans if you're not sure.

Once cooked, basul beans can be used in many dishes, like soups, cakes, salads, or tortillas. You can also dry the cooked beans, grind them into flour, and use the flour for different purposes.

Basul beans are not yet a common food for most people. They are often used when other food is hard to find. However, governments in South America are trying to make more people aware of basul. For example, they share recipes to show how tasty and useful this food source can be. The Colombian government is even trying to put these beans in cans so they can be stored longer and possibly sold to other countries.

The leaves, seeds, and pods of the basul tree can all be used to feed animals. The leaves have a lot of protein (about 24%) and are rich in potassium. When the pods and beans are fed to chickens, fish, pigs, or rabbits, they need to be boiled first. This is because of the alkaloids that can be harmful. But if you feed them to goats and cattle, you don't need to boil them.

What's Next for Basul?

The basul tree doesn't have one specific harvest time. Each tree might produce beans at different times, even if they are growing in the same place. The beans are often used when other food is scarce, like during the rainy season. This is helpful for small farmers who use the food from their own farm for their family and animals. But for growing basul on a larger scale, it would be good to have all the seeds ripen at the same time.

Another challenge is storing the beans. Because they have so much water, they don't last long. Scientists are looking for ways to grow basul trees that produce beans with less water, or better ways to store them. Right now, people often turn the beans into flour soon after harvesting to solve this problem. It would also be good to make the seeds last longer before planting.

Erythrina edulis is not grown on a very large scale yet. But this tree has a lot of potential for small farmers because it can be used in many ways: for food, as fences, and for animal feed. Also, in South America and around the world, there are not many crops that are used for both human food and animal feed. Erythrina edulis could change this and help increase the variety of plants we use.

See also

In Spanish: Balú para niños