Baobab seeds are the hard, kidney-shaped seeds of the African baobab (Adansonia digitata), the giant "upside-down tree" of the Sahel and savanna. Each seed sits embedded in the dry, chalky, tangy fruit pulp inside the woody gourd-like pod, and unlike that vitamin-C-rich pulp the seed is oil- and protein-dense. Roasted and ground, the seeds are used across the Sahel as a coffee substitute, a thickening and flavouring agent for soups and stews, and a source of a pale, mild edible oil.