Acacia nilotica or Sudanese Qarad (Sunt)

Acacia nilotica (family: Leguminosae, local name in Sudan: Qarad), is a tree 5-20 meters in Hight that grows in canal banks and moist ground. The tree has long thorns as straight stipular spines in pairs. It is a well-known medicinal plant in Africa and Asia. The different components of this plant are used in ethnomedicine in Africa and the Indian Subcontinent. A study has done by A. Rezaei in 2015 proven that A. nilotica is effective for the treatment of many diseases such as gonorrhea, cough, impotence, smallpox, ulcers, typhoid convalescence, tuberculosis, and many other diseases. A. nilotica acknowledged being rich in phenolics, consisting of condensed tannin and phlobatannin, gallic acid, protocatechuic acid, pyrocatechol.  Several studies have proven that its different parts (roots, leaf, gum, stem bark, seeds, and pods) are useful for curing many diseases for animals and people. For example, A. Barapatre also proved that A. nilotica is safe and effective as an antioxidant and antidiabetic when used in vitro by using an extracted alkali lignin that was subjected to microbial biotransformation by ligninolytic fungus Aspergilla’s flavus and Emericella nidulas. A. nilotica showed antibacterial activity, protease and protease activity, and antioxidant activity when we tested it with human saliva among other nine plants (Fathiya, A 2018).

Acacia nilotica grows in most areas in Africa. It is grown all over African countries, especially in east African countries such as Sudan north, Ethiopia, and Somalia. In Tanzania, Ethiopia, Somalia, and Angola they depend on it completely as an important medicinal indigenous plant in Africa that grows naturally and treat them from bad demons. According to the scientific classification, it has four clades which are Angiosperm, Eudicots, Rosids, and Mimosiodeaer. The genus is called vachellia. Acacia nilotica in general has two subspecies. Acacia seyal which is widespread in tropical Africa, also has yellow flowers as nilotica but powdery white to red or yellow bark on the trunk, not dark and rough, and the pods are open. The other subspecies is Acacia karroo grows in southern Africa. It has similar flowers like nilotica but normally smooth branches and dehiscent pods. Acacia gummifera, is a rare subspecies found endemic to Morocco. It has only 1–3 pairs of pinnae and eglandular petioles to the leaves.