Maryam Taidi-Safi

Morocco tops the list of "adult" plant exporters and contributes to about a third of global production.

The Kingdom's adult exports are estimated - according to official statistics - between 12 thousand and 14 thousand tons, with a financial value estimated at about $ 25 million annually.

An adult spiny fruit produces small green berries, harvested in the summer, and most of their production is destined for export.

And cultivation of adults is widespread in the province of Safi, as it represents the most important productive regions in Morocco, with an area of ​​cultivation estimated between five thousand and seven thousand hectares.

"This plant appeared in Safi in the year 1920, after the locusts it carried from the European south, and it was approved by the farmers of the region An essential activity for them, to suit the rocky soil of the region and its hot climate to the conditions of development of the spiny plant.

Al-Zanayni works with young men from the region to appraise the adults by looking at them and filling them in bottles intended for internal consumption.

This official product of the province of Safi contributes to the economic movement in the region, where families depend directly on it to pay the subsistence bills daily.

And from the seeds of adults, seedlings are prepared for five months, after which they are planted in the fields and depend on the irrigation system, and after one to three years they become a shrub that begins in production, and it is a perennial plant, with a yield of two tons per hectare.

 Adult uses The adult
 is a food product, and there are those who classify it as a spice, which is used in preparing many international recipes, and is served in luxury restaurants with pizza and salads.

And adults contain antioxidants, according to food experts, and has many medical uses. It is used by residents of Safi and its environs as part of winter food, mixed with eggs or fish pellets.

According to the interests of the Ministry of Agriculture, adults contain 3% of mineral substances, 88% of water, 3% of proteins and 5% of sugars, which makes it healthy.

There are also current studies aimed at extracting adult oil and anti-eczema adult soap.