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About This Tree
LECYTHIDACEAE (Brazil Nut & Putat family)
Brazil-nut Tree is among the largest tree in the Amazon rainforest, where it is predominantly found there. While in nature, Brazil-nut trees can grow in group of 50-100 individuals, here in University of Malaya it stands alone but mighty and strong! You can find this tree just behind UM Sentral, although it looks a bit weird (perhaps damaged by natural weather). It can live up to a thousand years and it can reach up the sky up to 50 metres. This tree produces large, woody fruits weighing around a kilogram. Inside the fruit, there are around 15-25 woody seeds arranged like those slices in Mandarin oranges. Do not get it wrong, the Brazil nut you are eating is not the fruit, but the seed! Major deforestations has caused this tree to be endangered. It is listed under ‘Vulnerable‘ in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
Common Uses
The white kernel of the seed (which is the Brazil nut) is the edible part of it. Can be eaten raw or roasted or even made into paste. The nut is very nutritional as it is high in protein, potassium and calcium. The oil extract is used in oil massage and therapy, in beauty products and also as flavouring in cakes, ice-creams and cookies. The bark is a folk medicine, used to address liver problems. The trunk is an excellent source of timber, often sought by boat builders. In Brazil, mixture of B. excelsa shells and manure are used to enhance soil quality.
Interesting Facts!
- The flowers are pollinated by bees in the genera Xylocarpa, Bombus, Centris, Epicaris & Eulaema.
- The seed can only be spread by agoutis, genus Dasyprocta. They are able to gnaw open the hard fruit.
- It is possible to get selenium poisoning if Brazil nut is consumed in large quantity.
- The name Bertholletia commemorates Claude-Louis Berthollet (1748-1822), a French chemist.
References
Click to access Bertholletia_excelsa.PDF
http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Brazil_nut
http://www.amazonconservation.org/ourwork/livelihoods.html
http://www.arkive.org/brazil-nut-tree/bertholletia-excelsa/
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Trees of UM 