Acioa edulis

Acioa edulis of the family Chrysobalanaceae. (The tree's Portuguese common name: Castanha-de-cutia; syn. Couepia edulis (Prance) Prance) is a fruit and timber tree, which is native of Amazon Rainforest vegetation in Brazil. The trees grow naturally only within a small area of Brazil. However, they proliferate widely within this area. The tree is around 25 meters (82 feet) tall, , with entire leaves that are oval or round, measuring three or four inches (8 to 10 centimeters) in diameter, with a petiole up to one inch (2.5 centimeters) in length. Its fruits range from 8-9 centimeters (3 to 3.5 inches) in length and 4-5 centimeters (1.75 to 2 inches) in diameter.[1] and contain a single nut. Later these nuts float on the waters and have been collected for centuries as the source of a valuable oil, but their source was unknown until 1978 when botanical explorer Ghillean Prance discovered the species of tree which produces them.[2]

Acioa edulis
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Malpighiales
Family: Chrysobalanaceae
Genus: Acioa
Species:
A. edulis
Binomial name
Acioa edulis

Cultivation

The fruit is edible or can be pressed to extract oil used in cooking or soap making. The kernel is also edible.

See also

References
  1. Spitzer, V.; Marx, F.; Maia, J. G. S.; Pfeilsticker, K. (March 1991). "Identification of conjugated fatty acids in the seed oil of Acioa edulis (Prance) syn. Couepia edulis (Chrysobalanaceae)". Journal of the American Oil Chemists' Society. 68 (3): 183–189. doi:10.1007/bf02657766. ISSN 0003-021X.
  2. Prance, Ghillean; Lovejoy, Thomas E. (1985). Key Environments - Amazonia. Oxford, England: Pergamon Press. pp. 128 & 130.


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