Butters - Quick look at Bacuri, Cupuacu, Muru Muru, Tucuma and Ucuuba.

 BACURI BUTTER
 I am huge fan of this butter! But it is not a beautiful butter and it does have an earthy smell that some people don't like, it does not linger though. It is soft and if you want your final product to be very light, you have to be careful with this butter. I don't even mix it, I use it pure on my skin, it makes your skin shimmer and can be used as a natural light bronzer.
The butter is absorbed quickly and leaves a velvety feeling on the skin.

 

MURUMURU BUTTER
This butter goes from a very light yellow to a greish beige. It's scent is delicious, it is a bit of white chocolate with whiffs of coffee!
It has a waxy, firm appearance in room temperature, its melting point is 32.5° C. When it is refrigerated it becomes brittle.
It tastes like nutty butter. Perfect for hair or skin whipped butters.

CUPUAÇU BUTTER
This butter varies from a creamy white to a light yellow. It has a very typical fruity odor some people describe it as a mix of chocolate and pineapple, it is pleasant in an exotic way.
This butter is softer and a bit greasier than Muru Muru.
It tastes like nothing, which I am grateful to say after tasting the Bacuri butter.
Cupuacu belongs to the same family as the Cocoa tree and it is very similar and many aspects. It is softer and does not contain caffeine.



TUCUMA BUTTER
Tucuma's color go from off-white to light yellow, it has an earthy smell that I love, it is like a forest in the rain. It is solid at room temperature, absorbs easily and it is not greasy.

Perfect for skin and hair products.

 UCUUBA BUTTER
This butter has a beeswax, wood-like odor and is waxy solid at room temperature. It is a very hard butter with a melting point of 32°-37° C.
It can be used as a vegan substitute for paraffin. Soaps and creams made with Ucuuba show a proven anti-inflammatory effect, and have healing and anti-septic properties.

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Rainforest Chica Health Skin Lotion Bar - Feed your skin right!

Our Rainforest Butter Bar is made of 100% alive active ingredients that are wild harvested and/or organic. Every ingredient is edible but we recommend you save this amazing product for your skin.

Besides the Amazon native Buriti and Pracaxi oils and Bacuri, Cupuaçu and Muru Muru butters, we also use Beeswax, Coconut oil, Shea and Cocoa and Shea butters.

WE ARE IN THE STAGES OF TESTING OUR VEGAN FRIENDLY BAR MADE WITH CANDELILLA WAX.

 Organic Beeswax

Beeswax is used in cosmetic and skincare products as a thickening agent, emulsifier, and humectants, it has emollient, soothing and softening properties and helps the skin retain moisture.

Beeswax is “noncomedogenic,” which means that it does not clog pores. In addition it is also antibacterial and contains Vitamin A.

Organic Coconut Oil

Coconut oil represents a safe and healthy substance with benefits for many organs of the body. The skin is no exception, and people have been using coconut oil as a skin remedy for centuries.

Coconut oil is a major ingredient in many natural skin moisturizers due to its oils and high fat content. The oil is made up of about 90 percent saturated fats with traces of skin-strengthening vitamin E as well. As a moisturizer, you can apply coconut oil to all skin types, and the oil is especially effective for dry skin.

Coconut oil is very useful for the treatment of minor burns, like sunburn, as its small molecular structure allows for easy absorption into the skin. The addition of oil to damaged skin cells allows them to increase the flexibility and internal moisturizing necessary for healthy skin. Coconut oil also contains antioxidants that promote healthy cell regeneration over time.

Shea Butter

The fat of the nut of the African Shea tree (Vitellaria paradoxa) is the source of Shea butter. The traditional use of the butter is to reduce the appearance of fine lines, scars and stretch marks, and to ease a variety of skin irritations, such as psoriasis, eczema and sunburn. Shea butter is ideal for the topical application of cosmetic and medicinal formulas, because it melts on contact and is readily absorbed into the skin, without leaving a greasy residue.

The healing qualities of Shea butter are due to the presence of several fatty acids and plant sterols, namely oleic, stearic, palmitic and linolenic acids. Scientists report that Shea butter not only demonstrated anti-inflammatory benefits, but one compound, lupeol cinnamate, also prevented tumor development.

Shea butter contains vitamins A and E, as well as catechins, plant antioxidants also found in green tea. While it is unclear how well vitamins A and E in raw Shea butter are absorbed, there is evidence to suggest that cinnamic acid esters in Shea fat help to prevent skin damage from ultraviolet radiation

Cocoa Butter

Cocoa butter is one of the most stable, highly concentrated natural fats known, melts at body temperature so that it is readily absorbed into the skin which gives immediately relief to dry and irritated skin.

Cacau (like it is called in Brazil) butter contains high amounts of natural antioxidant Vitamin E among other vitamins and minerals. Vitamin E helps to soothe, hydrate and balance the skin, improving collagen reduction which avoids wrinkles and other signs of aging.

A chemical substance called polyphenol is responsible for inhibiting the production of the immune globulin which makes Cacau butter a natural remedy for dermatitis, helps relieve stress and boosts the immune system preventing several diseases.

Theobromine, also known as xantheose, the bitter alkaloid of the cacau plant has been used for centuries for the treatment of edemas, arteriosclerosis among other vascular disorders. Cacau Butter also has been used for preventing and treating stretch marks during pregnancy and weigh control programs.

Pracaxi Oil - Ecology and Popular Uses

Pracaxi - Pracachy Oil - Oil bean tree - (Pentaclethra macroloba, Leguminosae-Mimosoideae)

POPULAR USES

Pracaxi seed

The oil of pracachy is extracted in a rudimentary way through cooking the dry mass of the seeds, which are first macerated in a mortar. It is often used to treat erysipelas, a skin infection usually caused by bacteria, as well as for treating hair, which makes it brighter, easier to comb, and helps to avoid hair loss. In the city of Belém, it was commonly used to treat stretch marks of young-adults and pregnant women (with good results). The inhabitants of the Amazon region use the bark of the stem to combat the effects of poison from snake and scorpion bites. For this, the bark is soaked and applied in the form of a plaster on the site of the bite. Today the seeds are collected (along rivers, streams, and beaches), dried in the sun, and stored for selling.

ECOLOGY

Pracaxi tree

This species is distributed throughout northern Brazil, Guyana, Trinidad, and some regions of Central America. The tree is medium in size (8–14 m), found in flooded areas, and forms half-moon shaped fruit pods, 20 to 25 cm long, containing 4 to 8 seeds. Approximately 35 fruits are needed to obtain one kilo of seeds, which contain approximately 30% oil (when the seeds are dry). Seed germination takes 30 to 40 days and the germination rate is relatively high; the plants grow fast in floodplains. On terra firme the plants tolerate selective pruning and are nitrogen-fixing pioneer species that show great potential for forest regeneration and restoration of degraded areas.

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Buriti Oil - Ecology and Popular Uses

Buriti Oil - Mauritia Flexuosa, Arecaceae

Buriti

POPULAR USES
The buriti is a palm with multiple uses. New leaves and their stalks are frequently employed in crafts, such as baskets, and the fruit pulp is processed into a juice called “wine” and sweets, which are a popular food in the Amazon region. The buriti oil, which is edible, is used in frying and applied to skin to treat sunburns, which causes immediate relief and helps the skin to heal. Due to its powerful ability to detoxify and combat allergic reactions, the caboclos treat snake and scorpion bites by applying the oil to the wound. The oil is also used to treat asthma by ingesting half a spoon of oil per day, which reduces coughing and relieves breathing. Currently, the fruit pulp is commercialized in local markets, in the countryside, for the production of “wine” that replaces açaí during the rainy period, which is from January to June and is the low production period for açaí. There are companies that sell the fresh fruit pulp for the extraction of oil; others prefer the dry pulp, called buriti flour, because the pulp is very perishable.

ECOLOGY

Buriti Tree

Buriti is a palm tree (Mauritia vinifera and M. flexuosa), which dominates expansive areas and covers nearly all of central Brazil and the lowlands of southern Amazonia, where there are streams. It is an elegant tree that can reach 35 meters and forms large leaves with a rounded crown. The flowers are yellowish, and appear from December to April. Its fruits are ellipsoidal, chestnut colored, and have a surface coated with shiny scales. The fruits have a yellow flesh that covers a hard oval seed, which is edible. The trees fruit from December to June. The buriti palm naturally occurs alone or in communities, and requires an abundant supply of water.
For this reason, they dominate floodplains and swamps where the soil is soft and moist. The location where they grow is the result of the their seeds being dispersed by water when an area is inundated. This species is dioecious; plants have only male or female flowers. Only individuals with female flowers form fruits.
Approximately 60 female and 80 male buriti palms occur in one hectare. An adult palm can produce up to 200 kg of fruit, which can be processed into 30 kg of flour or 5 to 6 liters of finally extracted oil (the flour contains 22% oil). Assuming an average of 60 buriti palms per hectare, 300 to 360 liters of oil can be extracted per hectare. The reproductive cycle occurs every two years, but there are communities that mange their natural buriti groves by cutting and removing the small and dried infructescences (the stalks with fruits) and removing natural competitors, and thus have a year of low productivity followed by a year of high productivity.

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Passion Fruit (Maracuja) Oil - Ecology and Popular Uses

Passion Fruit Oil - (Passiflora edulis, Passifloraceae) 

POPULAR USES

Passion fruits are primarily used for food, in the form of juices, jams, jellies, ice cream and liqueurs. It is known for its sedative property, but its attractive aroma and flavor make the passion fruit an important product for the industry. The leaves and juice contain passiflorin, a natural sedative, and tea prepared with leaves has a diuretic effect. It also shows purgative, sedative and anti-inflammatory properties. The seeds act as antihelminthics. Due to these characteristics, it is included in the monograph of the Brazilian Pharmacopoeia. It is popularly believed that the tea leaves, besides acting as a sedative, are also an effective antipyretic and help to treat skin inflammation, but these two uses are based on popular beliefs and have not been scientifically proven to work.

ECOLOGY

The passion fruit originated in tropical America, prefers hot and humid climates and is cultivated in all tropical countries. Currently Brazil is the world's leading producer of passion fruits. In the state of Pará, there is a long tradition of cultivating passion fruit, especially in the Bragança region, where 33,000 tons of fruit were produced in 2008.

Passion fruits are climbing plants that need a support structure to grow on, because the stems of this plant are semi-woody and do not allow it to stand on its own. The support structure for passion fruit is built with wooden stakes and smooth wire. A good support system allows the branches to have enough space to grow, which allows productive branches to receive the proper amount of light.  Commercial production starts ten months after planting. The yield of yellow passion fruit (Passiflora edulis) is estimated to be approximately 10 tons/ha/year. The production cycle usually last about 2 to 3 years.

The peel of passion fruit, which represents 40% to 50% of the fruit weight, is considered industrial waste, as well as the seeds, which represent about 6% to 12% of the total fruit weight. Oil can be extracted from the seeds for industrial use. The oil yield from the dry seeds of passion fruit reaches about 25%. One hectare can produce approximately 480 kg of dry seed, which equals 96 kg of oil when using cold extraction.

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Murumuru Butter - Ecology

Murumuru Butter - (Astrocaryum murumurú, Arecaceae)

ECOLOGY

The murumuru palm (Astrocaryum murumuru) is abundant in the Brazilian Amazon, extending to the borders of Bolivia and Peru. It prefers to grow in periodically flooded areas, especially on islands and in lowlands along the rivers throughout the Amazon River estuary and its tributaries, in dense or semi-open forests. It is also frequently found in the lowlands of Marajo Island. The stem, leaves and stalk of fruits are covered with black, hard and tough spines that can reach over 20 cm in length, which makes harvesting the fruits difficult.

When the fruit is ripe, the inflorescence falls to the ground. The fruit contains a yellow flesh that is highly appreciated by rodents as food, which leave the seeds clean. The seed has a hard shell and only in its dry state is it possible to separate the shell from the kernel of the seed. In general, 100 kg of dry seeds (12%–15% water) yields 27 kg to 29 kg of kernels that must be further dried until they contain 5% to 6% water, which prevents their deterioration during storage. From these kernels, 40% to 42% oil can be obtained. One single murumuru palm produces about 11 kg of dry seeds. Hydraulic extraction can produce 35% oil relative to the dry weight of the kernel, which is equivalent to about 3.8 liters of oil per murumuru palm. The kernals must be ground using grinding discs, before the hydraulic extraction process occurs, because they are hard.

A kilogram of fruit pulp contains approximately 50 seeds. Seed germination is moderate and growth in the field is slow.

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Bacuri Butter - Ecology and Popular Uses

Bacuri Butter - (Platonia insignis, Clusiaceae)

POPULAR USES
The bacuri fruit is highly demanded in the markets of Belém and used for the preparation of sweets, cakes, jams, juices, and ice creams. Its seeds are not used and are discarded. The caboclos of the central region of the Marajó island have great difficulty removing the oil from the seed, because the seeds have to be soaked in water for over a year. They are then boiled and the oil is skimmed off the surface of the boiling water. The oil has phytotherapeutic applications and is popularly used on Marajó as a remedy against spider and snakes bites, as a treatment for skin problems and ear aches, and is considered to be a miraculous remedy against rheumatism and arthritis. The butter of bacuri gives a golden tone to the skin. It is absorbed a few minutes after it is applied and the skin becomes velvety to the touch; it also removes spots and reduces scarring.

ECOLOGY
Bacuri is native to the state of Pará, where the highest concentrations are found in the Salgado, Bragantina, and the Marajó island regions. This tree can reach 25 m in height and 1.5 m in diameter. It grows on terra firme and the timber is yellow, compact, resistant to rotting, and therefore is used in the construction of boats. The fruit of this species, which weighs 250 g on average, is oval and covered by a shell, which is 0.7 to 1.6 cm thick and 75% of the weight of the fruit. The edible part of the fruit is the endocarp, and represents 13% of the weight of the fruit. It is white, with a strong aroma and sweet taste.
The fruit usually has 4 oily seeds, and when dried (moisture content of 20%) they contain 72% fat, which is resinous and dark brown to almost black. The fat has an unpleasant smell and filtration is difficult. Pressing the seeds extracts approximately 40% of the oil. It is estimated that an average tree will produce 400 fruits per year. The number of fruits produced per year varies. A year of high fruit production is succeeded by one, two, or three years of low production. Propagation is possible via seeds, roots, and by grafting. Plants propagated by seeds mature 12 to 15 years after they are planted while it only takes five to six years using the grafting method.

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Cupuaçu Butter - Ecology and Popular Uses

Cupuaçu Butter - (Theobroma grandiflorum, Malvaceae)

POPULAR USES

For the most part, only the fruit pulp of cupuaçu is commonly consumed, in the form of juices, ice creams, creams, and sweets. The removal of the pulp from the seeds is rather laborious and performed with scissors. In some regions the seeds are fermented, dried in the sun, roasted, ground in a mortar, and used as chocolate (also called cupulate). In general, seeds are a byproduct of processing the pulp and are underutilized and thrown away. However, because there is a growing interest of the pharmaceutical industry to acquire the butter of cupuaçu, the fruit pulp industries and cooperatives are beginning to separate and process the seeds in larger quantities.

ECOLOGY

Cupuaçu, a native of Amazonia, is a small tree that is 4 to 8 meters  (when cultivated) or up to 18 m high (in growing in the wild). It belongs to the same family as cacao. The fruit is very large, cylinder-shaped with rounded ends, up to 30 cm long, and has an average weight of 1.2 kilograms. At maturity the fruits fall, without the stalk, when they start releasing a characteristic odor, which indicates that they are ripe. The fruit contains a juicy and creamy pulp, with a characteristic flavor, which surrounds 20 to 30 large oval seeds. The butter of cupuaçu, similar to the "butter" of cacao but superior in quality, is extracted from the seeds and contains approximately 45% oil. On commercial plantations fruit production begins in the 3rd year and trees produce an average of 12 fruits per tree, per year, when mature. It is recommended that 180 trees be planted per hectare, which produces approximately 2148 fruits per year, 990 kg of pulp, and 443 kg of seeds (an average fruit is composed of 38.4% pulp, 17.2% seeds, and 44.4% skin). In general, 1000 kg of fresh seeds will produce 135 kg of cupuaçu butter.

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