Ucuuba Butter - Ecology and Popular Uses

Ucuuba Butter - Baboonwood - (Virola surinamensis, Myristicaceae)

POPULAR USES

Commonly, the oil is used as an ingredient of candles and to burn for light, which spreads an aromatic odor. In home medicine, it has been successful at treating  rheumatism, arthritis, colic, ulcers, and hemorrhoids. The butter of ucuuba, which is hard and yellow, can be used in combination with other ingredients for the production of candles and plant-based soaps, and is a substitute for paraffin, which is made with petroleum. Soaps and creams made with ucuuba show a proven anti-inflammatory effect, and have healing and anti-septic properties. A mature ucuuba tree can be sold for R$ 5.00, which is then transformed into broom handles that are sold for R$ 0.40 each in the fairs and ports of Belém. However the seeds, which are sold for R$ 0.50/kg, can generate an income of R$ 18.00 to R$ 25.00 per year, assuming a productivity of 30 to 50 kg of seeds per year. The fruits are collected along beaches and streams throughout the Amazon region, stored, and sold to make plant-based butter that replaces animal tallow when making soap.

ECOLOGY

Ucuuba is a native tree of the floodplains found throughout the Amazonian region, extending to the states of Maranhão and Pernambuco. The indigenous name of the tree means grease (ucu) and tree (yba). This species prefers flooded regions, and reaches a height of 25 to 35 m. A mature tree can produce between 30 to 50 kg of seeds per year. The seeds are rich in fats (60%–70%) and extracts of oil / tallow can reach 50% per kilo of seeds (dry weight). A plantation with 150 trees per hectare can yield up to 7 tons of seeds per year, which can be processed into 3500 kilos of fat per hectare. Trees can grow 3 m over the course of two years. The wood is of excellent quality and is used for particleboard and laminated wood. The extraction of trees for these uses is endangering the remaining forest resources.

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Andiroba Oil - Ecology and Popular Uses

Andiroba Oil - Crabwood (Carapa guianensis, Meliáceae)

POPULAR USES

Andiroba oil is one of the most commonly sold medicinal oils in the Amazon. Mixed with honey and copaiba, it is a very popular anti-inflammatory medication used to combat throat infections and influenza. It also strengthens and embellishes hair, and when used in soap it acts as a magic remedy for acne. Due to its good skin penetration, it is often used in massages to relieve bruises, dislocations, arthritis and rheumatism, and acts to sooth the surface of the skin and to bleach superficial stains. It is also used to repel mosquitoes. Traditionally, an oilseed cake is formed into balls and burned and also mixed with annatto (Bixa orellana) and formed into a paste that is used to protect the body from mosquito bites.

ECOLOGY

This species is a neotropical tree that occurs in southern Central America, Colombia, Venezuela, Suriname, French Guiana, Brazil, Peru, Paraguay, and the Caribbean islands. In Brazil, it is found from sea level to 350 m elevation, throughout the Amazon basin, both in terra firme forests and on land that is temporarily flooded, along rivers and streams and near the mangroves. The seeds float and can be dispersed by water. However, in forests, most fruits and seeds are found under the parent tree. The seeds are eaten by rodents, armadillos, peccaries, pacas, deer, cotias, etc. The origin of the name andiroba is from nhandi (oil) and rob (bitter). Andiroba belongs to the same family as the mahogany and cedar tree, and is highly demanded by sawmills because it is very resistant to insect attacks.

IIndividuals of andiroba can reach 30 meters in height and grow well to different environments, such as flooded areas and terra firme. A mature tree can produce up to 120 kg of seeds per year (average 50 kg / year and tree). The seeds contain 43% fat. To produce a liter of oil, using rudimentary methods, 12 kg of seeds are needed. To extract the same amount, a mechanical press requires only 4 kg of dry seeds and only 3 kg of seeds are needed when using chemical solvents. The amount of oil that can be produced from the seeds of one andiroba tree can reach 10 liters per year, using rudimentary methods, and up to 30 liters using industrial techniques.

Due to its ability to grow rapidly and because of its valuable timber, andiroba is used in intercropped and agroforestry systems. Plantations in monoculture are compromised by Hypsipyla grandella, which attacks the terminal bud of the tree and inhibits further growth. This insect is a major pest of species of Meliaceae in the Amazon region. Although this has consequences when cultivating the tree for its wood, fruit production remains the same for individuals that survive an attack, which is not as intense as attacks on mahogany.

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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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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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