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@@ -0,0 +1,15108 @@
+
+Handbook of
+Nuts
+James A. Duke, Ph.D .
+0
+CRC Press
+Boca Raton London New York Washington, D.C.
+Cover image courtesy of
+T. Michael Kengla 
+GrassRoots Productions
+Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
+Duke, James A., 1929-
+Handbook of nuts / author, James A. Duke.
+p. cm .- (Herbal reference library series)
+Rev. ed. of: CRC handbook of nuts, c l 989.
+Includes bibliographical references (p. ).
+ISBN 0-8493-3637-6 (alk. paper)
+1. Nuts-Handbooks, manuals, etc. I. Duke, James A., 1929- CRC handbook of nuts.
+II. Title. III. Series.
+SB401.A4 D84 2000 
+634'.5—<lc21 00-049361
+This book contains information obtained from authentic and highly regarded sources. Reprinted material is quoted with 
+permission, and sources are indicated. A wide variety of references are listed. Reasonable efforts have been made to publish 
+reliable data and information, but the author and the publisher cannot assume responsibility for the validity of all materials 
+or for the consequences of their use.
+Neither this book nor any part may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, 
+including photocopying, microfilming, and recording, or by any information storage or retrieval system, without prior 
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+The consent of CRC Press LLC does not extend to copying for general distribution, for promotion, for creating new works, 
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+Trademark Notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for 
+identification and explanation, without intent to infringe.
+1989
+First published by CRC Press LLC <1 
+© 2001 by CRC Press LLC
+Publieshed by CRC
+270 Madison Ave, New York NY 10016 
+2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, 0X 14 4RN
+Transferred to Digital Printing 2010
+Herbal Reference Library edition 
+No claim to original U.S. Government works 
+International Standard Book Number 0-8493-3637-6 
+Library of Congress Card Number 00-049361
+Publisher’s Note
+The publisher has gone to great lengths to ensure the quality o f this reprint 
+but points out that some imperfections in the original may be apparent.
+INTRODUCTION*
+Appropriately, one might commence a Handbook of Nuts with a definition of nut. But, 
+if you’ll pardon the jargon, that’s a “ tough nut to crack.’’ To drive home my definition. 
+I’ll here recount an anecdote. For several years I was peripherally embroiled in a controversy 
+over that definition. Various people interested in the jojoba (Simmondsia chinensis) would 
+call or write, hoping my definition would support their contention that the jojoba was or 
+was not a nut.
+Finally, lawyers from the Internal Revenue Service (1RS) called and asked me to send 
+my definition, in writing! I quote my cautious letter to the 1RS:
+I understand that the 1RS has special treatment for certain farmers raising fruits and nuts.
+I quote definitions from my favorite glossary, B. D. Jackson’s A Glossary of Botanic 
+Terms, 4th ed., Hafner Publishing Company, New York, 1928, reprinted 1953:
+Nut: a hard indéhiscent one-seeded fruit.
+Fruit: (1) Strictly, the pericarp and its seeds, the fertilized and developed ovary.
+1 think the jojoba “ beans” would qualify just as well as the pecan as both a nut and a 
+fruit, botanically speaking. There are popular concepts of the fruit as fleshy and/or wet, the 
+nut as nonfleshy and/or dry. Relatively speaking, the jojoba is as dry as a pecan and popularly 
+considered a nut. But botanically, a nut is just one kind of fruit. Hence, I conclude the jojoba 
+bean is both a nut and a fruit from a botanical point of view.
+Ironically, 1RS definitions may make or break a nut species. Vietmeyer^^^ shows how an 
+1RS ruling in 1969 withdrew a number of nut species, especially almond, from its list of 
+speculative agricultural investments. “ Pistachios, however, remained an allowable tax write­
+off. Suddenly alone it became a hot investment.’’ Vietmeyer calls this the unexpected source 
+for the real advance into commercialization; e.g., Getty Oil, Superior Oil, and Tenneco 
+West then invested in pistachios. By 1984 we had some 20,000 hectares pistachios and 
+pushed Turkey out of the number 2 production spot. In 1985, Vietmeyer went even farther 
+with his NRC report on jojoba,perhaps giving the jojoba more momentum. Tax advantages 
+to the jojoba may hinge on whether or not it is defined as a nut. Who knows? Perhaps the 
+future of the jojoba as a new crop may hinge on its definition.
+In 1985, I received a hasty call from an official of the Jojoba Grower’s Association, 
+distressed by the 1RS interpretation of my letter quoted previously. The official enticed me 
+to agree that, in common, if not botanical parlance, the words fruit and nut implied edibility.
+Here I quote the letter drafted (but never typed) to that official. Following conversations 
+with other jojoba fans in the government, I feared the last half of the letter might jeopardize 
+the future of the jojoba as a “ new crop’’. So few “ new crops’’ break through the economic 
+catch 22 here in the U.S.! The farmer won’t grow it until industry provides a guaranteed 
+market, and industry won’t generate a market until there’s a guaranteed source (the farmer).
+Enclosed is a copy of my letter of July 5, 1983 to the 1RS re jojoba. When asked by legal 
+types how to define something, I like to quote published definitions, rather than inventing 
+my own. Trained as a taxonomist, I resorted to Jackson’s glossary.H orticulturists might 
+resort to other sources.
+It is true that the popular concepts of fruits and nuts with most people may imply edibility.
+Few, if any, modem Americans eat jojoba “ nuts.” I would have to agree with you. Dr. M.
+Faust, of USDA, and J. Janick, of Purdue University, that, if edibility is a prerequisite part 
+of the definition of fruit or nut, jojoba is best not considered a nut.
+Expanded from talks presented at the Agricultural Marketing Workshop for the Caribbean Basin, Miami, 
+Florida, September 24-27, 1984; and New Orleans, Louisiana, September 16-20, 1985.
+I realize that paragraph two is what you wanted to hear. Hence, I separate it from the 
+following paragraph which, being something you may not wish to hear, can be extricated 
+from the rest of my letter.
+Two books which I procured in preparing a draft Handbook of Nuts are Rosengarten’s The 
+Book of Edible Nuts (Walker and Company, New York, 1984),^*^ and Menninger’s Edible 
+Nuts of the World (Horticultural Books, Inc., Stuart, Florida, Menninger, who
+defines nut as “ any hardshelled fruit or seed of which the kernel is eaten by mankind” , 
+treats the jojoba as an edible nut, noting the Indian consumption and the vulgar names “ goat 
+nut” and “ deer nut.” Rosengarten employs the word “ nut” “ in the broad and popular 
+sense, covering a wide variety of fruits or seeds, some of which would not be classified as 
+nuts according to strict botanical definition.” He groups jojoba among “ Thirty Other Edible 
+Nuts” , adding as common names “ sheep nut” and “ pignut” . He says “ Its fruits and leaves 
+are devoured with avidity by goats, sheep, and deer. Indians of the desert Southwest gathered 
+jojoba nuts and ate them, raw or roasted; their flavor is reminisent of the hazelnut, but more 
+bitter . . . Today the use ofjojoba nuts for human consumption is mainly of historic interest.” 
+This paragraph of my letter reinforces my reluctance to disqualify jojoba, even in the popular 
+concept “ nut.” I have tasted them raw, and find them about as unappealing as most acorns 
+I have tried.
+Those seeking to exclude jojoba from the staid society of nuts might say that jojoba, an 
+American species, is, with good reason, excluded from Woodruff’s Tree Nuts (2 vols., AVI 
+Publishing Company, Westport, Connecticut, 1967^'^' and Jaynes Handbook of North Amer­
+ican Nut Trees (NNGA, Knoxville, Tennessee, 1969).*'** My superficial examination of these 
+revealed no definition of nut.
+For the record, I did send the following letter and poem that encapsulated my seedy
+feelings.
+Thanks for your letter of April 25, re the jojoba.
+While not fully understanding the tax implication of the Jackson (botanical) interpretation 
+of the word “ nut” and “ fruit” , I surely agree with you that in common, rather than botanical 
+parlance, the words fruit and nut imply edibility. Hence, the common parlance for an orchard 
+of nuts would be a cultivated grove of trees or shrubs for their edible nuts. I don’t frankly 
+believe that jojoba falls into that common concept.
+Hence, the botanical definition of nut is at variance with the popular definition of nut. I 
+think jojoba is a fruit and/or nut according to Jackson’s technical definition, but not according 
+to common parlance.
+Not a Nut?
+(The incredible inedible nut!!!)
+The Jojoba Growers’ Association 
+Wishes, to my consternation.
+That I’d retract a note.
+That long ago I wrote 
+For 1RS edification.
+I sent Jackson’s definition 
+To the 1RS Commission 
+I resorted to quote, but.
+Jojoba’s both fruit and nut.
+Which promotes the Growers’ dissension.
+I find it perfectly credible 
+To define a “ nut” as an edible. 
+But even that caveat 
+Won’t change the fact that 
+Its edible uses are negligible.
+Poets sometimes get in a rut,
+Nonpoetic lines, dry and cut.
+No amount of stink 
+Will lead me to think 
+The jojoba nut’s not a nut.
+My interpretation of the facts is 
+Jojoba’s not good for the gut.
+And when you tally your taxes.
+The jojoba nut’s not a nut.
+Anonpoet 
+April 29, 1985
+I have included in this book many species which are not true nuts. Unlike a one-seeded 
+peanut, a peanut with two or three seeds in the indéhiscent pod is disqualified because it 
+has more than one seed. But I excluded many nuts treated in my Handbook of Legumes of 
+World Economic Im p o rta n c e There are many seeds in the Brazil nut pod, which rules 
+them out (as one-seeded fruits). Similarly, there are many “ nuts” in the colas, included in 
+this book, and many “ beans” in the cacao pod of the same family. Cacao is no further 
+from the definition of nut than is cola. Cacao will be considered in the volume on Money 
+Crops. As a matter of fact, nearly half the species in this book are not nuts in the narrowest 
+sense: “ one-seeded indéhiscent fruits, the kernels of which are edible.”
+In 1984, I addressed the Agricultural Marketing Workshop (Miami) on subtropical and 
+tropical nuts. The feedback I got from that first meeting suggested that I may have overdosed 
+the audience with suggestions of nuts that might be grown in the tropics. There are hundreds 
+of species that can be called nuts, by any of several possible definitions. And due to the 
+overall higher species diversity in the tropics, there is a concomitant higher number of nut 
+species available for consideration in the tropical environments with which we were con­
+cerned.
+During that same year, CRC Press published Martin’s Handbook of Tropical Food Crops^^^ 
+just before I attended the Miami conference that presaged the New Orleans conference of 
+the Agricultural Marketing Workshop. Carl Campbell’s^ excellent chapter on Fruits and 
+Nuts gave a good overview of the cultivation of fruits and nuts, and included short treatises 
+on the cashew, pili nut, brazil nut, breadfruit, coconut, oil palm, and lychee (really a fruit). 
+In a summary table, he listed a few others, the monkey pot {Lecythis elliptica), the paradise 
+nut {Lecythis zabucajo), the jackfruit {Artocarpus heterophylla), the salak {Salacca edulis), 
+the peach palm {Bactris gasipaes), the macadamia {Macadamia integrifolia), and the jujube 
+(Ziziphus mauritiana). Certain virtues were suggested for nut trees:
+Dietary diversity 
+High oil content
+Luxury long-distance commercial markets
+Important to subsistence farmers
+Everbearing
+Low maintenance
+Intercropping potential
+Wood as byproduct
+Land stabilization
+Following my presentations, CRC advised me that they would publish this Handbook of 
+Nuts. It was designed to contain information summaries on about 100 nut species, in the
+same format as my Plenum Handbook of Legumes of World Economic Importance (Plenum 
+Press^^) with succinct paragraphs on Uses, Folk Medicine, Chemistry, Description, Germ- 
+plasm, Distribution, Ecology, Cultivation, Harvesting, Yields and Economics, Energy, Biotic 
+Factors.
+The following recommendations seem germaine to potential nut producers.
+1. Understand the crop and its requirements — take the principles of production and do 
+good, replicated, semi-commercial research to adapt the crop to your own situations.
+2. Select growing areas where good production of a crop can be concentrated — secure 
+large quantities of nuts to make an impact on the export market.
+3. Develop or choose the best varieties and disease-free planting stocks.
+4. Concentrate on producing high quality produce to ensure repeat sales.
+5. Time production so that it will not overlap competitor production, if any.
+6. Practice insect, disease, and pest control — consider quarantine and import regulations 
+for the crop.
+7. Develop attractive and protective packaging that is distinctive and makes your product 
+recognizable.
+8. Do not plant a tree until you’ve tentatively contracted a market. Many advanced 
+technological studies concern temperate nuts and oil seeds.
+Chemical Business (CB) ran an article on Oleochemicals (Research Sparks Oleochemical 
+Hopes).Oleochemicals are defined as the industrial products based on animal fats and 
+vegetable oils, a $1.2 billion segment of the U.S. chemical industry (cf. nut imports worth 
+ca. $300 million, 200 in brazil nuts, 50 in cashews).
+Unlike nuts, oleochemicals find their way into:
+1. The personal care product market (20%)
+2. Industrial lubricants and related products (14%)
+3. Coatings (10%)
+4. Detergent intermediates (10%)
+5. Plastics, alkyds, urethanes, cellophane, cleaners, detergents (18%)
+6. Textiles, emulsion, polymerization, rubber, asphalt, mining, miscellaneous
+In this handbook I treat both kinds of nuts, (1) the familiar nuts that we eat and (2) a few 
+oleochemical or chemurgic nuts. Some of the chemurgic nuts of the tropics are tung and its 
+relatives, purging nut, marking nut, jojoba, and some even more obscure species. I suspect 
+more technological advances are emerging with oil palms than with edible nuts.
+Laurie acid is now obtained mainly from coconut oil and secondarily from palm kernel 
+oil. Finding an alternative source of lauric acid has sparked much industry interest. Henkel 
+Corporation is betting on palm kernel oil in the short run, “ in about 5 years, lauric acid 
+from palm kernel oil will add about 75% to current s u p p lie s .W e use about 2 billion 
+pounds of oleochemicals, which include fatty acids, surfactants, and other esters, amines, 
+natural glycerins, natural alkanoamides, and primary amides and bisamides, at only $0.60 
+per pound = 1% of U.S. Chemical Revenues.
+Exciting new technologies are being explored in the search for alternative sources of lauric 
+acid. In the continental U.S., the technologies are directed more to temperate annuals than 
+to tropical perennials, but potential is probably greater among tropical perennials which need 
+not contend with winter. Some of the technologies do relate to tropical nuts. The kernel of 
+the oil palm is a nut. Britain’s Unilever, and others, are propagating high-yielding oil palms 
+and these are showing up in palm plantations. Such palms can produce more than ten times 
+as much oil as the temperate soybean. Elsewhere I have speculated that 2 billion ha oilpalm
+yielding 25 barrels oil/ha could, with transesterification, support the world’s requirements 
+for 50 billion barrels oil.^^®
+Meanwhile, back in the temperate zone, Calgene^^® is looking at Cuphea, an oilseed with 
+low yields and other agronomic problems, but a crop which produces lauric acid, a short- 
+chain fatty acid. “ Most oilseeds, including rapeseed, make long chain fatty acids (C-18 and 
+up) . . . but . . . because the plants do not ‘know how’ to stop molecule chain growth, 
+no midchain fatty acids, such as lauric acid, are produced by the plants . . . Some oilseed 
+species such as cuphea do know how . . . Calgene scientists plan to isolate the gene or 
+genes responsible and transfer them to rapeseed. Calgene has already overcome difficulties 
+in introducing foreign genes into rapeseed and making the transformed rapeseed plants 
+grow . . . Calgene researchers may be able to modify plants to produce whatever fatty acid 
+is d esired.T hey “ expect to have a series of genes cloned and to be able to ‘mix-and- 
+match’ genes in a low-cost production plant to produce custom-designed plants that produce 
+specialty oils.’’ One potential of this research is the possibility of finding plant sources that 
+can compete with petroleum feedstocks. Some Cuphea species synthesize the C-8 and C- 
+10 fatty acids that could potentially replace petroleum based C-7 and C-9 fatty acids.
+An Ohio subsidiary of Lubrizol has developed a high-oleic acid sunflower with 80% oleic 
+acid, up from the traditional 40%. They put in a 20,000 hectare crop of high-oleic acid 
+sunflowers. Perhaps those interested in tropical nuts should look more to the pataua, Jessenia 
+bataua, a tropical perennial producing perhaps 3 to 6 MT of oil with 80% oleic acid according 
+to some authors. This oil has been favorably compared with olive oil, at a much lower 
+price.
+So much for the annual cupheas, brassicas, and sunflower, the latter treated as a nut by 
+both Menninger^^ and Rosengarten.^®^ None of the biotechnologies mentioned are unique 
+to annuals; they can apply just as well to perennials. But it is easier to keep an annual 
+proprietary. Perennials, once given to the world, can usually be clonally reproduced ad 
+infinitum. Hence, I speculate that the world at large, especially the tropical world, would 
+fare better if the new technologies were developed for perennial species, while the seed 
+salesmen and gene-grabbers might fare better with annuals.
+Whether annual or perennial, plant sources of oleochemicals, or proteins, or pesticides, 
+or drugs, always seem to suffer from one valid criticism. As Tokay (1985) notes, “ . . . the 
+use of natural raw materials that are often inconsistent in composition from batch to batch 
+causes processing headaches. In addition, most fractionation processes produce many by­
+products and co-products, which are often difficult to sell.’’^^® Contrastingly, we read in 
+Science, September 13, 1985, “ Whole plant utilization—extracting medicines, leaf proteins, 
+vitamins, polyphenols, essential oils, and chemurgics, and using the residues for alcohol 
+production for energy—could move us from the petrochemical to the phytochemical era, 
+with the possible fringe benefits of slowing the ‘greenhouse effect’ and making us more 
+self-sufficient.
+Balandrin and Klocke^^ indicate that much evidence shows that natural product research 
+is still potentially less expensive and more fruitful (in terms of new prototype compounds 
+discovered) than are large chemical synthesis programs.
+New technologies for better extraction of main products and co-products and by-products 
+are rapidly coming on line. Work goes on with the transesterification of palm oil, which 
+could effectively fuel the diesel needs of the world. In “ A Green World Instead of the 
+Greenhouse’’,®^ one finds scores (yields in barrels oil equivalent per hectare) for several 
+energy plants.
+Peachpalm 3 5 - 105
+Babassu 5-60 
+Peanut 4,5,13 
+Cassava 6,11,15— 45 
+Castor 13 Purging nut 18 
+Coconut 11,25 Rape 4,5 
+Cottonseed 1 Sesame 8
+Date palm 10— 20 Soybean 2,2,6 
+Eucalypt 76 
+Sugarcane 13,15 
+Melaleuca 76 Sunflower 4,6 
+Nypa 30— 90 
+Sweet potato 30— 90 
+Oilpalm 24— 58 Tung 17
+Coconut is just one of the hundreds of palms which can be termed a nut. Oil-palms are 
+also considered nuts, even by Menninger,^®^ if their seeds are edible. Botanically, many 
+familiar palms might better be classified as drupes, but their energetic potential is noteworthy. 
+In his survey of “ Amazonian Oil Palms of Promise” , Balick^^ notes that most oil palms 
+have a high yield and produce one or both of the basic types of oil (kernel and pulp). These 
+two types usually differ chemically. More importantly, “ Most of the palms would seem to 
+be well adapted to underused agricultural lands in tropical areas, where climate or other 
+factors preclude the cultivation of the more common oleaginous plants.
+The palms on people’s minds today include, besides the conventional coconut and oil 
+palm, both sources of lauric acid, the babassu and the pataua. And then there’s another tree, 
+the inche, not even a palm, attracting the attention of the oil-palm people.
+The jojoba, with which I opened my talk in 1984, is not even an oilseed, but a “ waxseed” . 
+Since it is so important to my introduction, I have left it in this CRC Handbook of Nuts.
+Menninger, in his Edible Nuts of the WorlcP^ after noting that “ A thousand kinds of nuts 
+in this world are hunted and eaten by hungry people” defines nut as “ any hard shelled fruit 
+or seed of which the kernel is eaten by man-kind.” He purports to exclude those nuts that 
+never see the interior of the human stomach in his chapter, “ Not Nuts.”
+Rosengarten, in The Book of Edible Nutsf^^ is more cautious, like me, mostly quoting 
+other definitions. Then he selects twelve important edible nuts and discusses their relation 
+to the various definitions. That discussion bears repeating:
+Few botanical terms are used more loosely than the word ‘nut’. Technically, according to 
+Funk & Wagnalls Standard Encyclopedic College Dictionary (1968), a nut is ‘1. A dry fruit 
+consisting of a kernel or seed enclosed in a woody shell; the kernel of such fruit, especially 
+when edible, as of the peanut, walnut, or chestnut; Bot. A hard, indéhiscent, one-seeded 
+pericarp generally resulting from a compound ovary, as the chestnut or acorn.’ (Indéhiscent 
+means that the seedcase does not split open spontaneously when ripe.) The nut has also been 
+described as a one-celled, one-seeded, dry fruit with a hard pericarp (shell); and, more 
+simply, as the type of fruit that consists of one edible, hard seed covered with a dry, woody 
+shell that does not split open at maturity. Only a fraction of so-called nuts— for example, 
+chestnuts, filberts, and acorns— answer this description. The peanut is not really a nut; it is 
+a legume or pod, like the split pea, lentil, or bean— ^but an indéhiscent one because the pod 
+does not split open upon maturing. The shelled peanut is a seed or bean. The edible seeds 
+of almonds, walnuts, pecans, pistachios, hickory nuts, and macadamia nuts are enclosed in 
+the hard stones of a drupe— like the stones of peaches, cherries, or plums. A drupe is a soft, 
+fleshy fruit with a spongy or fibrous husk, which may or may not split free from the inner 
+hard-shelled stone containing the seed. In plums and peaches, we eat the fleshy parts and 
+throw away the stones; but the fleshy part of the walnut, for example, is removed and 
+discarded, while the kernel of the stone— the nut — is eaten. The shell of a drupe nut, like 
+the walnut, corresponds to the hard, outer layer of the peach stone. The coconut is the seed 
+of a fibrous drupe. The Brazil nut is a seed with a hard seed coat, as is the pinon nut. Another 
+dry, indéhiscent fruit type is the achene— a small, thin shell containing one seed, attached 
+to the outer layer at one point only— as in the dandelion and buttercup. The sunflower seed 
+is an achene. A true nut resembles an achene, but it develops from more than one carpel 
+(female reproductive structure), is usually larger and has a harder, woody wall; e.g ., the 
+difference between the filbert nut and the sunflower achene.
+In 1983/84, the U.S. imported nuts worth $305 million per year, with $216 million in 
+brazil nuts, and $55 million in cashews, cf. $233 with $159 and $46, respectively, in 
+1982/83"» (Table 1).
+Table 1
+DATA ON AN IMPORTANT DOZEN NUTS
+Import Per cap. 
+u.s. costs 
+consumption Price Oil
+production annual 
+(shelled) per percentage
+1980 1983—84 
+I960—J 079 pound (APB)
+(1,000 tons)- (million $)^ ($)-
+(lbs)-
+Almonds 260
+0.45 1.75 54.2 
+Brazil nuts 216
+1.65 66.9 
+Cashew
+55 2.15 45.7
+Chestnut
+1.65 1.5
+Coconut
+0.50 .65 35.3
+Filbert 15
+0.08 1.40 62.4
+Macadamia 15
+0.033 5.50 71.6
+Peanut
+7.1 .65 47.5
+Pecan
+92 0.30 2.75 71.2
+Pistachio
+14 3.30 53.7
+Sunflower
+.55 47.3 
+Walnut (Persian)
+197 0.50 2.00 64.0
+“ Rosengarten.^*^ 
+Gyawa.**^
+In 1980, the U.S. produced on an in-shell basis, ca.260,(XX) tons almonds, 197,(X)0 tons 
+walnuts, 92,(XX) tons pecans, 15,(X)0 tons filberts, 15,(X)0 tons macadamia, and 14 tons 
+pistachios, for a total approximating 600,000 MT nuts production. Of these, it might be 
+noted that only 92,OCX) (the pecans) were from a native American species.
+Here we see a parallel with the other major groups of crops; North America has not 
+contributed much to America’s foodbasket. “ Of all the horticultural products given by our 
+continent to civilization, none are of more importance than the pecan, nor destined to play 
+a more vital role in our pomological future.’’ Moreover, a great slave, Antoine, of the Oak 
+Valley Plantation, in Louisiana, is accredited with our most important contribution to the 
+nut basket. “ The slave Antoine had thus laid the foundation upon which was to be erected 
+a great industry . . .
+Mostly maturing in fall, the temperate zone nuts are extremely rich in calories. Rosengarten 
+notes that one pound of nut kernels (assuming 3,000 calories of fuel value per pound) is 
+equivalent in energy value to about 2.4 lbs breads, 3.2 lbs steak, 8 lbs potato, or 10.4 lbs 
+apple.Oils of the temperate zone are higher in unsaturated fatty acids in general, than 
+oils from the tropics like the palm oils, brazil nut, cashew, etc. It is rather well known that 
+the unsaturated fats are more healthy than the saturated. It is not so well known that you 
+could clone a pecan, grow it in a cold and a hot locale, and have a higher unsaturated profile 
+at the colder locale. In other words, the oils from the tropics will, in general, be less healthy 
+than those from the temperate zone. Perhaps we should raise our edible oils in the temperate 
+zone and our fuel oils in the tropics. But save the pilis, cashews, and brazil nuts for the 
+palates they please so well.
+Rosengarten adds that “ Most nuts are an excellent source of calcium, phosphorus, iron, 
+potassium, and the B vitam ins.T his is true on an as-purchased basis, because nuts 
+contain so little water. On a zero-moisture basis (Table 2), the nuts do not seem particularly 
+outstanding with these nutrients. Some of the more familiar nuts are compared in Table 3.
+
+THE AUTHOR
+James A. “Jim” Duke, Ph.D. is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of the University of North 
+Carolina, where he received his Ph.D. in Botany. He then moved on to postdoctoral 
+activities at Washington University and the Missouri Botanical Gardens in St. Louis, 
+Missouri, where he assumed professor and curator duties, respectively. He retired from the 
+United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) in 1995 after a 35-year career there and 
+elsewhere as an economic botanist. Currently he is Senior Scientific Consultant to Nature’s 
+Herbs (A Twin Labs subsidiary), and to an on-line company, ALLHERB.COM.
+Dr. Duke spends time exploring the ecology and culture of the Amazonian Rain Forest and 
+sits on the board of directors and advisory councils of numerous organizations involved in 
+plant medicine and the rainforest. He is updating several of his published books and refining 
+his on-line database, http://www.ars-grin.gov/dukeA still maintained at the USDA. He is also 
+expanding his private educational Green Farmacy Garden at his residence in Fulton, 
+Maryland.
+ACKNOWLEDGMENTS (Conceptualization)
+Herb Strum, Agricultural Marketing Specialist, USDA, triggered all this when he called 
+and asked if I knew anyone who could address his Agricultural Marketing Workshops on 
+tropical nuts. The next thing you know, I became the speaker without portfolio. Since these 
+nuts are high-priced, light-weight, often labor-intensive crops, it was only natural that I 
+should view the nuts as possible alternative crops for narcotics. For their support in my 
+alternative crops program, I am indebted to the USDA’s Dr. T. J. Army, Deputy Admin­
+istrator, National Program Staff, Beltsville, Maryland; Dr. W. A. Centner, Research Leader, 
+Weed Science Laboratory, ARS, BARC, Beltsville, Maryland, and Quentin Jones, Assistant 
+to Deputy Administrator for Germplasm (now retired). National Program Staff, Beltsville, 
+Maryland.
+In the preparation for these talks, I called on those more knowledgeable to help me decide 
+what should be discussed in papers on Tropical Nuts. I sent these fine correspondents the 
+crude check list, as follows:
+TROPICAL NUTS
+Anacardium occidentale 
+Cashew
+Artocarpus altilis (A. communis)
+Breadfruit
+Bauhinia esculenta (Tylosema esculentum) 
+Marama nut or bean 
+Bertholettia excelsa 
+Brazil nut
+Buchanania latifolia (lanza)
+Cudapah almond or cuddapaha almond or Chironji nut 
+Canarium indicum 
+Java almond 
+Caryocar nuciferum 
+Suari nut 
+Caryodendron 
+Inchi nut
+Cordeauxia edulis 
+Jeheb nut, ye-eb nut 
+Irvingia gabonensis 
+Dika nut 
+Lecythis ollaria 
+Sapucaja nut
+Lecythis minor 
+Lecythis zabucajo 
+Paradise nut 
+Licania rigida 
+Oiticica 
+Macadamia spp.
+Macadamia nut 
+Omphalea megacarpa 
+Hunter’s nut 
+Ongokea klaineana 
+Isano nut 
+Palaquium burukii 
+Siak illipe nut 
+Pangium edule 
+Pangi nut 
+Poga oleosa
+Oboga nut 
+Ricinodendron heudelotii 
+Essang nut 
+Sclerocarya cajfra 
+Manila nut 
+Sterculia chicha 
+Maranhao nut 
+Terminaba catappa 
+Indian almond 
+Terminaba okara 
+Okari nut 
+Telfairia pedata
+Oyster nut
+Omit:
+Jojoba 
+Coconut 
+Chestnut, water 
+Cola nut
+Chufa or Tiger nut 
+Peanut 
+Groundnut 
+Litchi nut
+Frank Martin added the jackfruit {Artocarpus integer) and the champedak (Artocarpus 
+heterophylla), emphasizing that they were distinct species. He also added Aleurites triloba 
+Forst, one of the many candle nuts, stating that it is edible when roasted. Further, he added
+the palmyra palm {Borassus flabellifer L.), Gnetum gnemon (adding that it is excellent), 
+and Telfairia occidentalism another oystemut. He challenged my exclusion of the coconut, 
+and cautioned that Sterculia chicha contains a poisonous cyclopropenoid fatty acid.
+Gerardo Budowski, of CATIE, added Salacca edulis, which is very important in Indonesia, 
+often served at receptions. After he consulted Menninger, he queried how worthwhile are 
+some of the nuts. If you listen to Menninger, all kinds of things are nuts, and may be 
+delicious — to some, such as a large group of palms.
+So I wrote to palm specialist Dennis Johnson, and sent him the list of the more than 50 
+genera of palms that Menninger had included in this books. Dennis seemed comfortable 
+with leaving these in a talk on nuts and added Areca, which Menninger excluded because 
+it was not ingested, and the Pacific ivory nut, Coelococcus.
+Harold Winters, retired USDA author of Kennard and Winters, Some Fruits and Nuts for 
+the T r o p ic s ,also added several species to my list.
+Bob Knight, of the USDA Station at Miami, reminded me of the double meaning of 
+breadnut (1) as the nut of Brosimum alicastrum, also known as Maya Breadnut, and (2) as 
+a seeded breadfruit. Bob also Aleurites moluccana as a chemurgic nut, and Castanopsis 
+as an edible. He reminded me of the unfortunate consequences of overeating seleniferous 
+species of the Lecithidaceae.
+Carl Campbell, also of Florida, added Brosimum too, with the Pili Nut (Canarium ovatum) 
+and the Malabar chestnut (Pachira macrocarpa). He reminded me, as did Julia Morton and 
+Bob Knight, that the pangi nut and the oiticica were “ toxic(?)” and “ hardly edible” , 
+respectively. They are right.
+Ernie Imle, retired USDA cacao specialist, sent literature ranking the pili nut, Canarium 
+ovatum, up with the macadam and cashew. He mentioned that several lines of pili were 
+established at La Zamorana, Honduras.
+Julia Morton added the jackfruit Artocarpus heterophylla, the breadnut, Brosimum ali­
+castrum, the quandong, Fusanus acuminatus, the Tahiti chestnut, I nocarpus edulis, and the 
+Saba nut, or Pachira aquatica, and included data on these and other nut species which I 
+have incorporated in my write-ups on these species. She also added her acuminate capsular 
+reviews of Menninger’s and Rosengarten’s books and equally acuminate warnings on other 
+of our nut species.
+I also acknowledge the help of Jayne Maclean, National Agricultural Library, who went 
+through a list of tropical nuts to check how many citations there were in her computerized 
+search. The tabulation which follows, with the number of “ hits” , might suggest the relative 
+importance of the tropical nuts in the literature:
+162 Anacardium occidentale 0 Omphalea megacarpa
+22 Artocarpus altilis or communis 0 Ongokea klaineana ( = O. gore)
+2 Bauhinia esculenta 1 Palaquium
+24 Bertholettia excelsa 0 Pangium edule 
+2 Buchanania latifolia 0 Pogo oleosa
+2 Licania rigida
+0 Canarium indicum 
+0 Ricinodendron sp.
+0 Caryocar nuciferum
+0 Sclerocarya caffra
+0 Caryodendron sp.
+1 Sterculia chicha
+1 Irvingia gabonensis
+8 Terminalia catappa 
+3 Cordeauxia edulis 
+0 Telfairia pedata
+0 Lecithis ollaria
+0 Lecithis zabucajo
+My wife, Peggy, has helped in gathering and touching up illustrations, some in the public 
+domain, some being redrawn and reproduced here with the permission of the artist and/or 
+publishers. She has gone to the libraries and herbaria around Washington to seek out illus­
+trations, or specimens with which to improve on the quality of the illustrations herein. She
+is responsible for those drawings bearing her name. Last and most, my thanks go to my 
+program assistant, Judy duCellier, who helped compile information into format from several 
+disparate sources. Not only has she learned to read my handwritten annotations and seek 
+out data from obscure sources, she has been good enough to type the manuscript as well. 
+In the civil service system, the very fact that she types the data she helped gather may 
+jeopardize her promotion potential. Take this as my letter of recommendation.
+ACKNOWLEDGMENTS (Procedure and format)
+For conventional nut species, I was immensely aided by a USDA contract with Dr. C. 
+F. Reed,^^® who prepared rough drafts on description, uses, varieties, distribution, ecology, 
+cultivation, economics, yields, and biotic factors of 1000 economic species. I was responsible 
+for the drafts of the nonconventional species reviewed herein as nuts, and Judy duCellier 
+and I edited, updated, and augmented the Reed drafts on the conventional species. Certain 
+major sources constituted the major documentation for Dr. Reed’s early drafts and my final 
+drafts.
+For the Use paragraph, the major references were Bailey,Bogdan,^^ Brown,Brown 
+and Merrill,Burkill,^^ C.S.I.R.,"^® Dalziel,^^ Hortus MacMillan,Martin
+and Ruberte,^®^ Uphof,^^"^ and many others. Often in this or other paragraphs I have internally 
+cited the Chemical Marketing Reporter,a weekly tabloid with much useful information.
+For the Folk Medicine paragraphs, primary resources were Boulos,"^^ C.S.I.R.,"^® Duke,®® 
+Duke and Ayensu,^ Duke and Wain,^^ Hartwell,Kirtikar and Basu,^^^ List and Horham- 
+mer,^®^ M o rto n ,P e rry ,a n d Watt and Breyer-Brandwijk.^^^
+For the Chemistry paragraph, the major references were C.S.I.R.,^® Duke,®^ Duke and 
+Atchley,®^ Gibbs,Gohl,^^® Leung et al.,^®^ List and Horhammer,^®^ and Morton.
+For the Description paragraph, various floras were consulted in addition to the prime 
+references, Kirtikar and Basu,^^^ Little,^®® Ochse,^^® Radford, Ahles, and Bell,^^^ and Reed.^^®
+For the Germplasm paragraph, the major references were Duke,®^ Reed,^^® and Zeven 
+and Zhukhovsky;^^® for the Distribution paragraph, various floras. Holm et al.,^^'^ Little,^®® 
+and for the Ecology paragraph, C.S.I.R.,^® Duke,®^ Holm et al.,^^^ Little,^®® and
+(While ecological amplitudes were available for many of these nuts from Duke,®^^ 
+in other cases I amplified the Duke data from other sources. For yet other species with no 
+hard data, I estimated ecological magnitudes.)
+For the Cultivation and Harvesting paragraphs, C.S.I.R.,^® Purseglove,^^^
+Reed^® were consulted; for the Yields and Economics paragraph, Bogdan,"^^ Duke,®^ FAO,^® 
+and Reed;^® for the Energy paragraph, Channel,^^ Duke,®^ NAS,^^^ and Westlake;^^"^ for the 
+Biotic Factors paragraph, Browne,^^ and Agriculture Handbook No. IbS,"* were the primary 
+references. Dr. C. F. Reed went through some USDA mycology files^®^ for those on which 
+he cooperated. These names have not all been verified. In the Biotic Factor or Cultivation 
+paragraph, there may be bibliographic mention of pesticides. In no way do I imply acceptance 
+or rejection of a pesticide by inclusion or omission. I have merely recited items that may 
+be of interest to those seeking information on pesticides.
+I have omitted several “ nuts” included in my Handbook of Legumes of World Economic 
+Importances^ I have added other legumes, e.g., the groundnut, Apios (not really a nut, but 
+a root), and the yeheb, the tallownut, which were not covered in the handbook. I rank Apios 
+with the promising, yet still undeveloped, new crops of the New World.
+Warning — Although I have compiled from the literature folk medicinal applications for 
+some of these nut species, neither I nor my publishers endorse or even suggest self diagnosis 
+or herbal medication. The folk medicinal information was compiled from open literature, 
+and I cannot vouch for its safety nor efficacy. As a matter of fact, I suspect some folk 
+medicinal applications are both dangerous and inefficacious.
+TABLE OF CONTENTS
+Acrocomia sclerocarpa............................. 1 Corylus maxima...................................... 130
+Coula edulis.............................................131
+Acrocomia total..........................................3
+Cycas circinalis...................................... 133
+Adhatoda vasica........................................5
+Cycas revoluta........................................135
+Aleurites fordii........................................... 8
+Cycas rumphii......................................... 137
+Aleurites moluccana..................................12
+Cyperus esculentus................................. 139
+Aleurites montana.....................................14
+Cyperus rotundas.....................................142
+Amphicarpaea bracteata........................... 16
+Detarium senegalense.............................145
+Anacardium occidentale........................... 19
+Elaeis guineensis.....................................147
+Apios americana...................................... 22
+Elaeis oleifera......................................... 152
+Areca catechu...........................................26
+Eleocharis dulcís.....................................154
+Arenga pinnata......................................... 30
+Fagus grandifolia...................................157
+Artocarpus altilis...................................... 34
+Fagus sylvatica........................................160
+Artocarpus heterophyllus......................... 37
+Ginkgo biloba......................................... 163
+Balanites aegyptiaca................................40
+Gnetum gnemon...................................... 166
+Barringtonia procera................................43
+Helianthus annuus...................................168
+Bertholletia excelsa...................................44
+Hyphaene thebaica................................. 173
+Borassus flabellifer...................................47
+Inocar pus edulis...................................... 175
+Brosimum alicastrum................................50
+Jatropha curcas...................................... i l l
+Brosimum utile......................................... 53
+Jessenia bataua...................................... 180
+Bruguiera gymnorrhiza.............................55
+Juglans ailanthifolia................................184
+Buchanania lanzan...................................57
+Juglans cinerea........................................186
+Butyrospermum paradoxum.....................59
+Juglans hindsii........................................189
+Calamus rotang........................................62
+Juglans nigra...........................................190
+Canarium indicum.....................................65
+Juglans regia...........................................194
+Canarium ovatum.....................................67
+Lecythis minor......................................... 198
+Carya illinoiensis...................................... 69
+Lecythis ollaria....................................... 200
+Caryocar amygdaliferum......................... 73
+Lecythis pisonis......................................202
+Caryocar nuciferum................................. 74
+Licania rigida.........................................204
+Caryocar spp.............................................75
+Macadamia spp....................................... 207
+Caryodendron orinocense........................78
+Madhuca longifolia................................. 210
+Castanea crenata...................................... 80
+Moringa oleifera.................................... 214
+Castanea dentata...................................... 82
+Nelumbo nucífera...................................218
+Castanea mollissima................................. 85
+Nypa fruticans......................................... 222
+Castanea pum ila...................................... 88
+Orbignya cohune.................................... 224
+Castanea sativa........................................90
+Orbignya spp...........................................225
+Castanospermum australe........................93
+Pachira aquatica.................................... 229
+Ceiba pentandra........................................96
+Paullinia cupana.................................... 231
+Cocos nucífera........................................100
+Phytelephas macrocarpa....................... 234
+Cola acuminata......................................107
+Pinus edulis............................................ 236
+Cola nitida..............................................110
+P inus quadrifolia.................................... 238
+Cola verticillata...................................... 113
+Pistacia vera...........................................240
+Cordeauxia edulis...................................114
+Pittosporum resiniferum.........................244
+Corylus americana................................. 116
+Platonia esculenta...................................247
+Corylus avellana.................................... 119
+Prunus dulcis...........................................249
+Corylus chinensis.................................... 123
+Quercus súber.........................................253
+Corylus colurna...................................... 124
+Ricinodendron heudelotii....................... 256
+Corylus cornuta...................................... 126
+Ricinodendron rautanenii....................... 258
+Corylus ferox...........................................128
+Santalum acuminatum............................ 260
+Corylus heterophylla.............................. 129
+..262 Trapa spp............................................... 284
+Treculia africana................... ................287
+..266
+Virola sebifera...................... .............. 290
+..269
+..272 Virola surinamensis.............. .............. 292
+..276 References.............................. ................293
+Figure Credits....................................... 307
+..278
+.............. 311
+Index ......................................
+..281
+1
+ACROCOMIA SCLEROCARPA Mart. (ARCEACEAE) — Gru-Gru Nut, Coco de Catarro, 
+Macauba, Mucaja
+Syn.: Acrocomia aculeata (Jacq.) Lodd.
+P D»-».We,
+Uses — The slimy, soft external tissue (mesocarp) and the seed yield oil. The mesocarp 
+oil can be used as cooking oil, without refining, if extracted from fresh or properly stored 
+fruits. The mesocarp oil is also used for soaps. The kernel oil, with a sweet taste like coconut 
+oil, is used as an edible oil, e.g., in the preparation of margarine.
+Folk medicine — Sometimes used as a purgative and vermifuge.
+Chemistry — Seed contains 60% fat with 17% saturated fatty acids (74.6% oleic acid 
+and 8% linoleic acid). Fruit contains 4.58 mg carotene per 100 g fresh weight. Flowers 
+contain 2.1% gallic acid and tannin.According to Balick,^^ air-dried kernels yield 53 to 
+65 (to 69.4%), pulp up to 63.7% fat. The yellow pulp oil is softer and has a higher iodine 
+value than palm oil, but, unfortunately, hydrolyzes rapidly after harvested, especially if 
+damaged, like the oil palm. Johnson^^^ says that fresh fruits contain 35% moisture; dry fruit 
+mesocarp yields 33% oil, the kernel 53.75%.
+Description — Armed palm to 11 m tall. Leaves pinnate, armed, like the trunk. Inflo­
+rescence with very sharp fine spines. Fruit a reddish-yellow edible drupe surrounded by a 
+tough woody kernel. Dry fruits weigh about 18 g, with 19.8% outer shell, 41.1% mesocarp 
+pulp, 29.0% inner shell, and 10.1% kernel.
+Germplasm — Reported from the South American Center of Diversity, gru-gru is reported 
+to tolerate drought.
+Distribution — Widely dispersed in Brazil, especially in Minas Gerais, where it grows 
+in dense groves. Ranging into Paraguay.
+Ecology — Estimated to range from Tropical Wet to Dry through Subtropical Wet to Dry 
+Forest Life Zones, gru-gru nut is estimated to tolerate annual precipitation of 10 to 40 dm.
+Handbook of Nuts
+annual temperature of 22 to 28°C, and pH of 6 to 8. Sometimes gregarious in dense groves. 
+In Johnson,Balick notes this palm occurs in drier regions than most palms, and therefore 
+might be a useful economic plant in the dry areas.
+Cultivation — Usually not cultivated.
+Harvesting — Balick^^ notes the following, for oil palms in general, not necessarily for 
+this species. “ In commercial production, palm fruits first are harvested and removed from 
+the panicles upon which they are formed. Sterilization is next, to inactivate the enzymes 
+present in the mesocarp. These enzymes can cause deterioration of the oil through lipolysis, 
+an increase of the free fatty acid content known commercially as rancidity. A so-called 
+“ hard oil” , with up to 94.5% free fatty acids, is made by fermenting rather than sterilizing 
+the ripe palm fruits. Sterilization also stops oxidation, which lowers the bleachability of the 
+oil and makes it less valuable for commercial use. The fruits are then macerated to separate 
+the oily pulp from the kernels. In small-scale, local production, natives may pound the fruits 
+with a log or stone to release the pulp. On a large plantation, special machinery is used. 
+To release the oil, this pulpy mass is pressed with a hand press, if primitively processed, 
+or with heavy mechanical presses if on an industrial scale. Clarification follows: in a small 
+operation, the oil is allowed to rise through a layer of boiling water and is then skimmed 
+off. Large processing factories use a settling and centrifuge process. For commercial use, 
+the oil is usually bleached, removing certain natural red or green pigments. These colors 
+may lower the monetary value of the oil.
+Kernels of some species of palms are often saved for their oil as a by-product of primitive 
+fruit processing. These are then shipped to mills located in central areas, where heavier 
+equipment is used for extraction. Natives in the past and today extract palm kernel oil by 
+baking the kernels in an oven and pounding them in hollow logs. The resulting mash is 
+boiled in pots with water, and the oil is collected as it rises to the top. Palm kernel cake, 
+a product of the extraction, is a good protein source and may be used for either human 
+consumption or as an animal feed.^^
+Yields and economics — Small local Brazilian establishments develop the oils, which 
+are little known in the world market. Brazil produced small quantities of the oil before and 
+during World War II. In 1980, Brazilian production was limited to three States: Maranhao, 
+Ceara, and Minas Gerais, producing only 190 tons.^^^
+Energy — The oil could be used like that of other oil palms for energy, the press-cake 
+for alcohol production or animal feed. An 18 g fruit would yield ca. 2.4 g mesocarp oil and 
+1 g kernel oil.^^^
+Biotic factors — No data available.
+ACROCOMIA TOTAI Mart. (ARECACEAE) — Gru-Gru Nut, Paraguay Coco-Palm, Mbocaya
+Uses — Since pre-Colombian times, this palm has, with Copernicia australis (most 
+abundant palm in Paraguay), supplied food, shelter, and the raw material for fabrication of 
+soaps, hats, ropes, baskets, bags, hammocks, and mats. In Argentina, it is regarded as an 
+ornamental palm with edible nuts. Leaves are sometimes lopped for fodder in the dry season. 
+The “ cabbage” and base of the involucral leaves are eaten in salads. Ripe fruits are edible 
+and tasty. Five industrially useful products are obtainable: pulp oil, kernel oil, kernel meal, 
+kernel cake, and extracted pulp. The kernel oil is most valuable and abundant, usable for 
+soap and food.^^
+Folk medicine — No data available.
+Chemistry — Per 100 g, the mesocarp is reported to contain 4.3 g H2O, 4.2 g protein, 
+27.9 g fat, 4.8 g total sugars, 8.8 g fiber, 10.32 g ash, 90 mg Ca, 120 mg P, and 2,180 
+mg K. Other data are tabulated in Markley.^^^ (See Tables 1 and 2).
+Description — Monoecious palm to 15 (to 20) m tall, the stipe provided with stout spines, 
+some 7.5 to 12.5 (to 17) cm long. Leaves pinnate, 2 to 3 m long, individual leaflets 50 to 
+70 cm long; petiole with spines on the dorsal surface. Spadix interfoliar, 1 m long, like the 
+inner spathe densely spinose. Fruits yellow, rounded, ca. 3 to 4 cm diam. with dark orange 
+oily pulp, rich in carotene.
+Germplasm — Reported from the South American (Paraguayan) Center of Diversity, 
+mbocaya, or cvs thereof, is reported to tolerate savannas. Some trees are almost devoid of 
+spines, except just below the crown.
+Distribution — Higher altitude savannas in Argentina and Paraguay.
+Ecology — Estimated to range from Tropical Very Dry to Wet through Subtropical Wet 
+to Dry Forest Life Zones, mbocaya is estimated to tolerate annual precipitation of 8 to 35 
+dm, annual temperature of 22 to 28°C, and pH of 6 to 8.
+Cultivation — Markley^^^ calculates yield, at 10 x 4 m spacing (250 trees/ha) at 640 
+kg oil/ha, at 10 X 6 (166 trees) at 424 kg/ha, at 10 x 8 (125 trees) at 320 kg/ha, and at 
+10 X 10 (100 trees/ha) at 256 kg oil/ha. Markley’s information suggests that the seeds 
+might be as recalcitrant as those of oil palms.
+Harvesting — Humans usually eat only the pulp of freshly fallen fruits owing to the 
+difficulty of extracting the kernels. Nature (decay and/or defecation, followed by rains) often 
+leaves clean nuts lying on the ground, to be harvested by humans. Leaves are sometimes 
+lopped to leave only two in the dry season.
+Yields and Economics — The mbocaya palm is of greater economic importance to 
+Paraguay than any other indigenous palm. Between 1940 and 1951, Paraguay produced 883 
+to 2,849 MT of kernel oil annually, exporting 13 to 2,588, and 170 to 1,125 MT pulp oil, 
+exporting 109 to 2,074 MT. In 1971, Paraguay exported 7,400 MT, up from 2300 tons in 
+1964.^^^ Commenting on comparative yields of oil per ha, Markley^^ shows only 96 to 640 
+kg/ha for this species, compared to 2,790 for oil palm, 818 for coconut, 420 for sesame, 
+392 for rapeseed, 308 for sunflower, 230 for peanuts, 193 for flaxseeds, and 190 for soybeans.
+Energy — The oil could be used like that of other oil palms for energy, the press-cake 
+for alcohol production or animal feed. Brazil is now studying this plant as a renewable 
+source of fuel oil.^^^
+Biotic factors — A highly destructive stem borer or snout beetle (Rhyna barbirostris) 
+attacks the palm. Larvae may devour the whole interior, except for the long cellulose fiber. 
+A fungus, probably Phaecophora acrocomiac, may cause yellow blotches with black centers 
+on the leaves. Ruminants may eat the whole fruit, regurgitating or even defecating entire 
+kernels (“ nuts” ). Seedlings may be devoured by insects, birds, or other animals, as well 
+as attacked by microorganisms.
+Handbook of Nuts
+Table 1
+COMPOSITION (%) OF COMMERCIAL SAMPLES OF A. 
+TOTAI PRODUCTS'”
+Outer Pulp, Kernel,
+hull Pulp expeller Shell expeller
+Constituent (epicarp) (mesocarp) cake (endocarp) Kernel cake
+Moisture (H2O) 6.65 4.31 5.26 6.84 3.17 7.44
+Lipides (oil) 3.88 27.94 6.26 2.46 66.75 7.22
+Nitrogen 0.74 0.67 0.98 0.31 2.02 5.50
+Protein {N x 6.25) 4.62 4.18 6.12 1.94 12.62 34.38
+Crude fiber 36.00 8.82 6.83 49.69 8.60 11.65
+—
+Sugars (total) 4.85 5.16 — 1.28 2.80
+5.82
+Ash 10.32 9.16 3.26 1.98 5.37
+Potassium 2.18 2.18 2.75 1.02 1.36 1.55
+Phosphorus 0.10 0.12 0.16 0.04 0.42 1.14
+Calcium 0.07 0.09 0.10 0.04 0.08 0.27
+Table 2
+CHARACTERISTICS AND COMPOSITION OF THE PULP OILS 
+OF A. TOTAI AND E. GUINEENSIS^^
+Characteristic A. A.
+E. guineensis
+—
+Specific gravity (40°C) 0.9240 0.898—0.901
+Refractive index (40°C) 1.4615 1.4582— 1.4607 1.453— 1.456
+—
+Titer value (°C) 26.1— 33.2 4 0 - ^ 7
+Iodine value
+68.4 54.5— 66.7 44— 58
+Unsaponifiable matter (%) 0.81 0.27— 0.55 < 0 .8
+Saponification value 197.0 200— 209 195— 205
+Free fatty acids (% palmitic) 41.2 1— ?
+Total fatty acids
+Iodine value — —
+69.7
+Thiocyanogen value
+66.6 — —
+Saturated (%) 20.0 — 39— 50
+Oleic (%) —
+80.0 38— 52
+Linoleic (%) —
+0.0 6— 10
+ADHATODA VASICA (L.) Nees (ACANTHACEAE) — Malabar Nut, Adotodai, Pavettia,
+Wanepala, Basak
+Syn.: Justicia adhatoda L.
+Uses — Plants grown for reclaiming waste lands. Because of its fetid scent, it is not eaten 
+by cattle and goats. Leaves and twigs commonly used in Sri Lanka as green manure for 
+field crops, and elsewhere in rice fields. Leaves, on boiling in water, give durable yellow 
+dye used for coarse cloth and skins; in combination with indigo, cloth takes a greenish-blue 
+to dark green color. Also used to impart black color to pottery. Stems and twigs used as 
+supports for mud-walls. Wood makes good charcoal for gunpowder, and used as fuel for 
+brick-making. Ashes used in place of crude carbonate of soda for washing clothes. In Bengal, 
+statue heads are carved from the wood. Leaves also used in agriculture as a weedicide, 
+insecticide, and fungicide, as they contain the alkaloid, vasicine. As a weedicide, it is used 
+against aquatic weeds in rice-fields; as insecticide, used in same way tobacco leaves; as 
+fungicide, they prevent growth of fungi on fruits which are covered with vasica leaves. 
+Market gardeners place layers of leaves over fruit, like mangoes, plantains, and custard- 
+apples, which have been picked in immature state to hasten ripening and to ensure devel­
+opment of natural color in these fruits without spoilage.®^
+Folk medicine — Plant has many medicinal uses. Whole plant used in Sri Lanka for 
+treatment of excessive phlegm, and in menorrhagia. Leaves are source of an expectorant 
+drug used to relieve coughs. Plants are used in folk remedies for glandular tumors in India. 
+Leaf used for asthma, bronchitis, consumption, cough, fever, jaundice, tuberculosis; smoked 
+for asthma; prescribed as a mucolytic, antitussive, antispasmodic, expectorant. Ayurvedics^^^ 
+use the root for hematuria, leucorrhea, parturition, and strangury, the plant for asthma, 
+blood impurities, bronchitis, consumption, fever, heart disease, jaundice, leucoderma, loss 
+of memory (amnesia), stomatosis, thirst, tumors, and vomiting. Yunani use the fruit for 
+bronchitis, the flowers for jaundice, poor circulation, and strangury; the emmenagogue leaves 
+in gonorrhea, and the diuretic root in asthma, bilious nausea, bronchitis, fever, gonorrhea, 
+and sore eyes.^^
+Chemistry — Used in Indian medicine for more than 2000 years, adhatoda now has a 
+whole book dedicated to only one of its active alkaloids.In addition to antiseptic and
+Handbook of Nuts
+insecticidal properties, vasicine produces a slight fall of blood pressure, followed by rise to 
+the original level, and an increase in the amplitude of heart beats and a slowing of the 
+rhythm. It has a slight but persistent bronchodilator effect. With a long history as an 
+expectorant in India, vasicine has recently been modified to form the derivative bromhexine, 
+a mucolytic inhalant agent, which increases respiratory fluid volume, diluting the mucus, 
+and reduces its viscosity. Fluid extract of leaves liquifies sputum, relieving coughs and 
+bronchial spasms. The plant also contains an unidentified principle agent active against the 
+tubercular bacillus. Adhatodine, anisotinine, betaine, vasakin, vasicine, vasicinine, vasici- 
+nol, vasicinone, vasicoline, vasicolinone, are reported. Deoxyvasicine is a highly effective 
+antifeedant followed by vasicinol and vasicine. These plant products as antifeedants could 
+be safely used for controlling pests on vegetable crops. AtaP devoted a whole book 
+to the chemistry and pharmacology of Vasicine-A. At the Regional Research Laboratory 
+(RRL), in Jammu, vasicine showed a definite bronchodilatory effect, comparable to that of 
+theophylline, as well as hypotensive, respiratory stimulant, and uterotonic activities.The 
+total alkaloid content is up to 0.4%, of which 85 to 90% is vasicine.
+Toxicity — Vasicine is toxic to cold-blooded creatures (including fish) but not to mam­
+mals. Although it is not listed in many poisonous plant books, the fact that it is not grazed 
+suggests that it could well be poisonous.Vasicine and vasicinol exhibit potential to reduce 
+fertility in insects. “ Vasicine is also likely to replace the abortifacient drugs in current use 
+as its abortifacient activity is comparable to prostaglandins.“ ^^ In large doses the leaves 
+cause diarrhea and nausea.®^
+Description — A gregarious, evergreen, densely branched shrub 1.5 to 3 (to 6) m tall; 
+bark smooth, ash-colored; branches softly hairy, intemodes short; leaves opposite, elliptic, 
+ovate or elliptic-lanceolate, pointed at both ends, acuminate, entire, minutely pubescent, 
+12.5 to 20 cm. long, 8 cm. broad; flowers white with red, pink, or white spots or streaks, 
+in dense axillary, stalked, bracteate spikes 2.5 to 7.5 cm long; bracts conspicuously leafy, 
+1-flowered; calyx deeply divided into 5 lobes, pubescent; corolla 2-lipped, pubescent outside; 
+upper lip notched, curved, lower lip 3-lobed; capsules 2.5 cm or more long, 0.8 cm broad, 
+clavate, pubescent, 4-seeded; seeds suborbicular, rugose. Flowers and fruit December to 
+April; in some areas flowers May—June also.^^®
+Germplasm — Reported from the Indochina-Indonesia Centers of Diversity, Malabar 
+Nut or CVS thereof is reported to tolerate fungus, insects, mycobacteria, and weeds.
+Distribution — Common to tropical India from Punjab to southern India, Sri Lanka, N. 
+Burma, Pakistan (Karachi, Sind, Khyber, Wazir, Kurram, Dir); Hong Kong, China, Yunnan, 
+where common.
+Ecology — Abundant and gregarious in many areas of China and India, growing in full 
+sun, at edges of forests, in hilly regions often as the co-dominant shrub with Capparis 
+sepiaria L. Also grows in full sun on flood plains and in meadows. In Curacao, it grows 
+well on weathered diabase, in south Florida on oolitic limestone. In Sub-Himalayan region 
+ascends to 1,300 m altitude, more frequent at altitudes about 200 to 300 m. Requires a 
+subtropical to tropical climate with moderate precipitation. Though killed to the ground by 
+brief frosts, it recovers rapidly. Ranging from Warm Temperate Dry through Tropical Very 
+Dry Forest Life Zones, Malabar nut is reported to tolerate annual precipitation of 5 to 42 
+dm (mean of 5 cases = 22), annual temperature of 15 to 2TC (mean of 5 cases = 24), 
+and pH of 4.5 to 7.5 (mean of 4 cases = 6.1).^^’^^®
+Cultivation — As plants are quite common, often abundant, and gregarious in regions 
+of adaptation and where people use the plant, the plant is cultivated mainly in areas of 
+habitation, as hedges, wind-breaks, and for reclaiming soil. Propagation is by seeds broadcast 
+in areas of need, or in waste areas about areas of cultivation. Any forest edge is a likely 
+place to seed, so that the leaves or branches will be handy for use on other cultivated plants. 
+No particular care is taken, as the plants thrive on any tropical soil that is well-drained and
+has sufficient precipitation. The plants, also propagated readily from cuttings, are said to 
+coppice well.^^^
+Harvesting — Harvesting leaves and branches varies according to the needs of the local 
+farmer, for green manure, covering fruits or protection, etc. As plants are evergreen, leaves 
+are available year-round.
+Yields and economics — No data available. However, plants are plentiful, and supply 
+all the leaves and twigs needed by those who use them. An important plant for reclaiming 
+waste land in areas of adaptation, as in India and Sri Lanka. Also used as weedicide, 
+insecticide, and fungicide in tropical areas. Mainly used in tropical Southeast Asia, S. China, 
+India, and Sri Lanka. One ton of leaves can yield 2 kg vasicine equivalent to 2 million 
+human doses.
+Energy — I was surprised to see this listed in a book on firewood trees.They note 
+that it has a particularly desirable wood for quick, intense, long-lasting cooking fires, with 
+little or no odor, smoke or sparks. The moderately hard wood has been used to manufacture 
+gunpowder charcoal.If vasicine becomes commercialized, the biomass residues (>99%) 
+following vasicine extraction could conceivably serve as a pesticidal mulch or for conversion 
+to alcohol. Perhaps this should be viewed like the neem tree in the third world, stripping 
+the leaves as a pesticidal mulch, using the woody “ skeleton” for firewood.
+Biotic factors — Fungi reported attacking this plant include the following species: Ae- 
+cidium adhatodaCy Alternaría tenuissima, Cercospora adhatodar, Chnoospora butleri, 
+Phomopsis acanthi (Phoma acanthi).^^^ Plants are parasitized by Cuscuta reflexa. Not browsed 
+by goats or other animals. One source states that this plant “ is never attacked by any 
+insect . . . even the voracious eater, Bihar Hairy Catterpillar (sic) {Dieresia obliqua) avoids 
+this plant.
+8 Handbook of Nuts
+ALEURITES FORDII Hemsl. (EUPHORBIACEAE) — Tung-Oil Tree
+Uses — Tung trees are cultivated for their seeds, the endosperm of which supplies a 
+superior quick-drying oil, utilized in the manufacture of lacquers, varnishes, paints, linoleum, 
+oilcloth, resins, artificial leather, felt-base floor coverings, and greases, brake-linings and 
+in clearing and polishing compounds. Tung oil products are used to coat containers for food, 
+beverages, and medicines; for insulating wires and other metallic surfaces, as in radios, 
+radar, telephone, and telegraph instruments.
+Folk medicine — Reported to be emetic, hemostat, and poisonous, tung-oil tree is a folk 
+remedy for bums, edema, ejaculation, masturbation, scabies, swelling, and trauma.
+Chemistry — The fmit contains 14 to 20%; the kernel, 53 to 60%; and the nut, 30 to 
+40% oil. The oil contains 75 to 80% alpha-elaeo stearic-, 15% oleic-, ca 4% palmitic-, and 
+ca. 1% stearic acids. Tannins, phytosterols, and a poisonous saponin are also reported.
+Description — Trees up to 12 m tall and wide, bark smooth, wood soft; leaves dark 
+green, up to 15 cm wide, heart-shaped, sometimes lobed, appearing usually just after, but 
+sometimes just before flowering; flowers in clusters, whitish, rose-throated, produced in 
+early spring from terminal buds of shoots of the previous season; monoecious, male and 
+female flowers in same inflorescence, usually with the pistillate flowers surrounded by several 
+staminate flowers; fruits spherical, pear-shaped or top shaped, green to purple at maturity, 
+with 4 to 5 carpels each with one seed; seeds usually 4 to 5, but may vary from 1 to 15, 2 
+to 3.2 cm long, 1.3 to 2.5 cm wide, consisting of a hard outer shell and a kernel from which 
+the oil is obtained. Flowers February to March; fmits late September to early November.
+Germplasm — Reported from the China-Japan and North American Centers of Diversity, 
+tung-oil tree, or cvs thereof, is reported to tolerate bacteria, disease, frost, insects, poor 
+soil, and slope.High-yielding cultivars continue to be developed. Some of the best cvs 
+released by the USDA for growing in the southern U.S. are the following:
+• ‘Folsom’: low-heading, high productivity; fruits large, late maturing, turning purplish 
+when mature, containing 21% oil; highest resistance to low temperature in fall.
+• ‘GahT: low-heading, productive; fruits large, 20% oil content; matures early, somewhat 
+resistant to cold in fall.
+• ‘Isabel’: low-heading, highly productive; fruits large, maturing early, 22% oil content.
+• ‘La Crosse’: High-heading, exceptional productivity; fruits small, late maturing, tend­
+ing to break segments if not harvested promptly, 21 to 14% oil content; a very popular 
+cv.
+• ‘Lampton’: out-yields all other varieties; very low-heading; fruits large, early maturing; 
+22% oil content.
+Several other species of Aleurites are used to produce tung-oil, usually of low quality: 
+Aleurites cordata, Japanese wood-oil tree; A. moluccana, Candlenut or lumbang tree; A. 
+trisperma. Soft Lumbang tree; none of which can be grown commercially in the U.S. 
+Aleurites montana. Mu-tree, is the prevailing commercial species in South China and could 
+be grown in F l o r i d a . ( z n = zz.)
+Distribution — Native to central and western China, where seedlings have been planted 
+for thousands of years; planted in the southern U.S. from Florida to eastern Texas.
+Ecology — Ranging from Warm Temperate Dry to Wet through Tropical Very Dry to 
+Moist Forest Life Zones, tung-oil tree is reported to tolerate annual precipitation of 6.4 to
+21.0 dm (mean of 22 cases = 14.0), temperature of 18.7 to 27.0°C (mean of 21 cases = 
+24.0°C), pH of 5.4 to 7.1 (mean of 5 cases = 6.2).^^ Tung trees are very exacting in 
+climatic and soil requirements. They require long, hot summers with abundant moisture, 
+with usually at least 112 cm of rainfall rather evenly distributed through the year. Trees
+require 350 to 400 hr in winter with temperatures 7.2°C or lower; without this cold require­
+ment, trees tend to produce suckers from the main branches. Vigorous but not succulent 
+growth is most cold-resistant; trees are susceptible to cold injury when in active growth. 
+Production of tung is best where day and night temperatures are uniformly warm. Much 
+variation reduces tree growth and fruit size. Trees grow best if planted on hilltops or slopes, 
+as good air-drainage reduces losses from spring frosts. Contour-planting on high rolling land 
+escapes frost damage. Tung makes its best growth on virgin land. Soils must be well-drained, 
+deep aerated, and have a high moisture-holding capacity to be easily penetrated by the roots. 
+Green manure crops and fertilizers may be needed. Dolomitic lime may be used to correct 
+excessive acidity; pH 6.0 to 6.5 is best; liming is beneficial to most soils in the Tung Belt, 
+the more acid soils requiring greater amounts of lime.*^’^^*
+Cultivation — Tung trees may be propagated by seed or by budding. Seedlings generally 
+vary considerably from parent plants in growth and fruiting characters. Seedlings which 
+have been self-pollinated for several generations give rather uniform plants. Only 1 out of 
+100 selected “ mother” tung trees will produce seedlings sufficiently uniform for commercial 
+planting. However, a “ mother” tree proven worthy by progeny testing may be propagated 
+by budding. The budded trees, which are genetically identical with the original tree, will 
+provide an adequate supply of seed satisfactory for planting. Seedlings are used for the root 
+system for budded trees. Buds from “ mother” trees are inserted in stems of 1-year old 
+seedlings, 5 to 7.5 cm above the surface of the soil. Later, the original seedling top is cut 
+off and a new top grown for the transplanted bud, making the tops of budded trees parts of 
+the parent tree. Usually seedling trees outgrow budded trees, but budded trees produce larger 
+crops and are more uniform in production, oil content, and date of fruit maturity. Tung seed 
+are normally short-lived and must be planted during the season following harvest. Seeds are 
+best hulled before planting, as hulls retard germination. Hulled seed may be planted dry, 
+but soaking in water for 5 to 7 days hastens germination. Stratification, cold treatment or 
+chemical treatment of seeds brings about more rapid and uniform germination. Dry-stored 
+seed should be planted no later than February; stratified seed by mid-March; cold-treated 
+and chemical treated seed by early April. Seed may be planted either by hand or with a 
+modified corn-planter, the seed spaced 15 to 20 cm apart, about 5 cm, in rows 1.6 m apart, 
+depending on the equipment to be used for cultivation and for digging the trees. Seeds 
+germinate in 60 days or more; hence weed and grass control may be a serious problem. As 
+soon as seedlings emerge, a side-dressing of fertilizer (5-10-5) with commercial zinc sulfate 
+should be applied. Fertilizer is applied at rate of 600 kg/ha, in bands along each side of 
+row, 20 cm from seedlings and 5 to 7.5 cm deep. Other fertilizers may be needed, depending 
+on the soil. Most successful budding is done in late August, by the simple shield method, 
+requiring a piece of budstock bark, including a bud, that will fit into a cut in the rootstock 
+bar; a T-shaped cut is made in the bark of the rootstock at a point 5 to 7.5 cm above ground 
+level, the flaps of bark loosened, shield-bud slipped inside flaps, and the flaps tied tightly 
+over the transplanted bud with rubber budding stripe, 12 cm long, 0.6 cm wide, 0.002 thick. 
+After about 7 days, the rubber stripe is cut to prevent binding. As newly set buds are 
+susceptible to cold injury, soil is mounded over them for winter. When growth starts in 
+spring, soil is pulled back and each stock cut back to within 3.5 cm of the dormant bud. 
+Later, care consists of keeping all suckers removed and the trees well-cultivated. Trees are 
+transplanted to the orchard late the following winter. Spring budding is done only as a last 
+resort. Trees may be planted at 125 to 750/ha. When trees are small, close planting in rows 
+greatly increases the bearing surface, but at maturity the bearing surface of a crowded row 
+is about the same as that of a row with trees farther apart. However, it is well to leave 
+enough space between row for orchard operations. In contour-planting, distances between 
+rows and total number of trees per hectare vary; rows 10 to 12 m apart, trees spaced 3.3 to 
+4 m apart in rows, 250 to 350 trees/ha. Tops of nursery trees must be pruned back to 20 to
+10 Handbook of Nuts
+25 cm at planting. As growth starts, all buds are rubbed off except the one strongest growing 
+and best placed on the tree. A bud 5 cm or more below the top of the stump is preferred 
+over one closer to top.^^^
+Harvesting — Tung trees usually begin bearing fruit the third year after planting, and 
+are usually in commercial production by the fourth or fifth year, attaining maximum pro­
+duction in 10 to 12 years. Average life of trees in the U.S. is 30 years. Fruits mature and 
+drop to ground in late September to early November. At this time they contain about 60% 
+moisture. Fruits must be dried to 15% moisture before processing. Fruits should be left on 
+the ground 3 to 4 weeks until hulls are dead and dry, and the moisture content has dropped 
+below 30%. Fruits are gathered by hand into baskets or sacks. Fruits do not deteriorate on 
+the ground until they germinate in spring.
+Yields and economics — Trees yield 4.5 to 5 tons/ha. An average picker can gather 60 
+to 80 bushels of fruits per day, depending on conditions of the orchard. Fruits may be 
+gathered all through the winter season when other crops do not need care. Because all fruits 
+do not fall at the same time, 2 or more harvestings may be desirable to get the maximum 
+yield. Fruits are usually sacked, placed in the crotch of the tree and allowed to dry 2 to 3 
+weeks before delivery to the mill. Additional drying may be done at the mill, but wet fruits 
+contain less oil percentage-wise and prices will be lower. Prices for tung oil depend on price 
+supports, domestic production, imports, and industrial demands. World production in 1969 
+was 107,000 MT of tung nuts; in 1970, 143,000; and projected for 1980, 199,000. Wholesale 
+prices were about $0.276/kg; European import prices, $0.335/kg. Growers received about 
+$51.10/ton of fruit of 18.5% oil content to about $63.10/ton for fruits of 22% oil content. 
+Major producing countries are mainland China and South America (Argentina and Paraguay); 
+the U.S. and Africa produce much less. U.S. Bureau of Census figures 1,587,000 pounds 
+of tung oil were consumed during February of 1982, representing a 1,307,000 pound drop 
+from January. The largest application for the oil is paint and varnish, which accounted for
+566,000 pounds of total consumption in F e b r u a r y .D e a l e r s in tung oil include:^^^
+Alnore Oil Co., Inc. Pacific Anchor Chemical Corp. 
+P.O. Box 699 6055 E. Washington Boulevard 
+Valley Stream, NY 11582 Los Angeles, CA 90040
+Industrial Oil Products Corp. Welch, Holme, & Clark Co., Inc. 
+375 N. Broadway 1000 S. 4th Street 
+Jericho, NY 11753 Harrison, NJ 07029
+Kraft Chemical Co.
+1975 N. Hawthorene Avenue 
+Melrose Park, IL 60160
+Energy — During World War II, the Chinese used tung oil for motor fuel. It tended to 
+gum up the engines, so they processed it to make it compatible with gasoline. The mixture 
+worked fine,^"^^ Gaydou et al.^®^ reported yields of 4 to 6 MT/ha, converting to 1,800 to 
+2,700 € oil per ha, equivalent to 17,000 to 25,500 kWh/ha.
+Biotic factors — Bees are needed to transfer pollen from anthers to pistil. When staminate 
+and pistillate flowers are on separate trees, 1 staminate tree for 20 pistillate trees should be 
+planted in the orchard. Pollination can occur over several days. Tung trees are relatively 
+free of insects and diseases, only a few causing losses serious enough to justify control 
+measures: e.g., Botroyosphaeria rihis, Clitocybe tabescens, Mycosphaerella aleuritidis. 
+Pellicularia koleroga, Physalospora rhodina and the bacterium. Pseudomonas aleuritidis. 
+Other bacteria and fungi reported on tung trees are Armillaria mellea, Botryodiplodia theo-
+11
+bromae, Cephaleures virescens, Cercospora aleuritidis, Colletotrichum gloeosporioides, 
+Corticium koleroga, Fomes lamaoensis, F. lignosus, Fusarium heterosporum forma aleu­
+ritidis, F. oxysporum, F. scirpi, F. solani, Ganoderma pseudoferreum, Coleosporium aleu- 
+riticum, Glomerella cingulata, Pestalotia dichaeta, Phyllosticta microspora, Phytomonas 
+syringae, Phytophthora omnivor a, Ph. cinnamomi, Poria hypolateritia, Pythium aphani- 
+dermatum, Rhizoctonia solani, Septobasidium aleuritidis, S. pseudopedicellatum, Sphae- 
+rostilbe repens, Uncinula miyabei var. aleuritis, Ustilina maxima, U. zonata. Insect pests 
+are not a serious problem, since fruit and leaves of tung trees are toxic to most animal life. 
+Nematodes Meloidogyne spp. have been reported.
+12 Handbook of Nuts
+ALEURITES MOLUCCANA (L.) Willd. (EUPHORBIACEAE) — Candlenut Oil Tree, Can- 
+dleberry, Varnish Tree, Indian or Belgium Walnut, Lumbang Oil 
+Syn.: Aleurites triloba Forst., Croton moluccanus L.
+Uses — Seed yields 57 to 80% of inedible, semi-drying oil, liquid at ordinary temperatures, 
+solidifying at - 15°C, and containing oleostearic acid. The oil is quicker drying than linseed 
+oil, and is used as a wood preservative, for varnishes and paint oil, also as an illuminant, 
+for soap-making, waterproofing paper, in India rubber substitutes and insulating masses. 
+Fruits said to be used as a fish poison. Seeds are moderately poisonous and press cake is 
+used as fertilizer. Kernels, when roasted and cooked are considered edible; may be strung 
+as candlenuts. Oil is painted on bottoms of small craft to protect against marine borers. 
+Tung oil, applied to cotton bolls, stops boll weevils from eating them; also prevents feeding 
+by striped cucumber beetle.
+Folk medicine — Bark used on tumors in Japan. Reported to be aperient, aphrodisiac, 
+laxative, poison, purgative, stimulant, sudorific, candlenut oil tree is a folk remedy for 
+asthma, debility, sores, swelling, tumors, unconsciousness, womb ailments, and wounds. 
+The oil is purgative and sometimes used like castor oil. In China, it is applied to sciatica. 
+Kernels are laxative, stimulant, and sudorific. The irritant oil is rubbed on scalp as a hair 
+stimulant. In Sumatra, pounded seeds, burned with charcoal, are applied round the navel 
+for costiveness. Leaves are applied for rheumatism in the Philippines. In Malaya, the pulped 
+kernel enters poultices for headche, fevers, ulcers, and swollen joints. Boiled leaves are 
+applied to headache, scrofula, swollen joints, and ulcers. In Java, the bark is used for bloody 
+diarrhea or dysentery. Bark juice with coconut milk is used for sprue and thrush. Malayans 
+apply boiled leaves to the temples for headache, and to the pubes for gonnorhea.^^ In Yunani 
+medicine, the oil is considered anodyne, aphrodisiac, and cardiotonic, and the fruit is 
+recommended for the brain, bronchitis, bruises, heart, hydrophobia, liver, piles, ringworm, 
+and watery eyes. In Ayurvedic medicine, the fruit is considered apertif, aphrodisiac, anti- 
+bilious, cardiac, depurative, and refrigerant.
+Chemistry — The oil cake, containing ca. 46.2% protein, 4.4% P2O5, and 2.0% K2O,
+13
+is said to be poisonous. A toxalbumin and HCN have been suggested. Bark contains ca. 4 
+to 6% tannin. Oil also contains glycerides of linolenic, oleic and various linoleic acids. Per 
+100 g, the seed is reported to contain 626 calories, 7.0 g H2O, 19.0 g protein, 63.0 g fat,
+8.0 g total carbohydrate, 3.0 g ash, 80 mg Ca, 200 mg P, 2.0 mg Fe, 0 mg beta-carotene 
+equivalent, 0.06 mg thiamine, and 0 mg ascorbic acid.^^
+Description — Medium-sized tree, up to 20 m tall, ornamental, with spreading or pen­
+dulous branches; leaves simple, variable in shape, young leaves large, up to 30 cm long, 
+palmate, with 3 to 7 acuminate lobes, shining, while leaves on mature trees are ovate, entire, 
+and acuminate, long-petioled, whitish above when young, becoming green with age, with 
+rusty stellate pubescence beneath when young, and persisting on veins and petiole; flowers 
+in rusty-pubescent panicled cymes 10 to 15 cm long; petals 5, dingy white or creamy, 
+oblong, up to 1.3 cm long; ovary 2-celled; fruit an indéhiscent drupe, roundish, 5 cm or 
+more in diameter, with thick rough hard shell making up 64 to 68% of fruit, difficult to 
+separate from kernels; containing 1 or 2 seeds. Flowers April to May (Sri Lanka).
+Germpiasm — Reported from the Indochina-Indonesia Center of Diversity, Aleurites 
+moluccana, or cvs thereof, is reported to tolerate high pH, low pH, poor soil, and slope. 
+(2n = 44,22).
+Distribution — Native to Malaysia, Polynesia, Malay Peninsula, Philippines, and South 
+Seas Islands; now widely distributed in tropics. Naturalized or cultivated in Malagasy, Sri 
+Lanka, southern India, Bangladesh, Brazil, West Indies, and the Gulf Coast of the U.S.^^®
+Ecology — Candlenut trees thrive in moist tropical regions, up to 1,200 m altitude. 
+Ranging from Subtropical Dry to Wet through Tropical Very Dry to Wet Forest Life Zones, 
+Aleurites moluccana is reported to tolerate annual precipitation of 6.4 to 42.9 dm (mean of 
+14 cases = 19.4) annual temperature of 18.7 to 27.4°C (mean of 14 cases = 24.6) and pH 
+of 5.0 to 8.0 (mean of 7 cases = 6.4).^^
+Cultivation — Usually propagated from seed, requiring 3 to 4 months to germinate. 
+Seedlings planted 3(X)/ha. Once established, trees require little to no attention.
+Harvesting — Bear two heavy crops each year. After harvesting mature fruits, it is 
+difficult to separate kernels from shell, as the kernels adhere to sides of shell.
+Yields and economics — Asa plantation crop, tree yields are estimated at 5 to 20 tons/ha 
+of nuts, each tree producing 30 to 80 kg. Oil production varies from 15 to 20% of nut 
+weight. Most oil produced in India, Sri Lanka, and other tropical regions is used locally 
+and does not figure into international trade. In the past, oil has sold for 12 to 14 pounds 
+per ton in England. According to the Chemical Marketing Reporter,tung oil prices (then 
+ca. $.65/lb) are likely to rise in the near future if demand remains adequate and Argentinean 
+and Paraguayan suppliers pressure the U.S. market by charging high prices for replacement 
+oil. U.S. imports for the first quarter of 1981 were 58% higher than 1980, despite the absence 
+of Chinese tung from the market.
+Energy — Nut yields are estimated at 80 kg/tree, which, spaced at 200 trees per hectare, 
+would suggest 16 MT/ha/yr, about 20% of which (3 MT) would be oil, suitable, with 
+modification, for diesel uses, the residues for conversion to alcohol or pyrolysis. Fruit yields 
+may range from 4 to 20 MT/ha/yr. Commercial production of oil yields 12 to 18% of the 
+weight of the dry unhulled fruits, the fruits being air-dried to ca. 12 to 15% moisture before 
+pressing. The pomace contains 4.5 to 5% oil. This suggests that the “ chaff factor” might 
+be ca 0.8. Oil yields as high as 3,100 kg/ha have been reported. As of June 15, 1981, tung 
+oil was $0.65/lb, compared to $0.38 for peanut oil, $1.39 for poppyseed oil, $0.33 for 
+linseed oil, $0.275 for coconut oil, $0.265 for cottonseed oil, $0.232 for com oil, and $0.21 
+for soybean oil.^^^ At $2.(X) per gallon, gasoline is roughly $0.25/lb.
+Biotic factors — Following fungi are known to attack candlenut-oil tree: Cephalosporium 
+sp., Clitocybe tabescens, Fomes hawaiensis, Gloeosporium aleuriticum, Phasalospora rhod- 
+ina, Polyporus gilvus, Pythium ultimum, Sclerotium rolfsii, Sphaeronaema reinkingii, Tra- 
+metes corrugata, Xylaria curta, Ustulina deusta.^^^
+14 Handbook of Nuts
+ALEURITES MONTANA (Lour.) Wils. (ANACARDIACEAE) — Wood-Oil Tree, Mu-Oil 
+Tree
+Uses — Kernels yield a valuable drying oil, largely used in paints, varnishes, and lino­
+leums. Also used locally for illumination and lacquer-work. Varnish made from this plant 
+possess a high degree of water-resistance, gloss, and durability. There are only slight dif­
+ferences between the oils of A. montana and A. fordii}^^
+Folk medicine — The oil is applied to furuncles and ulcers.
+Chemistry — The oil content of the seed is ca. 50 to 60%. Oil consists chiefly of 
+glycerides of beta-elaeostearic and oleic acids, and probably a little linoleic acid. Oil cake 
+residue is poisonous and is only fit for manuring.
+Description — A small tree about 5 m tall, much-branched, partially deciduous, dioecious. 
+Leaves simple, ovate or more or less cordate, apex cuspidate, about 12 cm long, 10 cm 
+broad, sometimes larger and 3-lobed; leaf-blade with 2 large, conspicuous glands at base, 
+petiole up to 24 cm long. Flowers monoecious, petals large, white, up to 3 cm long. Fruits 
+egg-shaped, 3-lobed, wrinkled, about 5 cm in diameter, pointed at summit, flattened at base, 
+generally with 3 or 4 one-seeded segments, the outer surface with wavy transverse ridges, 
+the pericarp thick, hard, and weedy. Flowers and fruits March.
+Germplasm — Reported from the China-Japan Center of Diversity, mu-oil tree, or cvs 
+thereof, is reported to tolerate high pH, poor soil, and slope. (2n = 22.
+Distribution — Native to South China and some of the S. Shan States (Burma). Introduced 
+and cultivated successfully in Indochina (where it has replaced A. fordii), Malawi, and in 
+cooler parts of Florida, and other tropical regions.
+Ecology — Ranging from Warm Temperate Moist through Tropical Dry to Moist Forest 
+Life Zones, mu-oil tree is reported to tolerate annual precipitation of 6.7 to 20.2 dm (mean 
+of 8 cases = 13.6), annual temperature of 14.8 to 26.5°C (mean of 8 cases = 21.9°C), 
+and pH of 5.5 to 8.0 (mean of 6 cases = 6.2).®^ Adapted to subtropical regions and high 
+elevations with moderate rainfall. Mainly a hillside species, it can thrive in warmer climates 
+and will withstand heavier rainfall than A.fordii, provided the area is well-drained. Maximum 
+temperature 35.5°C, minimum temperature 6°C. It is frost-tender, and does not require a 
+low temperature (below 3°C) as tung-oil trees {A. fordii) do, so can be grown in warmer 
+regions. In Assam, grown where rainfall is 175 to 275 cm annually; in Mysore at elevations 
+of 800 to 1,000 m with annual rainfall of 150 cm. Grows well in alluvial soils and is not 
+very exacting in its soil requirements. In richer soils, the growth is more vigorous. A slightly 
+acid soil is preferable.
+Cultivation — Trees are propagated from seeds or by budding. In Malawi, propagation 
+is by budding from high-yielding clones. Seeds are usually planted in a nursery and may 
+take from 2 to 3 months to germinate. When seedlings are about 1 year old, they are planted 
+out, spaced 6.6 x 6.6 m or more. Cultural practices are similar to those for A. fordii. As 
+soon as the seedlings emerge, a side-dressing of fertilizer (5-10-5) of nitrogen and phos­
+phorus, along with commercial zinc sulfate, should be applied. Fertilizer is applied at rate 
+of 6(X) kg/ha, in bands along each side of row, 20 cm from seedlings and 5 to 7.5 cm deep. 
+Other fertilizers may be needed, depending on the soil. According to Spurling and Spurling,^’^ 
+N is the most important nutrient for tung in Malawi, irrespective of climate or soil. Most 
+successful budding is done in late August, by the simple shield method, requiring a piece 
+of budstick bark, including a bud, that will fit into a cut in the rootstock bark. A T-shaped 
+cut is made in bark of rootstock at a point 5 to 7.5 cm above ground level, the flaps of bark 
+loosened, shield-bud slipped inside flaps, and the flaps tied tightly over the transplanted bud 
+with rubber budding strip 12 cm long and 0.6 cm wide. After about 7 days, the rubber strip 
+is cut to prevent binding. As newly set buds are susceptible to cold injury, soil is mounded 
+over them for winter. When growth starts in spring, soil is pulled back and each stock cut
+15
+back to within 3.5 cm of the dormant bud. Later care consists of keeping all suckers removed 
+and the trees well-cultivated. Trees may be planted 125 to 750/ha. When trees are small, 
+close planting in rows greatly increases the bearing surface, but at maturity the bearing 
+surface of a crowded row is about the same as for a row with trees further apart. However, 
+it is well to leave enough space between rows for orchard operations. In contour-planting, 
+distances between rows and total number of trees per hectare vary; rows 10 to 12 m apart, 
+trees spaced 3.3 to 4 m apart in rows, 250 to 350 trees/ha. Tops of trees must be pruned 
+back to 20 to 25 cm at planting. As growth starts, all buds are rubbed off except the one 
+strongest growing and best placed on the tree. A bud 5 cm or more below the top of stump 
+is preferred over one closer to the top.^^^’^*^
+Harvesting — Trees begin bearing 2 to 5 years after transplanting with maximum pro­
+duction reached in 8 years and continuing for 40 years. In northern Burma, it has been 
+observed to be more vigorous and disease-resistant than A. fordii. In Indochina, it has been 
+successfully planted and its oil is now being produced on a commercial scale, replacing that 
+of A. fordii. Fruits mature and drop to ground in late September to early November. They 
+are gathered and dried to 15% moisture before processing. Fruits should be left on the ground 
+3 to 4 weeks until hulls are dead and dry, and the moisture content has dropped below 30%; 
+fresh they are about 60% moisture. Fruits are gathered by hand into baskets or sacks.
+Yields and economics — A. montana is reported to give much higher yields of fruits 
+than A. fordii. The percentage of kernels in the seeds is about 56%, and of oil in the kernels, 
+about 59.3%. Major producers of the oil from A. montana are Burma, Indochina (Vietnam, 
+Cambodia, Laos), Malawi, Congo, East Africa, South Africa, Malagasy Republic, India, 
+and U.S.S.R. It has been considered for introduction in Florida.
+Energy — Yields of oil per tree in China is figured to be about 3.2 kg; in Florida, 4.5 
+to 9 kg. Trees yield about 45 to 68 kg nuts per year, these yielding about 35 to 40% oil. 
+In one Malawi trial, N treatments gave an increase of 519 kg/ha dry seed over a trial mean 
+of 1070 kg/ha. With tung cake and ammonium sulphate, air dry tung seed yields of 12 to 
+17 year old trees was 2013 to 2367 kg/ha, of 6 to 9 year olds 766 to 1546 kg/ha.
+Biotic factors — Fungi reported on A. montana include the following: Armillaria mellea, 
+Botryodiplodia theobromae, Botryosphaeria ribis, Cephaleuros mycoidea, C. virescens, 
+Cercospora aleuritidis, Colletotrichum gloeosporioides var. aleuritidis, Corticium koleroga, 
+C. solani (Rhizoctonia solani), Corynespora cassiicola, Diplodia theobromae, Fusarium 
+arthrosporioides, F. lateritium, Glomerella cingulata, Haplosporella aleurites, Mycospha- 
+erella aleuritidis, Periconia byssoides, Pestalotiopsis disseminata, P. glandicola, P. ja­
+pónica, P. versicolor, Pestalotia dichaeta, Phyllosticta microspora, Pseudocampton 
+fasciculatum, Rhizoctonia lanellifera, Schizophyllum commune, Thyronectriapseudotrichia, 
+Trametes occidentalis, Ustulina zonata.^^^
+16 Handbook of Nuts
+AMPHICARPAEA BRACTEATA (L.) Femald (FABACEAE) — Hog Peanut, Wild Peanut
+Uses — Ojibwa Indians were said to eat both roots and seeds cooked. (There’s not much 
+to the roots.) Meskwaki (Fox) Indians learned that mice gathered the underground nuts and 
+laid them up in stores, which stores the Indians gathered for themselves (Dakota Indians 
+were said to leave com or other food in exchange). The subterranean seeds are more important 
+as food. They have been likened to garden-bean in flavor, the aerial seeds to soybeans. As 
+late as November in Maryland, the subterranean seeds may be tracked from the dying 
+yellow/brown tops. If eaten raw, seeds might be soaked in warm water or water with 
+hardwood ashes. In October, when both Amphicarpaea and Apios seeds are available, I find 
+both the aerial and subterranean seeds of the Amphicarpaea seeds much more pleasing to 
+the palate raw than the Apios seeds. Gallaher and Buhr^®^ speculate that the subterranean 
+seeds may “ have survival-potential under conditions of intense grazing.” I suggest that the 
+subterranean seeds might not set in tightly packed sod. Both aerial and subterranean seeds 
+are eaten by bear, chipmunk, deer, grouse, mice, pheasant, prairie chicken, quail, and wild 
+turkey. Vines are browsed by livestock and probably deer. Once cultivated in southern U.S., 
+hog peanuts have been suggested for planting in poultry forage systems and for intercropping 
+with com and perhaps ginseng. All members of the genus can be important in soil improve­
+ment, as soil cover, and in erosion control.®
+Folk medicine — Chippewa drank the root with other roots as a general physic, while, 
+conversely, the Cherokee used it for diarrhea. Cherokee also blew the root tea onto snakebite 
+wounds."^
+17
+Chemistry — Marshall'^^^ notes that the aerial seeds, with flavor similar to soybeans, 
+contain ca. 30% protein, 7 to 16% oil. The oil contains 10.3 to 10.4% palmitic-, 1.3 to 
+1.6% stearic-, 24.9 to 26.7% oleic-, 54.8 to 58.5% linoleic-, and 6.5 to 7.6% linolenic- 
+acids. The cleistogamous, underground seeds, weighing as much as 1 g each, may contain 
+50% water. Their oil content is lower, and the protein content may be only 14.3%, perhaps'^®'* 
+reflecting the higher water content.Lectins are also reported. Gallaher and Buhr^®^ analyzed 
+Tennessee fodder during early pod-fill stage, reporting for the whole plant ca. 89% organic 
+matter, 26.5 g/kg N, 2.4 g/kg P, 14.2 g/kg K, 17.3 g/kg Ca, 4.1 g/kg Mg, 20 ppm Cu, 40 
+ppm Zn, 120 ppm Mn, and 360 ppm Fe, averaging slightly lower than pegging peanut 
+forage, but higher in P, Ca, Mn, and Fe. Crude protein in the hog peanut forage was over 
+16%, slightly below the peanut forage.
+Description — Weak, twining, climbing annual (though often cited as perennial) to 2 m 
+long, the stems sparsely appressed short-pubescent to densely villous. Leaves 3-foliolate; 
+leaflets entire, ovate to rhombic-ovate, the laterals often asymmetrical, 2 to 10 cm long, 
+petiolulate, stipellate; usually pubescent. Axillary racemes of 1 to 17 petaliferous flowers, 
+on peduncles 1 to 6 cm long, the ovate bracts 2 to 5 mm long; pedicels 1.5 to 5 mm long; 
+racemes from lower axils slender, elongate, with cleistogamous, apetalous, inconspicuous 
+flowers. Calyx of petaliferous flowers narrowly campanulate; tube 4 to 6 mm long, ca. 2 
+mm in diameter; upper 2 lobes united, or nearly so, glabrous to densely appressed-pubescent; 
+petals pale purple or lilac to white, 9 to 16 mm long; stamens of the petaliferous flowers 
+diadelphous, 9 and 1; ovary stipitate, style not bearded. Legume from petaliferous flowers 
+flattened, oblong-linear, 1.5 to 4 cm long, 7-10 mm broad, often 3-seeded, valves laterally 
+twisting in dehiscence; fruit from cleistogamous flowers fleshy, often subterranean, usually 
+1-seeded, indéhiscent, cryptocotylar.^^^ Duke"^®^ recognizes four different flower/fruit 
+combinations:
+1. Subterranean seed, whose cleistogamous flowers never left the soil (usually one or 
+two); the biggest, juiciest, softest, and most edible (15% protein). For propagation in 
+situ.
+2. Geotropic seed from cleistogamous flowers at the tip of branches originating in the 
+axils of the first simple aerial leaves. Usually solitary, soft, plump. For propagation 
+nearby.
+3. Aerial cleistogamous flowers, whose pods, and usually single hard seeds, develop 
+strictly above ground. For dispersal.
+4. Aerial chasmogamous flowers followed by pods with usually three small hard seeds 
+(the smallest, driest, hardest, and least edible, yet 30% protein). For longer distance 
+dispersal. The type 4 flower/fruits are said to occur mostly in sunny situations. If the 
+forest is cleared, the increased sunlight would trigger more dispersal seed, enhancing 
+the chances to move the plant back into the forest.
+Germplasm — Reported from the North American Center of Diversity, hog peanut, or 
+CVS thereof, is reported to tolerate alluvium, muck, mulch, sand, shade, slope, and brief 
+waterlogging. A. bracteata is said to merge imperceptibly with var. comosa, which grows 
+on richer, often calcareous or alluvial soil. Turner and Fearing"^ concluded the genus 
+contained only three species, A. africana in the cool high mountains of Africa, A. edgeworthii 
+in the Himalayas and eastern Asia, and the American A. bracteata, the latter two nearly 
+indistinguishable. (2n = 20,40.)
+Distribution — Native to damp shaded woodlands from Quebec to Manitoba and Montana, 
+south to Florida, Louisiana, and Texas.
+Ecology — Estimated to range from Warm Temperate Moist to Wet through Cool Tem­
+perate Dry to Wet Forest Life Zones, hog peanut is estimated to tolerate annual precipitation
+18 Handbook of Nuts
+of 8 to 20 dm, annual temperature of 8 to 14°C, and pH of 5.5 to 7.5. Although native to 
+damp shaded forest, the plant can be cultivated in sandy, sunny situations. The underground 
+seed must have very different chemistry, ecology, and physiology, destined for immediate 
+survival and not dispersal, as contrasted to the aerial seed, destined for long-term dispersal.
+Cultivation — Said to have been cultivated in the South, but few details are available. 
+W. G. Dore"*^^ sterilizes his soil, plants in the fall, and mulches with such things as sawdust, 
+peat moss, vermiculite, and/or organic muck. Gas-sterilization is all but imperative to control 
+weeds since the clambering habit of the vine precludes cultivation. In fertile soils in full 
+sun, the one-seeded beans grow large and succulent, comparable to peanuts, or even lima 
+beans. Frey'*^’ suggests intercropping the hog peanut with com.
+Harvesting — The large seeds appear beneath the dead leaves, generally just under the 
+surface of the ground. In weed-free culture, the tangled vines can be raked off preparatory 
+to harvest in fall. In loose sandy soil, the seeds separate out easily with a quarter inch screen. 
+Harvested seed tend to germinate in the refrigerator, if not frozen.
+Yields and economics — Unpublished research by W. G. Dore"^^ reported yields as high 
+as 1 kg seed per 10 m row. His seed were fall-planted about 10 cm apart in gas-sterilized 
+sandy loam.
+Energy — Both biomass (ca. 5 g per plant) and oil yields are low. The biomass raked 
+up before harvesting could conceivably be converted to energy. The nitrogen fixed by the 
+plant could be energetically important, in pastures, forests, and in intercropping scenarios.
+Biotic factors — Agriculture Handbook No. 165"^ lists the following as affecting Am- 
+phicarpaea bracteata: Cercospora monoica (leaf spot), and Erysiphe poly goni (powdery 
+mildew). Agriculture Handbook No. 165,"^ without reference to a specific species, also lists: 
+Colletotrichum sp. (leaf spot), Parodiella perisporioides (black mildew), Puccinia andrò- 
+pogonis var. onobrychidis (rust), and Synchytrium aecidioides (false mst, leaf gall). Allen 
+and Allen^ report that earlier studies showed a relative inability of the hog peanut Rhizobium 
+to nodulate legumes from 21 diverse genera. Later plant-infection studies discounted this 
+exclusiveness by showing plant-infection kinships within the cowpea miscellany. Larvae of 
+Rivella pallida Lowe, a common and widely distributed species of the dipteran family 
+Platystomatidae (and a potential pest of soybean), attack the N2-fixing root nodules of 
+Amphicarpaea. The nodular contents are completely destroyed, thus eliminating the nodule’s 
+ability to fix N2. Up to 25% of an individual’s nodules are damaged in northeastern Ohio. 
+There is one and perhaps a partial second generation per year in northern Ohio, with 
+overwintering occurring as mature larvae in diapause. Eight species of neartic Rivellia 
+(including R. flavimana Loew and R. metallica (Walp)) occur on Amphicarpaea bracteata 
+(L.).**®® Chasmogamous flowers are pollinated primarily by Bombus affinis."^
+19
+ANACARDIUM OCCIDENTALE L. (ANACARDIACEAE) — Cashew
+Uses — Many parts of the cashew plant are used. The cashew “ apple” , the enlarged 
+fully ripe fruit, may be eaten raw, or preserved as jams or sweetmeats. The juice is made 
+into a beverage (Brazil cajuado) or fermented into a wine. Seeds of the cashew are consumed 
+whole, roasted, shelled and salted, in Madeira wine, or mixed in chocolates. Shelling the 
+roasted seed yields the cashew nut of commerce. Seeds yield about 45% of a pale yellow, 
+bland, edible oil, resembling almond oil. From the shells or hulls is extracted a black, acrid, 
+powerful vesicant oil, used as a preservative and water-proofing agent in insulating varnishes, 
+in manufacture of typewriter rolls; in oil- and acid-proof cements and tiles, in brake-linings, 
+as an excellent lubricant in magneto armatures in airplanes, and for termite-proofing timbers. 
+Timber is used in furniture making, boat building, packing cases and in the production of 
+charcoal. Bark used in tanning. Stems exude a clear gum, Cashawa gum, used in phar­
+maceuticals and as substitute for gum arabic. Juice turns black on exposure to air and 
+provides an indelible ink. Along the coast of Orissa, shelter belts and wind breaks, planted 
+to stabilize sand dunes and protect the adjacent fertile agricultural land from drifting sand, 
+have yielded economic cashew crops 5 years after planting.
+Folk medicine — The fruit bark juice and the nut oil are both said to be folk remedies 
+for calluses, corns, and warts, cancerous ulcers, and even elephantiasis. Anacardol and 
+anacardic acid have shown some activity against Walker carcinosarcoma 256. Decoction of 
+the astringent bark given for severe diarrhea and thrush. Old leaves are applied to skin 
+afflictions and bums (tannin applied to bums is hepatocarcinogenic). Oily substance from 
+pericarp used for cracks on the feet. Cuna Indians used the bark in herb teas for asthma, 
+colds, and congestion. The seed oil is believed to be alexeritic and amebicidal; used to treat 
+gingivitis, malaria, and syphilitic ulcers. Ayurvedic medicine recommends the fmit for 
+anthelmintic, aphrodisiac, ascites, dysentery, fever, inappetence, leucoderma, piles, tumors, 
+and obstinate ulcers.In the Gold Coast, the bark and leaves are used for sore gums and 
+toothache. Juice of the fmit is used for hemoptysis. Sap discutient, fungicidal, repellent. 
+Leaf decoction gargled for sore throat. Cubans use the resin for cold treatments. The plant 
+exhibits hypoglycemic activity. In Malaya, the bark decoction is used for diarrhea. In 
+Indonesia, older leaves are poulticed onto bums and skin diseases. Juice from the apple is 
+used to treat quinsy in Indonesia, dysentery in the Philippines.
+20 Handbook of Nuts
+Toxicity — He who cuts the wood or eats cashew nuts or stirs his drink with a cashew 
+swizzle stick is possibly subject to a dermatitis.
+Chemistry — Per 100 g, the mature seed is reported to contain 542 calories, 7.6 g H2O, 
+17.4 g protein, 43.4 g fat, 29.2 g total carbohydrate, 1.4 g fiber, 2.4 g ash, 76 mg Ca, 578 
+mg P, 18.0 mg Fe, 0.65 mg thiamine, 0.25 mg riboflavin, 1.6 mg niacin, and 7 mg ascorbic 
+acid. Per 100 g, the mature seed is reported to contain 561 calories, 5.2 g H2O, 17.2 g 
+protein, 45.7 g fat, 29.3 g total carbohydrate, 1.4 g fiber, 2.6 g ash, 38 mg Ca, 373 mg 
+P, 3.8 mg Fe, 15 mg Na, 464 mg K, 60 mg beta-carotene equivalent, 0.43 mg thiamine, 
+0.25 mg riboflavin, and 1.8 mg niacin. Per 100 g, the mature seed is reported to contain 
+533 calories, 2.7 g H2O, 15.2 g protein, 37.0 g fat, 42.0 g total carbohydrate, 1.4 g fiber,
+3.1 g ash, 24 mg Ca, 580 mg P, 1.8 mg Fe, 0.85 mg thiamine, 0.32 mg riboflavin, and
+2.1 mg niacin. The ‘’apples” (ca. 30 to 35 kg per tree per annum) yield each 20 to 25 cc 
+juice, which, rich in sugar, was once fermented in India for alcohol production. The apple 
+contains 87.9% water, 0.2% protein, 0.1% fat, 11.6% carbohydrate, 0.2% ash, 0.01% Ca, 
+0.01% P, .002% Fe, 0.26% vitamin C, and 0.09% carotene. The testa contains alpha- 
+catechin, beta-sitosterol, and 1-epicatechin; also proanthocyanadine leucocyanadine, and 
+leucopelargonidine. The dark color of the nut is due to an iron-polyphenol complex. The 
+shell oil contains about 90% anacardic acid (C22H32O3) and 10% cardol (C32ri2704). It yields 
+glycerides, linoleic, palmitic, stearic, and lignoceric acids, and sitosterol. Examining 24 
+different cashews, Murthy and Yadava^^^ reported that the oil content of the shell ranged 
+from 16.6 to 32.9%, of the kernel from 34.5 to 46.8%. Reducing sugars ranged from 0.9 
+to 3.2%, nonreducing sugars, 1.3 to 5.8%, total sugars from 2.4 to 8.7%, starch from 4.7 
+to 11.2%. Gum exudates contain arabinose, galactose, rhamnose, and xylose.
+Description — Spreading, evergreen, perennial tree to 12 m tall; leaves simple, alternate, 
+obovate, glabrous, penninerved, to 20 cm long, 15 cm wide, apically rounded or notched, 
+entire, short petiolate; flowers numerous in terminal panicles, 10 to 20 cm long, male or 
+female, green and reddish, radially symmetrical nearly; sepals 5; petals 5; stamens 10; ovary 
+one-locular, one-ovulate, style simple; fruit a reniform achene, about 3 cm long, 2.5 cm 
+wide, attached to the distal end of an enlarged pedicel and hypocarp, called the cashew- 
+apple. The fruit is shiny, red or yellowish, pear-shaped, soft, juicy, 10 to 20 cm long, 4 to 
+8 cm broad; fruit is reniform, edible, with two large white cotyledons and a small embryo, 
+surrounded by a hard pericarp which is cellular and oily; the oil is poisonous, causing 
+allergenic reactions in some humans. Flowering variable.
+Germplasm — Several varieties have been selected, based on yield and nut size. Reported 
+from the South America and Middle America Centers of Diversity, cashew or cvs thereof 
+is reported to tolerate aluminum, drought, fire, insects, laterite, low pH, poor soil, sand, 
+shade, slope, and savanna. (2n = 42.)^^
+Distribution — Native to tropical America, from Mexico and West Indies to Brazil and 
+Peru. The cashew tree is pantropical, especially in coastal areas.
+Ecology — Ranging from Warm Temperate Moist to Tropical Very Dry to Wet Forest 
+Life Zones, cashew is reported to tolerate annual precipitation of 7 to 42 dm (mean of 32 
+cases = 19.6), annual temperature of 21 to 28°C (mean of 31 cases = 25.2), and pH of 
+4.3 to 8.7 (mean of 21 cases = 64). Grows on sterile, very shallow, and impervious savanna 
+soils, on which few other trees or crops will grow, but is less tolerant of saline soil than 
+most coastal plants. Does not tolerate any frost. In Brazil, Johnson*^® summarizes ‘‘optimal 
+ecological conditions” : annual rainfall 7 to 20 dm, minimum temperature 17°C, maximum 
+temperature 38°C; average annual temperature 24 to 28°C, relative humidity 65 to 80%; 
+insolation 1,500 to 2,(XX) hr/year, wind velocity 2.25 km/hr, and dry season 2 to 5 months 
+long. It is recommended that cultivation be limited to nearly level areas of red-yellow podzols, 
+quartziferous sands, and red-yellow latosols.®^’^^®
+Cultivation — Cashew germinates slowly and poorly; several nuts are usually planted to 
+the hole and thinned later. Propagation is generally by seeds, but may be vegetative from
+21
+grafting, air-layering or inarching. Planting should be done in situ as cashew seedlings do 
+not transplant easily. Recommended spacing is 10 x 10 m, thinned to 20 x 20 m after 
+about 10 years, with maximum planting of 250 trees per ha. Once established, the field 
+needs little care. Intercropping may be done the first few years, with cotton, peanut, or 
+yams. Fruits are produced after 3 years, during which lower branches and suckers are 
+removed. Full production is attained by the 10th year, and trees continue to bear until about 
+30 years old. In dry areas, like Tanzania, flowering occurs in the dry season, and fruits 
+mature in 2 to 3 months. Flowers and fruits in various degrees of development are often 
+present in same panicle.
+Harvesting — From flowering stage to ripe fruit requires about 3 months. Mature fruit 
+falls to the ground where the “ apple” dries away. In wet weather, they are gathered each 
+day and dried for 1 to 3 days. Mechanical means for shelling have been unsuccessful, so 
+hand labor is required. Cashews are usually roasted in the shell (to make it brittle and oil 
+less blistering), cracked, and nuts removed and vacuum packed. In India, part of the nuts 
+are harvested from wild trees by people who augment their meager income from other crops 
+grown on poor land. Kernels are extracted by people skilled in breaking open the shells 
+with wooden hammers without breaking the kernels. Nuts are separated from the fleshy 
+pedicel and receptacle, seed coat removed by hand, and nuts dried. Fresh green nuts from 
+Africa and the islands off southern India are shipped to processing plants in Western In­
+dia.70.278
+Yields and economics — Yields are said to range from 0 to 48 kg per tree per year, with 
+an average yield of 800 to 1,000 kg/ha. Heavy bearing trees often produce nuts considered 
+too small for the trade. Indian field trials showed that fertilizers could increase yields of 15- 
+year-old trees from less than 1 kg to tree to >4 and enabled 6-year-olds to average 5.7. 
+Regular applications of 250 g N, 150 g P2O5, and 150 g K2O per tree resulted in average 
+yield increases of 700 to 1600 
+kg/ha.In Pernambuco, trees produced 1.5 to 24.0 kg each 
+per year, averaging 10.3 kg per tree.’^® At Pacajus (Ceara, Brazil) trees average 17.4 kg/year 
+with one tree bearing 48 kg/year. Major producers of cashew nuts are India, Tanzania, 
+Mozambique, and Kenya. In 1968 India planted over 224,000 ha in cashews to supply over 
+200 processing factories operating all year. In 1971 India produced 90,000 MT, the bulk 
+exported to the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. Export price at U.S. ports was $.33/kg. India imports 
+green nuts from the African countries and processes them for resale. Import price in 1971 
+in India was 1730 rupees/MT. Cashawa Gum is obtained from the West Indies, Portuguese 
+East Africa, Tanzania, and Kenya.
+Energy — A perennial species, the cashew has already, in the past, yielded alcohol from 
+the “ apple” , oil from the nut, and charcoal from the wood. Prunings from the tree and the 
+leaf biomass could also be used as energy sources.
+Biotic factors — The cashew tree has few serious diseases or pests. The following are 
+reported disease-causing agents, none of which are considered of economic importance: 
+Aspergillus chevalieri, A. niger, Atelosaccharomyces moachoi, Balladynastrum anacardii, 
+Botryodiplodia theobromae, Cassytha filiformis, Cephaleuros mycoides, Ceratocystis sp., 
+Cercospora anacardii, Colletotrichum capsid, Cytonaema sp., Endomyces anacardii, Fu­
+sarium decemcellulare, Gloeosporium sp., Glomerella cingulata, Meliola anacardii, Ne- 
+matospora corylii, Parasaccharomyces giganteus, Pestaliopsis disseminata, Phyllosticta 
+anacardicola, P. mortoni, Phytophthora palmivora, Pythium spinosum, Schizotrichum in- 
+dicum, Sclerotium rolfsii, Trichomerium psidii, Trichothecium roseum, Valsa eugeniae. 
+Cuscuta chinensis attacks the tree. Of insects, Helopeltis spp. have been reported in Tanzania. 
+In Brazil, high populations of the nematodes Criconemoides, Scutellonema, and Xiphinema 
+are reported around cashew roots. Four insects are considered major pests: the white fly 
+(Aleurodicus cocois), a caterpillar {Anthistarcha binoculares), a red beetle (Crimissa sp.), 
+and a thrip (Selenothripes rubrocinctus). Flowers are visited by flies, ants, and other insects, 
+which may serve as pollinators. Artificial pollination is practiced in some areas.
+22 Handbook of Nuts
+APIOS AMERICANA Medik. (FABACEAE) — Groundnut
+Uses — An attractively flowered plant, suggestive of Wisteria, Apios has been described 
+by the NAS^^* as a “ useful, sweet-scented ornamental” . I have enjoyed the tubers raw or 
+cooked. During the potato famine of 1845, Apios was introduced to Europe (but not for the 
+first time). Its cultivation there as a food crop was abandoned when potato growing again 
+became feasible. The plant was much esteemed by early American settlers, who ate them 
+boiled, fried, or roasted, calling them groundnuts, potato beans, or Indian potatoes. The 
+Pilgrims of New England survived their first few winters thanks to the groundnut. Blackmon"^ 
+presents several groundnut recipes. Erichsen-Brown^ recounts many of the Indian uses. 
+Menominee preserved the roots by boiling them in maple syrup.Even bread was made 
+from the root. Indians were said to eat the seeds like lentils. I would like to join the ranks 
+of Bill Blackmon,"^ Ed Croom, Janet Seabrook,^^’^°° and Noel Vietmeyer, and advocate 
+more studies of the economic potential of this interesting tuber, harvestable all year round. 
+I agree with Blackmon and Reynolds,"^® who, after studying Apios intensively stated: “ the 
+prognosis for developing A. americana as a food crop looks outstanding.” Advocates should 
+be aware of its weed potential, at least among uncultivated perennials, e.g., cranberries and 
+azaleas.
+Folk medicine — According to Hartwell,the tubers were used in folk remedies for 
+that cancerous condition known as “ Proud Flesh” in New England. Nuts were boiled and 
+made into a plaster: “ For to eat out the proud flesh they (Indians) take a kind of earth nut 
+boyled and stamped.
+23
+Table 1
+CHEMICAL COMPOSITION (PERCENT) OF APIOS SPECIES
+Apios americana Apios fortunei Apios priceana
+Fresh Dry Fresh Dry Fresh Dry
+basis basis basis basis basis basis
+Water 81.00 68.60 61.88
+Fiber 5.20 27.37 1.20 3.82 4.95
+12.99
+Crude protein 3.12 16.42 4.19 13.34 2.62 6.87
+Nonprotein N 0.19 1.00 0.42 1.34 0.15
+0.39
+Protein N 0.31 1.63 0.25 0.80 0.27
+0.69
+Crude fat 0.67 3.53 0.19 0.61 0.82
+2.15
+Ash 5.21 1.30 4.14
+0.99 2.67 7.00
+Carbohydrate 9.02 47.47 24.52 78.09 27.06 70.97
+Starch
+18.30 58.28 7.84 20.58
+Alcohol-insol. solids 15.08 39.55
+From Walter, W. M ., Croom, Jr., E. M ., Catignani, G. L., and Thresher, W. C., 
+Compositional study of Apios priceana tubers, J. Agric. Food Chem., (Jan./Feb.), 39,
+1986. Copyright 1986, American Chemical Society. With permission.
+Chemistry — Some describe the plant as having a milky juice. Seabrook^^^ suggests tha 
+the latex could be used commercially. According to the NAS, the only published analysis^"^- 
+records a remarkable protein content of 17.5%. Prompted by the inadequacy of analyses, 
+Duke arranged for new analytical investigations. Sanchez and Duke,^^^ based on these 
+analyses provided by Benito de Lumen, report (ZMB): 3.75 crude fat, 5.50% ash, 17.28% 
+crude protein, 28.84% neutral detergent fiber, 44.63% available carbohydrate, and 1.06 
+nonprotein nitrogen. Per g they report 71.76 mg free amino acids, 1.26 mg nitrate, and 
+10.36 mg tannin. Subsequently, Walter et al.^^^ tabulated the differences in analyses between 
+fresh and dry tubers of A. americana, A. fortunei, and the endangered A. priceana (Table 
+1). Saponins have been reported in the genus, and the absence of tannins,refuted above. 
+Whether or not the plant exports its fixed nitrogen as ureides (allantoin, allantoic acid) as 
+is typical of many of the subtropical Phaseoleae or as the more soluble amides (asparagine 
+and glutamine) as in such temperate legumes as Lupinus, Pisum, Trifolium, and Vida remains 
+to be seen. Because it is suggested to have a cowpea-type Rhizobium, I predict it will be 
+a ureide exporter. Some calculations suggest it takes ca. 2 1/2 times as much water (remember 
+this is an aquaphyte) to export N as ureides. But the ureides are more economical with a 
+C:N ratio ca. 1:1; cf. 1:1 for asparagine, 5:2 for glutamine.^*^ Many legume sprouts are rich 
+in allantoin, widely regarded as a vulnerary medicinal compound. According to the Merck 
+Index, allantoin is a product of purine metabolism in animals, while it is prepared synthet­
+ically by the oxidation of uric acid with alkaline potassium permanganate. Medical and 
+veterinary use — “ Has been used topically in suppurating wounds, resistant ulcers, and to 
+stimulate growth of healthy tissue (Merck & Co.^‘°). Dorland’s Illustrated Medical Dictionary 
+puts it differently:
+allantoin (ah-lan'to-in). Chemical name: 5-ureidohydantoin. A white crystallizable substance,
+C4H6N4O3, the diureide of glyoxylic acid, found in allantoic fluid, fetal urine, and many 
+plants, and as a urinary excretion product of purine metabolism in most mammals but not 
+in man or the higher apes. It is produced synthetically by the oxidation of uric acid, and was 
+once used to encourage epithelial formation in wounds and ulcers and in osteomyelitis. It is 
+the active substance in maggot treatment, being secreted by the maggots as a product of 
+purine metabolism.
+The direct role of allantoin in gout, if any, should be of great interest to those American
+24
+Handbook of Nuts
+males who have gout, especially if they ingest large quantities of legume sprouts or comfrey. 
+Apios produces a complex pterocarpan that appears structurally similar to glyceollin III, a 
+phytoalexin of the cultivated soybean.
+Description — Twining, herbaceous vine, the stems short-pubescent to glabrate, 1 to 3 
+m long, the rhizomes moniliform, with numerous fleshy tubers 1 to 8 cm thick. (Some 
+plants have fleshy roots only, others both fleshy roots and tubers, and others only tubers.) 
+In winter, the stems have a distinctive brown color and are locally flattened, enabling the 
+experienced collector to distinguish it from honeysuckle. Leaves once-pinnate, 1 to 2 dm 
+long; leaflets 5 to 7, ovate or ovate-lanceolate to lanceolate, ca. 3 to 6 cm long, glabrous 
+to short-pubescent, obscurely stipellate; petioles mostly 2 to 7 cm long; stipules setaceous, 
+soon deciduous, 4 to 6 mm long. Inflorescence 5 to 15 cm long, nodes swollen, flowers 1 
+to 2 per node, subtended by linear-subulate bracts 2 to 2.5 mm long; pedicels 1 to 4 mm 
+long with 2 linear-subulate bractlets near apex. Calyx sparsely short-pubescent, broadly 
+campanulate, tube ca. 3 mm long; petals nearly white to brownish purple, the standard 
+obovate or orbicular to obcordate, reflexed, obscurely auricled, 9 to 13 mm long, the wings 
+shorter, slightly auricled, the keel strongly incurved; stamens diadelphous, 1 and 1. Legume 
+linear, 5 to 15 cm long, 4 to 7 mm broad, 2 to 12-seeded, dehiscing by 2 spirally twisted 
+valves.Germination cryptocotylar.^^^’^^^
+Germplasm — Reported from the North American Center of Diversity, groundnut, or 
+CVS thereof, is reported to tolerate acid and bog soils, partial shade, slopes, and waterlogging. 
+In 1982, the Plant Introduction Officer of the USDA suggested to me the possibility of 
+mounting a germplasm expedition to collect germplasm of this species, and its endangered 
+relative, Apios priceana Robinson, which produces a single large tuber instead of a string 
+of small tubers. NAS^^‘ speculates that a bush-like mutant may be found in nature. Seedlings 
+from Tennessee had 22 chromosomes, while plants from the northern part of the range were 
+triploid. Blackmon^® and Reynolds^”^^ discuss the variation in germplasm they have already 
+assembled. (2n = 22.)
+Distribution — Widely distributed in eastern Canada and the U.S. (often around ancient 
+Indian campsites) (Florida, Texas, to Nova Scotia, Minnesota, and Colorado). Usually in 
+low damp bottomland or riparian woods and thickets. Seems to be associated with Alnus in 
+Rocky Gorge Reservoir, Maryland, as well as on the eastern shore of Maryland. Unfortu­
+nately, it can become a serious weed in cranberry plots. Uninfested bogs yielded nearly 14 
+MT/ha cranberries, whereas herbicide plots yielded only ca. 670 to 2,300 kg/ha cranberry. 
+Perhaps the cranberry salesmen could find a market for the groundnuts, since both are Native 
+American food plants.
+Ecology — Ranging from Subtropical Dry through Cool Temperate Forest Life Zones, 
+groundnut is reported to tolerate annual precipitation of 9.7 to 11.7 dm (mean of 2 cases 
+= 10.7), annual temperature of 9.9 to 20.3°C (mean of 2 cases = 15.1), and pH of 4.5 
+to 7.0 (mean of 2 cases = 5.8). Produces well in South Florida and Louisiana. I have 
+successfully germinated fall harvested seed, after soaking in hot water, room temperature 
+water, or frozen water, seeds that sunk and seeds that floated after soaking. These took 4 
+months from harvest to germination, whereas their unsoaked counterparts had still not 
+germinated. Fall-harvested seed apparently exhibit no dormancy when planted in spring.
+Cultivation — According to Vilmorin-Andrieux,^^^ since seed do not ripen in France, it 
+is multiplied by division in March and April, or in the latter part of summer. Divisions are 
+planted in good, light, well-drained soil 1 to 1.5 m apart in every direction. Reynolds^^^ 
+spaced his seedlings at 2 x 3 feet, tubers at 3 x 3 feet. Stems should be supported by 
+poles or stakes. Ground should be kept free of weeds by an occasional hoeing. Cultivation, 
+if overdone, might discourage the rhizomes and their tubers. Seedlings require at least 2 
+years growth and a minimum photoperiod of 14 hr to induce flowering.Tuber dormancy 
+can be broken by chilling (several months at 35 to 40°F) or using ethylene.
+25
+Harvesting — According to Vilmorin-Andrieux,^^^ the tubers are not large enough to be 
+gathered for use until the second or third year after planting. Blackman’s results in Louisiana 
+show this is not true where there is a long growing season. Once large enough, they can 
+be dug at any time of the year when the ground is not frozen. If carefully dug, strings of 
+four score tubers can be achieved.
+Yields and economics — According to Elliott,Asa Gray once said that if advanced 
+civilization had started in North America instead of the Old World, the groundnut would 
+have been the first tuber to be developed and cultivated. Femald, Kinsey, and Rollins^^"^ 
+recount an anecdote indicating the economic value of the groundnuts to the pilgrims, “ The 
+great value to the colonists of this ready food is furtlier indicated by a reputed town law, 
+which in 1654 ordered that, if an Indian dug Groundnuts on English land, he was to be set 
+in stocks, and for a second offence, to be whipped.’’ Yields of 30 MT per acre were 
+erroneously reported (should have been 30 MT/ha) for cranberry bog weed populations. 
+Reynolds has attained the equivalent of ca 40 MT/ha from tubers in 1-year studies in 
+Louisiana.Some of his plants yielded more than 3 kg tubers.
+Energy — Currently, this looks like a poor prospect for biomass production. However, 
+one should at least consider the possibility of developing the crop for marginal habitat 
+(swamp), the tubers as the main crop; the aerial biomass, as residue, might be used for 
+production of rubber, leaf protein, and power alcohol. The nodulated roots fix nitrogen. 
+Around Rocky Gorge Reservoir, in Maryland, the plant is most commonly intertwined in 
+N-fixing 
+Alnus species. Nodules were recorded on A. americana, but root-nodule location 
+relative to tuber formation was not specified. Root hairs are said to be lacking on secondary 
+roots of mature plants. Four rhizobial strains isolated from A. americana nodules were not 
+tested on the host, but since they produced nodules on cowpea plants, the species was 
+considered a member of the cowpea miscellany. The rhizobia are described as monotrichously 
+flagellated rods with cowpea-type, slow cultural growth.® H. Keyser-^^ suggests conserva­
+tively that Apios fixes > 1(X) kg N per ha. With no idea of the solubility of N fixed by the 
+groundnut, I recommend it be studied as a potential intercrop for marsh and aquatic plants, 
+especially rice and wild rice. It might also be considered for cultivation around the edges 
+of reservoirs used for irrigation, hence adding a small token of nitrogen to the irrigation 
+waters. Because of their tolerance to both acidity and waterlogging, they might be especially 
+advantageous around impoundments in strip-mine reclamations. Certainly the scorings by 
+Roth et al.^^*^ do not speak well for the energy potential of Apios. They give it a score of 
+14, in a system whereby only species receiving scores of 11 or less were regarded as potential 
+renewable energy sources.
+Biotic Factors — Agriculture Handbook No. 165"^ lists the following diseases affecting 
+this species: Alternaria sp. (leaf spot), Cercospora tuberosa (leaf spot), Erysiphe polygoni 
+(powdery mildew), Microsphaera dijfusa, Phymatotrichum omnivorum, and Puccinia an- 
+dropogonis var. onobrychidis (rust). Reynolds^^^ reported powdery mildew, virus, possibly 
+anthracnose, root-knot nematodes, mealy bugs, spider mites, aphids, white flies, leaf-eating 
+caterpillars, cucumber beetles, grasshoppers, stink bugs, and fire ants. In some cases, the 
+fire ants are responsible for mealy bug infestations. Although most Erythrinae are bird 
+pollinated, Apios seems to be mostly bee pollinated.
+26 Handbook of Nuts
+ARECA CATECHU L. (ARECACEAE) — Betel-Nut Palm, Areca, Areca-Nut
+Uses — Chief use of Betel-nut is as a breath sweetening masticatory, enjoyed for centuries 
+by about one-tenth the human population. Often slices of the nut, together with a little lime 
+and other ingredients (cardamom, camphor, cutch, clove, gambier, tobacco) according to 
+taste, are folded in a Betel Pepper leaf {Piper betel) and fastened with a clove. Sometimes 
+nuts are ground up with other materials and carried about in a pouch similar to a tobacco 
+pouch. Betel chewing is often considered as an after-dinner or social affair. Chewing colors 
+the saliva red and stains the teeth and gums black, eventually destroying the teeth, at least 
+according to one school of thought. Used in the tanning industry. An extraction of areca- 
+nuts makes black and red dyes. Dried nuts are said to sweeten the breath, strengthen the 
+gums, and improve the appetite and taste. Husks are the most important by-product, being 
+used for insulating wool, boards, and for manufacturing furfural. Innoculated with yeast 
+{Saccharomyces cervisiae), leaves used as fermentation stimulant in industrial alcohol pro­
+duction. Large, tough, sheathing parts of leaf-bases, used as substitute for cardboard or 
+strawboard for protecting packages; also used in the Philippines for hats, inner soles for 
+slippers, book-covers, and makes an excellent paper pulp.®^
+Folk medicine — The nut, in the form or ghees, powders, bolmes, or enemas, is said 
+to be a folk remedy for abdominal tumors,Reported to be astringent, carminative, deob­
+struent, dentrifrice, detergent, diaphoretic, diuretic, intoxicant, laxative, masticatory, miotic, 
+panacea, poison, preventative (malaria; mephitis), stomachic, taeniacide, taenifuge, tonic, 
+and vermifuge, betel nut is a folk remedy for ascariasis, beriberi, cancer (esophagus), cholera, 
+circulation problems, colic, diarrhea, dropsy, dysentery, dyspepsia, eruption, fistula, im­
+petigo, malaria, oliguria, rhagades, scabies, smallpox, sores, stomachache, syphilis, and 
+tumors (abdomen).^' Nuts are astringent, stimulant, and a powerful anthelmintic, especially 
+in veterinary practice. They are also considered digestive, emmenagogue, and are recom­
+mended as cardiac, nervine tonic, and as an astringent lotion for eyes, causing dilation of 
+the pupil; once used for glaucoma. Externally, applied to ulcers, bleeding gums, and urinary 
+discharges. Burned and powdered nuts used as a dentifrice in Europe. Once used as antidote 
+to abrin poisoning. Mixed with sugar and coriander, the nuts are given to induce labor in 
+Iran.‘^® Unripe fruits are cooling, laxative, and carminative.®^
+Chemistry — Nuts contain the alkaloids, arecoline, arecaine and arecolidine, isoguvacine, 
+guvacine, guvacoline; tannins (18%), fats (1417%), carbohydrates, and proteins, and some 
+Vitamin A.
+27
+Toxicity — Per 100 g, the shoot is reported to contain 43 calories, 86.4 g H2O, 3.3 g 
+protein, 0.3 g fat, 9.0 g total carbohydrate, 1.0 g ash, 6 mg Ca, 89 mg P, and 2.0 mg Fe. 
+Per 100 g, the mature seed is reported to contain 394 calories, 12.3 g H2O, 6.0 g protein, 
+10.8 g fat, 69.4 g total carbohydrate, 15.9 g fiber, 1.5 g ash, 542 mg Ca, 63 mg P, 5.7 
+mg Fe, 76 mg Na, 446 mg K, 0.17 mg thiamine, 0.69 mg riboflavin, 0.6 mg niacin, and 
+a trace of ascorbic acid. Classified by the FDA {Health Foods Business, June, 1978) as an 
+Herb of Undefined Safety. Excessive use of betel-nut causes loss of appetite, salivation, 
+and general degeneration of the body. Arecaine is poisonous and affects respiration and the 
+heart, increases peristalsis of intestines, and causes tetanic convulsions.^^’^^^
+Description — Tall, slender-stemmed palm, up to 30 m, 30 to 45 cm in diameter; stem 
+smooth, whitish, surmounted by crown of pinnate leaves; leaves 0.9 to 1.5 m long, dark- 
+green, with the upper pinnae confluent; lower portion of petiole expanded into a broad, 
+tough, sheath-like structure; inflorescence a spadix encased in a spathe, rachis much-branched 
+bearing male and female flowers; male flowers small and numerous, female ones much 
+larger; fruit a nut, varying in shape from flat to conical or spherical, 5 to 6.5 cm long, 3.7 
+to 5 cm across, yellow, reddish-yellow to brilliant orange when ripe, size of a nutmeg and 
+with similar internal markings; pericarp hard and fibrous (husk), 65% of fruit mass; kernel 
+(areca-nut), 35% of fruit, grayish-brown, 2.5 to 3.7 cm in diameter, single per fruit, with 
+thin seed-coat and large ruminate endosperm. Flower and fruit seasons variable.
+Germplasm — Reported from the Indochina-Indonesia Center of Diversity, the betel 
+palm, or cvs thereof, is reported to tolerate disease, insects, laterite, poor soil, shade, and 
+slope. Varieties are selected on basis of size and shape of fruits and nuts, hardness and 
+astringency of nuts, and various properties of the nuts. Some varieties have large, flat, 
+almost bitter nuts, while others are conical or spherical and so bland in taste as to be called 
+“ sweet areca-nuts” (A. catechu var. deliciosa). Areca catechu forma communis — fruits 
+orange-red, globose-ovoid, or ovoid-ellipsoid, 4 to 5 cm long, 3 to 4 cm broad; seed 
+subglobose, with a more or less flattish base. Areca catechu var. silvática — fruit ovoid- 
+ellipsoid, rather ventricose, smaller than usual, 4 cm long, 3 cm or less broad; seed globose- 
+form from which the commonly cultivated palm has been derived. Areca catechu var. 
+batanensis — stems shorter and thicker than in forma communis, spadix denser, with shorter 
+floriderous branches. Areca catechu var. longicarpa — fruit narrowly ellipsoid, 5.5 to 7 
+cm long, 2.5 cm broad; seed ovoid-conical, with blunt apex and flat base, slightly longer 
+than broad. Areca catechu var. semisilvatica, A. catechu var. alba and A. catechu var. 
+portoricensis are other varieties commonly cultivated. (2n = 32.).®^’^^*
+Distribution — Areca-nut palm is considered native to Malaysia, where it is cultivated 
+extensively. It is also found throughout the East Indies and Philippines In India, Sri Lanka, 
+Assam, Burma, Madagascar, and East Africa, it is cultivated from the coastal areas up to 
+about 1,000 m. Plants are often spontaneous and occur in second-growth forests, but are 
+rarely found distant from cultivation.
+Ecology — Ranging from Subtropical Dry to Wet through Tropical Very Dry to Wet 
+Forest Life Zones, betel nut is reported to tolerate annual precipitation of 6.4 to 42.9 dm 
+(mean of 13 cases = 20.6, annual temperature of 21.3 to 27.5°C (mean of 13 cases = 
+25.9°C), and pH of 5.0 to 8.0 (mean of 10 cases = 6.4). It requires a moist tropical climate, 
+thriving best at low altitudes, but will tolerate moderate elevations on mountains. Grows in 
+areas with rainfall of 50 cm, if soil is well-drained, but will grow in drier areas with only 
+5 dm annual rainfall, if suitably irrigated. Uniform distribution of rainfall is very important. 
+Grows in many types of soil varying in texture from laterite to loamy, provided soil has 
+thorough drainage, yet has the ability to retain optimum moisture required by the palm. 
+Light and sandy soils are unsuitable unless copiously irrigated and manured. Maximum 
+temperatures should not exceed 38°C, the optimum temperature for growth being a continuous 
+temperate range from 15.5 to 38°C. These palms are unable to withstand extreme temperatures 
+or a wide variance of daily temperature.
+Handbook of Nuts
+28
+Cultivation — Propagation is exclusively from seeds. In southern India and Malaysia, 
+fruits from carefully selected trees are gathered from 25- to 30-year-old trees. In Assam and 
+Bengal, no selection is made. In other areas the middle bunch of fruits is used for seed, 
+and in still other areas the last bunch of the season is preferred. In any case the ripe fruits 
+are gathered in November, dried in the sun for 1 to 2 days, or in shade for 3 to 7 days 
+before being sown. Drying the nuts does not increase germination of seeds. Well-tilled land 
+in a well-drained area in the garden or along an irrigation channel makes a good bed for 
+sowing seed. Seeds sown in rows 15 to 22 cm apart, or in groups of 20 to 50 seeds in pits, 
+or tied up in plantain leaves in rich moist soil to germinate; rarely planted in situ. However, 
+seeds may fall from tree and germinate in situ. Growth rate of seedling varies, and in about 
+3 months to 2 years after planting, seedlings are ready to transplant to nursery beds; sometimes 
+up to 4 years may be needed for this stage. Areca-nut is a shade-loving plant and is usually 
+grown as a mixed crop with fruit trees, such as mango, guava, jackfruit, orange, plantain, 
+or coconut. Usually a shade crop, such as bananas, is planted first, spaced about 2.7 m 
+apart in a north-south direction, and allowed to become well-established before transplanting 
+the areca-nut seedlings. Young seedlings are planted in nursery beds 30 x 30 cm, with 3 
+rows per bed, about 1000 to 1500 trees per ha. After about 20 years, young seedlings are 
+planted between trees and between rows to replace older palms which have become unpro­
+ductive. After seedlings are planted, the bed is mulched with green or dry leaves, cattle 
+dung, wood ashes, or groundnut cake. Beds are made only in the rainy season and are kept 
+well-irrigated in the summer. Hoeing, weeding and interculture may be practiced. Pepper 
+vines {Piper betel) and cardamon may be trained to the trees or grown between them. 
+Farmyard manure, groundnut cake, ammonium sulfate, superphosphate and potassium sulfate 
+have been found to be beneficial. Also leaf manure and green manure may be used.^^*
+Harvesting — Palms begin to flower about the 7th year after sowing seed, and reach full 
+production in about 10 to 15 years. With best conditions, trees may begin flowering the 4th 
+year. A plantation may take 30 years to reach maturity. Fruiting life of a tree is between 
+30 to 60 years after maturity, but trees may live for 60 to 100 years. Economical life span 
+in India is 45 to 70 years. In different regions there are well-defined seasons for flowering 
+and corresponding fruiting seasons. Because of the tall, slender nature of the palm, harvesting 
+the nuts requires skill and dexterity. Primitive methods are often employed. In India certain 
+classes of people who climb palms fast are employed. Sometimes bamboo poles with sickles 
+attached are used to cut the bunches. In Malaysia, trained monkeys are used. Leaves of the 
+palm (usually 4 to 7) begin to drop in December at intervals of 3 weeks, until June. 
+Inflorescences appear in the axils of such leaves, and although as many as five spadices 
+may appear, usually there are only 2 or 3 mature fruits. Spathes open soon after shedding 
+of leaves, and fruits ripen 8 to 11 months later. (Fruits take 6 to 8 months to ripen.) Nuts 
+harvested when bright red. Usually the shedding of a few nuts from a bunch is sufficient 
+indication to harvest the whole bunch. Harvesting season varies with 2 or 3 pickings made 
+in each season: Bombay and Sri Lanka, from August to March; Mysore, from August to 
+January; Bengal, from October to January. In India, areca-nuts are consumed raw or cured; 
+in other areas ripe nuts are masticated during the harvest season. Surplus nuts are stored in 
+pits in soil or water in earthenware jars for 5 to 7 months, and during the off-season are 
+taken out and chewed. Ripe nuts may also be dehusked, cut and dried, or just dried whole 
+in the sun for 6 to 7 weeks, or may be perfumed by smoke or benzoin. Nuts may be 
+processed, a costly and laborious operation on a commercial scale, to improve their color, 
+taste, palatability, and keeping quality. When properly cured and dried, nuts are dark-brown 
+with glossy finish.
+Yields and economics — Each tree yields 2 to 3 bunches per year, containing 150 to 
+250 fruits; varieties with larger fruits may have 50 to 100 fruits per bunch. Fruits weigh 
+from 1.4 to 2.2 kg per 100 fruits. Yield per hectare with 1,000 trees is 440,000 to 750,000
+29
+fruits, or about 15 to 25 cwt of dried areca-nuts. Average yield of dried or cured nuts per 
+annum in Mysore is about 17.5 cwt/ha. India and Pakistan are the major producers of areca- 
+nuts, where most of the production is consumed domestically. It is also an item of internal 
+commerce in the Malay Archipelago and the Philippines. Nuts are exported in large quantities 
+from Java, Sumatra, Singapore, and other Malaysian regions to India. Sri Lanka exports to 
+India and the U.S. In 1969 to 1970 Pakistan grew about 1,000,000 acres of betel-nut, 
+producing about 26,500 long tons of nuts. Bavappa et al.^^ suggest that there are 184,000 
+ha cultivated to Areca, with production of ca. 191,000 MT/year with a value of 2,500 million 
+rupees. Improved cultural practices are leading to higher yields of nuts. Higher-yielding and 
+more disease-resistant plants are being developed through breeding.
+Energy — Debris from the plants could serve as a crude energy source. With 2000 to 
+3000 trees per hectare or more, there might be 8,000 to 21,000 leaves falling between June 
+and December.^® Fallen spathes and spadices might also be viewed as energy sources. Much 
+energy is consumed in the boiling and drying of this widely used narcotic. On top of this, 
+there might be 1,500 to 2,500 kg/ha dried nuts. In preparing the kernels for market, there 
+is much husk remaining as a by-product, containing nearly 50% cellulose. The wood of cull 
+trees may be used for firewood.
+Biotic factors — The two most serious fungal diseases of this palm are Phytophthora 
+omnivorum var. arecae (Koleroga disease, a fruit rot) and Ganoderma lucidum (Foot rot). 
+Other fungal diseases include: Alternaría tenuis, Aspergillus niger arecae (causing a storage 
+disease), Botryodiplodia theobromae, Brachysporum arecae, Ceratostomella paradoza, Col­
+letotrichum catechu (seedling blight), Coniothyrium arecae, Dendryphium catechu, Exo- 
+sporium arecae, Gloeosporium catechu, Lenzites striata, Lichenophoma arecae, Melanconium 
+palmarum, Montagnellina catechu, Mycosphaerella sp., Nigrospora sphaerica, Phyllosticta 
+arecae, Polyporus ostreiformis, P. zonalis, Stagonospora arecae, Thielaviopsis paradoxa 
+(causes length-wise splitting of stem), Torula herbarum, Ustulina zonata. Areca-nut is also 
+attacked by the bacterium Xanthosomas vasculorum. In Thailand, the following nematodes 
+are known to attack arecanut: Rotylenchulus sp., Tylenchorhynchus dactylurus, Tylenchus 
+sp., and Xiphinema insigne. In Mysore and Malaysia, the Rhinoceros beetle {Orcytes rhi­
+noceros), leaf-eating caterpillar (Nephantis serinapa), borer {Arceerns fasciculatus), white 
+ants, and mites cause minor damage.
+Handbook of Nuts
+30
+ARENGA PINNATA (Wurmb) Merr. (ARECACEAE) — Sugar Palm, Kaong, Black Sugar 
+Palm
+Syn.: Arenga saccharifera Labill.
+- RDuHe^
+Uses — Sugar palm is grown for its sugar, starch, and fiber. Sap contains 20 to 40% 
+more sucrose than average sugarcane. Juice of the outer covering of fruit is highly corrosive 
+and may cause pain and skin inflammation. Pith of the stem is source of sago starch. Sap 
+may be made into a refreshing fresh drink, or fermented into palm wine, upon distillation 
+yielding Arrack. Alcohol and vinegar may also be made from the sap. Terminal bud or 
+“ cabbage” is eaten in salads, raw or cooked. Etiolated leaves, petioles, and pith of young 
+stems eaten in soups or fried, or used as a pickled preserve. Half-ripe fruits are pruned to 
+remove irritating crystals in pericarp; seeds washed and seedcoat removed; endosperm is 
+soaked in lime water for several days and finally boiled in sugary or spicy solutions and 
+eaten as sweetmeats. Young leaf-sheaths produce a valuable fiber used in industrial work. 
+Leaves are used to thatch roofs and are quite durable; leaflets are used for rough brooms 
+and are sometimes woven into baskets. “ Wood” is used for water p i p e s .J u i c e of outer 
+fleshy covering of fruit is used as a fish poison.
+Folk medicine — Reported to be intoxicant and piscicide.^^ Sap considered lactogenic 
+in Malaysia. Javanese use a root decoction for kidney stones. Fermented sap taken for 
+tuberculosis in the Philippines and Indonesia; for sprue, dysentery, constipation, and he­
+morrhoids in Java. The felt-like tomentum at the leaf-base is used as a styptic.^ Roots used 
+to make a medicine for stone in the bladder in Java. The fresh, sweet toddy used for chronic
+31
+constipation, phthisis, and dysentery; lactagogue. Applied to wounds as a hemostatic. 
+Diuretic and antithermic; fresh unfermented sap is a purgative and a remedy for sprue in 
+Indonesia. Juice of ripe fruit is poisonous. Roots are a treatment against bronchitis and 
+gravel.
+Chemistry — Per 100 g, the shoot is reported to contain 19 calories, 94.7 g H2O, 0.1 
+g protein, 0.2 g fat, 4.9 g total carbohydrate, 0.5 g fiber, 0.1 g ash, 21 mg Ca, 3 mg P, 
+00.5 mg Fe, 2 mg Na, 7 mg K, 0.01 mg riboflavin, and 0.1 mg niacin.*^
+Description — Tall, stout palm, 8 to 15 m tall, bole solitary, straight, 40 to 50 cm in 
+diameter; old leaf-bases covering trunk with mat of tough, black fibers and long spines; 
+leaves ascending, pinnate, up to 9.1 m long, 3.1 m wide, with 100 or more pairs of linear 
+leaflets, leaflets whitish or scurfy beneath, dark-green above, 1 to 1.5 m long, 6 to 8 cm 
+(or more) wide, lobed or jagged at apex, auricled at base; petioles 1.5 to 2 m long, very 
+stout, base covered with black fibers and weak spines; plants monoecious, bearing very 
+large pendulous interfoliar inflorescences arising from leaf axils; female inflorescence usually 
+preceding male; male and female inflorescence, which eventually become 1 to 3.3 m long, 
+at first ensheathed in bud by 5 to 7 lanceolate oblong, imbricated, caducous bracts; inflo­
+rescence emerging from spathes in 6 to 9 weeks; peduncle large; flowers opening first at 
+base of each branch and successively toward apex; flowers numerous, sessile, either male 
+or female; female flowers usually solitary, male solitary or paired, rarely in threes, occurring 
+in separate inflorescences; in bisexual flowers, stamens usually abortive; male flowers scent­
+less, with 3 green imbricated, persistent sepals, one-fourth length of petals, apex broadly 
+acute, thin-margined; petals 3 to 4, navicular, valvate, 2.5 cm long, red-brown or red-purple 
+on outside, yellow on inside; stamens yellow, numerous, with elongated apiculate anthers, 
+borne on short filaments; no rudimentary ovary; female flowers scentless, 3 unequal green 
+imbricated orbicular sepals, one-third length of petals, persistent; petals coriaceous, 1.5 to
+2.5 cm long, light-green,ovate, or triangular, valvate, persistent with sepals as cupule at 
+base of fruit; staminodes absent, or if present, sometimes producing nectar; fruit obovoid 
+to subglobose, smooth, 5 to 6 cm in diameter, with depressed trigonous upper surface; 
+exocarp yellow or yellow-brown, coriaceous; mesocarp fleshy, whitish, gelatinous, very 
+acid due to stinging crystals; endocarp black, smooth, thin, stony; seeds 2 to 3 per fruit, 
+dull-metallic gray-brown, trigonous, oblong, 2.5 to 3.5 cm long, 2 to 2.5 cm wide, with 
+copious endosperm. Flowers and fruits year-round.
+Germplasm — Reported from the Indochina-Indonesia and Hindustani Centers of Di­
+versity, sugar palm, or cvs thereof, is reported to tolerate disease, drought, fungus, high 
+pH, insects, poor soil, shade, and slope.Several forms of the sugar palm exist in Malaya, 
+varying mainly in how long is required for plants to begin flowering.(2 n = 26,32.)
+Distribution — Native from eastern India and Ceylon, through Bangladesh, Burma, 
+Thailand, southern China, Hainan, Malay Peninsula to New Guinea and Guam. Extensively 
+cultivated in India.
+Ecology — Ranging from Subtropical Dry to Moist through Tropical Dry to Wet Forest 
+Life Zones, sugar palm is reported to tolerate annual precipitation of 7 to 40 dm (mean of 
+8 cases = 19.1), annual temperature of 19 to 2TC (mean of 8 cases = 24.5), and pH of 
+5.0 to 8.0 (mean of 5 cases = 6.4).®^ More or less a forest tree, but not restricted to jungles; 
+it can be grown on very poor rocky hillsides and in waste places. It flourishes best in humid 
+tropics in a rich moist soil, from sea-level to elevations of 1,200 m, being grown at higher 
+elevations than coconut. It is little subject to drought damage, typhoons, insect pests, or 
+fungal diseases. Trees are hardy, self-sustaining, growing readily in well-drained soil of 
+dark cool valleys, along banks of mountain streams, along forest margins and on partially 
+open hillsides. It develops more slowly in flat, exposed, or sunny habitats.
+Cultivation — In forests of Indo-Malaysia, ripe fruits are distributed by various fruit 
+bats, civet cats, and wild swine. Trees are only in semi-cultivation, mainly since trees require
+32 Handbook of Nuts
+many years to begin to be useful. When propagated, seed are used, but it has never been 
+scientifically cultivated. Growing it in plantations for its fiber is too costly.
+Harvesting — Various products may be harvested from the sugar palm. Trees reach 
+maturity (flowering stage) in 6 to 12 years and continue to flower for about 15 years before 
+replanting. Flowering is quite irregular. From flowering to ripe fruit takes about 2 years, 
+so the harvest period for the fruit extends over the entire year. Most important industrial 
+product is the black, horsehair-like tough fiber, called gomuta, yunot, or cabo negro, pro­
+duced at base of petioles in large quantities. It is used in manufacture of a very durable rope 
+used in fresh-and salt-water and for thatching houses; known to last 100 years in the Phil­
+ippines. Fiber also widely used for filters and for caulking ships. Cost of fiber is high, 
+depending on grade and length of fiber, but is in demand in Europe for industrial purposes. 
+Stiffer fibers are used in Philippines to make floor and hair brushes, and brushes for grooming 
+horses. Thatch-like raincoats are sometimes made from it. Associated with the fibers at basal 
+parts of petiole is a soft, dry, light, punky substance, called barok, varying in color from 
+white to dark shades, used in caulking boats and as a tinder, made by soaking in juice of 
+banana or lye made from ashes of Vitex negundo and then dried; 60 to 75 tons of this 
+exported annually from Java to Singapore. Palms commonly tapped for the sweet sap used 
+for producing sugar, vinegar, wine, or alcohol. Trees for sugar production are selected and 
+the young inflorescences beaten with a stick or wooden mallet for a short time each day for 
+2 to 3 weeks, thus producing wound tissue and stimulating the flow of sap to the injured 
+area. Starch in the trunks is converted into sugar and moves into the inflorescence when it 
+begins to develop. Thus by wounding young inflorescences, the flow of sugar to the wounded 
+tissue can be regulated. The stalk is then cut off at base of the inflorescence and the exuding 
+sap collected. A thin slice is removed from the wounded end of the stalk once or twice a 
+day during sap flow. Flow generally diminishes from 10 to 12 to 2 €/day after 2 1/2 months; 
+some plants yield about 2.8 €/day for about 2 years. Fresh sap is clear with pleasant taste 
+and makes a refreshing drink. Kept awhile, it becomes turbid and acid, and upon fermen­
+tation, acquires an intoxicating quality. Flavored with bark of other trees, large quantities 
+of the liquor are consumed. Sap is allowed to ferment, producing “ tuba” , a palm wine, a 
+popular drink in Philippines; it is supposed to have curative properties. Fermentation begins 
+in the bamboo’s tubes in which sap is collected and is usually well-advanced when the 
+product is gathered. Much is converted into a good quality vinegar; alcohol is also distilled 
+from the “ tuba” . Sugar is made by boiling the sweet, unfermented sap, using a new bamboo 
+joint for the sap each day. To prevent fermentation in the tube, a little crushed ginger or 
+crushed chili-pepper fruit is added to the bamboo joint. Sometimes in Java, bamboo joints 
+are smoked first to reduce fermentation. Sugar is manufactured by boiling thickened juice 
+in an open kettle until the liquid solidifies when dropped on cold surface. Sugar in the 
+Philippines is brown and enters into local commerce in very limited quantities. Yield of 
+sugar is about 20 tons/ha, with 150 to 200 trees/ha. In Java and elsewhere, old trees no 
+longer productive of sugar are felled and cut up into short sections, or the pith is scooped 
+out of trunks cut lengthwise. Fibrous pith is pulverized and washed to remove fibrous material 
+and other impurities. Starch particles in suspension are drawn off and sago starch removed 
+and dried in sun. Starch is light gray-white. A type of tapioca may be prepared from this 
+starch by dropping wet pellets of it on hot plates. Debris, after starch is removed, is boiled 
+and used for hog feed. In Luzon, starch is obtained only from male or sterile trees. Yield 
+of sago meal is about 67.5 kg per tree. Yields of starch vary greatly, with an average yield 
+of 50 to 75 kg per tree.^^^
+Yields and economics — Specific yields are stated above for each product. Products of 
+this palm are widely used in areas where it grows, but only the fibers are in international 
+commerce. Sugar and starch, and their by-products are consumed locally, and in very large 
+quantities.
+33
+Energy — In Palms as Energy Sources, Duke^' reports that a single sugar palm can yield 
+2.8 € (sugar content 5 to 8%) toddy per day over a period of about two months. Sugar 
+yields of 20 MT per ha are suggested, all of which could be converted to renewable alcohol. 
+Once flowering, male trees go on producing tappable spadices for 2 to 3 years, until the 
+lowest leaf axil is utilized and the tree is exhausted.^® A single tree, upon felling, can yield 
+up to 75 kg “ sago starch” (true sago may yield 5 times as much). Trees that have been 
+tapped for sugar yield little or no sago). Energy planners cannot then add the sugar and 
+starch, but plan for one or the other. The black reticulate leaf-sheaths have hair-like fibers 
+that are used for tinder.
+Biotic factors — Flowers are presumably wild-pollinated. Sugar palm is virtually in­
+sect-, pest-, and disease-free, one fungus attacking the palm being Ganoderma pseudofer- 
+reum. In the East Indies, leaves are damaged by the rhinoceros beetle {Orcytes rhinoceros), 
+and dead palms are reported to harbor these beetles, which cause serious damage to coconut 
+palms.
+34 Handbook of Nuts
+Breadfruit, Breadnut, Pana
+ARTOCARPUS ALTILIS (Parkins.) Fosb. (MORACEAE) 
+Syn.: Artocarpus communis Forst.
+Uses — Cultivated extensively for its fruits and seeds, breadfruit is used as a staple food 
+with Polynesians, Micronesians, and Melanesians. When fruit is not fully ripe, being very 
+starchy, it is peeled, cut into sections, and baked or boiled, and seasoned with salt, pepper, 
+and butter. When fully ripe, the meat is soft and can be baked like sweet potato. Green 
+fruits are roasted, ground into a meal, and used to make breads. Breadfruit can also be used 
+in salads, made into soup, and, when ripe, made into a pulp (coconut milk and sugar being 
+added) and baked as a pudding. Seeds are eaten roasted or boiled. Bark cloth is made from 
+the bark. Leaves furnish fodder for livestock. Wood is used locally for house-building. 
+Latex from the trunk is used in native medicines, as bird lime and to caulk canoes.
+Folk medicine — Fruits and leaves used as a cataplasm for tumors in Brazil.Powder 
+of roasted leaves applied for enlarged spleen; ashes of the leaves applied in herpes^^ (Am- 
+boina). Reported to be anodyne, laxative, and vermifuge, breadfruit is a folk remedy for 
+backache, blood disorders, boils, bums, diabetes, diarrhea, dysentery, eye ailments, fever, 
+fracture, gout, headache, hypertension, oliguria, rheumatism, sores, stomach-ache, swelling, 
+testicles, worms, and wounds.West Indians have great faith in the leaf decoction for high 
+blood pressure. Colombians cook the fmit with sugar for colic. Virgin Islanders take the 
+plant for coronary ailments, Jamaicans dress liver spots with the latex, Costa Ricans apply 
+it to w o u n d s .C h in e s e use the seeds to aid parturition and to treat typhoid and other 
+fevers. Indonesians use the bark in parturition, poulticing the leaves on splenomegaly. Heated 
+flowers, after cooling, are applied to the gums for toothache, fmits are used for cough, root- 
+bark for diarrhea and dysentery, seeds as an aphrodisiac. Philippinos use the bark decoction 
+for stomach-ache. New Guineans use the latex for dysentery.
+Chemistry — Per 100 g, the mature fmit is reported to contain 103 calories, 70.8 g H2O,
+35
+1.7 g protein, 0.3 g fat, 26.2 g total carbohydrate, 1.2 g fiber, 1.0 g ash, 33 mg Ca, 32 
+mg P, 1.2 mg Fe, 15 mg Na, 439 mg K, 24 mg beta-carotene equivalent, 0.22 mg thiamine, 
+0.03 mg riboflavin, 0.9 mg niacin, and 29 mg ascorbic acid. Per 100 g, the leaf is reported 
+to contain 75 calories, 75.5 g H2O, 5.0 g protein, 2.0 g total carbohydrate, 2.0 g ash, 2.0 
+mg Ca, 170 mg P, 60 mg Fe, 17.5 mg Na, 0.10 mg thiamine, and 70 mg ascorbic acid. 
+Per 100 g, the mature seed is reported to contain 434 calories, 20.2 g H2O, 15.1 g protein, 
+29.0 g fat, 34.0 g total carbohydrate, 2.5 g fiber, 1.7 g ash, 66 mg Ca, 320 mg P, 6.7 mg 
+Fe, 41 mg Na, 380 mg K, 280 mg beta-carotene equivalent, 0.88 mg thiamine, 0.55 mg 
+riboflavin, 0.8 mg niacin, and 12 mg ascorbic acid. Quijano and Arango^^^ report wetter 
+seeds (56.3% moisture) with (ZMB): 3 to 4 g ash, 12.8 g fat, 16 g soluble carbohydrates, 
+20 g total protein, and 3.9 g fiber. Of the protein (20%), 6.4 g was nonglobular protein,
+13.5 g globular (1.8 g albumins, 3.7 globulins, 3.3 prolamins, and 4.6 g glutelins). The 
+amino acids of the seeds contain 13.04 g/100 g leucine, 12.10 isoleucine, 5.28 g phenyl­
+alanine, 15.90 g methionine, 7.24 g tyrosine, 3.62 g proline, 7.68 g alanine, 4.93 g glutamic 
+acid, 3.91 g threonine, 10.43 g serine, 4.78 g glycine, 3.33 g arginine, 4.56 g histidine, 
+and 3.12 g cystine per 100 g protein. Fruits contain papayotin and artocarpin.^®^ Leaves 
+contain quercetin and camphorol.^^"^ Some HCN is reported in the leaves, stem, and root, 
+cerotic acid in the latex.
+Description — Handsome tree, 12 to 20 m tall; leaves large, ovate, leathery, rough, 
+glossy, most often lobate or incised, 30 to 90 cm long, 30 to 40 cm broad, dark-green; 
+flowers minute, male and female flowers in separate catkins on the same tree, in axils of 
+newly formed leaves; male inflorescences club-shaped, 15 to 30 cm long, dropping to the 
+ground in a few days; female inflorescences in globose heads about 5 cm in diameter, 
+developing into seedless fruits; some varieties of breadfruit have seeds in profusion; fruit 
+(syncarp) ovoid, spherical, or pear-shaped, 10 to 15 cm long, 10 to 15 cm in diameter, 
+weighing 1 to 4 kg, with white sticky latex, rind yellowish-green or brown, divided into a 
+series of low projections, bearing short spines in some varieties; pulp white or yellowish; 
+in breadnut, rind covered with fleshy spines, with brownish seeds 2.5 cm or more in length 
+and about 2.5 cm in diameter. Flowers and fruits at nearly all stages on the tree at the same 
+time, almost throughout the year.^^®
+Germplasm — Reported from the Indochina-Indonesia Center of Diversity, breadfruit, 
+or CVS thereof, is reported to tolerate drought, high pH, heat, laterite, sodium or salt, slope, 
+and virus.Many cvs have developed wherever breadfruit has been long grown. Seeded 
+CVS are of little economic value but are eaten by natives; the seeds, when roasted, taste like 
+chestnuts. Most cvs are seedless. In Ponape, over 50 cvs are known; in Tahiti, about 30; 
+and in the South Pacific area, 165.^^* (2n = 56.)
+Distribution — Probably originated in Indonesia and perhaps in New Guinea, where 
+large, spontaneous stands occur. Breadfruit is cultivated throughout the islands of the South 
+Seas. It has been introduced into many tropical areas of the world, including India, West 
+Indies, Mauritius, and southern Florida.
+Ecology — Ranging fromWarm Temperate Dry (without frost) through Tropical Dry to 
+Wet Forest Life Zones, breadfruit is reported to tolerate annual precipitation of 7 to 40 dm 
+(mean of 19 cases = 23.0), annual temperature of 17 to 29°C (mean of 19 cases = 24.1), 
+and pH of 5.0 to 8.0 (mean of 14 cases = 6.2). Breadfruit thrives only in humid tropics, 
+where the temperature varies from 16 to 38°C with a humidity of 70 to 80%, and a well- 
+distributed annual rainfall of 250 to 275 cm. Climatic requirements vary according to cv. 
+In Indonesia, some cvs are adapted to moist climates; others endure 6 months of dry weather. 
+It is usually intolerant of climatic extremes in inland regions or high elevations, but grows 
+on high islands (up to 700 m in New Guinea) and on atolls throughout the Pacific. It does 
+not tolerate shade, and irrigation has been unsuccessful. It thrives on alluvial and coastal 
+soils, and can be grown and produced on coral soils of atolls. Some cvs (“ Maitarika” )
+36 Handbook of Nuts
+grown on atolls such as Gilbert Islands are said to tolerate salinity. Wind easily breaks the 
+branches and may cause many flowers and young fruits to fall.^^’^^®
+Cultivation — Seeded cvs are propagated from seed; however, seeds lose their viability 
+soon after fruit falls. For seedless varieties, if roots are bruised near soil surface, plants send 
+up root-suckers, which can be removed and planted in a permanent site. Root-cuttings 20 
+to 25 cm long and 12 to 60 mm in diameter may be laid horizontally in a 12-mm-deep 
+trench and watered daily. Remove and plant sprouts when 20 to 25 cm tall in rainy season. 
+Natural suckers can be air-layered for root initiation planted in a nursery for 2 to 3 months, 
+then transplanted to permanent site. At all times, trees should be spaced about 12 m each 
+way, or about 100 trees per hectare. Trees should be watered for first and second years, 
+given shallow intercultures, and generally no manuring. Some intercropping is practiced.
+Harvesting — Trees start bearing in 5 to 6 years, when vegetatively propagated, 8 to 10 
+years from seed. Under good soil and climatic conditions they will continue to produce well 
+for 50 years. Time of harvest differs in various localities: in Caroline Islands, May to 
+September; Gilbert Islands, May to July; Society Islands, November to April and July to 
+August. For culinary purposes, harvest when still hard. Harvesting is done with a long pole, 
+having a hooked knife and basket at the end so fruits do not fall to ground. Fruits ripen in 
+4 to 6 days.^^^
+Yields and economics — Adult trees yield 50 to 150 fruits, each producing 23 to 45 kg. 
+An 8-year-old tree can bear 800 fruits over the three seasons of a year.*^^ A fruit may weigh 
+1 to 3 kg. Breadfruits are gathered and sold locally where the trees are grown. They rarely 
+enter international trade.
+Energy — If an adult tree bears 100 2-kg fruits, and if the fruits contain 70% water, that 
+is still 60 kg dry matter (DM) per tree per year. If one could crowd 100 such productive 
+trees into a hectare that indicates 6 MT DM in fruits alone, a reasonable renewable biomass 
+production. There is a sizable annual accumulation of leaves and limbs as well.
+Biotic factors — Hand-pollinated fruits are twice the size of normally developing fruits. 
+The following fungi are known to attack breadfruit: Capnodium sp., Cercospora artocarpi, 
+Colletotrichum artocarpi, Cephaleuros virescens, Corticium salmonicolor, Gloeosporium 
+artocarpi, G. mangiferae, Orbilia epipora, Pestalotiopis versicolor, Phytophthora palmi- 
+vora, Phyllosticta artocarpi, P. artocarpicola, Mycosphaerella artocarpi, Rhizopus arto­
+carpi, Sclerotium rolfsii, Uredo artocarpi, Zygosporium oscheoides. Nematodes infesting 
+the tree are Boledorus sp., Helicotylenchus concavus, H. cavenessi, H. dihystera, H. mi- 
+croc ephalus, H. pseudorobustus, Heterodera marioni, Meloidogyne incognita acrita, Ro- 
+tylenchulus reniformis, Scutellonema calthricaudatum, Tylenchorhynchus triglyphus, and 
+Xiphinema ifacola}^^'^^^
+37
+ARTOCARPUS HETEROPHYLLUS Lam. (MORACEAE) — Jackfruit 
+Syn.: Artocarpus integra (Thunb.) M err., Artocarpus integrifolia L.f.
+Uses — Few, if any, tropical fruits can excel the jackfruit in size and usefulness. Cultivated 
+for its multiple fruit, the pulp may be cooked or fried before ripening, or eaten raw when 
+ripe. Fruits I sampled in Brazil were quite adequate, right off the tree. Pulp is sometimes 
+boiled with milk, or made into preserves or curries. Leaves and bark contain a white latex. 
+Leaves are fed to sheep, goats, and cattle as fodder, especially in the dry season. Flower 
+clusters are eaten in Java with syrup and agar-agar or coconut milk. Young fruits may be 
+eaten in soups. When properly fermented, pulp produces a vinegar. Seeds are mealy and 
+are tasty when boiled or roasted. Half-ripe fruits are fed to pigs and used for fattening cattle 
+and sheep. Wood is bright yellow when fresh, darkening on exposure, used for furniture, 
+cabinet work, house-building, doors, window frames, and cart work. The wood chips are 
+distilled in Burma and Sri Lanka to produce the yellow dye used for Buddhist robes. Trees 
+are usually cut for lumber when upwards of 30 years old; wood takes a high polish and is 
+ornamental. Heartwood contains a brilliant yellow dye, similar to fustic. Cyanomaclurin is 
+also present, producing an olive-yellow with chromium, dull yellow with aluminum, and a 
+brighter yellow with tin mordant. Green and red dyes may also be prepared. Sawdust and 
+shavings of wood, when boiled in water, yield a yellow dye used for dying silk. Milky juice 
+is used in some countries as a bird-lime. Bark yields a 
+fiber.Shedding nearly 10 MT 
+leaves a year and bearing fruits weighing up to 11 kg each, this species deserves consideration 
+as a shade tree for cardamoms.
+Folk medicine — According to Hartwell, the plant is used in folk remedies for tumors. 
+Reported to be astringent, demulcent, laxative, refrigerant, and tonic, jackfruit is a folk 
+remedy for alcoholism, carbuncles, caries, leprosy, puerperium, smallpox, sores, sterility, 
+stomach problems, toothache, and tumors.^' Burmese, Chinese, and Filipinos use the sap 
+to treat abscesses and ulcers, and the bark to poultice on such afflictions. Burmese also use 
+the roots for diarrhea and fever. Indochinese use the wood as a sedative in convulsion, the 
+boiled leaves as a lactagogue, the sap for syphilis and worms. Filipinos use the ashes of the 
+leaves to treat ulcers and wounds.Cambodians used the wood to calm the nerves. Munda 
+of India use the leaves for vomiting. Both Ayurvedics and Yunani consider the fruit and 
+seeds aphrodisiac. Ayurvedics use the ripe fruit for biliousness, leprosy, and ulcers. India 
+uses the roots for hydrocoele.*^^
+Chemistry — Per 100 g, the leaves contain (ZMB) 18.5 g protein, 5.0 g fat, 66.3 g total 
+carbohydrate, 26.2 g fiber, 10.2 g ash, 2,000 mg Ca, and 110 mg P. Per 100 g, the fruits 
+(ZMB) contain 347 calories, 6.3 g protein, 1.1 g fat, 87.5 g total carbohydrate, 3.3 g fiber, 
+5.2 g ash, 100 mg Ca, 140 mg P, 2.2 mg Fe, 7.4 mg Na, 1,502 mg K, 867 ug beta-carotene 
+equivalent, 0.33 mg thiamine, 0.41 mg riboflavin, 2.58 mg niacin, and 33 mg ascorbic 
+acid. Per 1(X) g, the seeds contain 51.6 g H2O, 6.6 g protein, 0.4 g fat, 38.4 g carbohydrate,
+1.5 g fiber, 1.5 g ash, 0.05% Ca, 0.13% P, and 1.2 mg Fe.^ The latex consists of 65.9 to 
+76.0% moisture and water solubles and 2.3 to 2.9% caoutchouc. The coagulum contains 6 
+to 10% caoutchouc, 82.6 to 86.4% resins, and 3.9 to 8.1% insolubles. Dried latex contains 
+the steroketone artostenone C30H50O, which has been converted to artosterone, a compound 
+with highly androgenic properties. Seeds, though eaten, contain the hemagglutinin, con- 
+cavalin A. Hager’s Handbook gives structures for six flavones isolated therefrom: artacar- 
+panone, artocarpetin, artocarpin, cyanomaclurin, cycloartocarpin, and morin (Ci5Hio07).*®^ 
+The wood contains a yellow pigment, morin, and cyanomaclurin; the bark has tannin, the 
+latex cerotic acid.^"^^
+Description — Low or medium-sized evergreen tree, 10 to 25 m high, without buttresses, 
+with dense, rather regular crown. Branchlets terete, with scattered, retrose, crisped hairs, 
+becoming glabrous. Leaves alternate, shortly stalked, oblong or obovate, with cuneate or
+38 Handbook of Nuts
+obtuse base, and obtuse or shortly acuminate apex, entire (lobed only on very young plants), 
+coriaceous, rough, glabrescent, shining dark-green above, pale-green beneath, 10 to 20 cm 
+long, 5 to 10 cm wide, with 5 to 8 pairs of lateral veins, petiole 2 to 4 cm long. Stipules 
+ovate-triangular, acute, hairy on the back, glabrous on the inner side, pale, 1 to 2 cm long, 
+on flowering branches much larger, up to 5 cm. Inflorescences peduncled, solitary in the 
+leaf-axils of short, thick branchlets which are placed on the trunk or on the main branches, 
+unisexual, 4 to 15 cm long; the male ones near the apex, fascicled in the higher axils, 
+oblong-clavate, rounded at both ends; the female ones in the lower axils, solitary or in pairs 
+on longer and thicker peduncles. Flowers very numerous, small, the male ones with a two- 
+lobed perianth and one stamen; the female ones cohering at the base, tubular, style obliquely 
+inserted, stigma clavate. Spurious fruits very large, oblong, glabrous, with short, 3 to 6 
+angular, conical acute spines.
+Germplasm — Reported from the Hindustani Center of Diversity, jackfruit, or cvs thereof, 
+is reported to tolerate aluminum, latentes, limestone, low pH, and shade.Varieties such 
+as “ Soft” or “ Hard” , are selected mainly according to the thickness of the rind.
+Distribution — Native to the Indian Archipelago, jackfruit is now widely cultivated 
+throughout the Old and New World tropics, being known in India, Burma, Bangladesh, Sri 
+Lanka, Java, and in South America from the Guianas as far south as Rio de Janeiro, in 
+Brazil, West Indies, and southern Florida.
+Ecology — Ranging from Subtropical Dry to Moist through Tropical Very Dry to Wet 
+Forest Life Zones, jackfruit is reported to tolerate annual precipitation of 7 to 42 dm (mean 
+of 14 cases = 22.7), annual temperature of 19 to 29°C (mean of 14 cases = 24.8), and 
+pH of 4.3 to 8.0 (mean of 11 cases = 6.0).^^ As a tropical tree, jackfruit grows well in 
+most soils, but not in moist low places. Cultivated below 1,000 m altitudes, it grows best 
+in deep well-drained soil, but will grow slowly and not so tall in shallow limestone soil. 
+Sensitive to frost in its early stages, it cannot tolerate drought or “ wet feet” .^^^
+Cultivation — Propagated by seeds (viable only 2 to 4 weeks), budding after the modified 
+Forkert method, inarching, air-layering, or grafting. Seeds retain viability for about 30 days 
+at room temperature; however, soaking them in water for 24 hr improves their longevity. 
+Budding with eyes of nonpetioled budwood on stocks from 8 to 11 months old gives best 
+results. The best stock is Artocarpus champeden, but A. rigida Bl. can also be used. Stock 
+should be slightly shaded. For grafting-tape, dry bark-fibers of Musa textilis are used. 
+Budding may be performed throughout the year, provided stocks are old enough. Can be 
+propagated through root shoots. Trees should be spaced 12 to 14 m apart each way. Cattle 
+manure is helpful.
+Harvesting — Trees start bearing fruit when 4 to 14 years old; once established, they 
+continue to bear for several decades. Ripe fruits, available almost throughout the year, are 
+much relished. About 8 months is required from time the flowers begin to expand until fruit 
+matures.
+Yields and economics — A tree may bear 150 to 250 fruits per year and fruits may weigh 
+10 to 40 kg. Two hundred 20-kg fruits a tree indicate an incredible 4 tons per tree per year. 
+If 50 trees could bear at this rate, that would be 200 tons fruit per ha. But 75% of this is 
+water. Cultivation in Bangladesh in 1969 to 1970 amounted to 17,760 ha, because of greater 
+demand, producing 212,635 tons of fruit. Because of the fruit, it is marketed locally.
+Energy — Grown as a shade tree for cardamom, jackfruit contributed annually 9,375 
+kg/ha leaf mulch.
+Biotic factors — The following fungi are known to attack jackfruit: Ascochyta sp., 
+Botryodiplodia theohromae, Capnodium sp., Cephaleuros sp., Circinotrichum sp., Corti- 
+cium salmonicolor (pink disease), Diplodia artocarpi, Ganoderma applanatum, Gloeos- 
+porium artocarpi, G. caressae, Kernia furcotricha, Marasmius scande ns, Marssonia indica, 
+Meliola artocarpi, Pestalotia elasticola, Phomopsis artocarpi, Phyllosticta artocarpi, P.
+39
+artocarpina, Phytophthora palmivora, Rhizoctonia solani, Rhizopus artocarpi, R. stolonifer, 
+Rosellinia bunodes, Septoria artocarpi, Setella coracina, Torula herbarum, Uredo artocarpi. 
+Trees are also parasitized by Dendrophthoe falcata and Viscum album. Among the nematodes 
+known to infest jackfruit trees are Aphelechus avenae, Cr icone ma taylori, Criconemoides 
+birchfieldi, Helicotylenchus dihystera, Heterodera marioni, Hoplolaimus seinhorsti, Lep- 
+tonema thornei, Meloidogyne sp., Oostenbrinkella oostenbrinki, Peltamigratus sp., Praty- 
+lenchus zeae, Rotylenchulus reniformis, Trichodorus sp., Tylenchorhynchus acutus, T. mar­
+tini, T. triglyphus, Xiphinema americanum, X. pratense, and X. setariae.^'^^'^^
+40 Handbook of Nuts
+BALANITES AEGYPTIACA (L.) Delile (SIMARUBACEAE) — Desert Date, Soapberry 
+Tree, Jericho Balsam
+Uses — Monks of Jericho regarded Balanites as the balm of the Biblical verse. An oily 
+gum made from the fruit is sold in tin cases to travelers as the balm of Gilead. Both Balanites 
+and Pistacia are common in old Palestine, and both are called balm. A desert-loving plant, 
+Balanites is also revered by the Mohammedans in western India.The wood is used for 
+axes, cudgels, Mohammedan writing boards, mortars and pestles, walking sticks, and wooden 
+bowls. Since it gives little smoke, it is a favorite firewood for burning indoors. Spiny 
+branches are used to pen up animals. The bark yields a strong fiber. The fruit is fermented 
+to make an intoxicating beverage. In West Africa and Chad, the seed is used for making 
+breadstuffs and soups, while the leaf is used as a vegetable, the pericarp is crushed and 
+eaten.Flowers are eaten in soups in West Africa. The comestible oil, which constitutes 
+40% of the fruit, is used to make soap. African Arabs use the fruit as a detergent, the bark 
+to poison fish. The active principle, probably a saponin, is lethal to cercarla, fish, miracidia, 
+mollusks,^^ and tadpoles. One fruit weighing 25 g has enough active ingredient to kill the 
+bilharzial mollusks in 30 € water.^^^ The Douay Bible of 1609 renders Jeremiah 8:22 to 
+read, “ Is there no rosin in Gilead?“ , resulting in this edition being termed the Rosin Bible. 
+The Bishop’s Bible of 1568 reads, “ Is there no tryacle in Gilead?“ , and is termed the 
+Treacle Bible. The tree is recommended for arid zones by UNESCO because of its food
+41
+value, fixed oil, and protein in the kernel (“nut”) and as a raw material for the steroid 
+industry.®^
+Folk medicine — Fruits are pounded and boiled to extract the medicinal vulnerary oil. 
+The oil was poured over open wounds and apparently acted as an antiseptic and protective 
+covering against secondary infections. One Turkish surgeon regarded Inis as one of the best 
+stomachics, a most excellent remedy for curing wounds. In Ethiopia, the bark is used as an 
+antiseptic, the leaf to dress wounds, and the fruit as an anthelmintic laxative. In Palestine, 
+the oil is said to be used in folk medicine. Ghanans used the leaves as a vermifuge, whereas 
+Libyans use them to clean malignant wounds. Powdered root bark is used for herpes zoster 
+while the root extracts are suggested for malaria. Ghanans use the bark from the stem in 
+fumigation to heal the wounds of circumcision. Nigerians consider it abortifacient. The oil 
+from the fruits is applied to aching bones and swollen rheumatic joints by the Lebanese. 
+Extracts of the root have proven slightly effective in experimental malaria. The bark has 
+been used in treating syphilis. In Chad, the plant is used as a fumigant in liver disease, the 
+seed as a febrifuge, and the fruit for colds. Ugandans use the oil for sleeping sickness, but 
+the efficacy is questioned. Ayurvedics apply the fruit oil to ulcers, the fruit for other skin 
+ailments and rat bites, regarding the fruit as alexipharmic, alterative, analgesic, anthelmintic, 
+antidysenteric. Unanis use the fruit also for boils and leucoderma.^^’^^ ’^^
+Chemistry — A chloroform fraction of the stem bark, chromatographed over a column 
+of silica gel, yielded beta-sitosterol, bergapten, marmesin, and beta-sitosterol glucoside. 
+None of these compounds were active in eight 9KB5 (in vitro) or P0388 (in vivo) systems.^®' 
+Per 100 g, the fruit (ZMB) is reported to contain 339 calories, 6.1 to 11.1 g protein, 0.0 
+to 1.7 g fat, 79.1 to 88.6 g total carbohydrate, 10.2 g fiber, 5.2 to 8.1 g ash, 130 to 380 
+mg Ca. 400 mg P, and 39 mg ascorbic acid. Shoots contain (ZMB): 27.5 g protein, 1.5 g 
+fat, 64.4 g total carbohydrate, 23.3 g fiber, 6.6 g ash, 480 mg Ca, and 380 mg P; leaves 
+contain 11.6 g protein 4.2 g fat, 71.5 g total carbohydrate, 13.6 g fiber, and 12.7 g ash. 
+Seeds or “ nuts” contain (ZMB): 21.9 g protein, 45.7 g fat, and 3.3 g ash (21). The fruit 
+flesh contains 1% saponin, 38 to 40% sugar. The saponin from the pericarp contains glucose 
+and rhamnose; from the seeds, glucose, rhamnose, xylose, and ribose. The seed kernel 
+yields the steroid balanitesin, identical with the sapogenin C27H42O3 called diosgenin. The 
+seed oil (30 to 55%), colored yellow with alpha-carotene has 19% palmitic-, 14% 
+stearic-, 27% oleic-, 40% linoleic-, and traces of arachidonic-acids. Traces of yamogenin, 
+25-alpha-spirosta-3:5-diene and beta-sitosterol.'*^
+Description — Savanna tree, 5 to 7 (to 21) m tall; bark gray to dark-brown, with thick 
+ragged scales and long vertical fissures in which new yellow bark is visible; branchlets 
+green, smooth, armed with green straight forward-directed supra-axillary spines to 8 cm 
+long; leaves gray-green, 2 foliolate; leaflets obovate to orbicular-rhomboid, usually 2.5 to 
+5 cm long, 1.3 to 3 cm broad, flowers green to yellow-green, small, ca. 1.3 cm in diameter, 
+in supra-axillary clusters or rarely subracemose; fruit a plum-sized drupe, green at first, 
+turning yellow, broadly oblong-ellipsoid, with large, hard, pointed stone surrounded by 
+yellow-brown sticky edible flesh.
+Germplasm — Reported from the Mediterranean Center of Diversity, desert date, or cvs 
+thereof, is reported to tolerate drought, high pH, insects, savanna, and waterlogging.*^
+Distribution — Widespread across North Africa, south to Uganda, Ethiopia, Sudan, 
+Chad, Nigeria, Arabia, and Palestine.^^*
+Ecology — Ranging from Subtropical Dry to Wet through Tropical Desert (with water) 
+to Dry Forest Life Zones, desert date is reported to tolerate annual precipitation of 1.5 to 
+17 dm (mean of 9 cases = 10), annual temperature of 18.7 to 27.9°C (mean of 9 cases = 
+24.3), and pH of 5.0 to 8.3 (mean of 6 cases = 6.9).*^ Commonly found in dry areas 
+occasionally subject to inundation. Sandy well-drained soil with slightly acid pH may be 
+most productive.*^
+42 Handbook of Nuts
+Cultivation — Propagates widely by seeds naturally. Seeds germinate readily. Sometimes 
+planted in villages for the fruit and other parts.
+Harvesting — Fruits are collected when ripe and spread out, often on roofs, to dry until 
+needed. Other parts of plants collected as needed. Available nearly year round.
+Yields and economics — When steroid prices were volatile, this was viewed as an 
+alternative source. World consumption was expected to exceed 1000 MT diosgenin or 
+yamogenin by 1973 and 60 MT hecogenin. Seeds from Nigeria (42.8 to 48.4% oil) yielded 
+1.11 to 1.74% total sapogenins; from Tanzania (43.1% oil) 0.95% sapogenins; and, from 
+India (50.3%) 0.74% total sapogenins.
+Energy — Roots have been used for producing charcoal. The wood, burning with little 
+smoke, is used for fuel wood. The oil could be used for fuel, better transesterified.
+Biotic factors: — Desert date trees are attacked by the following fungi: Phoma balanites, 
+Septoria balanites, Diplodiella balanites, Metasphaeria balanites, and Schizophyllum 
+commune.
+43
+BARRINGTONIA PROCERA (Miers) Kunth (MYRTACEAE) — Nua Nut
+Uses — While nuts of many species are said to be used as fish poisons {B. asiatica, B. 
+cylindrostachya, B. racemosa), others are used for food (B. butonica, B. careya, B. edulis, 
+B. excelsa, B. magnifica, B. niedenzuana, B. novae-hiberniae, B. procera). The nua nut 
+is a common component of native meals on Santa Cruz, also eaten in between-meal snacks. 
+Smoked whole fruits can be stored.
+Folk medicine — No data available.
+Chemistry — No data available.
+Description — Tree, sparingly branched, to 5 m tall or taller, the broad shiny leaves 
+clustered near the ends of the branches. Flowers in long pendulous cylindrical racemes, 
+yellow. Fruit an ovoid drupe; seed and kernel also ovoid.
+Germplasm — Reported from the New Guinea Center of Diversity. The fruit epidermis 
+may be green or purple, the seed coat white or pink. In the Solomon Islands, it is generally 
+believed that the kernels from Santa Cruz are bigger than those elsewhere (see Figures 6 
+and 7 in Yen^"^^). Other edible species known as cut-nuts in the Solomons are similar or 
+closely related.
+Distribution — Limited to the Huon Peninsula of New Guinea, the New Guinea Islands, 
+the Solomons, and New Hebrides, grown as a village tree in Fiji.
+Ecology — Estimated to range from Subtropical Moist to Rain through Tropical Moist 
+to Wet Forest Life Zones, nua nut is estimated to tolerate annual precipitation of 20 to 60 
+dm, annual temperature of 23 to 27°C, and pH of 6.0 to 8.4.
+Cultivation — Propagated from seed or stem cutting. Seedling trees “ are said to reflect 
+the characteristics of the parental tree, as, of course, do cuttings, but the latter tend to grow 
+branched closer to the ground’’. ^
+Harvesting — Seasons of production are indefinite and nuts are available all year round. 
+The growth rate of fruit after fertilization is fast. There are only 6 weeks between the 
+flowering time of the upper part of the inflorescences and the harvest of such fruits.
+Yields and economics — No data available.
+Energy — No data available.
+Biotic factors — No data available.
+44 Handbook of Nuts
+BERTHOLLETIA EXCELSA Humb. and Bonpl. (MYRTACEAE) — Brazil Nut, Para Nut, 
+Creme Nut, Castañas, Castanhado Para
+Uses — Nutritious Brazil nuts are eaten raw, salted, or roasted. Seeds are consumed in 
+large quantities and are used in international trade. Kernels are the source of Brazil nut oil, 
+used for edible purposes and in the manufacture of soap. The wood is light pinkish-brown, 
+neither very hard nor heavy, and it is limited to cheap work.*^^^^^
+Folk medicine — There has been a flurry of interest in one certain formula of one Dr. 
+Revici, the formula containing selenium and vegetable oils or natural fatty acids. This 
+combination has been tried with cancer patients and, according to one Washington physician, 
+in AIDS. I am frankly skeptical, but would not hesitate to increase my consumption of 
+Brazil nuts were I suffering AIDS or cancer.
+Chemistry — Per 100 g, the mature seed is reported to contain 644 calories, 4.7 g H2O, 
+17.4 g protein, 65.0 g fat, 9.6 g total carbohydrate, 3.9 g fiber, 3.3 g ash, 169 mg Ca, 620 
+mg P, 3.6 mg Fe, 2 mg Na, 5 mg beta-carotene equivalent, 0.20 mg thiamine, 0.69 mg 
+riboflavin, 0.20 mg niacin, and 2 mg ascorbic acid.^^ Hager’s Handbook notes ca. 1.8% 
+myristic, 13.5% palmitic, 2.5% stearic, 55.6% oleic, and 21.6% linoleic acid glycerides, 
+and 0.24 to 0.26% barium.Hilditch and Williams‘S® tabulate the component fatty acid 
+percentage as 13.8 to 16.2% palmitic, 2.7 to 10.4% stearic, 30.5 to 58.3% oleic, and 22.8 
+to ^4.9% linoleic acids. An analysis by Furr et al.‘^s reports the edible portion of the nuts 
+to contain 5.0 ppm Al, 0.02 As, 2.7 B, 1,764 Ba, 87 Br, 1,592 Ca, 0.03 Cd, 1.2 Ce, 246 
+Cl, 1.9 Co, 0.6 Cr, 1.3 Cs, 18 Cu, 0.1 Eu, 1.7 F, 93 Fe, 0.01 Hg, 0.2 I, 5,405 K, 0.1 
+La, 0.01 Lu, 3,370 Mg, 8.0 Mn, 7.2 Na, 5.8 Ni, 0.4 Pb, 103 Rb, 0.1 Sb, 0.02 Sc, 11 Se, 
+1,770 Si, 0.04 Sm, 3.5 Sn, 77 Sr, 0.1 Ta, 6.1 Ti, 0.01 V, 0.1 W, 0.2 Yb, and 41 ppm 
+Zn dry weight. The normal concentration of some of these elements in land plants are 50 
+ppm B, 14 Ba, 15 Br, 2,000 Cl, 0.5 Co, 0.2 Cs, 14 Cu, 3.200 Mg, 630 Mn, 3 Ni, 20 Rb, 
+3,400 S, 26 Sr, and 0.2 ppm Se dry weight. They were higher in barium, bromine, cerium, 
+cobalt, cesium, magnesium, nickle, rubidium, scandium, selenium, silicon, strontium, tin.
+45
+titanium, and ytterbium, and equal to or higher in europium, lanthanum, and tantalum than 
+any of the 12 nut species studied by Furr et al.*°^ Of 529 nuts analyzed for Se, 6% contained 
+100 ppm Se or more. The mean value for all nuts was 29.6 ppm, and the median value was 
+13.4 ppm. Hexane-extracted high-Se Brazil nut meal in a corn-based diet fed to rats produced 
+toxicity similar to that obtained from seleniferous com, selenomethionine, or sodium selenite 
+as assessed by weight gain, visually scored liver damage and liver, kidney, and spleen 
+weights. The Se in Brazil nuts may be as biologically potent as that from other sources. 
+Other nuts in this family (Lecythidaceae) contain so much selenium that overingestion can 
+lead to hair loss. Apparently selenium, an anticancer element, is essential in traces, toxic 
+in excess. However, the homeostatic human may cope with moderate excesses. “ . . . an­
+imals regulate their selenium content through excretion. When the element is in short supply, 
+excretory metabolite production is minimal. When the needs of the organism are being met, 
+excess selenium is eliminated by conversion to the excretory metabolites.” ^"^
+Description — Large forest tree, up to 40 m tall; leaves alternate, short-petioled, leathery, 
+oblong, with wavy margin, 30 to 50 cm long, 7.5 to 15 cm broad; flowers in large erect 
+spike-like racemes, white to cream, sepals united but finally separating into two deciduous 
+sepals; fruit large, brown, woody, globose, 10 to 15 cm in diameter, weighing up to 2 kg, 
+with an aperture at one end which is closed by a woody plug and must be broken open to 
+extract the “ nuts” inside; fruit may remain on the trees several months after ripening; seeds 
+12 to 24 per fruit, triangular, with a brown homy testa.
+Germplasm — Reported from the South American Center of Diversity, Brazil nut, or 
+CVS thereof, is reported to tolerate lateritic soils.
+Distribution — Native to the Amazon basin of Northern Brazil, Bolivia, Colombia, Pern, 
+Venezuela, and Guianas, mainly along banks of the Amazon and upper Orinoco Rivers and 
+their tributaries. Introduced into Sri Lanka in 1880 and Singapore in 1881.^^^
+Ecology — Ranging from Subtropical Moist to Tropical Dry through Wet Forest Life 
+Zones, Brazil nut is reported to tolerate annual precipitation of 13.5 to 41.0 (mean of 7 
+cases = 29.3), annual temperature of 21.3 to 27.4°C (mean of 7 cases = 25.4), and pH 
+of 4.3 to 8.0 (mean of 6 cases = 5.8).®^ A tropical tree, sometimes gregarious, preferring 
+high land, beyond reach of periodical floods. Thrives best in rich alluvial soil, in a hot moist 
+climate.
+Cultivation — Brazil nuts are collected from wild trees and are nowhere cultivated for 
+commercial production. Trees are propagated from seed or by layering. From 10 to 25 years 
+are required for fmiting to begin. Attempts to establish Brazil nut plantations have met with 
+mediocrity, at best.^^^
+Harvesting — After fmits have fallen and are gathered, usually during the dry season, 
+the nuts are extracted and shipped to Manaos or Belem do Para, where they are graded and 
+exported to the U.S. and Europe.
+Yields and economics — A good tree will yield 300 fruits at a time, ca. 15 months after 
+flowering. An adult tree may yield, in normal years, from 30 to 50 kg of fruits, but yields 
+of more than 2000 kg per tree are reported. Early in the 20th century, with the fall of 
+Brazilian rubber prices in 1910 due to Asian competition, Brazil nuts became a vital export. 
+The first U.S. customs entry recorded was 1873, when more than 1,800 MT unshelled nuts 
+entered at an average price less than $0.15/kg. By 1982, spot prices for unshelled nuts were 
+over $3.00/kg. By 1978, 15,472 MT of in-shell nuts were exported, contrasted to 5,367 
+shelled nuts. The U.S. is the largest importer, followed by the U.K., West Germany, Italy, 
+France, Australia, and the Netherlands. Brazilian output is predicted to remain steady at 
+around 40 to 60 thousand MT in shell-nuts for both internal and external consumption. The 
+principal producer of Brazil nuts is Brazil. In 1971, the Brazil nut crop in Brazil was 22,500 
+MT, and in 1970, 40,000 MT. Domestic consumption in Brazil is 1,000 to 2,000 MT per 
+year. Shelled assorted nuts commanded $0.55/lb; unshelled, dehydrated nuts $0.23/lb; and 
+natural unshelled nuts $0.18/lb.^^^’^^^
+46 Handbook of Nuts
+Energy — Shells and spoiled kernels supplement firewood in the power plants providing 
+heat for the diy'ers. Imperfect nuts are used for oil extraction, the press-cake employed as 
+feed for animals, whose manure could be used to extend fuel.
+Biotic factors — The following fungi are known to attack this tree: Actinomyces brasi- 
+liensis, Aspergillus flavus, Cephalosporium bertholletianum, Cercospora bertholletiae (Gray 
+spot), Cunninghamella bertholletiae, Fusarium sp., Myxosporium sp., Pellionella macros- 
+pora, Phytophthora heveaef Piptocephalus sphaerocephala, Phomopsis bertholletianum, 
+and Thamnidium elegans. Albuquerque et al.^ recommend Cuprosan copper oxychloride 
+or difolatan-80-captafol for control of Phytopthora leaf blight. The nematode, Meloidogyne 
+incognita, has been found causing heavy galling on the roots.
+47
+BORASSUS FLABELLIFER L. (ARECACEAE) — Palmyra Palm, Brab Tree, Woman’s 
+Coconut
+Syn.: Borassus flabelliformis Roxb. {l)Borassus aethiopum Mart.
+Uses — Palmyra palm is grown for the juice or toddy, extracted from the inflorescence 
+from which sugar or jaggery is made. Tender fruits resembling pieces of translucent ice are 
+eaten during hot season. Seeds are eaten as well as fruits. Fleshy scales of young seedling 
+shoots are eaten as a delicacy, especially in northern Sri Lanka, or dried to make a starchy 
+powder (reported to contain a neurotoxin). Salt prepared from leaves. The inflorescence is 
+a source of sugar, wine, and vinegar. Five types of fiber are obtained from different parts 
+of the plant, used for hats, thatching houses, books, writing paper, mats, bags, and all types 
+of utensils for carrying or storing water and food. Timber is black, sometimes with yellow 
+grain, strong, splits easily; said to withstand a greater cross-strain than any other known 
+timber; used for boat making, rafters, water pipes, walking sticks, umbrella handles and 
+rulers. Tree also yields a black gum. A Tamil poem enumerates 801 ways to use this palm. 
+Sometimes planted as a windbreak.
+Folk medicine — An emollient made from the root is said to be a folk remedy for 
+indurations. Flower or root is a folk remedy for tumors of the uterus (Cambodia). Sprouting 
+seed used as a diuretic and galactagogue. Petiole used as a vermifuge in Cambodia. Root 
+regarded as cooling. Ash of spathe given for enlarged spleens. Juice drunk before breakfast 
+has important medicinal properties, and is stimulant and antiphlegmatic. Juice is diuretic, 
+stimulant, antiphlegmatic, useful in inflammatory affections and dropsy; pulp is demulcent 
+and nutritive.^*
+Chemistry — Per 100 g, the mature fruit is reported to contain 43 calories, 87.6 g H2O,
+0.8 g protein, 0.1 g fat, 10.9 g total carbohydrate, 2.0 g fiber, 0.6 g ash, 27 mg Ca, 30 
+mg P, 1.0 mg Fe, 0.04 mg thiamine, 0.02 mg riboflavin, 0.3 mg niacin, and 5 mg ascorbic 
+acid. Sap contains about 12% sugar. Spontaneous fermentation produces ca. 3% alcohol 
+and 0.1% acids during the first 6 to 8 hr. Beyond this, fermentation goes to 5%, but there 
+is too much butyric acid. A cheap source of vinegar. Accordingto the Wealth of India, the 
+nira (fresh sap) contains 85.9% moisture, 0.2% protein, 0.02% fat, 0.29 ash, 13.5% car­
+bohydrates, 12.6% total sugar, and 5.7 mg Vitamin C per 1(X) g; the gur (boiled-down 
+molasses) contains 8.6% moisture, 1.7% protein, 0.08% fat, 1.8% ash, 88.5% carbohydrate.
+48 Handbook of Nuts
+(84% total sugar); the seed pulp contains 92.6% moisture, 0.6% protein, 0.1% fat, 0.3% 
+ash, 6.3% carbohydrates, and 13.1 mg/100 g vitamin The mannocellulose of the
+endosperm is transformed to glucose via mannose.
+Toxicity — Fleshy scale leaves of the germinating seeds, eaten by humans, contain a 
+neurotoxin.
+Description — Tall palm, 20 to 30 m high; trunk cylindrical, 30 to 35 cm in diameter, 
+very hard, black, mainly composed of stiff longitudinal fibers, central portion soft and 
+starchy, with crown of 30 to 40 fan-like leaves. Leaves glaucous, palmate, up to 3.3 m 
+wide, stiff, with numerous free pointed tips, petiole 11.3 m long, channeled above, with 
+hard saw-like teeth on margins. Inflorescence stalks among the leaves, long, much-branched; 
+male and female flowers on separate trees; male flowers borne on thick digitate processes, 
+female flowers appearing like small fruits. Fruit a large drupe, 15 to 20^ cm in diameter, 
+depressed-globular, brown; exterior smooth, enclosed in a tough matted fiber; interior very 
+fibrous, with 2 to 3 seeds; seeds rounded, but flattish, 3.7 to 5 cm across. Spathes begin 
+to appear in November or December, but flowers in March; fruits July-August.
+Germplasm — Reported from the African and, secondarily, the Hindustani Centers of 
+Diversity, palmyra palm, or cvs thereof, is reported to tolerate disease, drought, fire, high 
+pH, salt, sand, slope, savannah, waterlogging, and wind. The genus Borassus is believed 
+to contain one or as many as eight species, depending on your taxonomic point of view. 
+Kovoor maintains that the African B. aethiopum is distinct from B. flabellifer. No dwarf 
+mutants have been reported. (2n = 36.)^^’^^^
+Distribution — Said to be native to Africa, but also claimed to be indigenous to tropical 
+India and Malaysia, where it is both wild and cultivated, especially in coastal areas. Widely 
+cultivated throughout tropical Asia and Africa (Congo, Gabon, Gambia, Guinea, Guinea- 
+Bissau, Ivory Coast, Malagasy, Mali, Mauritania, Nigeria, Senegal, Sudan, Tanzania, Upper 
+Volta), with huge stands covering thousands of hectares. Grown in comparatively dry parts 
+of Burma, India, Sri Lanka, and Malaya.Kovoor^^^ estimates that there are 10,615,000 
+palmyra in Sri Lanka, 60 million in India, 2,350,000 in Burma, 1,800,000 in Kampuchea, 
+5 million in east Java.
+Ecology — Ranging from Subtropical Dry to Moist through Tropical Very Dry to Wet 
+Forest Life Zones, palmyra palm is reported to tolerate annual precipitation of 6.4 to 42.9 
+dm (mean of 11 cases = 18.8), annual temperature of 20.6 to 27.5°C (mean of 11 cases 
+= 24.3°C), and pH of 4.5 to 8.0 (mean of 7 cases = 6.4).^^ Palmyra palm is grown in 
+regions with a pronounced dry monsoon, being especially abundant in all sandy tracts near 
+the sea, on embankments, and in mixed coconut and date palm jungles of Bengal.Though 
+drought-tolerant, it suffers little from prolonged flooding. Kovoor^^^ suggests that “ its natural 
+preference is for rich alluvial soil” .
+Cultivation — Plants develop from self-sown seed. Seeds germinate, producing a “ sinker” , 
+which grows downward 1 m before producing growth at top. “ Once sprouted, the seedling 
+cannot be transported. Trees are slow-growing, taking 15 to 20 years before showing a 
+stem above ground; in the early stages only the underground portion of the stem increases 
+in thickness. Male and female trees cannot be distinguished until they flower. For food, the 
+seed-bed is prepared and nuts planted as close together as possible about June or July, about 
+50 seeds to the square meter. In about 3 to 4 months the nuts are dug up, by which time 
+they have germinated, and the sprouts are eaten as a vegetable. Actually, the nut is broken 
+open and the embryo eaten dry or made into a flour, tasting similar to tapioca.
+Harvesting — Trees begin to flower when 12 to 15 years old, depending on the region, 
+and continue to flower for about 50 years. Female trees yield about twice as much sap as 
+male trees. Fresh sap, called “ sweet toddy” or “ nira” , containing about 12% sucrose, is 
+obtained by tapping the flower stalk. Juice may be used fresh as a beverage, or, if not treated 
+promptly, begins to ferment into an intoxicating liquor. Fresh juice boiled down into a sugar 
+called jaggery or gur, with about 80% sucrose and 2.5% glucose, is an important sugar in
+49
+southern India and Burma. Tapping does not injure the tree. However, every 3 years the 
+sap-drawing process is omitted; otherwise the tree would die. A toddy collector climbs the 
+tree, tightly binds the spathes with thongs to prevent further opening, and then thoroughly 
+bruises the embryo flower within to facilitate the exit of juice. This operation is repeated 
+for several days, and on each occasion a thin slice is removed from spathe to facilitate 
+running of sap and to prevent it bursting the bound spathe. In about 8 days, sap begins to 
+exude into an earthen pot placed for that purpose. Pots are emptied twice daily, the pots 
+coated with lime inside to prevent fermentation. In factories, raw gur is heaped on platforms 
+for about 2 months to drain away most of the molasses. Then it is dissolved in water and 
+refined in the usual manner to make crystalline sugar. Molasses obtained during crystalli­
+zation is used for producing arrack. Five types of fibers may be obtained from the Palmyra 
+palm, each with specific characteristics and uses:
+1. Fibers about 60 cm long, separated from leafstalks, called “ Bassine” , are used for 
+making rope, twine, and sometimes paper.
+2. A loose fiber surrounds the base of the leafstalk.
+3. “ Tar” , prepared from the interior of stem without any spinning or twisting, is plaited 
+into fishtraps.
+4. A coir is derived from the pericarp.
+5. Fibrous materials of the leaves, are tom into strips, prepared, dyed, plaited into braids, 
+and worked up into basketware, fancy boxes, cigar cases and hats. In Bengal, long 
+strips of leaf are employed by children as washable slates.
+Kovoor^^^ gives good details of various methods for tapping this and other palms.
+Yields and economics — Trees yield 4 to 5 quarts of sap daily for 4 to 5 months; one 
+gallon of sap yields about 680 g jaggery sugar, which is about 80% saccharose or sucrose. 
+Joshi and Gopinathan‘^^ suggest that Asian Indians can more cheaply get nearly twice as 
+much sugar per hectare from palm as sugar cane, i.e., ca. 6,000 kg/ha vs. 3,500 kg/ha. 
+Comparing B orassus with other Indian sugar palms, they note that B orassus is longest lived 
+(90 to 120 years), and can be tapped more than twice as many years (70 to 95 years) as 
+others, yielding 20 to 70 kg tree, with 1,250 trees per hectare. At one time, one-fourth of 
+the inhabitants of northern Sri Lanka were dependent on this tree for subsistence; in India 
+many also depend on it. Most of the trade in Palmyra goes through the Port of Madras.
+Energy — Ironically, the palmyra is better as a fire-breaker in arid regions of West 
+Africa prone to wild fires. Its timber bums very poorly as firewood, and young palms are 
+said to be more fire resistant than old ones. The relatively high yields of sugar could be 
+converted renewably to alcohol for energy purposes. Kovoor^^^ notes that low bearers may 
+produce only about 1 €, average ones 6 to 10 €, and exceptional trees 20 Í sap per day. 
+Natural fermentation can take these liters to 5 to 6% ethanol.
+Biotic factors — The most serious fungus attacking palmyra palm is Pythium palm ivorum 
+(Bud-rot, which grows into the growing point and ultimately kills the tree). Other fungal 
+diseases include: C ladosporiu m bora ssii, C urvularia lunata, G raphiola boras si, M icroxy- 
+phium sp., P en icillopsis clavariaeform is, P estalotia palm arum , P hytophthora palm ivo ra , 
+S phaerodothis b o ra ssi, R osellinia cocoes. Palmyra is attacked by insects which affect coconut 
+palm: Rhinoceros beetle (O ryctes rh in oceros)’, Black headed caterpillar {N ephantis serin o p a ),’ 
+and Red palm weevil (R hynchophorus ferrugineus).^^^’^^^ Termites and grubs of the Rhi­
+noceros beetle can be very destmctive to germinating seeds. In Guinea-Bissau, several insects 
+“ commence their destructive careers by turning saprophytic on dead palms” . The most 
+predominant of them is O ryctes g ig a s, whereas others like O. ow arien sis, O. m on oceros, 
+R h yn ch ophoru sph oen icis, P latygen ia barbata, and P achnoda m arginella are common. Still, 
+Kovoor^^^ concludes that the palm is extraordinarily disease-resistant. One study showed 
+that more than 2% of the trees were infested with scorpions or snakes.
+50 Handbook of Nuts
+BROSIMUM ALICASTRUM Swartz (MORACEAE) — Breadnut, Ramon, Capomo, Masico
+Uses — Branches and leaves used as an important cattle fodder, especially during the 
+drier months in regions where trees are plentiful. Lopped branches (ramón) are relished by 
+cattle; fallen leaves and nuts are also relished by cattle and pigs. Feeding ramón forage is 
+said to augment milk production 1 to 2 € a day in dairy cattle. The milky latex, which flows 
+freely when the trunk is cut, is mixed with chicle or drunk like cow’s milk. Sweet pericarp 
+of fruit eaten raw by humans. Fruits boiled and eaten in Costa Rica. The seeds, or breadnuts, 
+with chestnut-like flavor, are eaten raw, boiled, roasted, or reduced to a meal often mixed 
+with com meal for making tortillas, or baked with green plaintain. They are eaten alone or 
+with plantain, maize, or honey, or boiled in symp to make a sweetmeat. Seeds used as a 
+coffee substitute. Wood is hard, compact, white, grayish, or tinged with pink, easy to work 
+and used in carpentry, a valuable timber sometimes used in constmction, cabinet work, and 
+other purposes in Yucatan.
+Folk medicine — According to Hartwell,the plant is used in folk remedies for cancer 
+of the utems. Reported to be lactagague and sedative, ramón is a folk remedy for asthma 
+(latex, leaves), bronchitis, and chest ailments.^’ Guatemalans drink the latex as a pectoral 
+for stomach disorders. Crushed seeds are taken in sweetened water as a lactagogue. The 
+bark shows CNS-depressant activity Leaf infusions are used in cough and kidney ailments. 
+The diluted latex is used to aid tooth extraction.
+Chemistry — Per 1(X) g, the leaf is reported to contain 127 calories, 62.0 g H2O, 3.2 g 
+protein, 1.2 g fat, 30.6 g total carbohydrate, 8.9 g fiber, 3.0 g ash, 530 mg Ca, 68 mg P, 
+5.4 mg Fe, 820 mg beta-carotene equivalent, 0.24 mg thiamine, 0.51 mg riboflavin, 1.4 
+mg niacin, and 55 mg ascorbic acid. Per 100 g, the fruit is reported to contain 56 calories, 
+84.0 g H2O, 2.5 g protein, 0.5 g fat, 12.1 g total carbohydrate, 1.2 g fiber, 0.9 g ash, 45
+51
+mg Ca, 36 mg P, 0.8 mg Fe, 840 mg beta-carotene equivalent, 0.5 mg thiamine, 1.52 mg 
+riboflavin, 0.8 mg niacin, and 28 mg ascorbic acid. Per 100 g, the seed is reported to contain 
+363 calories, 6.5 g H2O, 11.4 g protein, 1.6 g fat, 76.1 g total carbohydrate, 6.2 g fiber, 
+4.4 g ash, 211 mg Ca, 142 mg P, 4.6 mg Fe, 128 mg beta-carotene equivalent, 0.03 mg 
+thiamine, 0.14 mg riboflavin, and 2.1 mg niacin. Another seed analysis shows, per 100 g 
+(oven-dry basis), 361 calories, 40 to 50 g H2O, 12.8 g protein, 4.6 g fiber, 178 mg Ca, 
+122 mg P, 3.8 mg Fe, KX) (xg beta-carotene equivalent, 0.1 mg thiamine, 0.1 mg riboflavin, 
+1.6 mg niacin, and 50 mg ascorbic acid. Seed contains an essential oil, resin, wax, mucilage, 
+dextrin, and glucose. The crude protein content of the seeds in higher than com, the tryp­
+tophan content is four times higher, significant among corn-fed L atins.P eters and Pardo- 
+Tejeda^^® report the seeds to contain 10.4% leucine, 9.7% valine, 3.3% isoleucine, 4.0% 
+phenylalanine, 2.3% lysine, 2.4% threonine, 2.3% tryptophan, 1.0% hisitidine, 0.7% me­
+thionine, 5.1% arginine, 15.3% aspartic acid, 6.7% proline, 9.9% cystine, 2.9% serine, 
+2.3% glycine, 3.7% tyrosine, and 2.5% alanine.
+Description — Evergreen, dioecious, tropical tree, 20 to 35(to 40) m tall, trunk to 1 m 
+in diameter, sometimes with buttresses; latex white to yellow; leafy twigs 1 to 4 mm thick, 
+glabrous or sparsely pubemlent; leaves alternate, elliptic to oblong or lanceolate, slightly 
+inequilateral, often broadest above to below the middle, 4 to 28 cm long, 2 to 11 cm broad, 
+chartaceous to coriaceous, acuminate, nearly acute, also acute at the base, or obtuse, tmncate 
+or subcordate; margin entire, rarely denticulate; glabrous to sparsely pubemlent beneath, 
+and pubescent on the costa, 12 to 21 pairs of secondary veins, with or without some parallel 
+tertiary veins; petioles 2 to 14 mm long; stipules nearly fully amplexicaul, 5 to 15 mm long, 
+glabrous to pubescent; inflorescences solitary, in twos or several together, subglobose to 
+ellipsoid, subsessile or pedunculate, the peduncle up to 1.5 cm long; bracts 0.2 to 2 mm in 
+diameter, pubemlent, the basal ones sometimes basally attached; staminate influorescence 
+3 to 8 mm in diameter, with one central abortive pistillate flower; staminate flowers nu­
+merous, perianth absent or minute one, 1 stamen; pistillate inflorescence 2 to 4 mm in 
+diameter, with 1 or 2, occasionally many, abortive flowers, style 1.5 to 8.5 mm long, 
+stigmas 0.2 to 8 mm long; infmctescences subglobose, 1.5 to 2 cm in diameter, at maturity 
+yellow, brownish, or orange; seeds small, roundish, yellow or brownish, 1.3 cm or less in 
+diameter, borne singly or in twos, in a thin, paper-like, stout shell, surface of seed smooth 
+or somewhat granular. Flowers throughout the year.^^®
+Germplasm — Reported from the Middle and South American Centers of Diversity, 
+ramón, or cvs thereof, is reported to tolerate drought, fungi, insects, limestone, slope, and 
+waterlogging.®^ Besides the typical form with the anthers peltate with fused thecae, found 
+in West Indies and Central America, there is a subsp. bolivarense (Pittier) Berg, called 
+Guaimoro (Colombia and Venezuela), and Tillo (Ecuador), in which thecae are free, growing 
+from Panama through the Andes to Guyana and in Brazil to Acre Territory.
+Distribution — Native from the Pacific Coast of Mexico (Sinaloa) south through Central 
+America to Ecuador, Guyana, and parts of Brazil; also in the West Indies. Introduced and 
+planted in Singapore, Trinidad, and Florida.
+Ecology — Ranging from Subtropical Dry to Moist through Tropical Dry to Wet Forest 
+Life Zones, ramón is reported to tolerate annual precipitation of 3 to 40 dm, annual tem­
+perature of 19 to 26°C, and pH of 5.0 to 8.0. Nearly pure stands may occur on steep 
+calcareous slopes.®^ In evergreen, semi-evergreen or deciduous forests in tropical climates, 
+from 50 to 8(X) m (to 1,0(X) m) altitudes, sometimes in cloud-forests, regionally abundant, 
+but also planted. Trees are extremely tolerant of drought, and grow well in dry habitats as 
+well as in seasonally flooded places as along rivers and in swampy areas. Common on 
+limestone in Jamaica. Thrives on various types of soils in tropical regions.^^®
+Cultivation — Propagated by seeds, cuttings, and air-layering. Seeds germinate readily. 
+After trees are established, they grow well without much care. Often form a large portion 
+of the forest tree population in some regions.^^®
+52 Handbook of Nuts
+Harvesting — Branches are cut by men who climb the trees with machetes, and cut down 
+limbs for stock to browse upon. To increase the yield of fodder, it is suggested that close­
+planting and regular coppicing may be tested. Nuts collected from the ground by natives 
+are used for food, or for making a black meal for making tortillas and other food-stuffs. 
+Timber is harvested from mature trees and used, especially in the Yucatan.
+Yields and economics — Fodder yield of natural and coppiced trees is not known but 
+should be ascertained. There seems to be plenty of fodder material about when it is needed 
+during dry spells.Peters and Pardo-Tejeda^^® put yields at 50 to 75 kg fruit per female 
+tree per year. Based on a rough estimate of the distribution in Vera Cruz, Mexico, it is 
+estimated that 80,000 MT seed could be collected annually with an annual production of 
+10,000 MT crude protein, leaving the trees standing strong against erosion. Yucatan plantings 
+are producing 10 to 15 MT forage per ha at each lopping. Thus ramón plantations produce 
+almost twice as much (lactogenic) forage as established pasture.O f great value since 
+ancient times in Central America, the West Indies, and northern tropical South America for 
+a fodder food for stock and as a source of seeds for meal, latex for food, and timber for 
+construction and other purposes. Not a commercial trade crop, but very important locally 
+for these many purposes.
+Energy — Assuming that the 80,000 MT seed was gathered for the production of 10,000 
+MT crude protein, there would, of course, be a 70,000 MT biomass available for energy 
+production. I would estimate that litter-fall from this species might approach 5 to 10 MT/ha. 
+Although not a leader among firewoods, the wood could also be renewably gathered for 
+fuel wood. As Gomez-Pampa^'^ notes, “ With a year-round, food-producing plant, we can 
+liberate a good part of the energy that is currently spent on the production of grain for basic 
+food products in tropical regions,” where “ weakness of tropical soils for annual crops has 
+always been a limiting factor.”
+Biotic Factors — Seeds stored when fresh are promptly infested by Aspergillus, some 
+of which contain toxic compounds.
+53
+BROSIMUM UTILE (H.B.K.) Pitt. (MORACEAE) — Cow Tree, Palo de Vaca 
+Syn.: B rosiu m g alactoden dron D. Don in Sweet, G alactoden dron utile H.B.K.
+Uses — Latex from trunk, considered to be highly nutritive, is used by natives as a milk­
+like beverage, as a cream substitute in coffee, made into a kind of vegetable cheese, and 
+made into a dessert after being chilled, whipped, and flavored. Laborers soak their bread 
+in it. Used as a base for chewing gum. Bark used by Indians for making cloth, blankets, 
+and sails. Plants grown in tropical areas for fruit or nuts and for leaves used for fodder. 
+Fleshy outer layer of fruit eaten by parrots. Humans also eat the fruits, raw or cooked.^® 
+The soft, white wood, though not durable, has been used for concrete forms, boxes, and 
+sheathing.
+Folk medicine — According to Hartw ell,a plaster of the milk is said to be a folk 
+remedy for swelling of the spleen and indolent tumors. Reported to be lactagague and 
+masticatory, cow tree is a folk remedy for asthma, inflammation, and tumors.^’ The latex 
+is taken for asthma in Venezuela, and as an astringent for diarrhea in Costa Rica.^^'^
+Chemistry — The latex contains 3.8% wax, 0.4% fibrin, 4.7% sugar and gum, and 
+31.4% resins.Garcia-Barriga*®^ states that the latex contains 57.3% water, 0.4% albumen, 
+31.4% wax of the formula C35H66O3, 5.8% wax of the formula C35H58O7, and 4.7% gum 
+and sugars.
+Description — Laticiferous tree, 20 to 25 m tall, with simple trunk 40 to 50 cm in 
+diameter at base, bark thick, grayish, smooth or verrucose, crown elongate; young brancelets 
+subangular, more or less pubescent; leaves coriaceous; petioles 0.5 to 1.5 cm long, thick, 
+canaliculate, sparsely pubescent; blades ovate, elliptic, rounded at base, abruptly acuminate 
+at apex in a drip tip, 10 to 25 cm long, 3.5 to 9.5 cm broad, glabrous on both surfaces, 
+green above, golden-brown beneath, margin entire, venation impressed on upper surface, 
+prominent and slightly pubescent on lower one; primary veins 27 to 30, parallel, straight, 
+almost transverse; stipules about 2 cm long, acute-lanceolate, silky pubescent, canducous, 
+leaving a circular scar at each node; receptacles globose with 1 female flower, solitary in 
+axils of leaves, long-pedunculate, about 7 mm in diameter in flowering stage; bractlet 
+orbicular, thick, sessile, pilose-pubescent; staminal bractlets short (0.5 mm long), broad and 
+ciliate; stamens 0.7 to 1.4 mm long, solitary, with smooth filaments, anthers ovate and 2- 
+celled; ovary inserted 2.5 to 3 mm deep in receptacle; fruit depressed-globose, 2 to 2.5 cm 
+in diameter, epicarp fleshy, 4 to 6 mm thick, yellow at maturity, mesocarp woody, rugose 
+on surface, entirely filled with a single almond-like, white seed. Flowers and fruits 
+September.
+Germplasm — Reported from the Middle and South American Centers of Diversity, cow 
+tree, or cvs thereof, is reported to tolerate slope.
+Distribution — Native to tropical America from Nicaragua and Costa Rica south into 
+northern South America, Colombia, and Venezuela, sometimes being the common tree in 
+upland forests.
+Ecology — Ranging from Tropical Dry to Moist Forest Life Zones, cow tree is reported 
+to tolerate annual precipitation of 3 to 40 dm, annual temperature of 25 to 27°C, and pH 
+of 8.0.^^ Thrives in wet and subtropical climates, especially on hillsides bordering rivers.^^®
+Cultivation — Propagation by cuttings over heat. When cuttings are rooted, they are 
+planted in the forest where they soon became established. Plants rarely cultivated as a pure 
+crop, because the trees freely propagate naturally in the forest.
+Harvesting — Incisions are made in trunk of tree, after which there is a profuse flow of 
+gluey, thick milk, destitute of acridity and giving off a very agreeable balsamic odor. When 
+exposed to air, the fluid displays on its surface, probably by absorption of atmospheric 
+oxygen, membranes of a highly animal nature, yellowish and thready, like those of cheese. 
+These, when separated from the more watery liquid, are nearly as elastic as those of caoutch­
+54 Handbook of Nuts
+ouc, but in time they exhibit the same tendency to purify as gelatin. The milk itself, kept 
+in a corked bottle, only deposits a small amount of coagulum and continues to give off the 
+balsamic scent. Large quantities of this vegetable milk are drunk by the natives and it has 
+been noted that workers gain weight during that time of year when the tree produces the 
+most milk.‘^ ’^^^
+Yields and economics — No yield data available. Widely used in the areas where the 
+tree grows native, namely southern Central America and northern South America. Not known 
+to be of international commercial value.
+Energy — The wood can serve as a fuel wood, said to bum green. Resin extracted from 
+the fmits is used to make candles. The latex is mixed with balsa charcoal and wrapped in 
+palm leaves to serve as a torch.
+Biotic factors — I find no reports of pests or diseases on this tree.
+55
+BRUGUIERA GYMNORRHIZA (L.) Savigny (RHIZOPHORACEAE) — Burma Mangrove 
+Syn.: B ru g u iera con ju gata Auct.
+Uses — The heavy wood (sp. grav. 0.87 to 1.08) is durable, but hard to saw and work. 
+It is used for construction, furniture, house-posts, and pilings.Thousands of tons of 
+Bruguiera wood chips are exported annually from Indonesia, Sabah, and Sarawak for pulp 
+and for rayon manufacture.Fruits are eaten, but not when anything better is available. 
+More often, they are chewed as astringent with the betel quid. Since it is mostly the seed 
+or embryo of this one-seeded indéhiscent fruit that is eaten, this can be called a tropical 
+nut. Embryos of several species are eaten, usually after processing.Chinese in Java make 
+a sweetmeat therefrom. In the South Pacific, fruits are peeled, sliced, and soaked in water 
+for several hours, then steamed or boiled and eaten with coconut cream.Dutch Indians 
+use the bark to flavor raw fish. The leaves and peeled hypocotyls are eaten in the Moluccas 
+after soaking and boiling.In the Loyalty Islands, the embryo is kept for months after 
+sundrying.The phlobaphene coloring matter is used in China and Malaya for black dye.^^ 
+In South Africa, the tree has been planted to stabilize dunes and in fresh-water swamps.
+Folk medicine — Reported to be astringent,^* the bark is used for diarrhea and fever in 
+Indonesia.Cambodians use the astringent bark for malaria.
+Chemistry — In Burma, leaves may contain 18.3% H2O, 13.5% tannin; outer cortex 
+(small trees) 14.6 and 7.9, outer cortex (large trees) 14.2 and 10.8; twig bark 13.1 and 
+14.8, bole bark (small trees) 16.3 and 31.7; whereas the bole bark of large trees contains 
+12.5% H2O, 42.3% tannin. Bark contains from ca.4 to 53.12% tannin, according to Watt 
+and Breyer-Brandwijk^^^ and The Wealth of India 
+Toxicity — Eating too much (bark) is dangerous.The skull and crossbones indicate 
+that Menninger^^ considers the “ nuts” to be poisonous.
+Description — Evergreen tree 8 to 25(to 35) m high, with straight trunk 40 to 90 cm in 
+diameter, buttressed at base, and with many upright pneumatophores rising to 45 cm from
+Handbook of Nuts
+56
+long horizontal roots. Bark gray to blackish, smooth to roughly fissured, thick; inner bark 
+reddish. Leaves opposite, elliptical, 9 to 20 cm long, 5 to 7 cm wide, acute at both ends, 
+entire, without visible veins, thick, leathery, glabrous. Petioles 2 to 4.5 cm long. Flowers 
+single in leaf axils, 3 to 4 cm long, usually drooping on stalk of 1 to 2.5 cm, red to yellowish 
+or cream-colored, with red to pink-red bell-shaped hypanthium. Calyx with 10 to 14 very 
+narrow, leathery lobes. Petals 10 to 14, 13 to 15 mm long, white turning brown, each with
+2 narrow lobes ending in 3 to 4 bristles. Stamens 2, nearly hidden at base of each petal. 
+Pistil with inferior 3- to 4-celled ovary, each cell with 2 ovules; style slender; stigma with
+3 to 4 short forks. Berry drooping, ovoid or turbinate, 2 to 2.5 cm long. Seed 1, viviparous, 
+finally 1.5 to 2 cm in diameter.
+Germplasm — Reported from the Hindustani, African, Australian, and Indonesian-In- 
+dochina Centers of Diversity, Burma mangrove, or cvs thereof, is reported to tolerate alkali, 
+disease, high pH, insects, pest, salt, shade, waterlogging.
+Distribution — Tropical South and East Africa, Madagascar, Seychelles, Sri Lanka, 
+southeastern Asia, Ryukyu; throughout Malaysia to Philippines, Australia, Micronesia, and 
+Polynesia. Introduced into Hawaii.'**
+Ecology — Estimated to range from Tropical Moist to Rain through Subtropical Moist 
+to Rain Forest Life Zones, Burma mangrove is reported to tolerate annual precipitation of 
+10 to 80 dm, annual temperature of 20 to 26°C, and pH of 6.0 to 8.5. One of the largest 
+trees in the Malayan mangroves, usually on drier well-aerated soils toward the landward 
+side, often dominating with occasional stems >35 m tall. It is probably the longest-lived 
+of the mangroves. It can stand “ any amount of shade,M ostly on brackish or saline silts 
+of depositing shores and marshes.
+Cultivation — According to the NAS,^^^ planting is usually not needed, because natural 
+regeneration is so successful. In Avicennia and Rhizophora, direct seeding results in ca.90% 
+survival.
+Harvesting — Mostly harvested from natural stands. Species of Rhizophoraceae, growing 
+only from the tips of the branches, are often killed by indiscriminate lopping of branches. 
+After felling, its regeneration is often very scant and there is danger of overgrowth by 
+Acrostichum (but once seedlings have established themselves, the “ fern acts rather as a 
+nurse, forcing the seedling up.“ ).''^®
+Yields and economics — A good mangrove stand can show annual productivity of 10 
+to 20(to 25) MT/ha/year, but for firewood purposes, I would reduce that to 10 to 20 (to 25) 
+m^/ha/year, figuring that as optimal rather than average. Litter-fall may account for 1/3 to 
+1/2 of above-ground productivity. Because of the heaviness of the wood, a cubic meter of 
+mangrove wood is generally more valuable than the wood of other species.
+Energy — Wood widely used for charcoal and fuel.'** For charcoal, the tree seems to 
+rank with Rhizophora, with an even higher calorific value. According to The Wealth of 
+Indiaf^ the calorific value of moisture-free sapwood is 5,169 cals, heartwood 5,019.
+Biotic factors — No data available.
+57
+BUCHANANIA LANZAN Spreng. (ANACARDIACEAE) Chirauli Nut, Cuddapah Almond, 
+Cheronjee, Chironjii, Almondette 
+Syn.: B. latifolia Roxb.
+Uses — Cuddapah almond is cultivated for the fresh fruit, which has a very agreeable 
+flavor. The delicate nutty-flavored seed is very nutritious, especially when roasted. Seeds 
+are consumed by natives of India and Burma, roasted with milk or as sweetmeats. Seeds 
+are also the source of an excellent oil, which is light yellow, sweet, mild with pleasant 
+aroma, and used as a substitute for olive oil or almond oil in confectionery, and in medicinal 
+preparations — especially applied to glandular swellings of the neck. A gum (Chironji- 
+kigond) is sold at bazaars in India and has adhesive properties. Kernels are used as important 
+articles of trade, in exchange for salt, grain, and cloth. Leaves are used as fodder in Bombay 
+and Punjab. Bark and fruits furnish a natural varnish. A pellucid gum, obtained from wounds 
+on stems, is used in diarrhea. Used to tan leathers of dark reddish-brown color with a 
+somewhat stiff, harsh texture. Wood is light gray to grayish-brown, sometimes with a faint 
+yellow tinge, to dark-brown in heartwood of old trees, rough, very light, straight-grained, 
+coarse-textured, moderately strong, used for boxes, yokes, doors, cheap furniture, posts, 
+and bedsteads. Berar females use the pounded kernels to remove facial spots and 
+blemishes.
+Folk medicine — Reported to be antidotal for fish poisoning and scorpion stings, al­
+mondette is a folk remedy for asthma, bronchitis, bums, cholera, consumption, cough, 
+diarrhea, dysuria, fever, gingivitis, phthisis, and snakebite.Describing the genus Buck- 
+anania as therapeutically inert, Kirtikar and Basu^^^ go on to describe the almondette as 
+used in the Ayurvedic and Yunani systems of medicines. Ayurvedics use the roots for 
+biliousness and blood disorders; the fruits for blood diseases, fevers, impotence, thirst, and 
+ulcers; the aphrodisiac cardiotonic seeds for biliousness. Yunani consider the seed aphro­
+disiac, expectorant, stomachic, and tonic. Useful in fever, gleet, and urinary concretions,
+58 Handbook of Nuts
+it is believed to cause headache. Yunani regard the leaf juice as antibilious, aphrodisiac, 
+depurative, digestive, expectorant, purgative, and refrigerant. The seed oil is applied to 
+glandular swellings on the neck. It is also used for itch, pimples, and prickly heat. In Madras, 
+the gum is given with goat’s milk for intercostal pain. Hakims apply the fruit to inflamed 
+or indurate tongue.^'
+Chemistry — Seeds contain 51.8% oil, 12.1% starch, 21.6% protein, 5% sugar;^^^ bark 
+contains 13.4% tannin.Kernels also contain 152 mg Ca and 499 mg P (per 1(X) g); deficient 
+in amino acids lysine and methionine.The fatty acid composition of B. lanzan seed oil, 
+determined by urea complex formation and GLC, was found to be: myristic, 0.6%, palmitic, 
+33.4%, stearic, 6.3%, oleic, 53.7%, and linoleic, 6.0%. Triglyceride compositions of the 
+native seed oil were calculated from the fatty acid compositions of the triglycerides and of 
+the corresponding 2-monoglycerides produced by pancreatic lipase hydrolysis. The oil is 
+composed of 3.2, 35.8, 45.5, and 15.5% trisaturated, monounsaturated disaturated, diun- 
+saturated monosaturated, and triunsaturated glycerides, respectively. The special character­
+istics of B. lanzan seed oil is its content of 22.7, 31.0, and 11.3% dipalmitoolein, 
+dioleopalmitin, and triolein, respectively. The percent trisaturated glyceride content of the 
+oil increased from 3.2 to 7.5 by the process of randomization. On directed interesterification, 
+the oil yielded a product with a slip-point of 41.5°C which may be suitable as a coating 
+material for delayed action tablets. The oil also appears to be a promising commercial source 
+of palmitic and oleic acids.
+Description — Moderate-sized tree, up to 17 m tall and a girth of 1.3 m; young branches 
+pubescent; leaves alternate, simple, leathery, entire, 12 to 25 x 6 to 12.5 cm, petioled; 
+flowers small, sessile, white, monoecious, in terminal or axillary panicles, crowded; calyx 
+short, persistent, the lobes ciliate; petals 4 to 5, ca. 2.5 mm long, oblong, recurved; stamens 
+8 to 10, free, inserted at base of disk; fruit black, single-seeded drupe, 1.3 cm in diameter, 
+with scanty flesh; stone crustaceous or bony, 2-valved; seeds (kernels) gibbous, acute at 
+one end, size of small cherries. Flowers spring; fruits summer.
+Germplasm — Reported for the Hindustani Center of Diversity, almondette, or cvs 
+thereof, is reported to tolerate savanna, slope, and dry deciduous forests.
+Distribution — Native to Southeast Asia, mostly India, Burma, and Indochina, especially 
+in mountainous regions, almondette is widely cultivated throughout India, ascending to 10(X) 
+m in northwestern India and Nepal, spreading towards Malaya, Thailand, and Yunan.^^^
+Ecology — Ranging from Subtropical Moist to Tropical Dry through Wet Forest Life 
+Zones, almondette is reported to tolerate annual precipitation of 7 to 40 dm, annual tem­
+perature of 23 to 25°C, and pH of 5.0 to 6.0. Trees are found in dry deciduous forests. 
+Within its natural habitat it is a useful tree for covering dry hillsides.
+Cultivation — Propagated from seed; not formally cultivated.
+Harvesting — Harvested from the wild.^®
+Yields and Economics — In Madras, a tree will yield ca.0.4 kg gum/year. Wood is 
+rather cheap; in 1937, Bombay Rs 25 to 35 per ton, in Orissa, Rs 19 per ton. Fruits are 
+frequently sold at bazaars in India, at about 4 to 6 annas per It takes 36 kg nuts to 
+yield 10 kg oil as expressed in India.
+Energy — In Tropical Dry Forest near Varanasi, Shorea robusta may be dominant, 
+followed by Buchanania lanzan, with standing biomass of 26.8 and 8.3 MT/ha and annual 
+net production of 2.21 and 0.79 MT/ha respectively. Litter amounts to 1.51 MT and 0.58 
+MT/ha respectively A seedling in its first year will produce only 0.19 g biomass, compared 
+to 5.98 g for Butea monosperma, 12.43 g for Areca catechu.^^^
+Biotic factors — Tree attacked by the fungus Marasmius sp. and by the parasitic flowering 
+plant, Dendrophthoe falcata.^^^
+59
+BUTYROSPERMUM PARADOXUM (Gaertn.f.) Hepper (SAPOTACEAE)
+Shea Nut,
+Butterseed
+Inch: B, parkii
+Uses — An important oil-producing tree, it is the source of shea butter, an edible fat or 
+vegetable butter extracted from the ripe seeds. Natives use shea butter as cooking fat, an 
+illuminant, a medicinal ointment, dressing for the hair, and for making soap. Shea nut meal 
+used for hog-feed, having 60% carbohydrate and 12% protein. Gutta-shea is a reddish 
+exudation obtained by tapping the tree with removal of pieces of bark with a narrow axe. 
+Latex is removed on the following day, boiled and cleaned of dirt and bark; it is a mixture 
+of resin and gutta, called “ balata” or “ Red Kano rubber’ Wood is dull red, very heavy, 
+termite-proof, difficult to work, but takes a good polish and is very durable. Used for wooden 
+bowls, mortars and pestles; used as firewood, producing great heat and making charcoal. 
+In Sierra Leone, used for ribs of boats and in marine workshops. Ashes from burning of 
+wood commonly used as the lye in indigo dyeing. Flowers provide bee nectar.
+Folk medicine — Nakanis of West Africa use the bark decoction to bathe children and 
+as a medicine. On the Ivory Coast, it is used in baths and sitz-baths to facilitate delivery. 
+Lobis use the leaf decoction as an eye bath. Young leaves are used in steam vapors to 
+alleviate headache. Oil used as a topical emollient and vehicle for other pharmaceuticals. 
+Medicinally, butter used for rubbing on rheumatic pains or mixed with other medicines to 
+replace other oils. Also used both internally and externally on horses for galls and other 
+sores. Root-bark, boiled and pounded, applied to chronic sores in horses. Crushed bark used 
+as a remedy for leprosy. Latex is not poisonous, but a decoction of the bark is lethal. Root 
+mixed with scourings of tobacco as a poison.^’
+Chemistry — Per 100 g, the seed (ZMB) is reported to contain 622 calories, 7.3 g protein, 
+52.6 g fat, 38.2 g total carbohydrate, 5.6 g fiber, 1.8 g ash, 107 mg Ca, 43 mg P, 3.2 mg
+60 Handbook of Nuts
+Fe, and 0.56 mg thiamine.®^ The fat contains 45.6% oleic acid, 44.3% stearic acid, 5.5% 
+linoleic acid. Of the 2 monoglycerides, 82.1% was oleates and 14% linoleates.^^^ Another 
+report puts it at 5.7% palmitic, 41.0% stearic, 49.0% oleic, and 4.3% linoleic. Allantoin 
+and its intermediary products constitute 24 to 28% of the total N of a water extract of defatted 
+shea kernel meal.^* Alpha- and beta-amyrin, basseol, parkeol, and lupeol are also reported. 
+According to Roche and Michel,the seed protein contains 8.2% arginine, 1.0% cystine, 
+9.9% leucine, 2.9% phenylalanine, 1.1% tryptophane, and 1.4% valine.
+Description — Stout, much-branched tree to 20 m tall; crown spreading, bark usually 
+gray or blackish, deeply fissured and splitting into squarish or rectangular corky scales; 
+short-shoots with conspicuous angular leaf-base scars; young shoots, petioles and flower 
+buds with rusty pubescence. Leaves oblong to ovate-oblong, 10 to 25 cm long, 4.5 to 14 
+cm broad, rounded at apex, base acute to broadly cuneate, margin undulate and thickened; 
+the petioles one-third to one-half the length of lamina; both surfaces either pubescent or 
+glabrescent, lateral veins 20 to 30 on each side, regularly and closely spaced, slightly arcuate; 
+leaves reddish when young flowers fragrant, in dense clusters, at tips of branchlets, above 
+leaves of previous year; pedicels up to 3 cm long, puberulous to densely pubescent; outer 
+sepals lanceolate, 9 to 14 mm long, 3.5 to 6 mm broad, pubescent or more or less floccose 
+externally; inner sepals slightly smaller; corolla creamy white, tube 2.5 to 4 mm long, 
+glabrous or pilose externally, lobes broadly ovate, 7 to 11 mm long, 4.5 to 7 mm broad; 
+filaments 7 to 12 mm long, anthers more or less lanceolate, up to 4.5 mm long; staminodes 
+up to 8 mm long; style 8 to 15 mm long. Fruit ellipsoid, greenish, up to 6.5 cm long, 4.5 
+cm in diameter, subglabrous or with pubescence persistent in patches, containing a sweet 
+pulp surrounding the seed. Seed up to 5 cm long, 3.5 cm in diameter, usually solitary, 
+sometimes up to 3 per fruit, shining dark-brown, with a large white scar on one side. 
+Germination cryptocotylar.^^®
+Germplasm — Reported from the African Center of Diversity, shea nut, or cvs thereof, 
+is reported to tolerate drought, fire, grazing, laterite, savanna, and slope.Several mor­
+phological and physiological forms differ in shape and size of fruits and seeds, and in 
+chemical analysis of kernels and fruit, thickness of pericarp, and early fruiting period. Besides 
+the common type, there are two recognized varieties or subspecies: subsp. parkii (G.Don) 
+Hepper {Butyrospermum parkii (G.Don) Kotschy, Brassia parkii G.Don) is less dense a 
+plant, with shorter indumentum, smaller flowers, and the style is 8 to 12 mm long; subsp. 
+niloticum (Kotschy) Hepper has densely ferrugineous parts, with a corolla tube pilose ex­
+ternally, lobes 9.5 to 11 mm long, 6.5 to 7 mm broad, filaments 10 to 12 mm long, and 
+the style 12 to 15 mm long.^^®
+Distribution — Widespread throughout tropical Africa from West Africa (Liberia, Gold 
+Coast, Nigeria, Togo, Dahomey, Senegal, Sierra Leone) to Sudan and Uganda, south to 
+eastern Congo.
+Ecology — Ranging from Subtropical Dry to Wet through Tropical Dry to Moist Forest 
+Life Zones, shea nut is estimated to tolerate annual precipitation of 8 to 25 dm, annual 
+temperature of 23 to 2TC, and pH of 4.9 to 6.5.®^ Frequent in savanna regions or as scattered 
+trees in grasslands across central Africa from West Africa to East Africa. Often protected 
+and preserved in cultivated land. Common on dry laterite slopes, but not in alluvial hollows 
+or land subject to flooding. Grows from 950 to 1,500 m elevations.^^®
+Cultivation — Seeds germinate readily on the ground under natural conditions. Fresh 
+seed is essential. Seedlings develop a very long taproot, making transplanting hazardous. 
+Trees grow very slowly from seed, bearing fruit in 12 to 15 years, taking up to 30 years to 
+reach maturity. Natural propagation is chiefly from root-suckers.^^®
+Harvesting — Fruits mostly harvested at end of July, usually during the rainy season. 
+Shea oil is the native product expressed from kernels in Europe; shea butter is material 
+prepared by native methods. In West Africa, the preparation of shea butter is woman’s work.
+61
+In Nigeria, nuts are collected by one tribe, sold to another, and the butter bartered back. 
+Preparation of shea butter consists of pounding usually roasted kernels in mortar to a coarse 
+pulp, and then grinding this into a fine oily paste with chocolate aroma. Tannin present 
+makes this form inedible. In some areas, this mass is further worked with a little water in 
+a large pot in the ground, followed by hand-kneading and washing in cold water. From this 
+the butter is extracted by boiling and skimming; then it is boiled again to purify further, 
+after which it is transferred to molds. Locally, nuts are boiled before cracking; extraction 
+is made from the sun-dried kernels. Ordinary oven-drying causes no loss of oil. Clean nuts 
+may be roasted until the latex coagulates and the dry nuts stored. In other areas, fruits are 
+spread in the sun until the pulp separates, or they are fermented by being kept moist for 
+weeks or months in earthenware jars, and then the nuts are subsequently roasted.
+Yields and economics — Using native processing approaches, it takes about 4 kg kernels 
+to yield 1 kg butter. Thoroughly dried kernels represent about one-third the weight of the 
+fresh nuts. By native standards, a kerosene tin containing about 12.23 kg (27 lb) kernels 
+yield 3.17 kg (7 lb) shea butter. Kernels contain 45 to 55% by weight of fat, but may be 
+as high as 60%, and 9% proteins. The Giddanchi type of kernel averages 3.2 to 6 cm long, 
+yielding 52.4% of fat. The shea butter tree has economic importance as an oil-seed produced 
+under natural conditions in great abundance in regions where the oil palm does not grow 
+and in areas which are otherwise unproductive. A large volume of shea nuts is exported 
+annually from West Africa, mainly to Holland and Belgium, the chief importers. Belgium 
+imports most of the shea butter. In Uganda, a small local market developed during World 
+War 11.^^’^""’^"«
+Energy — As fuel, the wood gives out great heat. Charcoal is prepared from it in some 
+districts.
+Biotic factors — Where trees are subjected to annual grass-burning, they are frequently 
+stunted and twisted. The thick corky base gives some protection against fire. Trees are 
+frequently grazed by wild animals and the sugary pulp is eaten by them, but not the nut of 
+the fallen fruit. Unripe fruit exudes latex which remains in the ripe nut but disappears from 
+the ripe pulp. In Senegal, caterpillars of C irina butyrosperm i cause defoliation; dried, these 
+caterpillars have long been an article of food in Nigerian markets under the name of mone- 
+mone (Yoruba). Fungi attacking this tree include: A spergillu s fla vu s, A. niger, A. tam arii, 
+B otryodiplodia theobrom ae, C ephaleuros m y coidea, C ercospora butyrosperm i, F usicladium 
+butyrosperm i, M eliola butyrosperm i, H elm inthosporium cojfeae, O othyrium butyrosperm i, 
+and P estalotia h eterospora. Parasitic on the tree are L oranthus dodon aefoliu s, L. globiferus 
+var. salicifoliu s, and L. rufescens; and F icus may be epiphytic on the tree, causing reduction 
+in fruit yield.
+62 Handbook of Nuts
+CALAMUS ROTAN G L. and other species (ARECACEAE) — Rattan Cane, Rotang Cane
+Uses — Tender shoots and seed edible. The sweet pulp around the seeds is also edible. 
+Stems provide drinking water, especially in the rainy season.^'® Sturtevant^*^ describes the 
+fruit as roundish, large as a hazelnut, and covered with small, shining, imbriate scales. 
+Natives generally suck out the subacid pulp which surrounds the kernels to quench the thirst. 
+Sometimes the fruit is pickled with salt and eaten at tea time. Seeds are eaten by aborigines. 
+Stems and branches form rattan cane of commerce, used as props for crop plants, for 
+manufacture of furniture, baskets, wicker-work, umbrella ribs, cables, and ropes. Rattan 
+ropes are used for dragging heavy weights and for tethering wild animals. Cordage and 
+cables are made by twisting together two or more canes. Canes also are used for building 
+boats, suspension bridges, and as a substitute for whale-bone. Jungle experts make fire by 
+rubbing them backwards and forwards as fast as possible under a branch of dry soft wood 
+in which a hole has been scooped and lined with wooden dust.^^"^
+Folk medicine — Used for abdominal tumors in India,Root given for chronic fevers, 
+and used as antidote to snake venom. Leaves used in diseases of blood and in biliousness. 
+Wood is a vermifuge.Serrano,"^*® without mentioning species, cited asthma, diarrhea, 
+enterosis, rheumatism, and snake-bite as ailments treated with rattan.
+Chemistry — Per 100 g, the fruit of the figured species (C. ornatus) is reported to contain 
+79 calories, 79.0 g H2O, 0.6 g protein, 1.2 g fat, 18.6 g total carbohydrate, 0.5 g fiber, 
+0.6 g ash, 19 mg Ca, 10 mg P, 1.7 mg Fe, 0.06 mg thiamine, 0.01 mg riboflavin, 0.9 mg 
+niacin, and 5 mg ascorbic acid.®^
+Toxicity — Scrapings from the bark of glossy-coated cane species may contain enough 
+silica to act as an irritant to the mucous membranes.
+Description — Stems scandent or climbing, very slender; to as much as 200 m long.
+63
+leaf-sheaths sparingly armed with short, flat spines, glabrous. Leaves 60 to 90 cm long, on 
+short petioles with small, straight or recurved spines; leaflets numerous, narrowly lanceolate, 
+20 to 23 cm long, 1.3 to 2 cm broad, median costa unarmed on both surfaces, or armed 
+beneath only, lateral costa unarmed on both surfaces. Male spadix slender, very long, 
+branched, whip-like, sparingly spinous; female flowers scattered along slender branches of 
+spadix; spikelets 1.3 to 2.5 cm long, recurved. Fruit globose to subglobose, very pale, 1.6 
+to 1.8 cm in diameter; scales many, in vertical rows, straw-colored.
+Germplasm — Reported to tolerate slope and shade, the rattan genus is from the Hin­
+dustani and Indochina-Indonesia Center of Diversity. It contains ca.300 difficulty distin­
+guishable species of the moister tropics of the Old World (Asia, Africa). Perhaps rattans, 
+climbing spiny palms, represent 600 species in ca.l5 genera, more used for furniture and 
+construction than for the nuts. Lapis"^“ discusses the 12 major Philippine species, illustrating
+3 species of Calamus.
+Distribution — Native to India, Bengal, Assam, and Sri Lanka^^^ (Calamus rotang), 
+with other species, extending to Borneo, the Philippines.
+Ecology — Ranging from Subtropical Moist to Tropical Moist through Wet Forest Life 
+Zones, rattan is reported from areas with annual precipitation of 17.3 to 42.9 dm (mean of
+4 cases = 32.1 dm), annual temperature of 23.5 to 27.4°C (mean of 4 cases = 25.7°C), 
+and pH of 4.5 to 5 (mean of 2 cases = 4.8). Once common in moist localities, in tropical 
+to subtropical climate, now locally overharvested. Does not tolerate any frost. Apparently 
+fares better in primary than secondary forest.Young plants thrive in soil containing a 
+large quantity of leaf mold. Older plants need soil of a more lasting nature.
+Cultivation — A quantity of bonemeal and charcoal in the soil may be advantageous.“^ 
+Young plants thrive in rooting media rich with leaf mold. Older trees need more substantial 
+soil with ground bone, charcoal nutrients, and plenty of water.Loams are best, clay loams 
+okay. For seed extraction, the fruits are peeled and fermented in water for ca.24 hr., then 
+squeezed, after which clean seeds settle to the bottom. These are then removed to dry in 
+the shade. Then they are stratified or mixed with moist sawdust for several days. To prevent 
+fungal infestation, seeds are treated with ca.0.5 lb sodium pentachloropentate, and dissolved 
+in 3 gallons distilled water. Germination starts after 68 to 85 days. Nursery-grown seedlings 
+or earthballed wild plants, as well as young suckers, can be used as planting stock. Seedlings 
+15 cm tall are ready for planting, if they have 4 to 5 leaves. Two seedlings are placed in 
+each hole, 2m x 2m, at the beginning. Fertilization at 6 g per plant 20:10:5 is recom­
+mended.During the first 2 to 3 years, humus mulching encourages growth. At this point, 
+more light is desirable. Some Borneo farmers, in abandoning their temporary forest food 
+plots, plant rattans, letting the forest reclaim the plot, returning 7 to 15 years later to harvest 
+rattan and begin food cropping again.
+Harvesting — Some cultivated trees yield usable canes in 6 years. Full production occurs 
+in 15 years. At this age, canes average about 30 m long, 2.5 cm in diameter. Mature rattans 
+can be cut at the base and divided into sections 4 to 5 m long. Thereafter, canes can be cut 
+about every 4 years, from suckers. Canes should be harvested during the dry season, and 
+dried and processed promptly. Canes are scraped to remove the thin silicious coating, bringing 
+out its yellowish luster. Canes should then be dried to less than 20% moisture. Kilns at dry 
+bulb temperatures of ca.65°C, wet bulb temperatures of ca.45°C, will bring moisture contents 
+to 12 to 14% in ca.5 days. A dryer design is discussed by Serrano.Stain fungi may be 
+avoided by treatment of 7 pounds sodium pentachlorophenate in 100 gallons water, applied 
+the same day the canes are cut. Post-powder beetles may be prevented by soaking the poles 
+for 3 min in 0.5% aqueous solutions of Lindane or Dieldrin. The canes may also be steeped 
+in a mixture of diesel oil and coconut or palm oil prior to a final drying.
+Yields and Economics — Rattan cane is important in India and elsewhere for the man­
+ufacture of cane-bottom chairs, etc. Many species of the large genus are used in various
+64 Handbook of Nuts
+parts of the world for similar purposes.In the Philippines, the rattan industry employs 
+10,000 workers. One Philippine joumaP*^ suggested that, already, raw rattan was worth 
+$50 million (U.S.), with the finished manufactured rattan products worth $1.2 billion. In 
+the Philippines, in 1977, there was a report of nearly 66 tons split rattan and nearly 4,000,000 
+linear meters of unsplit rattan.B y 1983, it was closer to 5,000,000 linear meters."^'® 
+Among Tagbanua ethnics in the Philippines, rattan collecting returned ca. $1.00 to $5.00/day 
+whereas agriculture returned closer to $1.00/day."^’^ But in the 1950s and 1960s, a worker 
+could collect 200 5-m canes a day, while in 1981, 35 to 50 canes was par, each worth little 
+more than $0.05.
+Energy — In Peninsular Malaysia, mean stem lengths of C alam us m anan was only 1.3 
+m after 6 years, but the longest stem was ca.l8 m. C alam us caesius can grow as much as 
+5 to 6 m/year for the first 5 years of planting. In Sabah, the number of aerial stems doubled 
+each year for the first 3 years in C. caesius, first 4 years for C. t r a c h y l o p h e u s Trial 
+cultivation"^'^ of C alam us ornatus in the Philippines yielded canes less than 2 m long, not 
+suggesting much biomass potential. Rejects and prunings might be useful for fuel.
+Biotic factors — Rattan plants are attacked by the fungi C atacaum ella calam icola, 
+D oratom yces tenuis, and Sphaerodothis coimbatorica,^^^ Undesirable stains are caused by 
+C eratocystis an d D iplodia.
+65
+CANARIUM INDICUM L. (BURSERACEAE) — Java-Almond, Kanari, Kenari 
+Syn.: Canarium amboinense Hochr., Canarium commune L., Canarium mehenbeth-
+ene Gaertn., Canarium moluccanum Bl., Canarium subtruncatum Engl., Can­
+arium shortlandicum Rech., Canarium polyphyllum Krause, Canarium 
+grandistipulatum Lauterbach, and Canarium nungi Guillaumin.
+Uses — Seeds are highly regarded in Melanesia as a food, a delicacy, and in pastries as 
+a substitute for almonds. Mature fruits, dried over fires, are an important stored food in the 
+Solomon Islands. Nuts are ground and added to grated taro and coconut c re a m .A n 
+emulsion of seeds is used in baby-foods. Oil from the seeds is used as a substitute for 
+coconut oil for cooking and illumination. Resin from the stems (Getah kanari) has the scent 
+of eugenol and is used in printing inks and varnishes. It is the source of a Manila elemi, a 
+resin, used as an incense and fixative in the perfume industry, and for varnishes. Oil derived 
+from the resin is also employed in soap and cosmetics. Old stems are used as fuel and when 
+burning lime. Wood may be used in canoe building and paddles are made from the buttresses. 
+Parts of the plant are used to make cloth and to make moth-repelling bookcases. The tree 
+is planted as a shade-tree in nutmeg plantations and as a road-side tree.^^®
+Folk medicine — Resin is applied to indolent ulcers.The fruit is laxative. Medicinally 
+(in Java), it is used as an incense for sick persons to keep the atmosphere clean.
+Chemistry — Seeds contain 3.8% moisture, 19.6% protein, 72.8% fat, and 3.8% ash.®^ 
+The oil contains 10.2% stearic, 30.5% palmitic, 39.9% oleic, 18.7% linoleic, and 0.7% 
+linolenic acids. The oleoresin which oozes from the trunk contains 10.4% essential oil, 
+81.8% resin, 3.7% water solubles, and 2.5% water. The essential oil contains ca. 34% 
+anethole and a small quantity of terpenes.^®’^*"*
+Description — Tree grows up to 40 m, to 1 m in diameter, with buttresses; branchlets 
+7 to 13 mm thick, glabrescent. Leaves are compound, 3-8 pairs of leaflets, glabrous, with
+66 Handbook of Nuts
+persistent ovate to oblong stipules 1.5 to 2 cm long and 1.2 to 1.4 cm wide, pulverulent to 
+glabrous; leaflets oblong-obovate to oblong-lanceolate, 7 to 35 cm long and 3.5 to 16 cm 
+wide, on long slender petiolules (to 3 cm long); blades herbaceous to coriaceous, the base 
+oblique, rounded to broadly cuneate, the apex gradually to bluntly acuminate, margin entire; 
+inflorescences terminal, many-flowered, 15 to 40 cm long, minutely tomentose. Flowers 
+tomentose, male ones subsessile, about 1 cm long, females short-stalked, up to 1.5 cm long, 
+with a concave receptacle; calyx in male flowers 5 to 7 mm long, in females 7 to 10 mm; 
+stamens glabrous, in male flowers free; in females adnate to disk; pistil in male flowers 
+minute or none, in female glabrous; fruiting clusters with up to 30 fruits; fruits ovoid, round 
+to slightly triangular in cross-section, 3.5 to 6 cm long and 2 to 4 cm in diameter, glabrous; 
+pyrene rounded triangular in cross-section, smooth except the 3 more-or-less acute ribs at 
+base and apex; lids 3 to 4 mm thick; seeds usually 1, the sterile cells slightly reduced. 
+Flowers mainly October to December fruits July to December.
+Germplasm — Reported from the Indochinese-Indonesian Center of Diversity, Java 
+almond, or cvs thereof, is reported to tolerate high pH.®^ Several races are cultivated in 
+Melanesia, varying in form and size of fruits. Two botanical varieties are recognized: (1) 
+var. indicum , with branchlets up to 13 mm thick; stipules up to 6 by 5 cm, dentate; leaves 
+up to 7 jugate; leaflets up to 28 by 11 cm, herbaceous; and fruits up to 6 x 3 cm. This is 
+the more widespread variety and the more cultivated form. (2) var. platycerioideu m Leen- 
+houts, with branchlets up to 2.5 cm thick; stipules sometimes inserted on the bases of the 
+petiole only; leaves 5 to 8 Jugate, 80 to 135 cm long; leaflets inequilateral, ovate, 25 to 35 
+X 13 to 16 cm; fruits 6 by 3.5 to 4 cm. Found only on New Guinea up to altitudes of 30
+178, 179,278
+m.
+Distribution — Native to Moluccas (Temate, Sula, Ceram, Ambon, Kai), the North 
+Celebes (where it may be naturalized), and Indonesia (New Guinea, New Britain, New 
+Ireland, Solomon Islands, and New Hebrides).
+Ecology — Ranging from Subtropical Dry to Moist through Tropical Dry to Moist Forest 
+Life Zones, Java almond is reported to tolerate annual precipitation of 11 to 24 dm (mean 
+of cases = 18), annual temperature of 24 to 2 T C (mean of 3 cases = 25.5), and pH of 
+5.3 to 8.1 (mean of 2 cases == 6.7).^^ Java almond is found in rain-forest at low altitudes, 
+rarely native above 250 m. However, it is planted up to 600 m or more.^^®
+Cultivation — Sprouted seeds or larger seedlings are transplanted.
+Harvesting — Fruiting peaks at August to October and February to April in Santa Cruz, 
+Solomon Islands, but fruits are available year-round. In the Solomon Islands, where Can- 
+arium is ‘’probably the most important economic tree species” , the plants are usually 
+accepted as wild forest species, exploited by gathering, on the basis of recognized individual 
+ownership.
+Yields and economics — Large fruited forms or species on Santa Cruz are said to yield 
+fewer fruits than the smaller fruited forms.
+Energy — Seed oil and resin might be viewed for energy potential, over and above the 
+fuel wood. The resin was used for illumination in the Solomon Islands. The abundance of 
+Canarium on Ndenia Island may explain why A gathis resin was not exploited.
+Biotic factors — The following fungi are known to attack Java almond: A edicium pu l- 
+neyensis, M eliola canarii, O udesm ansiella canarii, Skierka canarii, and U stilina zonata. 
+Seeds dispersed by fruit bats (P ter opus).
+67
+CANARIUM OVATUM Engl. (BURSERACEAE) — Pili Nut, Philippine Nut
+Uses — The pulp is edible when cooked and yields a cooking oil. The nut or kernel is 
+also edible and excellent after roasting. It also yields a good cooking oil.^ Menninger^®^ 
+describes this as the “ most important of all the nuts in the world to the millions of people 
+who depend on it for food.” Abarquez' says pili is second only to cashew as a food nut in 
+the Philippines, where it is considered superior to almonds. The nuts have been used to 
+adulterate chocolate.This species is one source of the commercial resin traded as Manila 
+elemi. Spaniards repaired their ships, in colonial days, with gum elemi. Manila elemi is a 
+yellowish-greenish-white, sticky, soft, opaque, fragrant oil mass which gradually becomes 
+hard when exposed. It is a source of a kind of paper for window-panes as a substitute for 
+glass, and is used in the preparation of medicinal ointment. It is an important ingredient in 
+plastics, printing inks for lithographic works, perfumes, and plasters. This resin gives tough­
+ness and elasticity to lacquer, varnish, and paint products. Locally, it is used to caulk boats 
+and as an illuminant for native torches. Recently, the possibility of extracting fuel from 
+resin has proved enticing, suggesting the possibility of driving a car “ run by a tree.“ ' 
+According to Garcia, pili plantations, in pure stand, can be interplanted with cassava, ginger, 
+papaya, pineapple, coffee, cacao, bananas, and taro.
+Folk medicine — The “ elemi” was once used as an ointment for healing wounds. 
+Filipinos use the crushed emulsion of the kernels as a substitute for milk for infants. Uncooked 
+nuts are purgative.
+Chemistry — Per 100 g, the seed (ZMB) is reported to contain 699 to 714 calories, 12.2 
+to 15.6 g protein, 73.2 to 75.9 g fat, 6.0 to 10.8 g total carbohydrate, 2.3 to 3.5 g fiber, 
+3.0 to 3.6 g ash, 130 to 180 mg Ca, 71 to 591 mg P, 2.9 to 4.8 mg Fe, 3.2 to 3.3 mg Na, 
+521 to 537 mg K, 26 to 35 |xg beta-carotene equivalent. 0.75 to 1.04 mg thiamine, 0.07 
+to 0.13 mg riboflavin, 0.44 to 0.58 mg niacin, and 0 to 25 mg ascorbic acid.®^ Campbell 
+reports the kernel contains 74% fat, 12% protein, and 5% starch.^ Rosengarten reports 
+71.1% fat, 11.4% protein, and 8.4% carbohydrates.^®^
+Description — Buttressed dioecious trees to 20 m tall, 40 cm DBH, leaves alternate, 
+compound, with 5 to 7 leaflets each 10 to 20 cm long; inflorescences and axillary terminal, 
+many-flowered, flowers yellowish, fragrant, ca.l cm long; fruits ellipsoid to oblong, 3 to 
+7 cm long, with thin, oily pulp, greenish, turning black when ripe; seed solitary, triangular 
+in cross-section with pointed ends, thin, hard shell and a single large kernel.
+Germplasm — Reported from the Philippine Center of Diversity, the pili nut, or cvs 
+thereof, is reported to tolerate slope and strong winds. Campbell says no cultivars are 
+described,^ but Menninger says 75 kinds grow in enormous quantities from Africa through 
+India to northern Australia, Malaya, and in the Pacific Islands. Menninger may mean the 
+genus rather than the species.
+Distribution — Endemic to the primary forests of Luzon at low and medium altitudes 
+in the Philippines; widely distributed, yet little-known.^ Introduced successfully into El 
+Zamorano and Lancetilla, Honduras.
+Ecology — Estimated to range from Subtropical Moist to Rain through Tropical Moist 
+to Wet Forest Life Zones, pili nut is estimated to tolerate annual precipitation of 20 to 80 
+dm, annual temperature of 23 to 28°C, and pH of 5.0 to 7.0. Best adapted to the hot, wet, 
+tropics.
+Cultivation — Generally grown from seed; superior selections may be grafted. It can be 
+marcotted and budded as well. In the Philippines, it is often planted between rows of coconut. 
+Seedlings, wrapped in banana sheath or bark, are transported carefully to the transplant site 
+at the onset of the rainy season. Spacing is generous, 12 to 15 m apart for densities of only 
+40 to 50/ha.
+Harvesting — Vegetatively propagated pilis may bear at age 7 to 8. Rosengarten^®^ says
+68 Handbook of Nuts
+female trees start bearing at age 6, but full production is not reached until 12 to 15. From 
+seed, it takes 7 to 10 years to fruiting, 12 to 13 according to Garcia.*®^ Fruits are usually 
+shaken or knocked from the tree. Fresh nuts do not store well, becoming rancid in weeks, 
+if not roasted. Abarquez* states, “ Integrating resin tapping with nut production, that is, the 
+possibility of getting 2 products without disabling the tree, can be studied. As practiced, it 
+is observed that flogging, girdling, or wounding the bark of trees on the lower trunk part 
+usually increase the production of fruits in some trees like mango . . . Controlling the 
+downward translocation of carbohydrates and other hormones from the canopy to the root 
+system, by wounding the bark on the trunk, would induce the production of flower hormones, 
+and consequently, fruits. Timing the tapping activities so that it complements with the natural 
+budding and fruiting season would give us the desired result.”
+Yields and economics — Sometimes trees may yield as much as 33 kg nuts. Garcia*®^ 
+puts peak yield at 2.5 MT/ha/yr. Other species can yield nearly 50 kg resin per year. Manila 
+exported more than 1000 MT as long ago as 1913. But Abarquez^ shows only a little more 
+than a ton around 1975. In 1950, the Philippines had more than 8,000 ha planted to pili, 
+reduced to ca. 2,500 by the end of 1976.
+Energy — If the seeds were copiously produced, their 75% oil could be viewed as an 
+oil source. Other species of Canarium exude valuable resins “ which could be a promising 
+alternative for the oil industry.Such species are said to average 45 kg resin per year. 
+But Roecklein and Leung^^^ put yields of C. luzonicum resin at only 4 to 5 kg/yr. The shells 
+of the nuts are said to be an excellent fuel, a handful enough to cook a simple dish. Garcia^®^ 
+describes the wood of the pili as an excellent firewood.
+Biotic factors — Campbell^ states that pests and diseases have not been described.
+69
+CARYA ILLINOENSIS (Wangenh.) K. Koch (JUGLANDACEAE) — Pecan 
+Syn.: Caryapecan (Marsh.) Engl, and Graebn., Carya oliviformis Nutt., and Hicoria
+pecan Britt.
+Uses — Kernels of nuts eaten raw, roasted, or salted and used in candies, confections, 
+ice cream, mixed nuts, and for flavoring in baking and cookery. Pecan oil, expressed from 
+kernels, is edible and sold for the drug, essential oil, and cosmetic trade. Lumber is hard, 
+brittle, not strong, but is occasionally used for agricultural implements, wagons, and for 
+fuel.^^® More recently, pecan timber has been used for veneer and lumber, flooring, and 
+still for firewood. Smith^*® notes that “ the pecan has great possibilities as a shade (and 
+timber) tree in a large area where it cannot be a commençai dependence, but may produce 
+an occasional crop.” Doubtless, the deep-rooted pecan can contribute to erosion control. 
+To quote S m i t h , “During the regime of the tribal leaders in the old Seminole Nation in 
+Seminole County, Oklahoma, they had a law that fined a person five dollars or more for 
+mutilating a pecan tree. Yet some people call the Indian a savage. Whoever calls the Indian 
+a savage should go look at the gullies we white men have made in Oklahoma where the 
+Indian made none!"' Southerners are intercropping pecans with cattle successfully. Pecan 
+has been described as the number three hardwood in the U.S., behind walnut and black 
+cherry.
+Folk medicine — Reported to be astringent, pecan is a folk remedy for blood ailments, 
+dyspepsia, fever, flu, hepatitis, leucorrhea, malaria, and stomach-ache.^^
+Chemistry — Per 100 g, the seed (ZMB) is reported to contain 711 to 718 calories, 9.5 
+to 9.7 g protein, 73.7 to 75.3 g fat, 13.4 to 15.1 g total carbohydrate, 2.3 to 2.4 g fiber, 
+1.6 to 1.7 g ash, 75 to 76 mg Ca, 299 to 334 mg P, 2.5 mg Fe, 0 to 3 mg Na, 624 to 1499 
+mg K, 20 to 82 jxg beta-carotene equivalent, 0.74 to 0.89 mg thiamine, 0.11 to 0.13 mg 
+riboflavin, 0.93 mg niacin, and 2.1 mg ascorbic acid. Leaves and leaf stalks contain a 
+phytosterol similar to squalene, capric-, lauric-, myristic-, palmitic-, stearic-, arachidic-, 
+oleic-, linoleic-, and linolenic-acids. Tannins containing phloroglucin and catechin have 
+been identified; also inositol and 3,4-dihydroxybenzoic acid. The bark contains azaleatin 
+(quercetin-5-methyl ether) (Ci6Hi207*H20), and caryatin (quercetin-3,5-dimethylether)
+70 Handbook of Nuts
+(C,7H,407).'^^ According to Hilditch and Williams,'^* the component acids of the seed fats 
+are 3.3 to 7% palmitic-, 1 to 5.5% stearic-, 51 to 88% oleic-, 14 to 38% linoleic-, and I 
+to 2% linolenic-acids.
+Toxicity — Langhans, Hedin, and Graves'^^ report that leaves and fruits contain juglone, 
+a substance toxic to Fusicladium effusum at concentrations as low as 0.1 mg/m€ (roughly 
+0.1 ppm). They also report linalool as fungitoxic. Schroeder and Storey^^^ report aflatoxins 
+in pecans with sound shells. The mycotoxin zearalenone was extracted from kernels with 
+sound shells after 28 days. For reasons unclear to this author, Hager’s Handbook*®^ calls it 
+a poisonous plant. The pollen is allergenic.
+Description — Deciduous tree, 33 to 60 m tall, with massive trunk to 3.5 m in diameter, 
+buttressed at base, crown round-topped; bark light-brown tinged red, twigs with loose pale- 
+reddish tomentum, becoming glabrous or puberulent, lenticels numerous, oblong, and orange; 
+leaves compound, 30 to 50 cm long, petioles glabrous or pubescent; leaflets lanceolate to 
+oblong-lanceolate, more-or-less falcate, long-pointed, doubly serrate, 10 to 20 cm long, 2.5 
+to 7.5 cm broad, veins conspicuous; staminate flowers in slender clustered aments 7.5 to 
+12.5 cm long, from axillary buds of previous year’s growth, sessile or nearly so, yellow- 
+green, hirsute on outer surface, bract oblong, narrowed at ends, slightly 4-angled, with 
+yellow pubescence; fruits in clusters of 3 to 11, pointed at apex, rounded at base, 4-winged 
+and angled, 1.5 to 6.5 cm long, up to 2.5 cm in diameter, dark-brown, with yellow scales; 
+husk splitting at maturity to nearly the base, often persistent on tree after nut fallen out; nut 
+ovoid to ellipsoidal, rather cylindrical toward apex, rounded at base, reddish-brown with 
+irregular black markings; shell thin with papery partitions; seed sweet, red-brown, kernel 
+separating rather readily. Flowers early spring; fruits fall.^^®
+Germplasm — Reported from the North American Center of Diversity, pecan, or cvs 
+thereof, is reported to tolerate high pH, mycobacteria, salt, slope, smog, and weeds.Many 
+selected cvs have been made, some of the “ paper-shell” or “ thin-shell” cvs include: ‘Curtis’, 
+‘Frotscher’, ‘Moneymaker’, ‘Pabst’, ‘Schley’, and ‘Stuart’. (2n = 32.)^^^
+Distribution — Native to the valley of the Mississippi River from southern Indiana and 
+Illinois, western Kentucky and Tennessee, to Mississippi and Louisiana, west to Texas; 
+reappearing in mountains of northern Mexico. Largely cultivated in southeastern U.S., most 
+abundant and of its largest size in southern Arkansas and eastern Texas. Improved cvs are 
+widely cultivated.
+Ecology — Ranging from Warm Temperate Thom to Moist through Subtropical Dry to 
+Moist Forest Life Zones, pecan is reported to tolerate annual precipitation of 3 to 13 dm 
+(mean of 11 cases = 8.7), annual temperature of 9 to 21 °C (mean of 11 cases = 16.5), 
+and pH of 5.0 to 8.2 (mean of 9 cases = 6.4). Low rich ground along streams is favorite 
+habitat, especially in fertile soil, rich in humus, on land that has been under cultivation for 
+many years. Quite hardy in the north, it has been successfully planted up to the 43rd parallel. 
+While favored by alluvial soils, pecan is by no means restricted thereto.^*® Thrives on a 
+variety of soils, from sandy soils of acid reaction to heavy soil with alkaline reaction, and 
+gradations between these. All soils should be well-drained and pervious to water. Pecan is 
+deep-rooted and requires plenty of water, but will not tolerate water-logged soils.Relative 
+humidity above 80% prevents effective pollination. Pecans require 150 to 210 frost-free 
+days, but have not fared well in the tropics. Madden, Brison, and McDanieP^^ suggest a 
+possible chill requirement of 750 hr below 45°F (7°C). Hardy to Zone 5.^"^^
+Cultivation — Pecans do not come true from seeds and are difficult to start from cuttings. 
+Therefore, propagation is mainly by budding and grafting, in order to perpetuate desirable 
+varieties. After soil with the proper requirements for pecan production has been selected, 
+young trees are set on 11-m squares; in Texas, squares up to 23 m may be used, especially 
+on river valley soils. In some areas 75 to 1(X) cm annual rainfall may be sufficient, but 
+usually much more is required. Where the rainfall is abundant, growth of trees is rapid and
+71
+crowding may be a problem. Trees usually do not begin bearing as early in humid areas 
+because of greater rate of growth. In western pecan orchards, trees are used in the manner 
+of interplanted fruit trees since the trees do not grow so fast and cvs may be selected that 
+are prolific at a relatively young age and size. Western cvs apparently lend themselves to 
+dwarfing by pruning, and can be kept relatively small, preventing crowding. Unlike most 
+trees, pecans do not show a deficiency of moisture by wilting of leaves or shoots. This may 
+be due to the deep taproot which absorbs sufficient moisture from the subsoil to prevent 
+wilting, but when weeds and other plants growing near pecan trees show signs of water 
+deficiency, water should be applied. Trees are often intercropped with cotton, com, or 
+peaches until trees come into bearing. Planting of trees originally varies from 11 to 33 m, 
+but after a first thinning in 12 to 15 years and a second at the end of 20 to 25 years, trees 
+will be spaced 23 to 66 m apart. Nursery trees usually planted in commercial orchards when 
+rootstocks are 4 to 6 years old and budded or grafted trees are 1 or 2 years old, although 
+older trees are used sometimes. Pecan trees are set in both large and small holes. In heavy 
+soils, holes about 1 m in diameter at top give better results. In lighter soils, post-holes have 
+proven satisfactory. For larger trees, larger holes should be used to accomodate the larger 
+root systems. Trees should be planted about 5 cm deeper than they were in the nursery. 
+After they are set, tops should be cut back and the trunks loosely wrapped for a distance 
+of 30 to 45 cm from ground with burlap of heavy paper, which is tied loosely. Pecan trees 
+are very slow to develop new roots after transplanting and should be supplied with adequate 
+moisture during the first summer to help establish the root system. Young trees must be 
+protected from sunscald and winter injury. Pmning and training trees to proper shape is 
+essential. Young pecan orchards require more frequent cultivation than older orchards, 
+because older trees tend to hold weed growth in check by shading and by competition for 
+moisture and nutrients. Disking or plowing should be frequent enough to prevent rank growth 
+of weeds or grass, the number of cultivations depending on the fertility of the soil. If an 
+orchard is on land subject to overflow and bad erosion, it may be sodded with some suitable 
+grass; during the growing season, it may be mowed, or sheep and cattle may be allowed to 
+graze the land to keep down the vegetation. Where soils are poor, intercropping with legumes 
+and adding fertilizer may be useful.
+Harvesting — Pecan nuts are harvested when fully ripe and coming out of hulls with 
+little beating of branches. From bloom to harvest varies from 5 to 6 months. Frequently, 
+the harvest of nuts is facilitated by the use of sheets spread under trees beyond the spread 
+of branches. Such sheets are usually made of heavy cotton sheeting in rectangular pieces 
+ca. 5 X 10 m. Nuts are stored in bags or bins after being cured on trays with hardware 
+cloth bottoms. They trays are placed across supports to allow air circulation. Nuts may also 
+be cured in small burlap bags, provided the bags are arranged so air circulates freely around 
+them. Bags should be turned upside-down occasionally to insure more uniform curing. Much 
+of the work of curing can be eliminated if nuts are allowed to cure in husk before harvesting. 
+Nuts may be stored 2 years without appreciable deterioration, if stored at a temperature of 
+0°C to 3.5°C. They should be stored as soon as curing is completed, since their quality is 
+impaired at ordinary temperatures, long before rancidity is apparent.
+Yields and economics — Trees 8 to 10 years old yield from 2 to 12 (to 350) kg per tree. 
+Improved cvs often yield greater amounts. Trees yielding 1500 to 1600 nuts per tree may 
+have yields of 1,000 to 1,200 kg/ha. As Rosengarten^®^ notes, most edible nuts are essentially 
+one-state crops: almonds, pistachios, and walnuts are produced in California; filberts in 
+Oregon, and macadamia nuts in Hawaii. The pecan, on the other hand, is a multi-state crop, 
+stretching across the country from the Southeast to the Southwest throughout some 20 states. 
+U.S. production is tabulated in Table 1. By 1981, a record harvest of nearly 175,000 tons 
+was reported.
+Energy — Even native pecans (up to 75% oil) are estimated to yield 750 to 800 kg/ha
+72 Handbook of Nuts
+Table 1
+UTILIZED PECAN PRODUCTION TONS
+(ap p rox.)
+1978 1979 1980
+Alabama 11,000 2,000 10,000
+Arkansas 1,600 750 450
+Florida 2,100 1,300 3,000
+Georgia 67,500 32,500 52,500
+Louisiana 4,500 8,000 7,000
+Mississippi 5,000 1,250 2,250
+New Mexico 7,500 7,350 7,350
+North Carolina 2,000 650 850
+Oklahoma 7,750 5,000 1,750
+South Carolina 3,000 1,000 1,100
+Texas 13,000 45,500 5,500
+Total U.S. Production 124,950 105,300 91,750
+After Rosengarten, Jr., F. The Book of Edible Nuts, Walker and 
+Company, New York, 1984, 384.
+in T e x a s .Cultiváis may exceed 1000 kg. Prunings and thinnings make very good fuel 
+wood. Perhaps even the leaves could be investigated as sources of lauric acid, juglone 
+(herbicide), leaf protein, with the residues going into ethanol production.
+Biotic factors — Squirrels may destroy large quantities of nuts during the season, since 
+they start feeding on them while the nuts are immature and continue until the nuts are 
+harvested. They also gnaw the bark off new shoots so that they die. Squirrel guards on trees 
+may effectively control squirrel damage. Because pecan trees are not sufficiently self- 
+pollinating, various cvs should be interplanted. Orchards should be laid out and cvs planted 
+to allow pollination to occur in the direction of prevailing wind. Although the pollinating 
+CVS need be only about 100 m from female trees, they are often alternated with each other. 
+Phillips et al.^^^ give an interesting illustrated account of the insects and diseases of the 
+pecans. The following are known to cause diseases of pecans: A grobacterium tum efaciens, 
+A rticularía quercina, A spergillus chevalieri, B otryosphaeria bergeneriana, B. ribis, C ar- 
+yospora m inor, C ephaleuros virescens, C ercospora fusca, C ladosporium effusum, Conio- 
+thyrium caryogenum , E lsinoe randii, Eutypa heteracantha, G lom erella cingulata, G nom onia 
+caryar, G. dispora, G. nerviseda, H elicobasidium purpureum , M icrocera coccophila, M i- 
+crosphaera alni. M icrostrom a ju glan dis, M ycosphaerella caryigena, M . dendroides, M y- 
+riangium duriaei, M . tuberculans, N em atospora coryli, P ellicu laria koleroga, P estalotia 
+uvicola, P h yllosticta convexula, Phym atotrichum om nivorum , P h ysalospora fu sca, P. rhod- 
+ina, P hytophthora cactorum , Schizophyllum com mune, Septoria caryae, and Trichothecium 
+roseum.'^'^^^'^''^ Pecan is attacked by the parasitic flowering plant, mistletoe, P horadendron 
+serrulata. Insect pests attacking pecan include: M yzocallisfum ipennellus (black pecan aphid), 
+C hrysom phalus obscurus (obscure scale), C urculio varyae (pecan weevil), H yphantria cunea 
+(fall webworm), Synanthedon scitulae (pecan borer), A crobasis caryae (pecan nut-case 
+borer), A crobasis p a llio lella (pecan leaf-case borer), L aspeyresia caryana (hickory shuck 
+worm), C oleoph orae caryaefoliella (pecan cigar-case borer), G retchena bolliana (pecan bud 
+moth). P hylloxera devastatrix (leaf and stem galls), Strym on m elinus (cotton square borer). 
+Nematodes isolated from pecan trees include: Caconem a radidicola, D itylenchus interm e­
+dins, D olichodoru s heterocephalus, H eterodera m arioni, M eloidogyne spp., P ratylenchus 
+penetrans, R adopholus sim ilis, and Xiphinem a americanum^'^^^
+73
+CARYOCAR AMYGDALIFERUM Mutis (CARYOCARACEAE) Mani, Achotillo, Cagui,
+Chalmagra
+Uses — Fruits edible, said to taste like almonds. Pulp of fruit is also used as a fish poison. 
+According to the NAS,^^^ Caryocar kernels are said to be the best edible nuts in the tropics. 
+Oil used for cooking in tropical America.
+Folk medicine — Fruits are used as a medicine for leprosy.
+Chemistry — Wood, possibly of this species, possibly of C. brasiliense, contains 1.5 
+to 1.8% essential oil.
+Description — Trees to 55.0 m tall, the trunk buttressed up to 3.0 m, the young branches 
+sparsely puberulous-glabrescent. Leaves trifoliolate; petioles 2.5 to 11.0 cm long, glabres- 
+cent, terete; leaflets shortly petiolulate, the terminal petiolule 5.0 to 7.0 mm long, the lateral 
+petiolules slightly shorter than the terminal one, the petiolules sparsely puberulous, shallowly 
+canaliculate; the laminas elliptic to oblong, slightly asymmetrical, acuminate at apex, the 
+acumen 1.0 to 1.5 cm long, cuneate to subcuneate and often markedly unequal at base, 
+unevenly coarsely serrate at margins, glabrous on both surfaces, the terminal lamina 7.5 to
+12.0 cm long, 2.5 to 5.5 cm broad, the lateral laminas slightly smaller than the terminal 
+one; primary veins 10 to 11 pairs, plane to prominulous beneath; venation prominulous 
+beneath; stipels to 5.0 mm long, ellipsoid, inflated, persistent. Peduncles ca. 3.5 to 7.0 cm 
+long, glabrous. Inflorescences clustered racemes, the rachis tomentose, the pedicels elongate, 
+ebracteolate. Calyx cupuliform, ca. 6.0 mm long, glabrous on exterior, the lobes 5, small, 
+rounded, the margins ciliate. Corolla lobes 5, ca. 2.0 to 2.5 cm long, oblong, glabrous, 
+greenish-yellow. Stamens numerous, ca. 200, the filaments shortly united at base in a ring, 
+but into groups, white, sparsely pubescent, the apical portion tuberculate, the innermost 
+filaments much shorter than the rest, the anthers small. Ovary globose, glabrous on exterior, 
+4-locular. Styles 4, filamentous, shorter than filaments. Fruit globose-ellipsoid, ca. 5.5 cm 
+long, exocarp glabrous, smooth; pericarp thick, fleshy; mesocarp and endocarp enveloping 
+the seed to form an ovoid stone; the exterior of mesocarp not seen, the interior enveloping 
+the endocarp tubercules; endocarp with numerous flattened tubercules ca. 5.0 mm long, and 
+a hard woody interior ca. 1.0 mm thick, glabrous within.
+Germplasm — From the South American Center of Diversity, achotillo has been reported 
+to tolerate acid soils.Regrettably, this has been confused in the literature, due to ortho­
+graphic similarities, with Peruvian C. amygdaliforme Don. (almendro blanco). The mani 
+has inflated stipels to 5 mm long, the Peruvian species lacks stipels.
+Distribution — Native to the forests of the Magdalena River Valley of Colombia. 
+Sturtevant^^^ assigns it to Ecuador and says it is the “ almendrón” of Mariquita.
+Ecology — Tropical forest tree, thriving in rich loam in river valleys.Duke®^ reports 
+the species from Tropical Moist to Wet Forest Life Zones, annual precipitation of 23 to 40 
+dm, annual temperature of 23 to 27°C, and pH of 5.0 to 5.3.
+Cultivation — Not known in cultivation.^^®
+Harvesting — Fruits collected in season for food and medicinal purposes by natives.
+Yields and economics — Of limited use by natives in Colombia.
+Energy — Like other tropical tree species, this one probably can produce 25 MT biomass 
+per year. Prunings could be used for energy production.
+Biotic factors — No serious pests or diseases reported for this tree.^^® Probably bat 
+pollinated.
+74 Handbook of Nuts
+CARYOCAR NUCIFERUM L. (CARYOCARACEAE) — Suari Nut, Butternut
+Uses — This is probably one of the most popular edible nuts in the genus Caryocar. 
+Without voucher material, we can only guess to which species the various data refer. After 
+reading Prance and da Silva’s excellent monograph,this author has done his best. Certainly 
+this is the largest, if not the oiliest and tastiest, of the nuts in the genus. The timber of the 
+roots is used for making crooks in boats and for canoes.
+Folk medicine — The bark of this or one of the species confused with this is considered 
+diuretic and febrifuge.
+Chemistry — Apparently all the species have a high oil content in the pericarp and kernel. 
+The pericarp oil is suggestive of palm oil.‘^^
+Description — Large tree to 45.0 m tall, young branches glabrous. Leaves trifoliolate, 
+petioles 4.0 to 9.0 (to 15.0) cm long, terete to flattened, glabrous; leaflets petiolulate, 
+terminal petiolule 7.0 to 20.0 mm long, lateral petiolules about equal to the center one; 
+petiolules glabrous, shallowly canaliculate; laminas elliptic, acuminate at apex, acumen 5.0 
+to 15.0 mm long, entire to weakly crenate at margins, rounded to subcuneate at base, 
+glabrous on both surfaces, terminal lamina 12.0 to 30.0 cm long, 6.0 to 18.0 cm broad, 
+lateral laminas equal or slightly smaller than terminal one, primary veins 8 to 13 pairs, plane 
+above, prominent beneath; venation prominulous beneath; stipels absent. Peduncles 6.0 to
+10.0 cm long, glabrous, sparsely lenticellate towards base. Inflorescences of clustered ra­
+cemes, rachis 1.0 to 4.5 cm long, glabrous; flowering pedicels 4.0 to 6.0 cm long, 5.0 to
+8.0 cm thick, glabrous, ebracteolate. Calyx campanulate, ca. 2.0 cm long, glabrous on 
+exterior, lobes 5, rounded. Corolla ca. 6.0 to 7.0 cm long, elliptic, glabrous, deep-red on 
+exterior, paler within. Stamens extremely numerous, over 700, filaments caducous as a unit, 
+united at base up to 2.0 mm, dividing into fused groups before becoming free above, outer 
+ones 7.0 to 8.5 cm long including base, yellow, apical portion tuberculate, with many shorter 
+inner filaments from 3.5 cm long and of all intermediate sizes, inner filaments tuberculate 
+at apex only, anthers small. Ovary globose, 4-locular, glabrous on exterior. Styles 4, fila­
+mentous, 8.0 to 9.0 cm long, glabrous. Fruit subglobose to sublobate, to 15.0 cm long, 
+exocarp glabrous, lenticellate; pericarp very thick and fleshy, detaching from mesocarp and 
+endocarp; mesocarp and endocarp enveloping seed to form a large stone ca. 7.0 cm broad,
+5.0 cm long, mesocarp becoming lignified and hard, the exterior undulate with short, rounded 
+tubercules; endocarp with tuberculate exterior and hard, thin, woody interior ca. 1.0 mm 
+thick; with 1 to 2 subreniform seeds only developing.
+Germplasm — Reported from the South American Center of Diversity. The tuberculate 
+large fruits and large flowers are larger than those of any other Caryocar.
+Distribution — Native of the primary forests of the Guianas and adjacent Venezuela and 
+Brazil. Recently collected in Panama and Choco, Colombia. Apparently abundant in Choco. 
+Cultivated in the West Indies, and grown in botanical gardens in Nigeria, Singapore, and 
+Sri Lanka.
+Ecology — According to MacMillan, the tree grows well in the moist low country of 
+Sri Lanka, especially in rich deep loams or alluvial soils.
+Cultivation and Energy — No data available.
+Harvesting — According to Burkill,^^ it may fruit at 5 years of age, but usually takes 2 
+to 3 times as long. Introduced into Singapore in 1899, it did not fruit until 20 years old, 
+but flowered years before. At Peradeniya and Henaratgoda, where it was introduced in 1891, 
+the trees had not fruited when MacMillan‘S^ went to press, though the Peradeniya specimen 
+started flowering after 19 years. These do not seem to be much more precocious than Brazil 
+nuts. However, MacMillan mentions another specimen from British Guiana which fruited 
+6 years from planting.
+Yields and economics — The nut is exported commercially from the Guianas.
+Biotic factors — Probably bat pollinated.
+75
+CARYOCAR VILLOSUM (Aubl.) Pers., CARYO CAR BRASILIENSE Camb., and CARY- 
+OCAR C O R IA C E U M Wittmack (CARYOCARACEAE) — Pequi
+Uses — Several species go under the common name pequi and pequia, said to be one of 
+the best edible nuts in the tropics. But Sturtevant^^^ calls it is a sort of chestnut eaten in 
+times of famine. C a ryo ca r has several nut-bearing species. These are somewhat more prom­
+ising because some species are smaller and easier to harvest. The orange-sized fruit contains 
+an oily pulp and kernel that are used for food. So far, they have been employed only in 
+home cooking. The fruit is made into a tasty liqueur, well known in Brazil, especially in 
+the State of Mato Grosso. There is both the fruit oil and the kernel oil. After refining the 
+taxonomy of those species called Pequi and Pequia, Prance and da Silva^^ state that the 
+fruit of C. villosum (a huge tree) has an edible pulp and edible cotyledons. The pulp is most 
+often eaten and has a faint smell of rancid butter. It is also used to produce an edible oil. 
+Wood of C. villosum is so durable as to be used in boat-building and in heavy construction. 
+Brazilian Indians obtain a yellow dye from C. brasiliense.^^
+Folk medicine — The bark of this or one of the species confused with this is considered 
+diuretic and febrifuge.^*
+Chemistry — According to Hager’s Handbook,the wood of C. brasilien se (or C. 
+am ygdaliferum or C. glabrum ) contains 1.5 to 1.8% essential oil. According to a report 
+quoted in Burkill,^^ the inner part of the fruit-wall contains a reddish-orange oil, up to 72.3%. 
+The kernel contains 61.4% (ZMB) or 45% (APB) oil, composed largely of glyceride esters
+76 Handbook of Nuts
+of palmitic and oleic acids. Ripe fruits must be treated as soon as harvested, or enzymes 
+will induce the development of free fatty acids. Lane'^^ reported a comparison with Malayan 
+palm oil:
+Palm oil (%) Pequi pericarp I Pequi kernel (%)
+Myristic 1.5
+2.5 1.5
+48.4
+Palmitic 40.8 41.2
+Stearic 3.6 0.8 0.9
+Oleic 45.2 53.9 46.0
+Linoleic 7.9 2.6 3.3
+Hilditch and Williams'^^ present somewhat different data. The fruit-coat fat of Caryocar 
+villosum is interesting, because its fatty acids closely resemble those of palm oils, namely: 
+myristic 1.8, palmitic 47.3, stearic 1.7, oleic 47.3, linoleic 1.9%. It contained only 2% of 
+fully saturated components (tripalmitin), thus differing somewhat from palm oils of similar 
+fatty acid composition. No tristearin was detected in the completely hydrogenated fat and 
+the components of the fat (in addition to 2% tripalmitin) were therefore 42% oleodipalmitins 
+and 56% palmitodioleins — an instance of pronounced “ even distribution.” Intensive crys­
+tallization of the pequia fruit-coat fat yielded five fractions very rich in oleodisaturated 
+glycerides and three more soluble fractions which consisted largely of diunsaturated gly­
+cerides. Oleodipalmitin was isolated separately from each of the five fractions and agreed 
+in its transition and melting-points with 2-oleodipalmitin, while the hydrogenated products 
+in each case were 2-stearodipalmitin. The symmetrical form of oleodipalmitin was thus 
+exclusively present. Similar examination of the palmitodistearins obtained by hydrogenation 
+of the palmitodioleins in the three more soluble fractions showed, in contrast, that the latter 
+were present in both the symmetrical and the unsymmetrical configuration, the amounts of 
+each positional isomeride being probably of the same order.
+Description — Large tree to 40.0 m tall and up to 2.5 m diameter, the young branches 
+villous-tomentose, becoming glabrous with age. Leaves trifoliolate; petioles 4.0 to 15.0 cm 
+long, villous-tomentose to puberulous, terete to slightly striate; leaflets shortly petiolulate, 
+the terminal petiolule 3.0 to 6.0 mm long, the lateral petiolules 2.0 to 4.0 mm long; petiolules 
+puberulous when young, canaliculate; the laminas elliptic, acuminate at apex, the acumen
+3.0 to 10.0 mm long, serrate to crenate at margins, rounded to cordate at base, villous to 
+glabrous above, densely villous-hirsute or with a sparse pubescence on the venation only 
+beneath, the terminal lamina 8.0 to 11.0 cm long, 6.0 to 12.0 cm broad, the lateral laminas 
+slightly smaller; primary veins 12 to 19 pairs, slightly impressed or plane above, prominent 
+beneath; venation extremely prominent beneath; stipels absent. Peduncles 5.0 to 13.0 cm 
+long, tomentellous or puberulous when young, glabrescent, lenticellate. Inflorescences of 
+clustered racemes, the rachis 3.0 to 4.0 cm long, tomentose when young; flowering pedicels 
+1.8 to 3.5 cm long, puberulous to glabrous, with 2 membraneous subpersistent bracteoles. 
+Calyx campanulate-cupuliform, ca. 1.5 cm long, gray puberulous to glabrous on exterior, 
+the lobes 5, rounded. Corolla ca. 2.5 cm long, the lobes 5, oblong-elliptic, pale yellow. 
+Stamens numerous, ca. 300, the filaments shortly united into a ring at base but not into 
+groups, subpersistent, of two distinct lengths with several of intermediate lengths, the longest 
+ca. 6.5 to 7.0 cm long, yellow, the apical 1.0 to 3.0 mm tuberculate, the shortest ca. 55,
+1.0 to 1.5 cm long, with distinct fused portion at base, tuberculate entire length, the anthers 
+small. Ovary globose, 4-locular, glabrous on exterior. Styles 4, filamentous, equalling 
+filaments, glabrous. Fruit oblong-globose, 6.0 to 7.0 cm long, 7.0 to 8.0 cm broad; exocarp 
+glabrous, lenticellate; pericarp thick, fleshy, detaching from mesocarp and endocarp; me- 
+socarp and endocarp enveloping seed to form a reniform stone ca. 5.0 cm broad, the exterior 
+of mesocarp smooth and undulate, the interior enveloping endocarp spines; endocarp with 
+numerous fine spines ca. 3.0 mm long, and a hard wood interior, ca. 1.0 mm thick.
+77
+Germplasm — Reported from the South American Center of Diversity, the pequi is 
+sensitive to wind damage. Prance and da Silva^^ key C. villosum with acuminate leaflets, 
+C. brasilien se as with rounded or acute leaflets. C. coriaceum is also found in the complex 
+known to Brazilians as Pequi.
+Distribution — French Guiana and Amazonian Brazil (C. villosum ). Dry woodland of 
+the northern and eastern part of the Planalto of central Brazil (C. coriaceum ). Brazil and 
+adjacent Bolivia and Paraguay (C. brasilien se). Cultivated in Singapore and Sumatra (C. 
+villosum ).
+Ecology — Grows above flood level in the Amazon valley (Burkill, C. villosum ).
+Cultivation — Wickhan, in Lane,*^'* figured the trees should be spaced at 100 trees per 
+ha.
+Harvesting — Trees have grown to 18 m in 9 years.
+Yields and economics — I quote exactly from Wickhan’s letter, as quoted by Lane:*^"^ 
+“ Reckoning the fruit as giving some 3/4 lb. of fat, the yield per acre should be from 1300 
+lbs. to 1/2 tons, it will therefore be at once apparent that this greatly exceeds any existing 
+source of supply — coconut (copra), palm kernels, etc...”
+Energy — The husk of the fruit is used, like coconut husks, for fuel, either directly or 
+after conversion to charcoal. Prunings could also be used for fuel.
+Biotic factors — C aryocar villosum is bat pollinated, with two or three of the many 
+flowers in a given influorescence opening at night, shortly after dark. The pollination process 
+is described in Prance and da Silva.
+78 Handbook of Nuts
+CARYODENDRON ORINOCENSE Karst. (EUPHORBIACEAE) — Inche, Cacay, Nambi, 
+Arbol de Nuez, Kakari Taccy Nut
+Uses — According to Garcia-Barriga,‘°^ the oil is used like olive oil, while the toasted 
+seed is very flavorful and nutritious. According to Schultes,the oil is valued for a wide 
+range of uses, from cooking to soap-making and cosmetics. The thin, brown shell surrounding 
+the kernel, is easily broken with the fingers.The tree has been suggested as a plantation 
+crop for Latin America.*®^
+Folk medicine — In the Llanos of Colombia, the oil is painted onto skin afflictions. A 
+half-ounce dose is taken as a laxative. It is believed to fortify the lungs.
+Chemistry — Seeds contain ca. 50% of a yellowish oil, the husk 17.1%, the pulp 82.9%. 
+The pulp contains 6.6% water.
+Description — Tree to 20 m tall, the crown conical; trunk yellowish-ochraceous, striate, 
+with a watery pinkish-yellow latex. Leaves alternate, glabrous, narrowly elliptic or obovate, 
+the margins entire, revolute, 12 to 25 cm long, 4 to 10 cm wide, apically acute, basally 
+cuneate; primary veins ca. 7 to 11; biglandular at the base of the blade. Petiole glabrous, 
+canaliculate above, dilated at both ends, 1 to 5.5 cm long. Flowers unisexual, the male in 
+terminal racemes, with 3 concave tepals, 4 conical glabrous stamens, longidehiscent; disk 
+white. Female flowers with 5 to 6 ovate tepals; ovary trilocular, triovulate, stigma short and 
+trilobate, disk annular, trilobate. Fruit globose-oblong, 5 to 6 cm long, 4 to 5 cm broad, 
+usually 3-seeded. Seeds 3 cm long, 1.7 cm wide.^°^’^^^
+Germplasm — From the South American Center of Diversity, inche is reported to tolerate 
+poor soils in lateritic and savanna situations.
+Distribution — According to PIRB,^^^ the species is native to the Llanos Orientales and 
+Putumayo of Colombia. I’m told there are plantations in Ecuador, and I have seen plants, 
+apparently thriving, in the humid climate of Talamanca, Costa Rica.
+Ecology — I estimate inche ranges from Tropical Dry to Wet through Subtropical Dry 
+to Wet Forest Life Zones, tolerating annual precipitation of 15 to 60 dm, annual temperature 
+of 23 to 29°C, and pH of 4.5 to 7.5. Said to be of the tropical humid zone,*°^ ranging from 
+300 to 1000 m above sea level,where the drier season lasts at least 4 months.
+Cultivation — Propagated by seed, the tree has been suggested as an oilseed plantation 
+crop.
+79
+Harvesting — Said to start bearing in 4 to 5 years. The determinate height of the tree is 
+said to facilitate harvest.
+Yields and economics — According to Garcia-Barriga,*®^ each tree produces 280 to 300 
+kg of fruit, which at the density of 50 trees per ha would calculate to 15 MT fruit. In round 
+figures, 25 fruits would weigh 375 g, or 15 g per fruit. Of that 15 g, there would be about 
+8 g husk, 1 g testa, and 6 g of kernel. That 6 g kernel should contain about 2 to 3 g oil. 
+This suggests a conversion factor of 20% oil in the fruit. According to PIRB,^^^ the cost of 
+establishment and maintenance should be less than that of African Oil Palm. Since the yield 
+is similar, possibly inche could return equal or greater profits.
+Energy — If we accept the speculative yield and conversion figures derived above, there 
+could be 3 MT oil, half the expected yield of oilpalm. But, if the same yields were obtained 
+with 100 trees per hectare instead of 50, there could be as good a yield here as with oil 
+palm, with 6 MT oil and possibly 12 MT edible seedcake.
+Biotic factors — No data available.
+80 Handbook of Nuts
+CAST ANEA CRENATA Sieb, and Zucc. (FAGACEAE) — Japanese Chestnut, Juri 
+Syn.: Castanea stricta Sieb, and Zucc., Castanea pubinervis (Hassk.) C. K. Schneid.,
+and Castanea japónica Blume.
+Uses — Kernel of nut used as food by Chinese and Japanese, both for humans and for 
+fattening sw ine.N ut shell extract, bur, and bark used for staining. Male flower used to 
+stain cloth a red-brown color.W ood strong, very hard, heavy, durable in soil, used in 
+Japan for furniture, cabinet work, railroad ties, and in ship-building. Planted in southern 
+Europe for timber. Well adapted for ornamental planting.
+Folk medicine — In China and Korea, flowers are used for tuberculosis and scrofula. 
+Decoction of fresh leaves said to allay skin irritation caused by lacquer. Root used for hernia. 
+An ointment for boils made with powdered charcoal from involucres mixed with oil.^"^^
+Chemistry — Per 100 g, the seed (ZMB) is reported to contain 399 calories, 7.0 g protein,
+1.4 g fat, 89.2 g total carbohydrate, 2.3 g fiber, 2.3 g ash, 79.8 mg Ca, 188 mg P, 3.8 mg 
+Fe, 37.6 mg Na, 0.89 mg thiamine, 0.42 mg riboflavin, 3.76 mg niacin, and 68.1 mg 
+ascorbic acid.®^
+Description — Small tree or shrub, often less than 10 m tall, but occasionally much 
+larger, up to 17 m, attaining great girth, with many spreading limbs and slender branches; 
+young shoots at first densely gray-white with short hairs, becoming glabrous or sparsely 
+velutinous; leaves at first densely stellate pubescent all over, retaining on under-surface 
+some pubescence or becoming glabrous, puberulous on veins above, elliptic to oblong- 
+lanceolate, or narrowly oblong, with long acuminate tip and cordate or round at base, margin 
+crenate-serrate or subentire with 10 to 25 bristle teeth on each side, 8 to 16 cm long, 3 to
+5 cm broad, thick and heavy, quite crinkly, dark lustrous green above, grayish-green beneath; 
+petiole pubescent, about 2 cm long, stipules soon deciduous, lanceolate, acuminate, gradually 
+broaden at base; winter buds short, ovoid, glabrous, shining crimson; staminate spikes 5 to 
+20 cm or more long, densely flowered, yellowish-white, erect or suberect; pistillate flowers 
+clustered among the male spikes, occurring in involucres about 5 mm thick, styles exserted, 
+about 3 mm long, densely covered with ascending long gray hairs; bur small in wild types, 
+in cultivated types often to 6 cm in diameter, with long, almost glabrous spines; nuts 2 to 
+3 per bur, hilum occupying whole basal area.^^^
+Germplasm — Reported from the China-Japan Center of Diversity, Japanese chestnut, 
+or CVS thereof, is reported to tolerate disease, frost, and slope.Several Japanese varieties 
+are grown extensively, as ‘Alpha’, ‘Reliance’, and ‘Parry’, the last being a hybrid with C. 
+dentata, suitable for planting in California. Other Japanese varieties include: ‘Advance’, 
+‘Beta’, ‘Biddle’, ‘Black’, ‘Col’, ‘Eureka’, ‘Felton’, ‘Hale’, ‘Kent’, ‘Kerr’, ‘Killan’, ‘Mar­
+tin’, ‘McFarland’, ‘Prolific’, ‘Success’, and ‘Superb’. ( 2 n = 22,24.)
+Distribution — Native to Japan (Honshu, Shikoku, Kyushu) and Korea. Much planted 
+in Japan for the nuts. Introduced and extensively planted in southern Europe for timber. 
+Introduced to the U.S. in 1876.^®® Hardy as far north as Massachusetts.^^*
+Ecology — Ranging from Cool Temperate Moist to Rain through Warm Temperate to 
+Moist Forest Life Zones, Japanese chestnut is reported to tolerate annual precipitation of
+9.4 to 23.4 dm (mean of 6 cases = 13.3), annual temperature of 9.9 to 15.8°C (mean of
+6 cases = 12.9°C), and pH of 5.0 to 6.8 (mean of 5 cases = 5.9).*^ Trees grow best on 
+well-drained, porous soil, with deep porous subsoil. Withstand temperatures and rainfall of 
+most temperate climates.Hardy to Zone 6.^^^^
+Cultivation — Trees propagated by whip-grafting to American chestnut (C. dentata). 
+American species usually cut down, and the sprouts springing from the remaining roots, 
+when 1.3 to 2 cm in diameter, are grafted with desired varieties of Japanese chestnut. Whip 
+and cleft methods of grafting are used. Trees already grafted with desired varieties may be 
+obtained for the orchard. Seedlings may be top-worked with the permanent kinds after they
+81
+have become established. Trees set out not less than 10 m apart each way. Trees may be 
+planted closer at first and thinned out for permanent spacing in 10 to 15 years. Meanwhile, 
+trees may be intercropped with vegetables or small tree crops. Two-year old grafts are 
+commonly loaded with burs. It is good practice to keep burs picked from young trees for 3 
+to 4 years to allow trees to become well-established before crop production is started. If 
+trees are allowed to over-bear, nuts run down in size. Japanese varieties do not abort their 
+burs, and seem to be completely self-fertile.^^^
+Harvesting — Trees are very productive and begin to fruit commercially when 6 years 
+old. Nuts are picked from the ground, dried, and stored until marketed or used.^^^
+Yields and economics — No yield data available, but all records state that trees are 
+precocious and very productive. Great quantities of Japanese chestnut are grown and con­
+sumed in Japan and China.
+Energy — Wood, burs, and husks may be used for fuel or charcoal production.
+Biotic factors — The following fungi are known to attack Japanese chestnut: Actinopelte 
+japónica, Botryosphaeria ribis, Capnodium salicinum, Cronartium quercinum, Cryptodia- 
+porthe castanea, Daedalea que reina, Endothia nitschkei, E. parasitica, E. radicalis, F ornes 
+melanoporus, Fomitopsis castanea, Gloeosporium castanicola, Helicobasidium mompa, 
+Laestadia orientalis, Leszites betulina, Limacinia cheni, Microsphaera alni, Monochaetia 
+desmazierii, M. pachyspora, Ovularia castaneae, Phyllactinia quercus, Phytophthora cam- 
+bivora, P. cinnamomi, Polyporus cinnabarinus, P. gilvus, P. hirsutas, P. nidulans, P. 
+pargamenus, P. rhodophaeus, P. tulipiferus, P. versicolor, Polystictus hirsutas, P. san­
+guineus, Puccineastrum castaneae, Pycnoporus coccineus, Schizophyllum commune, Sep- 
+toria gilletiana, Stereum gausapatum. Trámetes dickinsii, T. vittata. Also Bacterium castaneae 
+attacks trees. However, plants are resistant to Eastern Filbert B l i g h t . M o r e susceptible 
+to chestnut blight fungus, Endothia parasitica, than the Chinese species, C. mollissima. 
+Trees may deteriorate slowly or be killed before reaching maturity.
+82 Handbook of Nuts
+CAST ANEA DENT AT A (Marsh.) Borkh. (FAG ACE AE) — American or Sweet Chestnut 
+Syn.: Castanea americana Raf.
+Uses — Native and cultivated trees provide nuts which are sweeter than Old World types. 
+Nuts are gathered and sold in eastern U.S. markets. Reddish-brown wood light, soft, coarse­
+grained, elastic, moderately strong, easily split, easy to work, tending to warp on drying, 
+resistant to decay. Used in manufacture of cabinet work, caskets, crates, desks, furniture, 
+interior finishes of houses, pianos, railway ties, ship masts, fence posts, telephone poles, 
+rails, mine timbers, siding for bams and other buildings, paper pulp. Tannin in wood used 
+in tanning extracts. Formerly planted in eastern U.S. as an ornamental and for timber, as 
+well as for nuts.^’^^’^^'*
+Folk medicine — Reported to be astringent, sedative, tonic, and vermifuge, American 
+chestnut is a folk remedy for dysentery and pertussis.^’ Leaves have sedative properties. 
+Indians used the bark to treat worms and dysentery.
+Chemistry — Leaves contain 9% tannic acid, which is colored green with ferric salts, 
+and a mucilage insoluble in alcohol.Wood contains from 6 to 11% tannin.Chestnuts 
+are starchy nuts, containing ca. 40 to 45% carbohydrates and less than 1% oil, as compared 
+with pecans with 70% oil and other tree nuts with ca. 60% oil.^^^ Nuts contain ca. 1,700 
+calories/lb.^^^ According to Woodroof,^“^* chestnuts contain no oil and are very high in 
+carbohydrates, especially starch, making them more easily digestible than other nuts. Ranging 
+from 21 to 25% shells, 4.5 to 6.5% moisture, and 69 to 72% dry matter, native chestnuts 
+are reported to contain 2.66 to 2.72% ash, 12.20 to 12.23% total protein, 2.84 to 3.63% 
+fiber, 65.03 to 66.16% total nitrogen-free extract, and 16.08 to 16.42% fat.^"^^
+Description — Deciduous tree, up to 50 m tall; tmnk straight, columnar, 1 to 1.3 m in 
+diameter; when uncrowned the tmnk is shorter and 3.3 to 4 m in diameter; round-topped, 
+with horizontal limbs spreading to 30 m across; branchlets at first yellow-green, tinged with 
+red and pubemlous, becoming olive-green and glabrous, eventually becoming dark brown; 
+winter-buds ovoid, about 0.6 cm long, with dark-brown scales, scarious on margins; bark
+2.5 to 5 cm thick, dark-brown, deeply ridged with irregular, often intermpted fissures; leaves 
+oblong-lanceolate, apex acute, acuminate, base gradually narrowed and cuneate, 15 to 20 
+cm long, about 5 cm broad, when young yellow-green and pubemlous on upper surface and 
+tomentose beneath, becoming glabrous at maturity, turning yellow late in fall; petioles about
+1.3 cm long, slightly angled, pubemlous, often reddish; stipules ovate-lanceolate, pubem­
+lous, about 1.3 cm long; staminate aments at maturity 15 to 20 cm long, with crowded 
+flower-clusters; androgynous aments slender, pubemlous, 6 to 12.5 cm long, with 2 or 3 
+involucres if pistillate flowers near base; but 5 to 6.5 cm in diameter, covered with glabrous 
+much-branched spines, opening with frost and gradually shedding nut; nut much compressed,
+1.3 to 2.5 cm in diameter, broader than long, with thick pale tomentum at apex or nearly 
+to middle, interior of hull lined with mfous tomentum; kernel very sweet. Root system 
+extensive both laterally and vertically. Flowers with strong fragrance, June to July.^^®
+Germplasm — Reported from the North American Center of Diversity, American chestnut 
+or CVS thereof, is reported to tolerate drought, frost, heat, poor soil, sand, slope, and weeds. 
+Some varieties grown for nuts are ‘Ketchem’, ‘Watson’, and ‘GriffinHybrids with 
+blight-resistant Chinese and Japanese species have led to several mixed varieties not in 
+cultivation. Continuous efforts to find immune or resistant strains and repeated attempts to 
+produce resistant hybrids resembling it have failed to give varieties considered safe to plant. 
+‘Clapper’ is a hybrid from a cross of Chinese-American hybrid backcrossed to the American 
+chestnut, and is a rapid-growing timber-type.
+(2n = 24.)
+Distribution — Native throughout the eastern U.S. from southern Maine to southern 
+Ontario, south to Delaware, Ohio, southern Indiana, and along the mountains to northern
+83
+Georgia and western Florida, from sea-level in Massachusetts to 1,300 m in North Carolina, 
+reaching its greatest height in western North Carolina and eastern Tennessee. Until about 
+1905, chestnut was important for its durable wood and its nuts. Trees were nearly completely 
+destroyed by the Chestnut Blight, a fungus bark disease (Endothia parasitica). Sprouts and 
+shrubby growth from bases of wild trees still appear and sometimes persist long enough to 
+produce fruit.
+Ecology — Ranging from Cool Temperate Steppe to Moist through Warm Temperate to 
+Moist Forest Life Zones, American chestnut is reported to tolerate annual precipitation of 
+4.9 to 11.6 dm (mean of 3 cases = 8.3), annual temperature of 8.4 to 12.5°C (mean of 3 
+cases = 9.9), and pH of 5.6 to 7.3 (mean of 3 cases = 6.5).®^ Thrives on a variety of 
+soils, from almost pure sand to coarse gravels and shales. Does not grow well on limestone. 
+Prefers dry, well-drained, rocky land of the glacial drift to the richer, more compact alluvial 
+soil of lowlands. Chestnut does not need a rich soil so much as one whose physical structure 
+insures good drainage. Light is essential to the tree, since it is somewhat intolerant to shade. 
+Grows best in a cool climate, but can endure heat and dry sunny situations.Hardy to 
+Zone 4.^"^^
+Cultivation — Propagation is by direct seedling or by use of nursery-grown seedlings. 
+To prevent drying out and lowering of germination ability, collected seeds should be kept 
+stratified in moist sand until the following spring. The nursery should be located on fresh, 
+well-drained, fertile soil. Thorough cultivation of soil is required. Seed should be planted 
+about 2.5 cm apart in rows about 45 cm apart, at a depth of 2.5 cm. Bushel contains 6,500 
+to 8,000 nuts, sufficient to plant about 200 m of nursery rows, and to produce about 4,000 
+plants. While in the nursery, seedlings require careful cultivation and should be kept weed- 
+free. When planting in permanent sites, trees should be set 2 m apart each way. If trees are 
+to be grown directly from seed without transplanting, seed spots should be prepared, spaced 
+as above. Two or three seeds should be planted in each and covered about 2.5 cm deep 
+with fine soil. Only one tree should be allowed to remain in each hill. Little cultivation is 
+necessary after trees become established. Seedlings grow 25 to 37 cm by the end of the first 
+season and 37 to 50 cm per year until the 13th year.^^®
+Harvesting — Mature nuts should be gathered every other day during the period of 
+maturity. Frequent and clean collection of nuts is especially important if nuts are likely to 
+be infested with weevils or if weather is hot and dry. Within a week’s time, nuts on the 
+ground, or those in opened burs on trees, may become dry or they may mold and spoil. In 
+harvesting nuts from a tree, it is advisable to first knock nuts from opened burs with pole 
+and then gather up nuts from ground. If harvested nuts are infested with weevils, they should 
+be treated by immersing them in water at 49°C for 30 to 45 min, depending on size of nuts. 
+After heating for proper length of time, nuts are removed immediately from hot water and 
+permitted to dry. Nuts, gathered and treated, are spread out in a layer no more than 3 or 4 
+nuts deep to cure, on a floor or in trays in a well-ventilated building. Nuts should receive 
+no direct sunlight. Time for curing depends upon amount of moisture in air. Usually 1 or 
+2 days of curing is adequate. Under proper conditions, chestnuts can be stored from time 
+of harvest to late April with minimal spoilage; nuts come out of storage in the same condition 
+as they went in, and they have been found to germinate promptly. Chestnuts for eating may 
+be stored in deep freezers, but they must be cooked promptly after being removed. To freeze 
+the nuts, they should be shelled and the kernels blanched. Nuts must not be roasted slowly, 
+as they will explode in oven or they will not freeze satisfactorily. After shells have been 
+removed, if any of brown skin covering kernel remains, kernels should be blanched. This 
+is done by immersing kernels in boiling water for 1 or 2 min and quickly freezing them in 
+freezer containers. They are then kept — 18°C or lower until ready to be cooked, like frozen 
+peas or lima beans. Chestnuts are marketed packaged in cans, woven bags of cotton or jute, 
+or in baskets having tight-fitting lids.^^® Leaves are collected in September and October.
+84 Handbook of Nuts
+With smaller nuts, the American chestnut, had it survived productive, would be expected 
+to yield somewhat less than the European. Smith reports Italian yields of ca. 1100 kg/ha, 
+French of 1500, and Spanish of ca. 2800 kg/ha.
+Yields and economics — Yield varies from 6,500 to 8,000 nuts per bu. At present time, 
+American chestnut is not an item of commercial importance, either for the nuts or for timber, 
+as it was prior to 1907 to 1918, when most of the trees in the eastern U.S. were destroyed. 
+Chestnuts grown at present are hybrids of Chinese chestnuts (C. mollissima) or other species, 
+resistant to blight.
+Energy — Wood and burs may be used for firewood or for the production of charcoal.
+Biotic factors — American chestnut is devastated by Chestnut Blight {Endothia paras­
+itica), and since 1918 it has not been a commercial product.Weevils in the nuts are a 
+problem.Browne^^ lists the following as affecting this species: Fungi — Cryptodiaporthe 
+castanea, Daedalea quercina, Endothia parasitica, Phellinus gilvas, Phytophthora dentata, 
+Polyporus frondosas, P pargamenus, Urnula craterium; Acariña — Oligonychas bicolor, 
+Coleóptera — Elaphidion villosanr, Lepidoptera — Acronicta americana, Alsophila po- 
+metaria, Anisota virginiensis, Datana ministra, Disphargia gattivitta, Ennomos magnaria,
+E. sabsignaria, Lymantria dispar, Nematocampa dentata, Symmerista albifrons; and Mam­
+malia — Lepas americanas, Odocoileas virginianas. According to Agriculture Handbook 
+165,"^ the following are reported as affecting C. dentata: Actinopelte dryina (leaf spot), 
+Alearodiscas acerinas (bark patch), Anthostoma dryophilam, Armillaria mellea (root and 
+butt rot), Asconidiam castaneae, Botryosphaeria ribis, B. castaneae, Cenangum castaneae, 
+C. albo-atrum, Ceratostomella microspora, Chlorociboria aeruginosa, C. versiformia, 
+Chlorosplenium chlora, Clasterosporiam sigmoideam, Clitocybe illudens, C. monadelpha, 
+Colpoma quercinum, Corticium caeruleum, Coryneum spp., Cronartium cerebrum (rust), 
+Cryptodiaporthe castanea (twig canker), Cryptospora cinctula, Cylindrosporiam castaneae 
+(Leaf spot), Daedalea quercina, D. confragosa, Diaporthe eres, Didymella castañeda, 
+Diplodia longispora, Discohainesia oenotherae, Discosia artocreas, Endothia gyrosa, E. 
+radicalis. Fax olas alveolaris, F ene Stella castanicola, F. phaeospora. Fistulina hepática,
+F. pallida, Flammula sp.. Pomes annosas (root and butt rot), F. applanatus (butt rot or on 
+stumps), F. everhartii (white spongy heart rot), F. ohiensis, F. pinicola (brown crumbly 
+heart rot), F. scutellatus, Gnomonia setacea, Hymenochaete rubiginosa, Laestadia castan­
+icola, Lenzites betulina, Leptothyrium castaneae, Marssonina ochroleaca, Melanconis mo- 
+donia, Melanconium cinctum, Meraliasfagax, M. tremellosas, Microsphaerea alni (powdery 
+mildew), Monochaetia desmazierii (leaf spot), M. pachyspora, Mycosphaerella maculifor- 
+mis, M. punctiformis, Myxosporiam castaneam. Panas radis, P. stipticas, Pezicula par­
+par ascens, Pholiota adiposa, P. sqaarrosa, Phoma castanea, Phyllosticta castanea, P. 
+fusispora, Physalospora obtusa, Phytophthora cinnamomi, Pleurotus ostreatas, Polyporus 
+spp., Rutstroemia americana, Scolecosporiam fagi, Sphaerognomonia carpinea, Steccher- 
+inum adustum, Steream spp., Strumella coryneoidea, Trametes sepiam (wood rot), and 
+Xylaria hypoxylon.^^^'^^^'^^^
+85
+CASTANEA MOLLISSIMA Blume (FAGACEAE) — Chinese Hairy Chestnut 
+Syn.: Castanea saliva \ 2lt . formosana Hayata, Castanea formo sana (Hayata) Hayata,
+and Castanea bungeana Blume.
+Uses — Nut unexcelled in sweetness and general palatability by any other known chestnut. 
+By far the most common food nut, almost taking the place of potato in parts of the Orient. 
+Eaten raw, boiled, roasted, cooked with meat, made into confections, powdered and mixed 
+with candy, dried whole. Valuable for wildlife where nut production is more important than 
+timber. Recommended for hardiness, blight resistance and large nuts. Wood, leaves, and 
+bark used for their tannin content.Has merit as an ornamental tree.^'*^
+Folk medicine — Reported to be hemostat, Chinese chestnut is a folk remedy for diarrhea, 
+dysentery, epistaxis, nausea, and thirst.The flower is used for scrofula. Stem-bark used 
+for poisoned wounds; the sap for lacquer poisoning. The fruit pulp is poulticed onto animal 
+bites, rheumatism, and virulent sores; husk astringent and used for dysentery, nausea, and 
+thirst; charred husks applied to boils. The root is used for hernia.^
+Chemistry — Per 100 g, the seed (ZMB) is reported to contain 403 calories, 11.9 g 
+protein, 2.7 g fat, 83.2 g total carbohydrate, 2.2 g ash, 36 mg Ca, 168 mg P, 3.8 mg Fe, 
+216 |xg beta-carotene equivalent, 0.29 mg thiamine, 0.32 mg riboflavin, 1.44 mg niacin, 
+and 65 mg ascorbic acid.*^
+Description — Deciduous trees, long-lived, 15 to 20 m tall, spreading, round-topped; 
+branches glabrous, branchlets covered with dense pubescence of coarse spreading hairs;
+86 Handbook of Nuts
+leaves with dense stellate pubescence when young, this persistent on under-surface of mature 
+leaves, alternate, 10 to 20 cm long, 5 to 10 cm broad, with 12 to 20 deep serrations on 
+each side, oblong-lanceolate to elliptic-oblong, base rounded or cordate, apex acute to 
+scarcely acuminate; petioles 2 to 3 cm long, with few long hairs; stipules over 2 cm long, 
+very veiny and rugose, abruptly broadened; staminate spikes axillary or terminal, 20 cm 
+long or more; pistillate flowers in hirsute globose involucres 1 cm thick, situated at base of 
+male spikes or occasionally terminating some spikes; styles about 5 mm long, densely hirsute; 
+bur up to 6 cm thick, with long, very stout, strongly pubescent spines; nut about 2.5 cm 
+thick, with small to rather extensive patch of tawny felt at apex; nut with thin skin which 
+peels readily from kernel. Flowers late May to late June in Maryland, earlier south ward.
+Germplasm — Reported from the China-Japan Center of Diversity, Chinese chestnut, 
+or CVS thereof, is reported to tolerate disease, frost, and slope.Many cvs have been 
+introduced from China, and several hybrids with Japanese and American chestnuts have 
+been produced in attempts to breed-in blight-resistance. But most of them have failed for 
+one reason or another. Cultivars presently in the trade include: ‘Abundance’, which produces 
+110 nuts per kg (84 to 167); ‘Ruling’, ‘Meiling’, ‘Nanking’, and ‘Carr’; the latter produces 
+128 nuts per kg, has good cleaning quality, a sweet, pleasing flavor, and was the first variety 
+grafted in this country, but is not grown at the present time. Most of grafted Chinese chestnuts 
+have shown troublesome stock-scion incompatibility, which causes grafts to fail. Such 
+failures may occur in the first year, but more often after 4 to 6 years of vigorous growth. 
+Failure seems to relate to winter injury and is more frequent northward. Seedlings of selected 
+trees, as ‘Hemming’ from Maryland and ‘Peter Lui’ from Georgia, are among the most 
+promising. Seedlings of ‘Nanking’ come true to type and are planted commercially in the 
+South. Other cvs are hardy northward to Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and the 
+warmer areas of New York. Two of the more recent hybrids are ‘Sleeping Giant Chestnut’ 
+(C. mollissima x (C. crenata x C. dentata)) and ‘Kelsy Chestnut’ (C. mollissima x ?). 
+Also, ‘Stoke’ is a natural Japanese x Chinese chestnut hybrid.
+Distribution — Native to north and west China and Korea. First introduced in the U.S. 
+in 1853 and again in 1903 and 1906. This species has been in cultivation in China for a 
+long time. It is practically the only species of chestnut being planted in the U.S. for 
+commercial purposes.
+Ecology — Ranging from Warm Temperate Dry to Moist through Subtropical Dry to 
+Moist Forest Life Zones, Chinese chestnut is reported to tolerate annual precipitation of 9.4 
+to 12.8 dm (mean of 5 cases = 11.6), annual temperature of 10.3 to 17.6°C (mean of 5 
+cases = 14.2°C), and pH of 5.5 to 6.5 (mean of 5 cases = 5.9).^^
+Chinese chestnut requires much the same conditions of climate, soil, and soil moisture 
+as does peach. Air-drainage must be good, and frost pockets must be avoided. Trees grow 
+naturally on light-textured acid soils, but they show a wide range of tolerance for well- 
+drained soils of different textures. Young trees are sensitive to drought and may be killed. 
+Cultivars and hybrids are about as hardy as peach and may be planted in any areas where 
+peaches do well, most withstanding temperatures to -28°C when fully dormant. Unless 
+leaves are removed soon after turning brown, they are apt to become heavily laden with 
+wet snow or ice and cause severe damage. This situation is particularly common at altitudes 
+of 600 to 700 m, as in West Virginia.Hardy to Zone 4.^"^^
+Cultivation — Propagated readily from seed, from which selections are made. Nuts lose 
+their viability quickly after harvesting. Seeds may be germinated in nursery beds and the 
+seedlings planted out after two y e a rs.A s they do not compete well with weeds, young 
+trees should be kept cultivated for the first few years.Trees lend themselves readily to 
+orchard culture, although trees are not particularly vigorous. Trees are self-sterile; in order 
+to produce fruit, two or more cultivars should always be planted near each other for cross­
+pollination. Spring growth is rapid as long as soil is moist, but root development is shallow
+87
+during the first few years, and trees must be watered during dry periods. Young trees 
+frequently retain their leaves during much of the winter. Sun-scald on exposed sides of 
+trunks of newly planted trees may be a problem. Usually trees are headed low enough to 
+provide for shading by tops. Trees should be planted as close as 4 x 4 m or 4.6 X 4.6 m 
+each way; such trees should not be pruned. Cutting the lower branches from trunks invites 
+blight infection. Trees do best when left to grow in bush form. Trees planted in this manner 
+must have good cultivation, the same as for apple, peach, or pear trees.
+Harvesting — Trees begin to bear when 5 to 6 years old; those for orchard culture with 
+profitable crops begin in 10 to 12 years. Chestnuts should be harvested daily as soon as 
+burs open and nuts fall to ground. Nuts should be placed at once on shelves or in curing 
+containers with wooden or metal bottoms to prevent larvae which may crawl out of nut from 
+reaching the ground. All infected nuts should be promptly burned. For curing the nuts, they 
+should be spread thinly on floors or the like, stirred frequently and held for 5 to 10 days, 
+depending upon condition of nuts and atmospheric conditions at time of harvest. During the 
+curing period, nuts will shrink in weight, and the color will change from lustrous to dull 
+brown. Three weeks is about as long as Chinese chestnuts remain sound without special 
+treatment. Chestnuts should be marketed as promptly as possible to minimize deterioration. 
+Chestnuts in sound condition may be stored in cold storage with temperature just above 
+freezing; this is the simplest method. Stratifying in a wire-mesh container buried deeply in 
+moist, well-drained sand is also very satisfactory. Putting nuts in a tightly closed tin container 
+at refrigerator temperature or in cold storage at 0°C is also acceptable.
+Yields and economics — Average yields are about 13 to 25 kg per year per tree, with 
+large trees producing from 25 to 126 kg per tree.^^^ According to Wyman,trees are said 
+to produce an average crop of 34 to 45 kg edible nuts per tree. Major producers are China 
+and Korea. Very limited cultivation in U.S., with trend increasing.
+Energy — Wood and burs may be used to bum, as is, or converted to charcoal.
+Biotic factors — The following have been reported as affecting this species: Cronartium 
+cerebrum (mst), Cryptodiaporthe castanea (canker, dieback), Cytospora sp. (twig blight), 
+Diplodia sp. (twig blight), Discohainesia oenotherae, Gloeosporium sp. (blossom-end rot 
+of nuts), Marssonina ochroleuca (leaf spot), Phomopsis sp. (twig blight), Septoria gilletiana 
+(leaf spot), and Stereum gausapatum (heart rot)."^ Pollination is carried on by insects. Chinese 
+chestnut is largely, but not wholly, self-sterile. More than a single seedling or grafted cv 
+should be included in any planting. Several seedlings or several cvs would be better. Trees 
+producing inferior fruit should be removed. Chinese chestnut is not immune to the blight 
+(Endothia parasitica), but is sufficiently resistant for trees to persist and bear crops. Trees 
+develop bark cankers as a a result of infection, but the lesions usually heal. Nuts are attacked 
+by several diseases, either before or after harvest. Most serious pests are chestnut weevils, 
+often called curculios, which if unchecked, often render whole crops unfit for use.^® Trees 
+are often planted in poultry yards, in order to decimate the bugs. Japanese beetles are a 
+serious pest on leaves in some areas. June bugs and May beetle also feed on the newest 
+leaves, mainly at night.
+Jones et al.^^"^ report that in commercial and home plantings of Chinese chestnut in 6 
+southeastern and eastern states, 23 of the trees had main stem cankers incited by Endothia 
+parasitica. In general, they found the main stem canker incidence (13 to 93) was higher in 
+plantings of the Appalachian Mountain region than in the Piedmont region (2 to 13 incidence). 
+They found the trees that were damaged most were located in high-wind and cold-winter 
+areas of the Appalachian Mountains.
+88 Handbook of Nuts
+CASTANEA PUMILA (L.) Mill. (FAGACEAE) — Chinquapin, Allegany Chinkapin
+Uses — Kernels of nuts are sweet and edible, but are not consumed by humans very 
+much; they are more of a wildlife food;^^^ also used to fatten hogs.'^® Used by Indians in 
+making bread and a drink similar to hot chocolateboiled and strung to make necklaces.'^® 
+Shrubs useful for planting on dry, rocky slopes, as they are attractive when in flower and 
+again in fall with their light green burs and dark foliage. Often planted as an ornamental. 
+The light, coarse-grained, hard, strong, and dark-brown wood is used for fenceposts, rails, 
+and railway ties.^^^
+Folk medicine — Reported to be tonic and astringent, chinquapin is a folk remedy for 
+intermittent fevers.
+Chemistry — No data available.
+Description — Usually a spreading shrub east of Mississippi River, 2 to 5 m tall, forming 
+thickets, often only 1.3 to 1.6 m tall, westward in range to Arkansas and eastern Texas, 
+becoming a tree to 17 m tall with trunk up to I m in diameter, round-topped with spreading 
+branches; branchlets at first bright red-brown, pubescent or nearly glabrous, becoming olive- 
+green or dark-brown; winter-buds reddish, oval to ovoid, about 0.3 cm long, tomentose 
+becoming scurfy pubescent; bark 1.3 to 2.5 cm thick, light-brown tinged red, slightly 
+furrowed; leaves oblong-elliptic to oblong-ovate, 7.5 to 15 cm long, 3 to 5 cm broad, 
+coarsely serrate, acuminate, gradually narrowed, unequal, rounded or cuneate at base, early 
+tomentose on both surfaces, at maturity thick and firm, pubescent beneath, turning dull 
+yellow in fall; petioles pubescent to nearly glabrous, flattened on upper surface, up to 1.3 
+cm long; stipules pubescent, ovate to ovate-lanceolate to linear at end of branch; staminate 
+catkins single in leaf-axils toward ends of branches, simple with minute calyx and 8 to 20 
+stamens, yellowish-white, slender, at maturity 10 to 15 cm long, pubescent, flowers in 
+crowded or scattered clusters; pistillate flowers on catkins near very tips of branches, several 
+females near base, numerous males on more distal portion (androgynous), silvery tomentose, 
+7.5 to 10 cm long; fruits usually several or many in large compact head or spike, each 
+involucre 1-flowered, 2 to 3.5 cm wide; bur 2 to 3.5 cm in diameter, covered with crowded 
+fascicles of slender spines, tomentose at base; nut shining, reddish-brown, ovoid, 1 to 2.5 
+cm long, about 0.8 cm thick, coated with sil very-white pubescence, shell lined with lustrous 
+tomentum; kernel sweet. Flowers later than leaves. May to early June; fruits September to 
+October.
+Germplasm — Reported from the North American Center of Diversity, chinquapin, or 
+CVS thereof, is reported to tolerate frost, poor soil, slope, weeds, and waterlogging.^^ Few 
+selections of chinquapin have been made. More frequently it has been hybridized with 
+chestnuts. C. pumila var. ashei Sudw. (C. ashei Sudw.), the Coastal Chinquapin, grows 
+on sand dunes and in sandy woods along the coast from southeastern Virginia to northern 
+Florida and along the Gulf; small tree to 9 m tall and 26 cm in diameter, or large shrub, 
+leaves smaller, about 7.5 cm long and 3.5 cm broad, and spines on involucre less numerous. 
+Thought by some not to be distinct from species. Trees native to Arkansas and eastern Texas 
+are so much larger than those east of the Mississippi River, that they are considered by 
+some as a distinct species, Castanea ozarkensis Ashe; trees to 20 m tall, with narrowly 
+oblong elliptic leaves often 15 to 20 cm long, distinctly acuminate, coarsely serrate, with 
+triangular acuminate teeth, x Castanea neglecta Dode is a natural hybrid with American 
+chestnut (C. dentata), with intermediate leaves and involucres containing one large nut; 
+occurring in Blue Ridge areas (Highlands, North Carolina), ‘Essate-Jap’ is a hybrid between 
+the chinquapin and the Japanese chestnut, which forms a larger tree, with early flowers, 
+and nuts ripening 2 weeks or more before Chinese chestnuts; it grafts better on Japanese 
+stock than on Chinese. (2n = 24.)^^®
+Distribution — Native in eastern U.S. from southern New Jersey and Pennsylvania to
+89
+western Florida, through Gulf States to Texas (valley of Nueces River). It is most abundant 
+and attains its largest size in southern Arkansas and eastern Texas.
+Ecology — Ranging from Cool Temperate Wet through Subtropical Moist Forest Life 
+Zones, chinquapin is reported to tolerate annual precipitation of 11 to 13 dm, annual tem­
+perature of 12 to 19°C, and pH of 5.6 to 5.8.^^ Grows in mixed upland woods, on dry sandy 
+ridges, on hillsides, in sandy wastes, and along borders of ponds and streams, in dry or wet 
+acid soil. Occurs from sea-level to 1,500 m in the Appalachian Mountains. Prefers undis­
+turbed woods with plentiful humus, and a warm temperate climate.Grows in dry woods 
+and thickets.*^® Hardy to Zone 5.^^^^
+Cultivation — Propagated from seed, or often spreading by stolons. Seeds germinate 
+easily, sometimes sending out hypocotyl before reaching the ground. Although chinquapin 
+is planted, it is not cultivated as a crop. Occasionally, plants are planted for ornamentals, 
+or along edge of woods for wildlife food. Once planted, shrubs require no attention.
+Harvesting — Shrubs begin bearing nuts when 3 to 5 years old, and are prolific producers 
+of small, sweet, nutty-flavored nuts. Nuts harvested in fall by man and wildlife.
+Yields and economics — According to Rosengarten^^^ nuts of C. pumila, sweet and very 
+small, yield 400 to 700 nuts per lb (800 to 1540/kg), compared to 75 to 160/lb (165 to 
+352/kg) for the American chestnut, and 30 to 150/lb (66 to 330/kg) for Chinese chestnut. 
+Nuts are sold in markets in southern and western states. Timber is used west of the Mississippi 
+River. Most valuable as wildlife crop.^^^
+Energy — Wood and burs can be used for fuel, as is, or converted to charcoal.
+Biotic factors — Although chinquapin is not resistant to the Chestnut Blight (Endothia 
+parasitica), shrubs make up for loss of diseased stems by increased growth of remaining 
+stems and by production of new shoots.Agriculture Handbook 165"^ lists the following 
+as affecting C. pumula: Actinopelte dryina (leaf spot), Armillaria mellea (root and butt rot), 
+Cronartium cerebrum (rust), Cryptospora cinctula, Discohainesia oenotherae, Endothia 
+radicalis, Gnomonia setacea, Lenzites betulina and L. trabea (brown cubical rot of dead 
+trunks and timber), Marssonina ochroleuca (brown-bordered leaf spot, eyespot), Melan- 
+conium cinctum (on twigs), Microsphaerea alni (powdery mildew), Monochaetia desmazierii 
+(leaf spot), Phyllosticta castanea (leaf spot), Phymatotrichum omnivorum (root rot), Phy­
+tophthora cinnamomi (root and collar rot of nursery plants and forest trees). Poly poms spp. 
+(various wood rots), and Stereum spp. (various wood rots).
+90 Handbook of Nuts
+CAST ANEA SATIVA Mill. (FAG ACE AE)—European, Spanish, Italian, or Sweet Chestnut 
+Syn.: C astan ea vu lgaris Lam., C astan ea vesca Gaertn., and C astan ea castan ea Karst.
+Uses — European chestnuts are grown for the kernels of the nuts, extensively eaten by 
+humans and animals. Nuts used as vegetable, boiled, roasted, steamed, pureed, or in dressing 
+for poultry and meats. In some areas, chestnuts are considered a staple food, two daily 
+meals being made from them.^^® In some European mountainous regions, chestnuts are still 
+the staff of life, taking the place of wheat and potatoes in the form of chestnut flour, chestnut 
+bread, and mashed chestnuts. Flour made of ground chestnuts is said to have provided a 
+staple ration for Roman legions.In Italy, they are prepared like stew with gravy. Dried 
+nuts used for cooking purposes as fresh nuts, or eaten like peanuts. Culled chestnuts used 
+safely for fattening poultry and hogs. Cattle will also eat them.^^® Used as a coffee substitute, 
+for thickening soups, fried in oil; also used in brandy, in confectionary, desserts, and as a 
+source of oil. The relatively hard, durable, fine-grained wood is easy to split, not easy to 
+bend. Used for general carpentry, railroad ties, and the manufacture of cellulose. The bark 
+is used for tanning.
+Folk medicine — According to Hartwell,the nuts, when crushed with vinegar and 
+barley flour, have been said to be a folk remedy for indurations of the breasts. Reported to 
+be astringent, sedative and tonic, European chestnut is a folk remedy for circulation problems, 
+cough, extravasation, fever, hematochezia, hernia, hunger, hydrocoele, infection, inflam­
+mation, kidney ailments, myalgia, nausea, paroxysm, pertussis, rheumatism, sclerosis, scro­
+fula, sores, stomach ailments, and wounds.Aqueous infusion of leaves used as tonic, 
+astringent, and effective in coughs and irritable conditions of respiratory organs.
+Chemistry — Per 100 g, the seed (ZMB) is reported to contain 406 to 408 calories, 6.1 
+to 7.5 g protein, 2.8 to 3.2 g fat, 87.7 to 88.6 g total carbohydrate, 2.3 to 2.4 g fiber, 2.0 
+to 2.1 g ash, 30.3 to 56.8 mg Ca, 184 to 185 mg P, 3.4 to 3.6 mg Fe, 12.6 to 32.3 mg 
+Na, 956 to 1705 mg K, 0.46 mg thiamine, 0.46 mg riboflavin, and 1.21 to 1.26 mg niacin.®^ 
+Chemical composition is similar to that of wheat; starch is easily digested after cooking. 
+WoodrooU"^^ reports Spanish chestnuts to contain 2.87 to 3.03% ash, 9.61 to 10.96% total 
+protein, 2.55 to 2.84% fiber, 73.75 to 77.70% total nitrogen-free extract, and 7.11 to 9.58% 
+fat. In a study on chestnuts from 19 natural stands in southern Yugoslavia, Miric et al.^^"^ 
+found in most samples the total fat content was between 4 and 5, the highest 5.62. Oleic 
+and linoleic acids predominated, followed by palmitic.
+Description — Tree 30 m or more tall, with girth to 10 m; trunk straight, smooth, and 
+blackish or dark-green in youth, finally becoming brownish-gray with deep longitudinal and 
+often spirally curved fissures; branches wide-spreading; young shoots at first minutely downy, 
+becoming glabrous; buds ovoid, obtuse, the terminal one absent; young leaves densely 
+stellately pubescent, becoming glabrous; mature leaves 10 to 25 cm long, 3 to 7 cm broad, 
+oblong-elliptic to oblong-lanceolate, apex long-acuminate, base more or less rounded or 
+cordate, upper surface soft green, lower paler; blades rather thick and stiff, with 6 to 20 
+bristles on each of the rather deeply serrate margins; petioles minutely velutinous, glandular- 
+lepidote or glabrous, about 2 cm long; stipules lanceolate, long-acute, gradually broadened 
+at base, 1 to 2.5 cm long, not markedly veined; winter buds dull-red, pubescent, long ovoid- 
+conic; staminate spikes 8 to 10 cm long, about 1 cm thick; pistillate flowers at base of male 
+spikes in large globose strigose involucres 1 to 2 cm thick; styles exserted up to 8 mm, 
+sparsely marked with ascending appressed hairs; bur green, 4 to 6 cm in diameter, with 
+numerous slender minutely pubescent spines up to 2 cm long; inside or husk marked by 
+very dense golden felt; nuts shining brown, with paler base, often 2 to 3.5 cm in diameter, 
+at tip thickly pubescent, bearing a short stalked perigynium with its persistent styles; kernel 
+variable from bitter to sweet. Flowers late May to July.^^^
+Germplasm — Reported from the Near East Center of Diversity, European chestnut, or
+91
+CVS thereof, is reported to tolerate bacteria, frost, mycobacteria, and slope.The only 
+disadvantage of the European chestnut is that the skin is astringent, but since most of them 
+are cooked before eating, the skin is removed readily. The skin should not be eaten, as it 
+is indigestible. When European is crossed with American Sweet, this difficulty is modified 
+or eliminated. The following are some of the most generally cultivated cvs. ‘Marrón Corn- 
+bale’, ‘Marrón Nousillard’, and ‘Marrón Quercy’ originated in France; all have the very 
+large light- to dark-brown nuts and are very productive; ‘Numbo’ and ‘Paragon’ are the 
+most frequently grown cvs in the U.S.; they have medium-large, roundish nuts of fair quality, 
+and bear regularly. ‘Ridgely’, originated in Dover, Delaware, has fair-sized nuts, of very 
+good quality and flavor, with 2 or 3 nuts per bur; it is vigorous and productive. ‘Rochester’ 
+and ‘Comfort’ are grown to a limited extent. Hybrids with C. dentata have leaves with 
+cuneate bases. Some garden forms have variegated leaves or laciniate leaves (var. asplenifolia 
+Lodd.). (2n = 22,24.
+Distribution — Native from southern Europe through Asia Minor to China. Cultivated 
+in many parts of the Himalayas, especially in Punjab and Khasia Hills. Naturalized in central, 
+western, and northern Europe, almost forming forests. Introduced on Pacific Coast of the 
+U.S. Extensively planted for its nuts and timber.Introduced to the U.S. in 1773 by 
+Thomas Jefferson.
+Ecology — Ranging from Cool Temperate Steppe to Wet through Warm Temperate Steppe 
+to Dry Forest Life Zones, European chestnut is reported to tolerate precipitation of 3.9 to 
+13.6 dm (mean of 14 cases = 8.6), annual temperature of 7.4 to 18.0°C (mean of 14 cases 
+= 10.8), and pH of 4.5 to 7.4 (mean of 10 cases = 6.4).^^
+In woods, and often forming forests, on well-drained soils, often on mountain slopes, 
+usually calcifuge. Acclimated to all temperate areas. Trees retain foliage late in fall.^^^
+Cultivation — Thorough preparation of soil before planting is essential. For orchard 
+planting, trees are propagated by grafting and budding. Whip grafts on small shoots or 
+stocks about 1.3 to 2 cm in diameter, or cleft grafts on shoots 1.3 to 3 cm in diameter give 
+most successful results. Bark graft on shoots is also successful. In any method of grafting, 
+great care must be used in waxing and then rewaxing in about 2 weeks. Wax should cover 
+cuts made in stock and scion, and should be applied immediately after inserting the latter. 
+Scion should be waxed for its entire length, leaving no bubbles. Cover whole by tying paper 
+bag over top. European types frequently outgrow stocks and cause an enlarged imperfect 
+union. For orchard planting, trees should be spaced 13 x 13m, 17 x 17m, or20 x 20 
+m; on good soil, the latter is preferable. Row could be set 20 m apart, with trees 7 to 8 m 
+apart in rows. It may be necessary to remove every other tree after they reach a certain size. 
+Good distance between rows provides for better growth of trees, and interplanting with 
+vegetables or small fruits. In any event, do not crowd chestnut trees. Dig holes 75 x 75 
+cm, breaking down topsoil around rim and allowing it to fall into hole. Always use fine 
+top-soil around roots and firm soil well after planting. Before planting, cut with knife all 
+broken or bruised roots, and clip end of every root. Set trees no deeper than in nursery and 
+in same position, the bark on the north side being greener than that on south side. There 
+will be less loss from sunburn if southern side, hardened by exposure, is again placed to 
+the south. During first year or two, trees should be shaded. Sometimes the trunk is wrapped 
+with paraffined paper or burlap, lightly enough not to interfere with flow of sap. After 
+planting, cut back top to about 1.6 m; if tree is a straight whip, or if branched, cut branches 
+down to 2 or 3 buds from trunk. Staking young trees is desirable, but not necessary. Young 
+trees should be pruned to an open spreading form with 3 to 5 main branches on which top 
+will eventually form, after which trees need little care other than good culture. If trees are 
+allowed to overbear, nuts run down in size. Trees usually develop well without irrigation, 
+but larger yields result when water is applied. While tree is young, regular irrigation is very 
+desirable. Unless intercrops are grown, irrigation may be limited to one application per
+92 Handbook of Nuts
+month during growing season, after trees are bearing. Young trees may require irrigation 
+twice a month. Water should penetrate well into subsoil. Light irrigation induces shallow 
+rooting, which is undesirable. Do not continue irrigation too late in growing season, as it 
+is likely to make nuts crack open or over-develop them. Cracked nuts soon spoil and mold. 
+Cultivation must be thorough, so that free growth is promoted. After maturity, cultivation 
+need not be so intensive. During the first few years, it is advisable to hoe around tree by 
+hand, but after tree is well-established, annual plowing or cultivation after each irrigation 
+is sufficient. Annual cover crops may be used to build up or maintain soil fertility. Two- 
+year-old grafts are commonly loaded with burs, and if such grafted trees show a tendency 
+to bear heavily while young, burs should be thinned out so that very few remain. Otherwise, 
+trees will grow out of shape and be retarded in their development. Sometimes burs are 
+picked from trees for 3 or 4 years until trees become well established, before beginning nut 
+production. With seedlings and grafted trees, a mixture of cvs gives better yield of nuts. If 
+all burs are filled, tree would not stand the weight nor develop nuts to marketable size. 
+Many burs are empty and many have few mature nuts, perhaps a provision of nature, rather 
+than poor pollination. Many trees self-prune (drop) fruits or abort seeds.
+Harvesting — Allow burs to mature thoroughly and fall of their own accord. Some cvs 
+stick, so that shaking or jarring the limbs is useful. In other cvs, burs open, and nuts fall 
+to ground. Burs which fall and do not open can be made to shed their nuts by pressure of 
+the feet or by striking with small wooden mallet. Some harvesters use heavy leather gloves 
+and twist nuts out of burs by hand. Nuts should be picked up every morning and stored in 
+sacks, if they are to be shipped at once. If they are to be kept for a while, they should be 
+piled on floor to sweat. Pile should be stirred twice a day for 2 days, and then nuts sacked. 
+Always store nuts so that air can circulate freely. Do not pile up sacks for any length of 
+time, as they will heat and mold. If stacking is necessary, place sticks between sacks for 
+ventilation. In gathering nuts, the collector usually has two pails or containers, one for first- 
+grade perfect nuts, the other for culls.
+Yields and Economics — Yields average from 45 to 136 kg per tree.^^* In 60- to 80- 
+year-old stands in Russia, yields average 770 kg/ha, up to 1230 kg/ha in better stands. 
+Italy reports ca. 1100, France ca. 1500 to 2200, and Spain ca. 2800 k g /h a .In the best 
+years, 5,000 kg/ha are reported.^*® Nuts are marketed to a limited degree, but are mostly 
+locally cultivated and used.^^^
+Energy — Wood and burs may be used for firewood or for the production of charcoal.
+Biotic factors — European chestnut is susceptible to diseases of other chestnuts, especially 
+susceptible to attacks of leaf fungi.Agriculture Handbook 165"^ reports the following as 
+affecting C. sativa: Actinopelta dryina (leaf spot), Cronartium cerebrum (rust), Endothia 
+parasitica (blight), Exosporium fawcettii (canker, dieback), Marssonina ochroleuca (leaf 
+spot), Melanconis modonia (twig blight), Microsphaera alni (powdery mildew), Phyllactinia 
+corylea (powdery mildew), Phyllosticta castanea (leaf spot), Phymatotrichum omnivorum 
+(root rot), Phytophthora cinnamomi (root and collar rot of seedlings), Schizophyllum com­
+mune (sapwood rot), and Stereum versiforme. Browne^^ adds: Fungi — Armillaria mellea, 
+Cerrena unicolor, Daedalea quercina, Dematophora sp., Diplodina castaneae, Fistulina 
+hepática. Fames mastoporus, Ganoderma applanatum, G. lucidum, Ilymenochaete rubi­
+ginosa, Inonotus cuticularis, /. dryadeus, Laetiporus sulphureus, Microsphaera alphitoides, 
+Mycosphaerella castanicola, Phyllactinia guttata, Phytophthora cactorum, P. cambivora, 
+P. cinnamomi, P. syringae, Polyporus rubidus, P. squamosus, P. tulipiferae, Rhizinia 
+inflata, Rosellinia radiciperda, Sclerotinia candolleana, Stereum hirsutum. Valsa ambiens, 
+Verticillium alboatrum; Angiospermae — Viscum album; Coleóptera — Attelabus nitens. 
+Platypus cylindrus, Prionus coriareus, Xyleborus dispar; Hemiptera — Lachnus roboris, 
+Myzocallis castanicola, Quadraspidiotus perniciosus; Lepidoptera — Carcina quercana, 
+Euproctis scintillans, Lithocolletis messaniella, Pammene fasciana, Suana concolor; and 
+Mammalia — Dama dama, Sciurus carolinensis.
+93
+CASTANOSPERMUM AUSTRALE A.Cunn. et Fräs. (FABACEAE) — Moreton Bay Chest­
+nut, Black Bean Tree
+Uses — Australian aborigines processed the seeds for food. Of its edibility, Allen and 
+Allen* say, “ The edibility of the roasted seed of C. australe, often equated with that of the 
+European chestnut, has been overestimated. Some writers rate its edibility about equal to 
+that of acorns, or as acceptable only under dire circumstances of need and hunger . . . The 
+astringency of fresh seeds is reduced or removed by soaking and roasting, although even 
+after such treatment ill effects are known to occur.“ * Commonly cultivated in Australia in 
+home gardens and as a street tree, this species is well known in the timber trade as Black 
+Bean. In view of the shape and configuration of the seeds, I believe “ Brown Buns” would 
+be more appropriate. The timber dresses well and is regarded as a heavy cabinet timber. 
+Before synthetics, the wood was used for electrical switchboards, because of its particularly 
+high resistance to the passage of electric current. The wood is also used in inlays, panels, 
+umbrella handles, ceilings, plywood, and carved jewel boxes. In South Africa, it is frequently 
+cultivated for shade and as an oramental, suitable for planting along suburban sidewalks. 
+Around Sydney, Australia, they have become popular as a house plant for short term 
+decoration.The NAS^^^ classifies this as a “ vanishing timber” , used sometimes as a 
+walnut substitute (750 kg/m^).
+Folk medicine — Extracts have given negative antibiotic tests. According to the Threat­
+ened Plants Newsletter,"^"^^ 100 kg of seed were shipped to the U.S. for cancer and AIDS 
+research, research which is suggesting anti-AIDS activity, in vitro at least. In a letter (1987), 
+Dr. K. M. Snader, of the National Institutes of Health,tells me, “ I do not at this moment 
+know if castanospermine will become an AIDS treatment, but it is showing some activity 
+in our screening systems. Indeed, there is enough interest to want to look further at the 
+pharmacology and to explore other products with either similar structures or with the same 
+mechanism of action.”
+Chemistry — Australian cattle fatalities are reported from grazing the fallen seed during 
+dry periods (mostly October to December). Unfortunately, the cattle may develop a liking 
+for the seed. Also, with the leaves, cattle becoming fond of them may pine away and die 
+if deprived of them.^^^ Seeds contain the triterpenoid castanogenin. The structure is outlined 
+in Hager’s Handbook. ^*^ The wood contains bay in (C2H20O9) and bayogenin. Castanospermine
+94
+Handbook of Nuts
+is said to inhibit alpha- and beta-glucosidases, beta-xylosidase, and to inhibit syncytra 
+formation in HIV-infected CD4 positive cells/"^^ According to Saul et al./^® castanospermine 
+decreases cytoplasmic glycogen in vivo in rats, showing a dose-dependent decrease in alpha- 
+glucosidase activity in the liver (50% at 250 mg/kg), spleen (50% at 250), kidney (48% at 
+250), and brain (55% at 50 mg/kg). At doses of 2,000 mg/kg, the rats experienced diarrhea 
+(reversible with diet) with decreased weight gain and liver size. With the HIV, there is a 
+dose-dependent decrease in syncytium formation (H9 human aneuploid neoplastic cells 
+infected with HIV) with complete inhibition at 100 |xg/m€. Apparently, it affects the envelope 
+protein, not the CD4 receptor glycoprotein. At 50 p-g/mi, it inhibits the cell death of infected 
+cells. And there is a dose-dependent decrease in extracellular virus (a million-fold at 200 
+pg/ m€ ) . ^ ^ 2
+Toxicity — The unpleasant purgative effects of fresh seeds and their indigestibility are 
+attributed to the 7% saponin content. Later writers question the presence of saponin. The 
+sawdust irritates the nasal mucosa.^ Brand et al.'^^ report an uninspiring 79% water, 3.2% 
+protein, 0.7 g fat, and 0.5 g fiber. Menninger^®^ quotes one of his sources, “ Recently 14 
+Air Force personnel were admitted to the hospital after being on a survival mission and 
+eating the seed.”
+Description — Tall, glabrous, slow-growing, evergreen trees to 45 m tall, 1 to 2 m DBH. 
+Leaves large, imparipinnate; leaflets large, 8 to 17, glossy, short-petioled, elliptic, tapering, 
+leathery; stipels absent. Flowers large, orange-to-reddish yellow, in short, loose racemes in 
+the axils of old branches; bracts minute; braceteoles none; calyx thick, large, colored; teeth 
+broad, very short; standard obovate-orbicular, narrowed into a claw, recurved; wings and 
+keel petals shorter than the standard, free, subsimilar, erect, oblong; stamens 10, free; anthers 
+linear, versatile; ovary long-stalked, many-ovuled; style incurved; stigma terminal, blunt. 
+Pod elongated, 18 to 25 cm long, subfalcate, turgid, leathery to woody, 2-valved, valves 
+hard, thick, spongy inside between the 2 to 6, large, globose, chestnut-brown seeds.® Seeds 
+2 to 4 cm broad. Fruiting February to April in Australia.
+Germplasm — Reported from the Australian Center of Diversity, Moreton Bay chestnut, 
+or CVS thereof, should tolerate some salt. It tolerates shade and some drought, but little frost. 
+(2n = 26.)
+Distribution — Only of local importance in its native Australia and New Caledonia. 
+Native to the tablelands of northeast Australia, Queensland, and New South Wales. Intro­
+duced into Sri Lanka ca. 1874. Introduced and surviving as far as 35°S in Australia. Now 
+somewhat common in India and the East Indies. Planted as an ornamental in the warmer 
+and more humid parts of South Africa.
+Ecology — Estimated to range from Subtropical Dry to Rain through Tropical Dry to 
+Wet Forest Life Zones, this species is estimated to tolerate annual precipitation of 10 to 60 
+dm, annual temperature of 20 to 26°C, and pH of 6.0 to 8.5. Apparently damaged by heavy 
+frost (but tolerating 0°C in Sydney). Usually in coastal or riverine forests. Best suited to 
+rich loam, it will succeed on sandy, less-fertile soils.
+Cultivation — Seeds should be sown fresh and barely covered (1 to 2 cm) with soil. 
+They should germinate in 10 to 21 days when planted at 20 to 30°C. They can be held 6 
+to 8 months at 4°C.
+Harvesting — For reasons not fully understood, the tree often fails to fruit where it has 
+been introduced as an ornamental. For example, it grows well at Singapore and Manila, 
+apparently without fruiting. Some West Indian introductions have fruited at ca. 20 years of 
+age. The seeds may be steeped in water for 8 to 10 days, then dried in the sun, roasted on 
+hot stones, pounded, and ground into meal.
+Yields and economics — Data provided me by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) indicate 
+that one could obtain 100 g pure castanospermine from 1,(X)0 lb seed, suggesting yields of 
+0.0(X)2203% or ca. 2 ppm. Before the NCI AIDS announcement July 24, 1987, the Sigma
+95
+Chemical Company was offering castanospermine at $22.60 to $23.80 per mg or $89.50 to 
+$94.20 per 5 mg, which translates to $8 million to $10 million per pound. There is a newly 
+published synthesis which can produce 100 mg and four isomers for $10,000. So the price 
+will come down.
+Energy — The wood has a density of 800 kg/m^. If the seed contains only 2 ppm 
+castanospermine, most of the residual biomass could be used for fuel.
+Biotic factors — The timber is subject to wood-rotting fungi and to termites. The sapwood 
+is subject to beetle attack. Apparently omithophilous (pollinated by birds) and distributed 
+by water. Nodulation and rhizobia have not yet been reported.^
+96 Handbook of Nuts
+CEIBA PENTANDRA (L.) Gaertn. (BOMBACACEAE) — Kapok, Silk Cotton Tree 
+Syn: Eriodendron anfractuosum DC. and Bombax pentandrum L.
+Uses — Valued as a honey plant. Young leaves are sometimes cooked as a potherb. In 
+the Cameroons, even the flowers are eaten. I have used the water from the superficial roots 
+when clean drinking water was unavailable.^® Silky fiber from pods used for stuffing pro­
+tective clothing, pillows, lifesavings devices; as insulation material, mainly against heat and 
+cold, because of its low thermal conductivity, and sound, and for caulking various items, 
+as canoes. Fiber contains 61 to 64% cellulose, the rest lignin and other substances, including 
+a toxic substance, making it resistant to vermin and mites. Wrapped around the trunk of a 
+fruit tree, it is supposed to discourage leaf-cutting ants. Fiber is white or yellowish, cylin­
+drical, each a single cell with a bulbous base, resilient, water-resistant, with buoyance 
+superior to that of cork. The floss, irritating to the eyes, is used to stuff life-preservers, 
+mattresses, pillows, saddles, etc., and it also used as tinder. In the U.S., baseballs may be 
+filled with kapok. Mixed with other fibers, like cotton, it is used in the manufacture of 
+carpets, laces, felt hats, “ cotton” , fireworks, and plushes. Fiber can be bleached or dyed 
+like cotton. Seeds are the source of an oil (20 to 25% in seed, about 40% in kernel), used 
+for illumination, for soap making, or as a lubricant. Seed oil roughly comparable to peanut 
+oil; used for the same purposes as refined cotton-seed oil. West Africans use the seeds, 
+pounded and ground to a meal, in soups, etc. Roasted seeds are eaten like peanuts. Some 
+people sprout the seeds before eating them. The young fruits are a vegetable like okra. 
+Expressed cake serves for fodder. The timber, though little used, is said to be excellent at 
+planing, sanding, and resistance to screw-splitting. Used for boxes, matches, toys, drums, 
+furniture, violins, dugouts (said to float even when capsized), and for tanning leather. Shaping 
+and boring qualities are poor, turning very
+97
+Folk medicine — According to Hartwell,Ceiba is used in folk remedies for nasal 
+polyps and tumors. Reported to be antidiarrheic, astringent, diuretic, emetic, and emollient, 
+Ceiba pentandra is a folk remedy for bowel disorders, foot ailments, female troubles, 
+headache, hydropsy, leprosy, neuralgia, parturition, spasm, sprain, swelling, tumors, and 
+wounds.^’ The Bayano Cuna use the bark in medicine for female troubles. The roots are 
+used in treating leprosy. A bath of a bark infusion is supposed to improve the growth of 
+hair (Colombia). The same infusion is given to cattle after delivery to help shed the placenta.^® 
+Gum used as tonic, alterative, astringent, or laxative. Young leaves are emollient. Roots 
+used as diuretic and against scorpion stings. Juice of roots used as a cure for diabetes. 
+Ayurvedics used the alexeiteric gum for blood diseases, hepatitis, obesity, pain, splenosis, 
+and tumors. Yunani use the leaves for boils and leprosy, the gum and/or the root for 
+biliousness, blood diseases, dysuria, and gonorrhea, considering them antipyretic, aphro­
+disiac, diuretic, fattening, and tonic. Others in India use the roots for anasarca, ascites, 
+aphrodisia, diarrhea, and dysentery; the taproot for gonorrhea and dysentery; the gum for 
+menorrhagia, and urinary incontinence in children.Malayans use the bark for asthma and 
+colds. Javanese mix the bark with areca, nutmeg, and sugar candy for bladder stones. 
+Liberians use the infusion as a mouthwash. In Singapore, leaves are mixed with onion and 
+turmeric in water for coughs. Javanese use the leaf infusion for catarrh, cough, hoarseness 
+and urethritis. Cambodians use the leaves to cure migraine and inebriation. In French Guiana, 
+flowers are decocted for constipation. In Reunion, the bark is used as an emetic. Annamese 
+also use the bark as emetic, the flowers for lochiorrhea and plague, the seed oil as an 
+emollient. West Indians use the leaves in baths and poultices for erysipelas, sprained or 
+swollen feet, and to relieve fatigue. The tea is drunk for colic and inflammation. French- 
+speaking West Indians take the root decoction as a diuretic. Latin Americans apply the bark 
+to wounds and indolent ulcers, using the inner bark decoction as antispasmodic, diuretic, 
+emetic, and emmenagogue, and for gonorrhea and hemorrhoids.Colombians use the leaf 
+decoction as a cataplasm or bath for boils, infected insect bites and the like.'®^ Nigerians 
+use the seed oil for rheumatism.Bark extracts show curare-like action on anesthetized cat 
+nerves.
+Chemistry — Per 100 g, the seed is reported to contain 530 calories, 30.4 to 33.2 g 
+protein, 23.1 to 39.2 g fat, 21.6 to 38.3 g total carbohydrate, 1.6 to 19.6 g fiber, 6.1 to 
+8.2 g ash, 230 to 470 mg Ca, 970 to 1269 mg Contains little or no gossypol, the seeds 
+contain 20 to 25% (kernel, ca. 40%) oil. The percentages of fatty acids in the oil are oleic, 
+43.0; linoleic, 31.3; palmitic, 9.77; stearic, 8.0; arachidic, 1.2; and lignoceric, 0.23. Analysis 
+of the seed-cake gave the following values: moisture, 13.8; crude protein, 26.2; fat, 7.5; 
+carbohydrate, 23.2; fiber, 23.2; and ash, 6.1%; nutrient ratio, 1:1.5; food units, 107. Analysis 
+of a sample from Indo-China gave: nitrogen, 4.5; phosphoric acid, 1.6; potash, 1.5%. 
+Analysis of the wood gave: moisture, 9.8; ash, 5.9; fats and waxes, 0.62; cellulose, 68.3; 
+and lignone, 25.2%. The yield of bleached pulp was 30%. Destructive distillation of wood 
+from West Africa gave: charcoal, 28.4; crude pyroligneous acid, 43.7; tar, 12.8; and acetic 
+acid, 2.3%.^° The floss contains pentosans and uronic anhydrides. Root and stem bark 
+contain HCN. Leaves contain quercetin, camphorol, caffeic acid, and resin. Bark contains 
+up to 10.82% tannin.
+Toxicity — The air-borne floss can induce allergy and conjunctivitis.
+Description — Deciduous, umbraculiform, buttressed, armed or unarmed, medium to 
+large trees to 70 m tall, more often to 33 m tall, spines conical when young; branches 
+horizontal in whorls and prickly when young; leaves alternate, stipulate, long-petiolate, 
+palmately compound with 5 to 11 leaflets, these elliptic or lanceolate, acuminate, entire or 
+toothed, up to 16 cm long, 4 cm broad; flowers nudiflorous, numerous, in axillary dense 
+clusters or fascicles on pedicels 8 cm long, near ends of branches; calyx 5-lobed, 1 to 1.5 
+cm long, green, bell-shaped, persistent; petals 5, fleshy, forming a short tube and spreading
+98 Handbook of Nuts
+out to form a showy flower 5 to 6 cm in diameter; cream-colored, malodorous; stamens 
+united into a 5-branched column 3 to 5 cm long; ovary 5-celled; fruit a 5-valved capsule, 
+ellipsoid, leathery, 20 to 30 cm long, about 8 cm in diameter, filled with numerous balls 
+of long silky wool, each enclosing a seed; seeds black, obovoid, enveloped in copious, 
+shining silky hairs arising from inner walls of capsule. Flowers December to January; fruits 
+March to April.
+Germplasm — Reported from the Indochina-Indonesia, Africa, and Middle America 
+Centers of Diversity, kapok, or cvs thereof, is reported to tolerate drought, high pH, heat, 
+insects, laterite, low pH, slope, and virus.The Indonesian cv ‘Reuzenrandoe’ (giant kapok) 
+bears some characteristics of the var. caribaea. “ Some authors believe in an Ameri­
+can/African origin of the kapok tree. If America is the sole center of origin, then the African 
+center is secondary. The African kapok tree is divided into the caribaea-forest type and the 
+caribaea-savannah type. The latter type, which has a broadly spreading crown, is planted 
+in market places. It is possible that this type arose from cuttings of plagiotropic branches. 
+Some research has gone into developing whiter floss, indehiscent pods, and spineless trunks. 
+Trees are quite variable in the spininess of the stem, habit of branching, color of flowers, 
+size of fruits, manner of fruit opening, and length, color, and resiliency of fibers of floss. 
+Based on these characteristics, three varieties are recognized: var. indica, Indian forms; var. 
+caribaea, American forms; and var. africana, African form s.(2n = 72,80,82)
+Distribution — Probably native to tropical America; widely distributed in hotter parts of 
+western and southern India, Andaman Islands, Burma, Malaysia, Java, Indochina, and 
+southeast Asia, North Borneo; cultivated in Java.^^^ According to Zeven and Zhukovsky, 
+it was believed that the kapok tree originated in an area which was later divided by the 
+Atlantic Ocean, so this species is native both to America and Africa. This conclusion is 
+based mainly on the great variability of this plant and on the high frequency of dominant 
+inherited characteristics in these two continents. Another thought is that seeds may have 
+come from America in prehistoric times and that later introduction increased the variability. 
+Because of its chromosome number, a polyploid origin is suggested. If this supposition is 
+correct, the kapok tree can only have arisen in that area where its parents occur. As all other 
+Ceiba species are restricted to America, this would also indicate an American origin.
+Ecology — Ranging from Subtropical Dry to Wet through Tropical Thom to Wet Forest 
+Life Zones, kapok is reported to tolerate annual precipitation of 4.8 to 42.9 dm (mean of 
+134 cases = 15.2), annual temperature of 18.0 to 28.5°C (mean of 129 cases = 25.2°C), 
+and pH of 4.5 to 8.7 (mean of 45 cases = 6.7).^^ Hardy to Zone 10."^^^ It thrives best in 
+monsoon climates below 500 m altitude. Where night temperatures are below 20°C, fmits 
+do not set. Trees damaged by high winds and waterlogging. Requires well-drained soil, in 
+areas with annual rainfall of 125 to 150 cm, with abundant rainfall during the growing 
+season and a dry period from time of flowering until pods ripen. In Java, commonly grown 
+around margins of fields and along roadsides.
+Cultivation — On plantations, kapok is usually propagated from seeds of high-yielding 
+trees. Planted in nurseries about 30 cm apart, seedlings are moved to the field when about 
+9 months old, topping them to 125 cm. Field spacings of about 6.5 are recommended. 
+Sometimes trees are propagated from cuttings.In Indonesia, cuttings are set in a nursery 
+for a year and then transplanted at the beginning of the rainy season. The first harvest is 
+usually 3 years later.
+Harvesting — Since pods are usually handpicked by climbers, before they dehisce, much 
+hand-labor is involved. Trees begin to fruit when 3 to 6 years old. For kapok, natives harvest 
+the unopened pods with hooked knives on long poles. Since pods do not ripen simultaneously, 
+it is necessary to harvest two or three times a year, before the pods open. Fruits are sun- 
+dried and split open with mallets. The floss is removed with the seeds, and the seeds separated 
+out by beating with a stick. In Java and the Philippine Islands, machines are employed for
+99
+cleaning the floss. Floss is pressed into bales for export; these are generally packed in gunny 
+cloth, and vary in weight from 80 to 120 lbs and are 8 to 16 ft^ in volume.
+Yields and economics — Trees 4 to 5 years old yield nearly a kilogram of floss, whereas 
+full-grown trees, 15 years old, may yield 3 to 4 kg.'^^ Some trees may bear for 60 years or 
+more and may yield 4,500 g kapok per year. It takes 170 to 220 pods to give a kilogram 
+of floss. An adult tree may produce 1000 to 4000 fruits, suggesting a potential yield of 5 
+to 20 kg floss per tree. If the ratios prevail in kapok that prevail in cotton, we would expect 
+that to correspond to 8 to 30 kg seed, or 2 to 7.5 kg oil per tree. In 1950, Indonesia produced 
+5,000 MT kapok, 6,500 in 1951, 6,600 in 1952, 7,000 in 1953, exporting ca. 5,000 MT 
+a year.Indonesia has produced as much as 16,000 MT kapok oil per year. Until World 
+War II, Indonesia was the major producer; Ecuador exported over 1.25 million lbs in 1938. 
+Today, Thailand produces about half of the 22 million kg of kapok produced, with the U.S. 
+the largest consumer, using about half. Other exporters include Cambodia, East Africa, 
+India, Indonesia, and Pakistan.
+Energy — The seed oil, used for cooking, lamps, lubrication, paints, and soaps, might 
+serve, like the peanut, as a diesel substitute. Six trees could produce a barrel of oil renewably. 
+As firewood, it is of no value, as it only smoulders, but the smouldering is sometimes put 
+to use in fumigation.The specific gravity of the wood is 0.920 to 0.933.^^"^
+Biotic factors — The following fungi attack kapok trees: Armillaria mellea, Calonectria 
+rigidiuscula, Camillea bomba, C. sagraena, Cercospora ceibae, C. italica, Chaetothyrium 
+ceibae, Coniothyrium ceibae, Corticium salmonicolor, Corynespora cassiicola, Daldinia 
+angolensis, Fornes applanatus, F. lignosas, F. noxius, Glomerella cingulata, Phyllosticta 
+eriodendri, Physalospora rhodina, Polyporus occidentalis, P. zonalis, Polystictus occiden- 
+talis, P. sanguineus, Pycnoporus coccincus, Ramularia eriodendri, Schizophyllum com­
+mune, Septoria ceibae, Thanatephorus cucumeris, Ustulina deusta, and U. zonata. The 
+bacterium, Xanthomonas malvacearum, also infests trees. The parasite, Dendropthoefalcata, 
+also occurs on the tree. The following viruses attack kapok: Cacao virus lA, 1C, and IM; 
+Offa Igbo (Nigeria) cacao. Swollen Shoot, and viruses of Adansonia digitata. Nematodes 
+isolated by kapok include: Helicotylenchus cóncavas, H. multicinctus, H. retasas, H. pseu- 
+dorobastus, H. dihystera, H. cavenessi, Meloidogyne arenaria, M. javanica, Pratylenchas 
+brachyaras, P. delattrei, Scatellonema brachyurus, S. clathricaudatum, Tylenchorhynchus 
+martini, Xiphinema elongatum, and X. ifacolum.^^^'^^^
+Baker and Harris^^ indicate that the flowers are visited by the fruit bats, Epomorphorus 
+gambianas, Nanonycteris veldkamp, and Eidolon helvum. Flowers, though bat pollinated, 
+are visited by bees.^^ Logs and lumber very susceptible to insect attack and decay. The 
+wood is nearly always turned blue-gray by sap-staining fungi. This can be prevented by 
+dipping in a fungicide solution shortly after sawing. In addition, Browne^^ lists the following 
+as affecting this species: Coleóptera — Analeptes trifasciata, Aracceras fasciculatas, Ba- 
+tocera namitor, B. rufomaculata, Chrysochroa bicolor, Hypomeces sqaamosus, Petrognatha 
+gigas, Phytoscaphas triangularis, Steirastoma breve, Tragiscoschema bertolonii; Hemiptera 
+— Delococcas tafoenis, Helopeltis schoutedeni, Icerya nigroarcolata, Planococcoides nja- 
+lensis, Planococcus citri, P. kenyae, P. lilacinus, Pseudaulacaspis pentágona, Pseudococcus 
+adonidum, Rastrococcus iceryoides, Saissetia nigra; Lepidoptera — Anomis leona, Ascotis 
+selenaria, Cryptothelea varié gata, Dasy chira mendosa, Suana concolor, Sylepta derogata; 
+Thysanoptera — Selenothrips rubrocinctus.
+100 Handbook of Nuts
+COCOS NUCIFERA L. (ARECACEAE) Coconut
+Uses — Coconut is one of the ten most useful trees in the world, providing food for 
+millions of people, especially in the tropics. At any one time a coconut palm may have 12 
+different crops of nuts on it, from opening flower to ripe nut. At the top of the tree is the 
+growing point, a bundle of tightly packed, yellow-white, cabbage-like leaves, which, if 
+damaged, causes the entire tree to die. If the tree can be spared, this heart makes a tasty 
+treat, a ‘millionaire’s salad’. Unopened flowers are protected by sheath, often used to fashion 
+shoes, caps, even a kind of pressed helmet for soldiers. Opened flowers provide a good 
+honey for bees. A clump of unopened flowers may be bound tightly together, bent over and 
+its tip bruised. Soon it begins to “ weep” a steady dripping of sweet juice, up to a gallon 
+per day, that contains 16 to 30 mg ascorbic acid per 100 g. The cloudy brown liquid is 
+easily boiled down to syrup, called coconut molasses, then crystallized into a dark sugar, 
+almost exactly like maple sugar. Sometimes it is mixed with grated coconut for candy. Left 
+standing, it ferments quickly into a beer with alcohol content up to 8%, called “ toddy” in 
+India and Sri Lanka; “ tuba” in Philippines and Mexico; and “ tuwak” in Indonesia. After 
+a few weeks, it becomes a vinegar. “ Arrack” is the product after distilling fermented 
+“ toddy” and is a common spiritous liquor consumed in the East. The net has a husk, which 
+is a mass of packed fibers called coir, which can be woven into strong twine or rope, and 
+is used for padding mattresses, upholstery, and life-preservers. Fiber, resistant to sea water, 
+is used for cables and rigging on ships, for making mats, rugs, bags, brooms, brushes, and 
+olive oil filters in Italy and Greece; also used for fires and mosquito smudges. If nut is
+101
+allowed to germinate, cavity fills with a spongy mass called “ bread” which is eaten raw 
+or toasted in the shell over the fire. Sprouting seeds may be eaten like celery. Shell is hard 
+and fine-grained, and may be carved into all kinds of objects, as drinking cups, dippers, 
+scoops, smoking pipe bowls, and collecting cups for rubber latex. Charcoal is used for 
+cooking fires, air filters, in gas masks, submarines, and cigarette tips. Shells burned as fuel 
+for copra kilns or house-fires. Coconut shell flour is used in industry as a filler in plastics. 
+Coconut water is produced by a 5-month-old nut, about 2 cups of crystal-clear, cool sweet 
+(invert sugars and sucrose) liquid, so pure and sterile that during World War II, it was used 
+in emergencies instead of sterile glucose solution, and put directly into a patient’s veins. 
+Also contains growth substances, minerals, and vitamins. Boiled toddy, known as jaggery, 
+with lime makes a good cement. Nutmeat of immature coconuts is like a custard in flavor 
+and consistency, and is eaten or scraped and squeezed through cloth to yield a “ cream” or 
+“ milk” used on various foods. Cooked with rice to make Panama’s famous “ arroz con 
+coco” ; also cooked with taro leaves or game, and used m coffee as cream. Dried, desiccated, 
+and shredded it is used in cakes, pies, candies, and in curries and sweets. When nuts are 
+open and dried, meat becomes copra, which is processed for oil, rich in glycerine and used 
+to make soaps, shampoos, shaving creams, toothpaste lotions, lubricants, hydraulic fluid, 
+paints, synthetic rubber, plastics, margarine, and in ice cream. In India, the Hindus make 
+a vegetarian butter called “ ghee” from coconut oil; also used in infant formulas. When 
+copra is heated, the clear oil separates out easily, and is made this way for home use in 
+producing countries where it is used in lamps. Cake residue is used as cattle fodder, as it 
+is rich in proteins and sugars; animals should not have more than 4 to 5 lbs per animal per 
+day, as butter from milk will have a tallow flavor. As the cake is deficient in calcium, it 
+should be fed together with calcium-rich foods. Trunk wood is used for building sheds and 
+other semi-permanent buildings. Outer wood is close-grained, hard, and heavy, and when 
+well seasoned, has an attractive dark-colored grain adaptable for carving, especially orna­
+mentals, under the name of “ porcupine wood” . Coconut logs should not be used for fences, 
+as decayed wood makes favorable breeding places for beetles. Logs are used to make rafts. 
+Sections of stem, after scooping out pith, are used as flumes or gutters for carrying water. 
+Pith of stem contains starch which may be extracted and used as flour. Pitch from top of 
+tree is sometimes pickled in coconut vinegar. Coconut leaves made into thin strips are woven 
+into clothing, furnishings, screens, and walls of temporary buildings. Stiff midribs make 
+cooking skewers, arrows, brooms, brushes, and used for fish traps. Leaf fiber is used in 
+India to make mats, slippers, and bags. Used to make short-lived torches. Coconut roots 
+provide a dye, a mouthwash, a medicine for dysentery, and frayed out, it makes toothbrushes; 
+scorched, it is used as coffee substitute. Coconut palm is useful as an ornamental; its only 
+drawback being the heavy nuts which may cause injury to man, beast, or rooftop when they 
+hit in falling.
+Folk medicine — According to Hartwell,coconuts are used in folk remedies for tumors. 
+Reported to be anthelmintic, antidotal, antiseptic, aperient, aphrodisiac, astringent, bacter­
+icidal, depurative, diuretic, hemostat, pediculicide, purgative, refrigerant, stomachic, styp­
+tic, suppurative, and vermifuge, coconut — somewhere or other — is a folk remedy for 
+abscesses, alopecia, amenorrhea, asthma, blenorrhagia, bronchitis, bruises, bums, cachexia, 
+calculus, colds, constipation, cough, debility, dropsy, dysentery, dysmenorrhea, earache, 
+erysipelas, fever, flu, gingivitis, gonorrhea, hematemesis, hemoptysis, jaundice, menor­
+rhagia, nausea, phythisis, pregnancy, rash, scabies, scurvy, sore throat, stomach-ache, 
+swelling, syphilis, toothache, tuberculosis, tumors, typhoid, venereal diseases, and wounds.
+Chemistry — Per 100 g, the kernel is reported to contain 36.3 g H2O, 4.5 g protein, 
+41.6 g fat, 13.0 g total carbohydrate, 3.6 g fiber, 1.0 g ash, 10 mg Ca, 24 mg P, 1.7 mg 
+Fe, and traces of beta-carotene.Per 100 g, the green nut is reported to contain 77 to 200 
+calories, 68.0 to 84.0 g H2O, 1.4 to 2.0 g protein, 1.9 to 17.4 g fat, 4.0 to 11.7 g total
+102 Handbook of Nuts
+carbohydrate, 0.4 to 3.7 g fiber, 0.7 to 0.9 g ash, 11 to 42 mg Ca, 42 to 56 mg P, 1.0 to 
+1.1 mg Fe, 257 mg K, trace of beta-carotene, 0.4 to 0.5 mg thiamine, 0.03 mg riboflavin, 
+0.8 mg niacin, and 6 to 7 mg ascorbic acid.^^ Coconut oil is one of the least variable among 
+vegetable fats, i.e., 0.2 to 0.5% caproic-, 5.4 to 9.5 caprylic-, 4.5 to 9.7 capric-, 44.1 to 
+51.3 lauric-, 13.1 to 18.5 myristic, 7.5 to 10.5 palmitic-, 1.0 to 3.2 stearic-, 0 to 1.5 
+arachidic-, 5.0 to 8.2 oleic-, and 1.0 to 2.6 linoleic-acids.^® Following oil extraction from 
+copra, the coconut cake (poonac) contains 10.0 to 13.3% moisture, 6.0 to 26.7% oil, 14.3 
+to 19.8% protein, 32.8 to 45.3% carbohydrates, 8.9 to 12.2% fibers, and 4.0 to 5.7% ash. 
+The so-called coconut water is 95.5% water, 0.1% protein, <0.1% fat, 0.4% ash, 4.0% 
+carbohydrate. Per 100 g water, there is 105 mg Na, 312 K, 29 Ca, 30 Mg, 0.1 Fe, 0.04 
+Cu, 37 P, 24 S, and 183 mg choline. Leaves contain 8.45% moisture, 4.28% ash, 0.56% 
+K^O, 0.25 P2O3. 0.28 CaO, and 0.57% MgO.^«
+Description — Palm to 27 m or more tall, bearing crown of large pinnate leaves; trunk 
+stout, 30 to 45 cm in diameter, straight or slightly curved, rising from a swollen base 
+surrounded by a mass of roots; rarely branched, marked with rings of leaf scars; leaves 2 
+to 6 m long, pinnatisect, leaflets 0.6 to 1 m long, narrow, tapering; inflorescence in axil of 
+each leaf as spathe enclosing a spadix 1.3 to 2 m long, stout, straw- or orange-colored, 
+simply branched; female flowers numerous, small, sweet-scented, borne toward the top of 
+panicle; fruit ovoid, 3-angled, 15 to 30 cm long, containing a single seed; exocarp a thick, 
+fibrous husk, enclosing a hard, boney endocarp or shell. Adhering to the inside wall of the 
+endocarp is the testa with thick albuminous endosperm, the coconut meat; embryo below 
+one of the three pores at end of fruit, cavity of endosperm filled in unripe fruit with watery 
+fluid, the coconut water, and only partially filled when ripe. Flowers and fruits year-round 
+in the tropics.
+Germplasm — Reported from the Indochina-Indonesia and Hindustani centers of origin, 
+coconut has been reported to tolerate high pH, heat, insects, laterites, low pH, poor soil, 
+salt, sand, and slope.Many classifications have been proposed for coconuts; none is wholly 
+satisfactory. Variations are based on height, tall or dwarf; color of plant or fruit; size of nut 
+(some palms have very large fruits, others have large numbers of small fruits); shape of 
+nuts, varying from globular to spindle-shaped or with definite triangular sections; thickness 
+of husk or shell; type of inflorescence; and time required to reach maturity. Many botanical 
+varieties and forms have been recognized and named, using some of the characteristics 
+mentioned above. Cultivars have been developed from various areas. Dwarf palms, occurring 
+in India as introductions from Malaysia, live about 30 to 35 years, thrive in rich soils and 
+wet regions, flower and fruit much earlier than tall varieties, and come into bearing by the 
+fourth year after planting. However, dwarf varieties are not grown commercially, and only 
+on a limited scale, because of their earliness and tender nuts — which yield a fair quantity 
+of coconut water. They are highly susceptible to diseases and are adversly affected by even 
+short periods of drought. Tall coconuts are commonly grown for commercial purposes, living 
+80 to 90 years. They are hardy, thrive under a variety of soil, climatic, and cultural conditions, 
+and begin to flower when about 8 to 10 years after planting. (2n = 16.)^^^
+Distribution — Now pan-tropical, especially along tropical shorelines, where floating 
+coconuts may volunteer, the coconut’s origin is shrouded in mysteries, vigorously debated. 
+According to Purseglove,^^^ the center of origin of cocoid palms most closely related to 
+coconut is in northwestern South America. At the time of the discovery of the New World, 
+coconuts (as we know them today) were confined to limited areas on the Pacific coast of 
+Central America, and absent from the Atlantic shores of the Americas and Africa. Coconuts 
+drifted as far north as Norway are still capable of germination. The wide distribution of 
+coconut has no doubt been aided by man and marine currents as well.
+Ecology — Ranging from Subtropical Dry to Wet through Tropical Very Dry to Wet 
+Forest Life Zones, coconut has been reported from stations with an annual precipitation of
+103
+7 to 42 dm (mean of 35 cases = 20.5), annual temperature of 21 to 30°C (mean of 35 cases 
+= 25.7°C) with 4 to 12 consecutive frost-free months, each with at least 60 mm rainfall, 
+and pH of 4.3 to 8.0 (mean of 27 cases = 6.0).^^
+Cultivation — Propagated by seedlings raised from fully mature fruits. Seeds selected 
+from high-yielding stock with desirable traits. Seed-nut trees should have a straight trunk 
+and even growth, with closely spaced leaf-scars, short fronds, well oriented on the crown, 
+and short bunch stalks. The inflorescence should bear about 100 female flowers, and the 
+crown should have a large number of fronds and inflorescences. Seed-nuts should be medium­
+sized and nearly spherical in shape; long nuts usually have too much husk in relation to 
+kernel. Because male parent is unknown and because female parent is itself heterozygous, 
+seed-nuts from high-yielding palms do not necessarily reproduce the same performance in 
+progeny. Records are kept of fruits harvested from each mother palm, such as number of 
+bunches, number of nuts, weight of husked nuts, estimated weight of copra (about one-third 
+weight of husked nuts being considered favorable). After fully mature nuts are picked (not 
+allowed to fall), they are tested by shaking to listen for water within. Under-ripe or spoiled 
+nuts or those with no water, or with insect or disease damage are discarded. Nuts are planted 
+right away in nursery or stored in a cool, dry, well-ventilated shed until they can be planted. 
+Seeds planted in nursery facilitate selection of best to put in field, as only half will produce 
+a high-yielding palm for copra. Also, watering and insect control is much easier to manage 
+in nursery. Soil should be sandy or light loamy, free from waterlogging, but close to source 
+of water, and away from heavy shade. Nursery should have long raised beds 20 to 25 cm 
+high, separated by shallow drains to carry away excessive water. Beds should be dug and 
+loosened to a depth of 30 cm. Loosened soil mixed with dried or rotten leaves and ash from 
+burnt fresh coconut husks at a rate of 25 lbs. of husk-ash per 225 ft.^ Nuts spaced in beds 
+ca. 20 X 30 cm, a hectare of nursery accommodating 100,000 seed-nuts. Nuts planted 
+horizontally produce better seedlings than those planted vertically. The germinating eye is 
+placed uppermost in a shallow furrow, about 15 cm deep, and soil mounded up around, but 
+not completely covering them, leaving the eye exposed. Soaking nuts in water for 1 to 2 
+weeks before planting may benefit germination; longer periods of soaking are progressively 
+disadvantageous. Bright sunlight is best for growing stout sturdy seedlings. Regular watering 
+in the nursery is essential in dry weather. Mulching may preserve moisture and suppress 
+weeds. Paddy straw, woven coconut leaves, and just coconut leaves are used; however, they 
+might encourage termites. Potash fertilizer may help seedlings which probably do not need 
+other fertilizers, the nut providing most of needed nutrition. About 16 weeks after the nut 
+is planted, the shoot appears through the husk, and at about 30 weeks, when 3 seed-leaves 
+have developed, seedlings should be planted out in permanent sites. Rigorous culling of 
+seedlings is essential. All late germinators and very slow growers are discarded. Robust 
+plants, showing normal rapid growth, straight stems, broad, comparatively short, dark-green 
+leaves with prominent veins, spreading outward and not straight upward, and those free of 
+disease symptoms, are selected for planting out. Best spacing depends upon soil and terrain. 
+Usually 9 to 10 m on the square is used, planting 70 to 150 trees per ha; with triangular 
+spacing of 10 m, 115 palms per ha; and for group or bouquet planting, 3 to 6 palms planted 
+4 to 5 m apart. Holes 1 m wide and deep should be dug 1 to 3 months before seedlings are 
+transplanted. In India and Sri Lanka, 300 to 400 husks are burned in each hole, providing 
+4 to 5 kg ash per hole. This is mixed with topsoil. Two layers of coconut husks are put into 
+the bottom of the hole before filling with the topsoil-mixed ash. Muriate of potash, 1 kg 
+per hole, is better than ash, but increases cost of planting. The earth settles so that it will 
+be 15 to 30 cm below ground level when seedling is planted. In planting, soil should be 
+well-packed around nut, but should not cover collar of seedling, nor get into leaf axils. As 
+plant develops, trunk may be earthed up, until soil is flush with general ground level. Usually 
+7 to 8 month old seedlings are used for transplants, best done in the rainy season. In some
+104 Handbook of Nuts
+instances plants up to 5 years old are used, as they are more resistant to termite damage. If 
+older plants are used, care must be taken not to damage roots, as they are slow to recover. 
+In areas with only one rainy season per year, it is simpler to plant nuts in the nursery in 
+one rainy season, and transplant them a year later. Young plantation should be fenced to 
+protect plants from cattle, goats, or other wild animals. Entire areas may be fenced in. In 
+Sri Lanka and southern India, piles of coconut husks are placed around the tree. At the end 
+of the first year after transplanting, vacancies should be filled with plants of the same age 
+held in reserve in nursery. Also any slow-growers, or disease-damaged plants should be 
+replaced. During the first 3 years, seedlings should be watered during drought, at about 16 
+liters per tree twice a week. Keep trees clear of weeds, especially climbers. Usually a circle 
+1 to 2 m in radius should be weeded several times a year, the weeds left as mulch. Cover- 
+crops, as Centrosema pubescens, Calopogonium mucunoides, or Pueraria phaseoloides, are 
+used and turned under before dry season. Catch-crops such as cassava {Manihot utilissima), 
+and green gram {Vigna aureus) and cowpea {Vigna unguiculata), bananas and pineapples, 
+may be used. Sometimes bush crops, in addition to or instead of, ground covers are used 
+as green manures, e.g., Tephrosia Candida, Crotalaria striata, C. uraramoensis, C. ana- 
+gyroides — all fast growers. Gliricidia sepium and Erythrina lithosperma may be grown as 
+hedges or live fences, their loppings used as green manure. Usually the cheapest form of 
+fertilizer materials are used, consisting of 230 to 300 g N, 260 to 460 g P2O5, and 300 to 
+670 g K2O per palm. Lime is generally not recommended. There is no evidence that salt is 
+beneficial, as sometimes claimed. Coconuts can withstand a degree of salinity, about 0.6%, 
+which is lethal to many other crops. Needing some magnesium, the palms are extremely 
+sensitive to an excess. Cultivation depends on soil type, slope of land, and rainfall distri­
+bution. Disk-harrowing at end of moonsoon rains may be all that is necessary to control 
+weeds.
+Harvesting — Trees begin to yield fruit in 5 to 6 years on good soils, more likely 7 to 
+9 years, and reach full bearing in 12 to 13 years. Fruit-set to maturity is 8 to 10 months; 
+12 months from setting of female flowers. Nuts must be harvested fully ripe for making 
+copra or desiccated coconut. For coir they are picked about one month short of maturity, 
+so that husks will be green. Coconuts are usually picked by human climbers, or cut by 
+knives attached to the end of long bamboo poles. With the pole, a man can pick some 250 
+palms in a day — by climbing, only 25. In some areas nuts are allowed to fall naturally 
+and collected regularly. Nuts are husked in the field, a good husker handling 2,000 nuts per 
+day. Then the nut is split (up to 10,OCX) nuts per working day). Copra may be cured by sun­
+drying, or by kiln-drying, or by a combination of both. Sun-drying requires 6 to 8 consecutive 
+days of good bright sunshine to dry meat without its spoiling. Drying reduces moisture 
+content from 50% to below 7%. Copra is stored in a well-ventilated, dry area. Extraction 
+of oil from copra is one of the oldest seed-crushing industries of the world. Coconut cake 
+is usually retained to feed domestic livestock. When it contains much oil, it is not fed to 
+milk cows, but it used as fertilizer. Desiccated coconut is just the white meat; the brown 
+part is peeled off. It is usually grated, then dried in driers similar to those for tea. Good 
+desiccated coconut should be white in color, crisp, with a fresh nutty flavor, and should 
+contain less than 20% moisture and 68 to 72% oil, the extracted oil containing less than 
+0.1% of free fatty acid, as lauric. Parings, about 12 to 15% of kernels, are dried and pressed 
+yielding about 55% oil, used locally for soap-making. The resulting residue “ poonac” is 
+used for feeding cattle. Coconut flour is made from desiccated coconut with oil removed, 
+and the residue dried and ground. However, it does not keep well. Coir fiber is obtained 
+from slightly green coconut husks by retting in slightly saline water that is changed frequently 
+(requires up to 10 months); then, husks are rinsed with water and fiber separated by beating 
+with wooden mallets. After drying, the fiber is cleaned and graded. The greater part of coir 
+produced in India is spun into yam, a cottage industry, and then used for mgs and ropes.
+105
+In Sri Lanka, most coir consists of mechanically separated mattress and bristle fiber. To 
+produce this, husks are soaked or retted for 1 to 4 weeks, and then crushed between iron 
+rollers before fibers are separated. Bristle fibers are 20 to 30 cm long; anything shorter is 
+sold as superior mattress fiber. In some areas, dry milling of husks, without retting, is 
+carried on and produces only mattress fiber. The separated pith, called bast or dust, is used 
+as fertilizer since the potash is not leached out. Coconuts may be stored at a temperature of 
+0 to 1.5°C with relative humidity of 75% or less for 1 to 2 months. In storage, they are 
+subject to mold, loss in weight and drying up of the nut milk. They may be held for 2 weeks 
+at room temperature without serious loss.'^
+Yields and economics — For copra, an average of 6,000 nuts are required for 1 ton;
+1,000 nuts yield 500 lbs. of copra, which yields 250 lbs. of oil. The average yield of copra 
+per ha is 3 to 4 tons. Under good climatic conditions, a fully productive palm produces 12 
+to 16 bunches of coconuts per year, each bunch with 8 to 10 nuts, or 60 to 100 nuts per 
+tree. Bunches ripen in about 1 year, and should yield 25 kg or more copra. For coir, 1,000 
+husks yield about 80 kg per year, giving about 25 kg of bristle fiber and 55 kg of mattress 
+fiber. Efficient pressing will yield from 100 kg of copra, approximately 62.5 kg of coconut 
+oil, and 35 kg coconut cake, which contains 7 to 10% oil. The factor 63% is generally used 
+for converting copra to oil equivalent. Yields of copra as high as 5 MT/ha have been reported, 
+but oil yields of 900 to 1,350 kg/ha have been reported. Pryde and Doty^^° put the average 
+oil yield at 1,050 kg/ha, Telek and M artin,at 600 kg/ha. World production of coconut 
+oil is more than 2 million tons/year, about half of which moves in international trade. Sri 
+Lanka, Philippine Islands, Papua, and New Guinea are the largest producers. Only about 
+40% of copra produced is exported, the remaining 60% processed into oil in the country of 
+origin. The U.S. annually imports 190 million pounds of coconut oil and more than 650 
+million pounds of copra; some sources state 300,000 tons copra and over 200,000 tons 
+coconut oil annually.
+Energy — The coconut of commerce weighs 0.5 to 1.0 kg. According to Purseglove,^^^ 
+the average number of nuts per hectare varies from 2,500 to 7,500, indicating a yield of 
+ca. 1,200 to 7,500 kg/ha. On the one hand, ‘Jamaica Tails’ fruits average 1.7 kg, nuts 0.7 
+kg, of which 50% is endosperm; on the other hand, ‘Malayan Dwarfs’ fruits average 1.1 
+kg, the nut 0.6 kg, yielding 0.2 kg copra (6,000 nuts per ton copra). Average production 
+yields of copra (3 to 8 nuts per kg copra) range from 200 kg/ha in Polynesia to 1,200 kg/ha 
+in the Philippines, suggesting coconut yields of 1,000 to 8,000 kg/ha. Since about 60% of 
+this constitutes the inedible fruit husk and seed husks, I estimate the chaff factor at 0.6. 
+Coconut oil, cracked at high temperatures, will yield nearly 50% motor fuel and diesel fuel. 
+Coconut destructive distillation is reported to yield 11.5% charcoal, 11% fuel gas, 37.5% 
+copra spirit, 12.5% olein distillate, 1% crude acetate, 0.15% glycerol, and 0.85% acetone 
+plus methanol.^® As of June 15, 1981, coconut oil was $0.275/lb., compared to $0.38 for 
+peanut oil, $1.39 for poppy seed oil, $0.65 for tung oil, $0.33 for linseed oil, $0,265 for 
+cotton-seed oil, $0,232 for com oil, and $0.21 for soybean oil.^^^ At $2.00 per gallon, 
+gasoline is roughly $0.25/lb. Quick^^"^ tested linseed oil (Iodine number 180) which cokes 
+up fuel injectors inless than 20 hr: and rapeseed oil (Iodine number ca.lOO) which logs into 
+the hundreds of hours before the onset of severe injector coking. Coconut oil (Iodine number 
+10) should be a very good candidate from this viewpoint. This could be very important in 
+developing tropical countries where diesel fuel is scarce and often more expensive than 
+coconut oil. One Australian patent suggests that distillation of coconuts at 550° gave 11.5% 
+charcoal, 11% fuel gas, and 37.5% copra spirit, 12.5% olein distillate, 12.5% black oil, 
+1% cmde acetic acid, 0.15% glycerol, and 0.85% (acetone + methanol) which natural 
+fermentation takes to 2.7-5.8% ethanol. Of course, you can’t have your coconut toddy and 
+eat or drink or bum it too.®^
+Biotic factors — Coconuts are subject to numerous fungal diseases, bacterial infections,
+106 Handbook of Nuts
+and the most serious virus-like disease, cadang-cadang.‘^‘ Coconut trees are also attacked 
+by numerous nematodes and some insect pests, the most damaging insect being the black 
+beetle or rhinoceros beetle {Oryctes rhinoceros), which damages buds, thus reducing nut 
+yield, and breeds in decaying refuse. Diseases and pests of a particular area should be 
+considered and a local agent consulted as to how to deal with them. Agriculture Handbook 
+No. 165"^ lists the following as affecting this species: Aphelenchoides cocophilus (red ring 
+disease), Cephalosporium lecanii, Diplodia epicocos, Endocalyx melanoxanthanus, Endo- 
+conidiophora paradoxa (leaf-bitten disease, leaf scorch, stem-bleeding), Gloeosporium sp., 
+Pellicularia koleroga (thread blight), Pestalotia palmarum (gray leaf spot, leaf-break), Phom- 
+opsis cocoes (on nuts), Phyllosticta sp. (on leaves), Physalospora fusca (on leaves), P. 
+rhodina (on roots and trunk), Phytopthora palmivora (bud rot, leaf drop, wilt), Pythium sp. 
+(wilt). Stevenson^^® adds: Aschersonia cubensis, Aschersonia turbinata, Botryosphaeria 
+quercuum, Cytospora palmicola, Escherichia coli, Flammula earlei, Herpotrichia schied- 
+ermayeriana, Hypocrea rufa, Marasmius sacchari, Pestalotia gibberosa, Pestalotia versi^ 
+cola, Polyporus lignosus, Polyporus nivosellus, Polyporus zonalis, Rosellinia saintcruciana, 
+Thielaviopsis paradoxa, Valsa chlorina.
+107
+COLA ACUMINATA (Beauv.) Schott and Endl. (STERCULIACEAE) — Kola Nuts, Cola, 
+Guru
+Syn: Sterculia acuminata Beauv.
+Uses — Widely used as a flavor ingredient in cola beverages, but has also been used in 
+baked goods, candy, frozen dairy deserts, gelatins, and puddings. Kola plays an important 
+role in the social and religious life of Africans. Beverage made by boiling powdered seeds 
+in water, equal in flavor and nutriment to cocoa. Seeds also used as a condiment. Dye 
+utilized from red juice. Wood valuable, light in color, porous, and used in ship-building 
+and general carpentry. Tree often planted as o rn am e n ta l.C o la is said to render putrid 
+water palatable.®^
+Folk medicine — According to Hartwell,the powdered bark is used for malignant 
+tumors and cancer. The tea made from the root is said to alleviate cancer. Reported to be 
+aphrodisiac, cardiotonic, CNS-stimulant, digestive, diuretic, stimulant, and tonic, kola is a 
+folk remedy for cancer, hunger, nerves, and tumors.Nuts used as diuretic, heart tonic and 
+masticatory to resist fatigue, hunger and thirst. A small piece of nut is chewed by Africans 
+before mealtime to improve digestion. On the other hand, it is chewed as a stimulant and 
+appetite depressant, e.g., during religious fasts. Jamaicans take grated seed for diarrhea. 
+Powdered cola is applied to cuts and wounds.Formerly used as a CNS-stimulant and for 
+diarrhea, migraine, and neuralgia. The fresh drug is used, especially in its native country, 
+as a stimulant, social drug, being mildly euphoric.
+Chemistry — Per 100 g, the fruit (ZMB) is reported to contain 399 calories, 5.9 g protein,
+1.1 g fat, 90.8 g total carbohydrate, 3.8 g fiber, 2.2 g ash, 156 mg Ca, 232 mg P, 5.4 mg 
+Fe, 67 |xg beta-carotene equivalent, 0.08 mg thiamine, 0.08 mg riboflavin, 1.62 mg niacin, 
+and 146 mg ascorbic acid. The aril (ZMB) is reported to contain 371 calories, 9.0 g protein, 
+3.6 g fat, 86.2 g total carbohydrate, 4.8 g fiber, 1.2 g ash, 18 mg Ca, 102 mg P, 8.4 mg 
+Fe, 180 |xg beta-carotene equivalent, 0.06 mg thiamine, 0.30 mg riboflavin, 4.19 mg niacin, 
+and 60 mg ascorbic acid.®’ Contains 1.28 to 3% of fixed oil.^^^ Kola nut important for its
+108 Handbook of Nuts
+caffeine content and flavor; caffeine content 2.4 to 2.6%. Nuts also contain theobromine 
+(<0.1%) and other alkaloids, and narcotic properties. Seeds also contain betaine, starch, 
+tannic acid, catechin, epicatechin, fatty matter, sugar and a fat-decomposing enzyme. From 
+a bromatological point of view, cola fruits contain, per 100 g, 148 calories, 62.9% water,
+2.2 % protein, 0.4% fat, 33.7% carbohydrates, 1.4% fiber, 0.8% ash, 58 mg Ca, 25 mg 
+carotene, 0.03 mg thiamine, 0.03 mg niacin, 0.54 mg riboflavin, and 60 mg ascorbic acid. 
+Hager’s Handbook suggests 1.5 to 2% caffeine, up to 0.1% theobromine, 0.3 to 0.4% d - 
+catechin, 0.25% betaine, 6.7% protein, 2.9% sugar, 34% starch, 3% gum, 0.5% fat, 29% 
+cellulose, and 12% water.
+Toxicity — Caffeine in large doses is reported to be carcinogenic, mutagenic, and ter­
+atogenic.^^® Caffeine is also viricidal, suppressing the growth of polio, influenza, herpes 
+simplex, and vaccinia viruses, but not Japanese encephalitis virus, Newcastle disease, virus, 
+and type 2 adenovirus.Tyler^^^ produces a chart comparing various caffeine sources to 
+which I have added rounded figures from Palotti.^"^^
+Source Caffeine 
+content (mg)
+Cup (6 oz.) expresso coffee
+310
+Cup (6 oz.) boiled coffee 100
+Cup (6 oz.) instant coffee 65
+Cup (6 oz.) tea 10— 50
+Cup (6 oz.) cocoa 13
+Can (6 oz.) cola 25
+Can (6 oz.) Coca Cola 20
+Cup (6 oz.) mate 25— 50
+Can (6 oz.) Pepsi Cola 10
+Tablet caffeine 100—200
+Tablet (800 mg) Zoom (Paullinia cupana) 60
+In humans, caffeine 1,3,7-trimethylxanthine, is demethylated into three primary metabolites: 
+theophylline, theobromine, and paraxanthine. Since the early part of the 20th century, 
+theophylline has been used in therapeutics for bronchodilation, for acute ventricular failure, 
+and for long-term control of bronchial asthma. At 100 mg/kg, theophylline is fetotoxic to 
+rats, but no teratogenic abnormalities were noted. In therapeutics, theobromine has been 
+used as a diuretic, as a cardiac stimulant, and for dilation of arteries. But at 100 mg, 
+theobromine is fetotoxic and teratogenic.^^ Leung‘S® reports a fatal dose in man at 10,000 
+mg, with 1,000 mg or more capable of inducing headache, nausea, insomnia, restlessness, 
+excitement, mild delirium, muscle tremor, tachycardia, and extrasystoles. Leung also adds 
+“ caffeine has been reported to have many other activities including mutagenic, teratogenic, 
+and carcinogenic activities; . . . to cause temporary increase in intraocular pressure, to have 
+calming effects on hyperkinetic children . . . to cause chronic recurring headache . . . ” ^^® 
+Description — Long-lived evergreen tree, up to 14 m tall, resembling an apple tree; bark 
+smooth, green, thick, fissured in old trees. Leaves alternate, on petioles 2.5 to 7.5 cm long; 
+young leaves pubescent, often once or twice cut near base about half-way to midrib; mature 
+leaves 16 to 20 cm long, 2.5 to 5 cm broad, leathery, obovate, acute and long-acuminate, 
+with prominent veins below, margin entire, dark-green on upper surface. Flowers yellow, 
+numerous, unisexual or bisexual, 15 or more in axillary or terminal panicles, no petals; 
+calyx petaloid, greenish-yellow or white, purple at edges, tube green, limb 5-cleft, lobes 
+ovate-lanceolate; male flower with slender column, shorter than calyx, bearing a ring of 10 
+2-lobed anthers, the anthers divergent; perfect flowers with subsessile anthers in a ring, 
+ovary 5-lobed, 5-celled, stellate pilose, with 5 linear, re-flexed, superposed styles; ovules 
+anatropous, attached in a double row to the ventral surface of each carpel. Fruit oblong, 
+obtuse, rostrate, warty coriaceous to woody, 5 to 17 cm long, 5 to 7.5 cm thick, brown
+109
+resembling alligator skin, pericarp thick, fibrous, cells filled with resinous colored matter 
+used as dye. Seeds 5 to 12 per fruit, 2.5 to 5 cm long, 1.3 cm thick, yellow, soft, internally 
+whitish, pinkish or purple, brown when dry; cotyledons often 3, flatly ovate or auriculate, 
+cells containing starch and albuminous material. Flowers December to February, and May 
+to July; fruits May to June, and October to November.
+Germplasm — Reported from the African Center of Diversity, kola, or cvs thereof, is 
+reported to tolerate low pH, shade, and slope. (2n = 40.)*^
+Distribution — Native and cultivated along west coast of tropical Africa, now cultivated 
+pantropically from 10°N to 5°S latitude, especially in West Indies, South America, Sri 
+Lanka, and Malaya. Occurs naturally in forests from Togo and southern Nigeria eastward 
+and southward to Gabon, Congo, and Angola. Extensively planted in Nigeria.
+Ecology — Ranging from Subtropical Dry to Wet through Tropical Dry to Wet Forest 
+Life Zones, kola is reported to tolerate annual precipitation of 6.4 to 40.3 dm (mean of 12 
+cases = 19.8), annual temperature of 21.3 to 26.6°C (mean of 12 cases = 25.2), and pH 
+of 4.5 to 8.0 (mean of 7 cases = 5.5).^^ Thrives in tropical areas where mean annual 
+temperatures are uniformly 21 to 27°C, moist, with 2(X) to 225 cm rainfall, mostly at sea 
+level to 3(X) m altitude. Frequently forms forests in coastal areas. Requires a rich, well- 
+drained soil, but will grow on deep sandy loams in West Indies, with high organic content.
+Cultivation — Propagated from seed, which must be sown perfectly fresh. Seeds planted 
+singly in pots and young trees kept growing until needed for permanent planting. Only light 
+shade, if any, is required after trees are 3 years old. Planting distances about 6 to 8 m each 
+way, equalling about 270 trees per ha. Cultivation very easy. Trees respond to fertilizers, 
+and produce highest yields only when weeds are kept controlled. Propagation also by cuttings 
+of softwood or ripe wood, using bottom heat.^^^^^®
+Harvesting — Trees begin to flower 5 to 10 years after planting, reaching full production 
+by the 20th year, continuing to bear for 70 to 100 years. In many regions, trees flower and 
+fruit throughout the year, but usually two peak crops are produced in May and June and 
+again in October and November. Fruits require about 4 to 5 months to mature. Harvest when 
+pods turn chocolate-brown and begin to dehisce. Pods are shaken from tree and immediately 
+gathered. Seeds removed from pods and first coat cut off, leaving bare cotyledons. Nuts 
+are then carefully graded. Fresh kola nuts tend to mold and spoil easily. Nuts packed and 
+transported for local consumption is homemade baskets lined with leaves and wrapped in 
+canvas or hide to prevent drying out. Kola nuts imported by the U.S. are split in half, 
+sundried, and shipped in bags. Entire seeds are kola nuts of native consumer; kola nuts of 
+commerce are the separated, dried cotyledons only.^^®
+Yields and economics — After 10 years, kola trees may be expected to yield 400 to 500 
+(to 800) pods annually, this being equivalent to 40 to 50 (to 80) lbs of dried nuts.‘^^^^® 
+Purseglove^^^ reports ca. 575 kg/ha salable nuts. Within the tropics, trade of this nut is 
+immense. In West Tropical Africa, kola nut ranks second to the oil-palm {Elaeis), with 
+exports over 16 million lbs per year. Although most kola nuts are harvested from wild trees 
+in West Africa coastal areas, the U.S. imports most of its kola nuts from Jamaica, about 
+170 tons per year.^^^
+Energy — Husks, prunings, and fallen leaves can be used for energy production.
+Biotic Factors — Poor yields some years have been attributed to poor pollination. Fungi 
+known to attack kola trees include: Botryodiplodia theobromae, Calonectria rigidiuscula, 
+Cephaleuros mycoidea, Fomes lignosus, F. noxius, Marasmius byssicola, M. scandens, and 
+Pleurotus colae
+110 Handbook of Nuts
+COLA NITIDA (Vent.) Schott and Endlicher (STERCULIACEAE) — Gbanja Kola
+Uses — Kola possesses the central stimulating principle of caffeine. This species is more 
+valued than C. acuminata as it contains more caffeine. Nuts are used in West Africa to 
+sustain people during long journeys or long hours of work. Kola, Cola, or Kola-nuts is the 
+dried cotyledon of Cola nitida, or of some other species of Cola. In the U.S., the kola-nut 
+is used in the manufacture of nonalcoholic beverages. The tree is valued for its wood, which 
+is whitish, sometimes slightly pinkish when fresh; the heartwood is dull yellowish-brown 
+to reddish-tinged. Wood is suitable for carpentry and some construction work as house­
+building, furniture, and boat-building. Wooden platters, domestic utensils, and images are 
+often carved from the wood. Sometimes trees are planted for ornamental purposes.
+Folk medicine — Reported to be astringent, nervine, poison, restorative, sedative, stim­
+ulant, stomachic, and tonic, gbanja kola is a folk remedy for digestion, dysentery, exhaustion, 
+hunger, malaria, nausea, and toothache.^* Dried cotyledons are nervine, stimulant, tonic, 
+and astringent.The seeds are used by natives as a stimulant; when chewed, nuts increase 
+powers of endurance of the chewer.^^’^^®
+Chemistry — Speaking generically, Hager’s Handbook*®^ stated that the nuts contain 1.5 
+to 2% caffeine, a compound the Germans call colarot (= ?cola red) Ci4Hi3(OH)5, and glucose. 
+Colarot splits into phloroglucin and a reddish dye. Also contains up to 0.1% theobromine, 
+0.3 to 0.4% D-catechin (C15H14O) (“ colatine” ), L-epicatechin, essential and fatty oils, 
+colalipase, colaoxydase, a tannic glycoside, 0.25% betaine, 6.7% protein, 2.9% sugar, 34% 
+starch, 3% gum, 0.5% fat, 29% cellulose, 12% water, and procyanidin (C3oH260i2).^®^ The 
+glucoside kolanin is a heart stimulant.
+Description — Trees 13 to 20 m tall, with dense crown, the branches and leaves nearly 
+touching the ground. Leaves alternate, 7.5 cm or more long, broadly lanceolate, sharply 
+acuminate, leathery. Flowers yellowish-white, sometimes with red stripes or blotches; fruits 
+2 in a cluster, covered with a thick green wrinkled coat, each fruit containing 6 to 10 or 
+more nuts; nuts usually red or pink, sometimes white. Fruits commonly longitudinally rugose 
+and wrinkled, nodular to some degree and dorsally keeled; seed separable into only two 
+cotyledons (C. baileyi Cornu, from West Equatorial Africa, has 6 cotyledons with very little 
+caffeine.) Flowers and fruits in spring and autumn, with two harvests. The main cola season 
+in West Africa is from October to February.
+Germplasm — Reported from the African Center of Diversity, gbanja kola, or cvs thereof, 
+is reported to tolerate low pH, shade, slope, and virus.Chevalier has divided C. nitida 
+into four subspecies: rubra, alba, mixta, and pallida. C. nitida subsp. rubra Chev., wild 
+in Ivory Coast and Ashanti, has nuts larger than those of the cultivated plants and is the 
+common cultivated kola of Ashanti; subsp. rubra Chev., from the Ivory Coast, is a distinct 
+race based on characters other than those of color of the seeds; subsp. mixta Chev., known 
+only in cultivation, has red and white nuts on the same tree, and sometimes on the same 
+follicle; and subsp. alba Chev., also only known in cultivation, has only white seeds. There 
+is much variation in other characteristics, as size of fruits and nuts and flavor. (2n =
+4 0 ) 82.278
+Distribution — Native to West Africa from Sierra Leone to the Congo. Introduced to 
+East Africa, Sri Lanka, Singapore, Indonesia, Brazil, and West Indies, particularly ] 2l- 
+maica.^®^’^^®
+Ecology — Ranging from Subtropical Moist to Wet through Tropical Dry to Moist Forest 
+Life Zones, gbanja kola is reported to tolerate annual precipitation of 13.6 to 27.8 dm (mean 
+of 6 cases = 22.0), annual temperature of 23.3 to 26.6°C (mean of 6 cases = 25.4°C), 
+and pH of 4.5 to 5.3 (mean of 4 cases = 4.9).®^ Kola trees flourish where the mean annual 
+temperature is between 20 to 26°C and the annual rainfall is 250 cm or more. It is found 
+at low altitudes ranging up to several meters above sea-level. Thrives in deep sandy loam 
+with much humus.
+I l l
+Cultivation — Propagation is by seeds (usual), cuttings, air-layering, or grafting. Seeds 
+are planted in seed-beds in well-prepared soil containing much humus. Seedlings are planted 
+in rows 6.6 m apart each way. Trees respond to fertilizers and produce the highest yields 
+only when weeds are cut back regularly. Best crops obtained on soils that are deep, sandy, 
+and with a high content of organic matter. Plantain or other plant is used as shade for the 
+first year or two. Cassava is a catch-crop for the tree until it gets large enough to bear fruits. 
+Trees may also be propagated vegetatively from cuttings. Terminal cuttings set without any 
+hormones retain their leaves and start callusing within 3 to 4 weeks after setting. The roots 
+usually appear at an acute angle from the callus. New flush growth on the rooted cuttings 
+starts at about the third month after potting and is commonly slow. Most cuttings flower 
+the first year of growth. Cuttings set out in the field grow rapidly and flower and fruit within 
+three years. When propagated by air-layering, about 98% of all branches treated are heavily 
+callused within 3 to 4 weeks; within 6 weeks, most branches have developed roots 5 to 8 
+cm long. About 95% of all marcots become established satisfactorily in the field. Those 
+obtained from mature, already fruiting trees, flowered in 6 to 7 months after cutting them 
+from the mother plant, or 3 to 4 months after transplanting. Propagation by budding is 
+successful at all times of the year, with the highest bud-take from patch or flute budding 
+techniques obtained between January and April, the lowest between September and Decem­
+ber.
+Harvesting — Kola trees produce two crops per year; in Jamaica, pods ripen in May and 
+June and again in October-November; in West Africa, the main crop is harvested from 
+October to February. The chocolate brown pods, which range in size from 5 to 10 cm long, 
+are shaken from the tree and gathered immediately, or are cut off by tree-climbers with 
+knives on long sticks. Harvesters climbing trees are occasionally attacked by ants. The seeds 
+are removed from the pods and the outer coat is cut off, exposing the bare cotyledons. These 
+are carefully graded inasmuch as only sound cotyledons do not deteriorate quickly. Fresh 
+kola-nuts tend to mold and spoil rather easily. They must be taken to market quickly for 
+local consumption. Kola-nuts of commerce are freed from the white covering, usually after 
+soaking or by fermentation in broad leaves. Occasionally, the nuts are buried to keep them 
+sound for a favorable market; in the equatorial regions, it is done in ant hills. The main 
+trade is in good-sized nuts. Packing is done in baskets along with broad leaves, and with 
+occasional moistening, the nuts can be transported for a month, free from mold. Kola-nuts 
+prepared for shipment to the U.S. are split in half, sun-dried, and shipped in bags. They 
+are usually soaked in water for 2 to 3 hr and the juice thrown off. For export to Europe, 
+peat is recommended as a packing material suitable for all conditions of temperature, and 
+the nuts, which are mainly used for drugs and wine, are shipped in the dry condition.
+Yields and economics — Depending on how they are propagated, trees begin to bear 
+fruit in 4 to 5 years and reach full production in 10 to 15 years, or begin in 7 to 9 years 
+and reach maturity in 15 to 20 years. Then they continue to bear good crops of fruits for 
+50 years or more. Usually after a tree is 10 years old, it may be expected to yield, in two 
+harvests, about 56 kg of dried nuts per year.^^^ Speaking generically, Purseglove^^^ notes 
+that of nearly 250 trees in Nigeria, ca. 20% gave no yield at all, ca. 60% gave mean annual 
+yields up to 300 nuts, while 20% produced 72% of the total yield of the plot. The average 
+was 210 nuts per tree, the 10 best trees averaging 1,415 nuts, while the best yielded 2,209 
+nuts per year. With an average 60 nuts per kilogram, that is more than 36 kg for the big 
+yielder. Purseglove concludes there are an average 210 salable nuts per tree, or ca. 575 
+kg/ha.^^^ Although most kola-nuts are harvested from wild trees of the West African coast, 
+the U.S. imports most of its kola-nuts from Jamiaca. In the U.S., most kola-nuts are used 
+for manufacturing nonalcoholic beverages.
+Energy — Husks, prunings, and fallen leaves can be used for energy production.
+Biotic factors — Self-pollinated trees produce only white fruits (white-colored nuts bring
+112 Handbook of Nuts
+the highest prices); the production of colored (red or pink) nuts may therefore be due to 
+cross-pollination. The following fungi have been reported on this species of kolanut: Au- 
+ricularia delicata, Botryodiplodia theobromae, Corticium koleroga, Fomes lignosis, F. 
+noxius, Graphium rhodophaeum, Irenopsis coliicola, Marasmius equicrinus, M. scandens, 
+Nectria delbata, Phaeobotryosphaeria plicatula; twig blight, root rot, and thread blight. 
+Nematodes isolated from this tree include the following species: Helicotylenchus cavenessi, 
+H. pseudorobustus, Scutellonema clathricaudatum, and Xiphinema sp. Insect pests include 
+borers, cola weevils (Balanogastris kolae), and larvae of the moth Characoma. Trees are 
+also attacked by pests found on cocoa, as the caspid Sahlbergella singularis and by Me- 
+sohomotoma tessmanii.^^^'^''^
+113
+COLA VERTICILLATA (Thonn.) Stapf ex A.Chev. (STERCULIACEAE) — Owe Cola, 
+Slippery Cola, Mucilage Cola
+Syn.: C ola jo h n so n ii Stapf. and S tercu lia verticillata Thonn.
+Uses — Seeds, indistinguishable from true cola in appearance, are edible, though very 
+bitter and considered unfit to eat.^^^ Nuts are used to make a beverage. In some districts, 
+the people gather the fruit, or at least chew it where found; in others, they usually regard 
+it as a “ monkey kola” . Wood of the tree is white and hard, and is used in S. Nigeria to 
+make fetish images.
+Folk medicine — Containing caffeine, this species no doubt shares some pharmacological 
+properties and folk uses with other Cola species.
+Chemistry — Nuts contain a fair proportion of caffeine.
+Description — Trees large, 8 to 10(to 25) m tall; branches sparsely puberulent, rarely 
+cylindrical, brownish dark-red, often weeping. Leaves verticillate in threes or fours, opposite 
+in the lower nodes, simple, entire, subcoriaceous to coriaceous; stipules 5 to 6 mm long, 
+puberulent on lower surface; petiole 2 to 6 mm long, sparsely puberulent; blades obovate- 
+elliptic, oblong or oblanceolate, cuneate at base, attenuate to apex, 12 to 25 cm long, 3 to 
+9 cm broad, glabrous, subcoriaceous, green on upper surface, puberulent and brownish dark- 
+red beneath; secondary veins in 5 to 8 pairs, ascending. Panicles axillary, isolated in groups 
+of 2 to 3; flowers small, 1 to 3 cm long, puberulent; bracts oval, cuspidate, concave, about
+6 mm long, more or less persistent; calyx 5- to 8-lobed, densely puberulent on external 
+surface, sparsely so on inner surface; male flowers on pedicels 3 to 7 mm long, articulate 
+at summit, puberulent, calyx 4 to 5(to 8) mm long with 5 to 6 lobes longer than the tube; 
+androphore 1 mm long, puberulent, corona of stamens in 2 verticels, female flowers and 
+perfect flowers on pedicels 12 mm long, articulate near the summit, with 5 to 7 lobes about
+7 mm long; ovary with 5 carpels in 2 tiers of 4 ovules. Fruit on pedicels 3 to 4 cm long; 
+follicles subsessile, oblong, up to 20 cm long, 9 cm broad, with short beak, obtuse, and 
+more or less recurved, glabrous. Seeds 4 to 9, sometimes up to 12 per follicle, ovoid-elliptic, 
+3 mm long, 2 cm broad, either red or white, with 3 to 4 cotyledons.
+Germplasm — Reported from the African Center of Diversity, owe kola, or cvs thereof, 
+is reported to tolerate shade, slope, and virus. (2n = 40.)®^
+Distribution — Native to Tropical West Africa from Ivory Coast and Ashanti to Ca- 
+meroons and Lower Congo; planted in N. Nigeria and elsewhere, but nowhere much cul­
+tivated. Some cultivation in Nigeria, Cameroons, Ghana, Dahomey, Gabon, and Cabinda. 
+Often found in planting of C. nítida. The only kola found on the Mambilla Plateau in 
+Northern Nigeria.
+Ecology — Ranging from Subtropical Moist through Tropical Dry to Moist Forest Life 
+Zones, owe kola is reported to tolerate annual precipitation of 13.6 to 22.3 dm (mean of 3 
+cases = 17.7), annual temperature of 23.5 to 26.4°C (mean of 3 cases = 17.7°C), and pH 
+of 4.8 to 5.0 (mean of 2 cases = 4.9).®^ Indigenous to damp forests of the tropical zone, 
+especially in swamps and by streams; requiring the jungle-type habitat. Often planted in 
+villages.
+Cultivation — Most trees are self-seeded in humid forests of tropical West Africa. 
+Propagated by seed planted in site where desired. No special care given after tree is estab­
+lished.
+Harvesting — Fruits are gathered from trees in the wild in some districts. Occasionally 
+trees are planted in villages; fruits are collected when ripe to make beverages.^^®
+Yields and economics — A fruit of minor importance in area of adapation, used mostly 
+by natives as a source of caffeine, for a beverage, and for wood.^^®
+Energy — Husks, prunings, and fallen leaves can be used for energy production.
+Biotic factors — The fungus Irenopsis aburiensis has been reported on this tree. No 
+serious pests are reported.
+114 Handbook of Nuts
+CORDEAUXIA EDULIS Hemsl. (CAESALPINIACEAE) — Yeheb Nut
+Uses — Seeds said to be edible raw or cooked, likened by one author to a chestnut, by 
+another to a cash ew .M u ch relished by the Somalians, often preferred to the usual diet 
+of rice and dates. The leaves are infused to make a tea. Leaves, eagerly grazed by livestock, 
+contain a brilliant red dye that will stain the hands, even the bones of goats who eat it. 
+Somalians use the magenta-red coloring matter to stain textiles.
+Folk medicine — No data available.
+Chemistry — Per 100 g, the seed (ZMB) contains 448 calories, 12.1 g protein, 13.5 g 
+fat, 71.9 g total carbohydrate, 1.6 g fiber, 2.5 g ash, 36 mg Ca, 208 mg P, and 7.2 mg 
+Fe. The NAS (1979) reports 37% starch, 24% sugar, 13% protein, and 11% fat. The protein 
+contains amino acids in proportions similar to other pulses, deficient in m ethionine.M iege 
+and Miege^*^ report 10.8 g arginine, 3.5 g histamine, 3.9 isoleucine, 6.4 g leucine, 6.8 g 
+lysine, 0.7 g methionine, 3.9 g phenylalanine, 3.6 g threonine, 4.8 g valine, 1.9 g tyrosine, 
+0.6 g cystine, 9.1 g asparagine, 23.8 g glutamine, 3.9 g serine, 6.6 g prolamine, 4.9 g 
+glycine, and 4.5 g alanine per 100 g protein. The albumins have trypsin inhibitors, the 
+globulins nearly 10 times as much. Phytohemagglutinins, alkaloids, or glucosides are said 
+to be absent.^ The red stain is due to cordeauxione, the only naphthoquinone found in 
+legumes.
+Description — Dwarf multistemmed evergreen shrub to 3 m tall; lower branches dense, 
+straight, broomlike, hard. Leaves paripinnate; leaflets usually oval-oblong, 4-paired, leath­
+ery, dotted below with reddish, scale-like glands; stipules none. Flowers few, yellow, in 
+apical corymbs; calyx short; lobes 5, blunt, valvate, glandular; petals 5, subequal, clawed, 
+spoon-shaped; stamens 10, free; filaments hairy below; anthers versatile; ovary short-stalked, 
+2-ovuled, densely glandular; stigma obtuse. Pod leathery, compressed-ovoid, curved, apex
+115
+beaked, 2-valved, dehiscent, 1 to 4 seeded, seeds ovoid, endosperm lacking, cotyledons 
+thick.® Germination epigeal, the eophylls 1 to 8-foliolate, the first eophylls often opposite.
+Germplasm — Reported from the Ethiopian Center of Diversity, yeheb, or cvs thereof, 
+is reported to tolerate drought, high pH, poor red sandy soils, sand, and savanna.
+Distribution — Endemic to Somalia, Malawi, and Ethiopia.
+Ecology — Estimated to range from Subtropical Desert to Thom through Tropical Desert 
+to Thom Forest Life Zones, yeheb is estimated to tolerate annual precipitation of 1 to 8 dm 
+(1 to 2 reported), annual temperature of 23 to 30°C, and pH of 6 to 8.5 (reported 7.8 to 
+8.4). In its native habitat, yeheb occurs in savannas, elevation 300 to 1,000 m, with poor 
+red sandy soils, two rainy seasons, annual rainfall of 250 to 400 mm, and no frosts.
+Cultivation — Only recently brought under cultivation at the Central Agricultural Re­
+search Station at Afgoi, Somalia, and at Voi and Galana Ranch, Kenya. Seeds germinate 
+as high as 80%, the seedlings quickly developing a thin but tough tap root, which complicates 
+transplanting. Hence, field seeding is recommended.
+Harvesting — Starts fmiting at age 3 or 4 years, fmits said to ripen in only 5 to 6 days.^^'*
+Yields and economics — Overexploitation, overgrazing, nonflowering in drought, and 
+war in its native habitat, have all jeopardized the very existence of the yeheb. “ The plant 
+is in great danger of e x tin ctio n .S o m alis use ca. 200 g pulverized leaves to dye 90,000 
+cm^ calico. In the old days of British Somaliland, sacks of the nuts were brought down to 
+the coast for sale.^^*
+Energy — No data available.
+Biotic factors — Although the shmb itself is essentially free of insect pests, the nuts are 
+attacked by weevils and moth larvae. Rhizobia are not reported, but root nodules are reported 
+on younger roots.®
+116 Handbook of Nuts
+CO RYLU S AM ERICANA Walt. (BETULACEAE) — American Hazelnut or Filbert
+Uses — Cultivated for production of nuts for home use and wildlife, for cover and shelter- 
+belt use, and for an ornamental. Kernels eaten raw or roasted, alone or mixed with other 
+nuts.^^^ Nuts may be beaten to a powder and used like flour to make filbert bread.
+Folk medicine — According to H artw ell,the bark is used in folk remedies for a poultice 
+for tumors. Reported to be a panacea, American hazelnut is a folk remedy for stomatitis 
+and tumor.Chippewa used the charcoal, pricked into the temples with needles, as analgesic; 
+Ojibwa used a poultice of boiled bark to help close and heal cuts.^’^ Said to cause allergic 
+rhinitis, bronchial asthma, and/or hypersensitivity pneumonitis.’*"^
+Chemistry — Smith'”’^ reports the nuts to contain 5.4% water, 16.5% protein, 64.0% 
+fat, 11.7% carbohydrates, 2.4% ash, and 3,100 calories per pound.
+Description — Deciduous shrub, forming dense thickets, 1 to 3 m tall; branchlets pu­
+bescent and glandular bristly. Leaves 7.5 to 15 cm long, slightly cordate or rounded at base, 
+broadly ovate or obovate, irregularly doubly serrate, sparingly pubescent above, paler and 
+finely tomentose beneath. Involucre pubescent but not bristly, compressed, about twice as 
+long as nut, the 2 bracts sometimes connate and usually tightly enclosing it with rather short, 
+triangular, denate lobes, the whole 1.5 to 3 cm long; nut roundish-ovate, compressed, 1 to 
+1.5 cm long. Flowers March to April; fruits July to October; seed dispersal July to winter.
+Germplasm — Reported from the North American Center of Diversity. Of the botanical 
+varieties, the following are sometimes recognized: C. am ericana forma m issouriensis (DC.) 
+Fern., plants without stipitate glands, and found occasionally throughout the range of the 
+species. C. am ericana var. indehiscens Palm, and Steyerm., with fruiting bracts united on 
+one side, found from North Carolina to Missouri. C. am ericana var. calyculata Winkl. (C. 
+calyculata Dipp.), the involucre with 2 very large bracts at base. The most important cvs 
+of the American filbert are ‘Rush’ and ‘Winkler’, both very widely cultivated and the most 
+hardy of all filberts. Four hybrids — ‘Bixly’, ‘Buchanan’, ‘Reed’, and ‘Potomac’, have 
+been introduced; these have intermediate characteristics between European and American 
+varieties. The cultivars of American hazelnut have smaller nuts than those of European 
+filberts. (2n = 22.
+Distribution — Native from eastern Canada and Maine west to Ontario and Saskatchewan, 
+south to Florida, Georgia, Oklahoma, and the Dakotas. Also usually cultivated within that 
+range.
+117
+Ecology — Estimated to range from Warm Temperate Dry to Wet through Cool Temperate 
+Moist to Wet Forest Life Zones, the American hazelnut is estimated to tolerate annual 
+precipitation of 5 to 30 dm, annual temperature of 6 to 14°C, and pH of 5.0 to 8.0.^^ 
+Naturally grows in or along edge of woods and thickets, on both dry and moist soils. 
+However, it grows best on moderately rich, well-drained soils. Filberts should be planted 
+on soils which are deep, fertile, and well-drained. Heavy clay or silt soils as well as coarse, 
+deep sand should be avoided. When planted on poorly drained soils, shrub grows poorly, 
+is subject to winter injury and bears few nuts.^^^ Hardy to Zone
+Cultivation — Most filberts offered for sale by nurserymen have been propagated by 
+layering and are on their own roots. Trees that have been grown for 1 or 2 years in the 
+nursery after the layers have been removed from parent stock are preferable to older trees. 
+Some nurserymen propagate their trees on Turkish filbert roots that do not produce suckers. 
+This rootstock generally outgrows the scion to some extent. Filbert can be propagated from 
+seed which have been stratified 60 days at 5°C, plus 67 days at 18°C, and 30 days at 5°C. 
+Stratified seed should be sown in spring. Seed should be drilled in fall and protected from 
+rodents. Germination is hypogeous. Horticultural cvs are propagated by suckers, layering, 
+budding, or grafting and cuttings. Filberts of all varieties should be planted 5 to 7 m or 
+more apart. In most cases, trees are planted in late winter or very early spring, after danger 
+of severe freezing is passed. The same general methods of planting should be used as for 
+apple and peach trees. Newly transplanted and young trees should be cultivated sufficiently 
+to destroy all grass and weed growth before the beginning of tree growth in spring and 
+through July. Mulching trees with any type of organic matter is as satisfactory as cultivation, 
+provided that sufficient mulch is applied to a large enough area around each tree to keep 
+grass and weed growth suppressed. In general, the same cultural practices used for peaches 
+are satisfactory for filberts. Filberts generally respond readily to fertilizer applications, 
+although no recommendation would apply to all situations. On most soils, it is not advisable 
+to apply any fertilizer the first year after transplanting. Beginning the second year, about 
+475 gm (1 lb) per tree of a 5-10-5 or 6-6-5 fertilizer should be broadcast around the tree 
+just before beginning of tree growth. The amount of fertilizer is increased by 475 gm/year 
+until trees are 10 to 12 years old; after that, ca. 5 kg/per tree is adequate. Filberts are pruned 
+to balance top loss with root loss (in planting), or to train young trees to desired form, or 
+to remove dead, broken, or diseased branches, or to stimulate moderate growth of new 
+shoots on old trees. At planting, tree should be cut back to about 60 cm above the ground, 
+leaving 4 to 6 branches to grow. Trees or shrubs should be trained to the central leader 
+form, provided it does not require removal of much wood. The more wood removed from 
+young plants, the later they come into bearing; therefore, only necessary pruning should be 
+done. Pruning should be done after pollen is shed and anthers have fallen. Since American 
+filberts or hazelnuts tend to sucker, the suckers should be removed promptly and the plant 
+trained to a single stem. Suckers should be removed at point on trunk or root where they 
+originate; cutting them off at surface of soil only increases the number that grow. Suckering 
+operations should be done 3 to 4 times a year, as they are easier to remove when young.
+Harvesting — Most filbert varieties are self-unfruitful, even though staminate and pis­
+tillate catkins are on the same tree or bush. Cross-pollination must be provided for satisfactory 
+fruit-production. In all plantings, 2 or more varieties should be included. The period of 
+pistillate flowering is usually much longer than that of pollen-shedding on a particular variety. 
+Furthermore, pollen of one variety must be shed when pistillate flowers of the other variety 
+are receptive. Nuts, good flavored, should be harvested from bushes in the fall as soon as 
+edges of husks begin to turn brown. As all nuts do not mature at once, 2 to 4 gatherings 
+may be necessary in a season. If nuts drop easily to ground, they should not be allowed to 
+remain there long because of loss to rodents and birds and discoloration and moldiness due 
+to wet weather. Nuts should be promptly dried by spreading them in a thin layer in a dry
+118 Handbook of Nuts
+place having good air circulation. Nuts dried in an unheated building usually require 4 to 
+6 weeks for drying. During this process, they should be stirred frequently to prevent molding. 
+The temperature of nuts dried by artificial heat should not be higher than 45°C; otherwise 
+they will not store well. After nuts have dried for this time, they are flailed to remove the 
+husk. The nuts, which are the commercial seed, can then be sown, stratified, or stored. 
+Storage in sealed containers at 5°C will retain a large part of viability in C. am ericana for 
+at least 2 years.
+Yields and economics — Brinkman^^ reports 491 seed per lb (ca. 1,080/kg). American 
+filberts give good crops every 2 to 3 years, or light crops every year. Yield, size of nut, 
+purity, soundness, and cost of commercial seed vary according to cv.^^® Great quantities of 
+hazelnuts are gathered each year for home use in northeastern U.S. and Canada. Many more 
+are used as food for wildlife.
+Energy — Small and erratically bearing, this species does not seem to hold great promise 
+as a firewood or oilseed species. The 64% oil could conceivably serve as an energy source.
+Biotic factors — A fungus disease. Eastern filbert blight, may cause severe damage to 
+European filberts in the eastern U.S.; once well-established in a planting, it is very difficult, 
+if not impossible to control. Growers should spot and eradicate early infections. Although 
+this disease is almost always on American filbert plants, it usually does little damage to 
+them. Each spring, trees should be carefully inspected and any diseased branches cut out 
+and burned. Among the insect pests, hazelnut weevil, in severe infestations, may completely 
+destroy the crop of nuts. Leaves are preferred food for Japanese beetles, and plants may be 
+completely defoliated by them. Filbert bug mite and Birch case-borer (C olephora salm ani) 
+may be pest problems. Stink-bugs and other plant bugs attack developing nuts and cause 
+them to be bitter when mature. As these insects breed on various plants, as legumes and 
+blackberries, control chiefly depends on orchard sanitation and elimination from plantation 
+of host plants on which bugs breed. For control of all pests, consult local state agents. 
+According to Agriculture Handbook No. 165,'* the following attack this species: A pioporthe 
+anom ala, Cenangium furfuraceum , C ucurbitaria con globata, C ylindrosporium verm iform is, 
+D iaporth e decedens, D iatrypella fro stii, D . m issouriensis, D ip lo d ia coryli, G loeosporium 
+coryli, G nom oniella coryli, G. gnom on, H ym enochaete cinnam om ea, H ypoxylon fuscum , 
+M elanconis fla vo viren s, M icrosph aera alni, P hyllactinia corylea, P hym atotrichum omni- 
+vorum , P hysalospora obtusa, P olyporu s albellus, P. elegans, P. radiatus, P . stereoides, 
+Scorias spongiosa, Septogloeum profusum , S eptoria corylina, S phaeropsis coryli, Taphrina 
+coryli, and Valsa am biens.
+119
+CO RYLU S AVELLANA L. (BETULACEAE) — European Filbert, Cobnuts, Hazelnuts, Bar­
+celona Nuts
+Uses — Long-cultivated, this is the main source of filberts of commerce. Kernel of nut 
+eaten raw, roasted, or salted, alone or with other nuts; also used in confections and baked 
+goods. Leaves sometimes used for smoking like tobacco. Hazelnut or filbert oil, a clear, 
+yellow, non-drying oil is used in food, for painting, in perfumes, as fuel oil, for manufacture 
+of soaps, and for machinery. Hazelwood or nutwood is soft, elastic, reddish-white with dark 
+lines, and is easy to split, but is not very durable. It is used for handles, sieves, walking 
+sticks, hoops of barrels, hurdles, wattles, and is a source of charcoal made into gunpow­
+der. 278,324
+Folk medicine — According to H artw ell,th e paste derived from the bark is said to be 
+a folk remedy for tumors. A salve, derived from the leaves and nuts, in a plaster with honey, 
+is said to be a cure for cancer. Reported to be fumitory and vasoconstrictor, European filberts 
+are a folk remedy for hypotension and parotid tumors.Medicinally, the nuts are tonic, 
+stomachic, and aphrodisiac.^^®
+Chemistry — Per 100 g, the seed is reported to contain 620 to 634 calories, 16.4 to 20.0 
+g protein, 54.3 to 58.5 g fat, 21.4 to 22.9 g total carbohydrates, 3.3 to 5.9 g fiber, 1.8 to 
+3.7 g ash, 201 mg Ca, 462 mg P, 4.5 mg Fe, 1044 mg K, 10.80 |xg beta-carotene equivalent, 
+0.17 mg thiamine, 0.44 mg riboflavin, 5.40 mg niacin, and 2.2 mg ascorbic acid.®^ The 
+Wealth of India'^^ reports the kernel to contain 12.7% protein, \1 .1% carbohydrate, 60.9% 
+fat, 0.35% P; rich in phosphorus. Kernel contains 50 to 65% of a golden yellow oil. The 
+fatty acid components are 88.1% oleic, 1.9% linoleic, 3.1% palmitic, 1.6% stearic, and 
+2.2% myristic. The leaves contain myricitroside, a rhamnoside of myricetol and allantoic 
+acid. The bark contains lignoceryl alcohol, betulinol, and sitosterol.Pollen contains guan- 
+osine (C10N13N5O5) and n-triacosan. The wood contains cellulose, galactan, mannan, araban, 
+and xylan. The ripe fruit contains 50 to 60% fat. Corylus oil contains 85% oleic- and 10% 
+palmitic-acid esters; in addition, 0.5% phytosterol, protein, corylin (?), 2 to 5% sucrose, 2 
+to 5% ash, melibiose (C12H22O11), manninotriose (C18H32O16), raffmose (C,8H320i6), and 
+stachyose (C24H42O21). Leaves contain taraxerol (C30H50O), (3-sitosterol, 3a, 7a,22a-tri- 
+hydroxystigmasterol, n-nonacosan? (C29H60), myricitrin (C21H50O), sucrose, essential oil, 
+18% palmitic-acid, 6.6% ash (52.8% CaO, 5.8% Si02, 2.6% Fc203). The bark contains 
+tannic acid, lignocerylalcohol, sitosterol, and betulin (C3oH5o02).‘*^
+Description — Deciduous shrub or small tree, up to 6 m tall, often thicket-forming; dark- 
+brown, smooth, with glandular-hairy twigs; leaves 5 to 12 cm long, orbicular, long-pointed, 
+hairy on both surfaces; margin doubly serrated; catkins appearing before leaves; staminate 
+catkins 2 to 8 cm long, pendulous, in clusters of 1 to 4; pistillate flowers about 5 mm long, 
+bud-like, erect; fruit in clusters of 1 to 4; nuts 1.5 to 2 cm in diameter, brown, invested by 
+deeply lobed irregularly toothed bracts as long as nut. Flowers January to March; fruits 
+fall.2^®
+Germplasm — Reported from the Near Eastern and Mediterranean Centers of Diversity, 
+European filbert, or cvs thereof, is reported to tolerate disease, frost, high pH, low pH, and 
+slope.®^ European filberts are varieties or hybrids of C. avellana and C. m axim a, both natives 
+of Old World. In Europe, filberts are those varieties with tubular husks longer than nut, 
+which is usually oblong; cob-nuts are roundish, angular, with husks about length of nut. In 
+America, all varieties of C. avellan a are filberts, and native species of C orylu s are hazelnuts. 
+Many hybrids between C. avellana, C. m axim a, and the American filberts have been pro­
+duced and many selections have been made. Hybrids with ‘Rush’ (a selection of C. am er- 
+icana) have produced some very hardy and productive plants, as ‘Bixly’, ‘Buchanan’, 
+‘Potomac’, and ‘Reed’. Mixed hybrid seedlings are often sold as ‘Jones Hybrids’. ‘Barcelona’ 
+is the principal variety cultivated in Oregon, with ‘Daviana’ and ‘DuChilly’ as pollinizers.
+120 Handbook of Nuts
+‘Cosford’, ‘Medium Long’, and ‘Italian Red’ are the best of over 100 varieties grown in 
+New York. ‘Purple Aveline’ is grown for its deep-red foliage in spring. C. avellana var. 
+pontica (C. Koch) Winkler (Pontine Hazel or Trabzon Filbert) with lacerated, tubular husks, 
+with nuts maturing by end of August, easily propagated by layering or grafting, long 
+cultivated in Asia Minor.Three varieties popular for ornamental planting are ‘Aurea’ 
+(yellow leaves), ‘Contorta’ (twigs definitely curled and twisted), and ‘Pendula’ (with pen­
+dulous b r a n c h e s ) . ( 2 n = 22,28.)
+Distribution — Native throughout most of Europe, except some islands and in the extreme 
+north and northeast, east to the Caucasus and Asia, south to North Africa and temperate 
+western Asia. Widely cultivated in temperate zones of Old and New World. Common in 
+gardens on hill country in India, but unsuccessful on plains there; cultivated in Oregon and 
+W ashington.Cultivated varieties introduced to the west coast of the U.S. in 1871.^®^
+Ecology — Ranging from Boreal Wet through Subtropical Thom to Dry Forest Life 
+Zones, European filbert is reported to tolerate precipitation of 3.1 to 13.6 dm (mean of 29 
+cases = 7.0), annual temperature of 5.9 to 18.6°C (mean of 29 cases = 10.3°C), and pH 
+of 4.5 to 8.2 (mean of 21 cases = 6.5).^^ Grows and is cultivated principally in countries 
+where summer temperatures are comparatively cool and winter temperatures uniform and 
+mild. Trees often injured during both mild and severe winters. Low temperatures, following 
+periods of warm weather during latter half of winter generally cause more cold injury to 
+catkins and wood than do abnormally low temperatures earlier in the season. Winters of 
+continuous mild temperatures or those with severe but steady low temperatures (not lower 
+than -5°C) usually result in little injury. Winters of alternating thawing and freezing cause 
+most damage. High summer temperatures, as in Eastern and Central U.S., often cause leaves 
+to scorch and bum and are an important factor in preventing trees from growing and fruiting 
+satisfactorily. Much of this trouble probably results from inadequate soil moisture supply at 
+critical times, as filbert does not have a deep taproot, and the feeding roots are fibrous and 
+shallow. Hence, commercial filbert production in the U.S. is confined to the Northwest 
+where climatic conditions are more favorable.H ardy to Zone 3.^"^^
+Cultivation — The site for filberts should be selected so as to delay opening of flowers 
+until the time when temperatures lower than — 5°C are no longer to be expected. A northern 
+slope or cover is the most satisfactory type of site. Cold, exposed sites, subject to drying 
+effects of winds, should be avoided. Filberts are usually propagated by layering so that new 
+plants are on their own roots. Some varieties sucker profusely, and soil is mounded up 
+around these in spring to depth of several cm. By the following spring, roots have developed 
+at base of sucker. Then, rooted suckers are cut loose, taken up and grown for a year in the 
+nursery before setting them in a permanent site. Filberts may be propagated from seed, but 
+varieties and cultivars do not come true. Seeds require after-ripening for germination. They 
+may be stratified in sand over the winter. In spring, seeds are planted in the nursery and 
+seedlings grown for 2 years. Buds grafted on C. colurna seedlings showed 39% successful 
+union. Filbert trees of most varieties should be planted 5 to 7 m or more apart. Small­
+growing hybrids can be planted 3 to 5 m apart. In most cases, trees should be planted in 
+late winter or very early spring, after danger of severe freezing weather has passed. The 
+same general methods of planting should be used as that used for apple or peach. Newly 
+transplanted and young trees should be cultivated sufficiently to destroy all grass and weed 
+growth before the beginning of tree growth in spring and through July. Mulching trees with 
+organic matter is equally satisfactory, provided that sufficient mulch is applied to a large 
+enough area around each tree to suppress grass and weed growth. In general, the same 
+cultural practices used for peaches are satisfactory for filberts. Filberts generally respond 
+readily to fertilizer applications, although no recommendation would apply to all conditions. 
+On most soils, it is not advisable to apply any fertilizer the first year after transplanting. 
+Beginning the second year, about 475 g (1 lb) per tree of a 5-10-5 or 6-6-5 fertilizer should
+121
+be broadcast around tree just before beginning of tree growth. The amount of fertilizer should 
+be increased by 475 g (1 lb) per tree per year until trees are 10 to 12 years old; after that 
+ca. 5 kg per tree per year is sufficient. Filberts are pruned to: (1) balance top loss with root 
+loss in planting operations; (2) train young trees to desired form; and (3) remove dead or 
+broken branches and stimulate moderate new shoot growth on older trees. At planting, the 
+tree should be cut back to about 60 cm above ground, and 4 to 6 branches should be allowed 
+to grow. Trees should be trained to the central leader form, provided it does not require 
+removal of much wood. The more wood removed from young trees, the later they come 
+into bearing; therefore, only necessary pruning should be done. Older trees that make short 
+shoot growth should have branches thinned out and slightly cut back to stimulate production 
+of stronger, more vigorous shoots. Pruning should be done after pollen is shed and catkins 
+have fallen. All filberts except Turkish tend to grow as bushes by suckering from roots. All 
+suckers should be promptly removed and the tree trained to a single stem. Suckers should 
+be removed at the point on the trunk or root where they originate; cutting them off at the 
+soil surface only increases the suckers that grow. Suckering operations should be done 3 or 
+4 times a year, as young suckers are easier to remove.
+Harvesting — Shrubs or trees begin bearing in about 4 years and bear well nearly every 
+year. Staminate and pistillate appear on the same tree in different clusters. Depending on 
+the location and winter weather conditions, pollination begins in January to March and lasts 
+about 1 month. Young nuts do not become visible until late June or early July. There is a 
+3 to 4 month lapse between pollination and fertilization. Although filbert trees flower when 
+freezing temperatures can be expected, they are generally not injured unless the temperature 
+drops to about - 10°C during the period of pollination. Most filbert varieties are self- 
+unfruitful, and cross-pollination must be provided for satisfactory fruit-production. In all 
+plantings, trees of 2 or more varieties should be included. The period of pistillate flowering 
+is usually much longer than that of pollen-shedding on a particular variety. Furthermore, 
+pollen of one variety must be shed at a time when pistillate flowers of the other variety are 
+receptive. Pollen of C. avellana is effective on pistils of C. cornuta and C. americana, but 
+a reverse application is usually sterile. C. americana x C. avellana hybrids have been used 
+successfully to pollinate C. avellana. Nuts soon become rancid when stored at room tem­
+perature.^^* With good weather and modem equipment, five experienced workers can harvest 
+ca. 200 acres in 10 days.^®^
+Yields and economics — No specific yield data available, as nuts are gathered several 
+times.A good orchard can provide ca. 2,000 kg/ha dry in-shell nuts annually. U.S. 
+imports ca. 45% of filberts consumed annually.Filberts include both C. avellana and C. 
+maxima and their hybrids, and they are not separated in the trade. In 1969— 1970, Turkey 
+exported about 81,300 MT of shelled nuts valued at $103 million, and 1,228 MT of unshelled 
+nuts valued at $783,342. In 1970, production was about 240,000 MT unshelled nuts. Filberts 
+range from $125-$150/ton. Major importers are West Germany, USSR, France, Italy, U.K., 
+Switzerland, U.S., Lebanon, East Germany, and Syria. The U.S. produces about 9,000 
+tons annually in the shell and imports additional quantities.
+Energy — Though not usually considered a firewood species, the wood could undoubtedly 
+serve such a purpose. Specific gravity of 0.917. The oil potential of nearly ca. 1 MT/ha 
+would better be utilized for edible than energy purposes.
+Biotic factors — Nuts of some varieties drop freely from husk, while others must be 
+removed from husk by hand. Fallen nuts should be gathered 2 to 4 times during the harvest 
+season, as they do not all mature at the same time. Those that drop early should not be 
+allowed to lie on the ground because of loss to rodents and birds and discoloration or 
+moldiness due to wet weather. Nuts should be promptly dried by spreading them in a thin 
+layer in a dry place having good air circulation. Nuts dried in an unheated building usually 
+require 4 to 6 weeks for drying. During this process, they should be stirred frequently to
+122 Handbook of Nuts
+prevent molding. Temperature of nuts dried by artificial heat should not be higher than 45°C 
+— otherwise they will not store well. Kernels of fully dried nuts are firm and brittle and 
+will break with a sharp snap when hit with a hammer or crushed with the fingers. The 
+following fungi are known to cause diseases on European filbert: Anthostoma dubium, 
+Apioporthe anómala, Armillaria mellea, Cercospora coryli, Chorostate conjuncta, Ciboria 
+amentácea, Coriolus hoehnelii, Cryptospora corylina, Cylindrosporium coryli, Cytospora 
+corylicola, C. fuckelii, Diaporthe decedens, D. eres, Diatrype disciformis, D. stigma, 
+Diatrypella favacea, D. verrucaeformis, Cryptosporiopsis grisea, Diplodia sarmentorum, 
+D. coryli, Fenestella princeps, Fornes annosus, Fumago vagans, Gloeosporium coryli, G. 
+perexiguum, Gnomonia amoena, G. coryli, G. gnomon, Gnomoniella coryli, Helmintho- 
+sporium macrocarpum, H. velutinum, Helotim fructigenum, Hypoxylon fuscum, H. multi­
+forme, H. unitum, Labrella coryli, Lachnum hedwigiae, Mamiania coryli, Mamianiella 
+coryli, Marasmius foetidus, Melconis sulphurea, Melanomma pulvis-pyrius, Merulius rufus, 
+M. serpens, Monostichella coryli, Nectria coryli, N. ditissima, Nitschkia tristis, Orbilia 
+crenato-marginata, Peniophora cinerea, Pestalozzia coryli, Pezicula corylina, Phellinus 
+punctatus, Phoma suffulta, Phyllactinia corylea, Phyllosticta coryli, Phytophthora cactorum, 
+Radulum oribculae, Rhizopus nodosus, Sclerotinia fructigena, Septoria avellanae, Sillia 
+ferruginea, Stereum hirsutum, S. rugosum, Sphaeropsis coryli, Stictis mollis, Taphrina 
+coryli, Tyromyces semipileatus, Valsa corylina, and Vuilleminia comedens. European filbert 
+trees are attacked by the bacteria, Agrobacterium tumefaciens and Xanthomonas coryli. 
+Nematodes isolated from filberts include: Caconema radicicola, Heterodera marioni, Lon- 
+gidorus maximus, and Pratylenchus penetrans. Few insects attack leaves, branches, or nuts; 
+some may cause severe damage unless controlled. Stink bugs and other plant bugs attack 
+developing nuts and cause them to be bitter when mature. As these insects breed on various 
+plants, as legumes, blackberries, and others, control chiefly depends on orchard sanitation 
+and elimination of host plants on which bugs breed.
+123
+CORYLUS CHINENSIS Franch. (BETULACEAE) — Chinese Filbert 
+Syn.: C orylu s co lu m n var. ch in en sis Burk.
+Uses — Kernels of nuts edible, used for food, eaten raw, roasted, or in cookery, and as 
+flavoring. Plants used for hybridizing, since they are trees relatively resistant to Eastern 
+filbert blight.
+Folk medicine — No data available.
+Chemistry — No data available.
+Description — Deciduous tree up to 40 m tall; leaves 10 to 17 cm tall, ovate to ovate- 
+oblong, cordate or very oblique at base, glabrous above, pubescent along veins beneath, 
+doubly serrate, petioles 0.8 to 2.5 cm long, pubescent and setulose; fruits 4 to 6, clustered; 
+involucre, not spiny, constricted above nut, with recurved and more or less forked lobes, 
+finely pubescent, not glandular; nuts relatively small, hard-shelled but of high quality.
+Germplasm — Reported from the China-Japan Center of Diversity, Chinese filbert, or 
+CVS thereof, is reported to tolerate disease, drought, frost, heat, and slope.Som e selections 
+are heavy producers. Cultivated, along with its hybrids, in southern Michigan.(2n = 11.
+Distribution — China;cultivated in Michigan.
+Ecology — Ranging from Warm Temperate Dry to Moist Forest Life Zones, Chinese 
+filbert is reported to tolerate annual precipitation of 6.6 to 12.3 dm (mean of 2 cases = 
+9.5), annual temperature of 14.7 to 15.0°C (mean of 2 cases = 14.9°C), and pH of 4.9 to 
+6.8 (mean of 2 cases = 5.9).®^ Thrives in soils which permit its strong root system to 
+penetrate to great depths. Trees resistant to cold, heat, drought, and other hazardous con­
+ditions of the environment.^^®
+Cultivation — Propagated by seeds, but seedlings vary greatly in productivity and bearing 
+age. Often hybridized with other species to get larger nuts and more hardy plants. Trees 
+produce few or no suckers.
+Harvesting — Trees begin to bear fruit in about 8 years, and then continue for a long 
+time. Nuts harvested in fall as other filbert tree species. Treatment, drying, and storage 
+methods similar to those used for other filberts and hazelnuts.
+Yields and economics — Although no exact figures are available for this species, its 
+selections and hybrids are said to be heavy producers. No specific production figures for 
+this species.
+Energy — As a tall tree, this produces better firewood than some of the bushy species 
+of Corylus.
+Biotic factors — No specific data available for this species, but same precautions should 
+be taken as for other filberts. Trees are relatively resistant to Eastern filbert blight.
+124 Handbook of Nuts
+CO RYLU S COLU RN A L. (BETULACEAE) — Turkish Filbert or Hazelnut, Constantinople 
+Nut
+Uses — Cultivated for the nuts, the edible kernel used for confections, pastries, and for 
+flavoring. Nuts also used roasted or salted, alone or with other nuts. This species is rarely 
+cultivated for nuts in North America, but rather as an ornamental and for nursery under­
+stock.
+Folk medicine — Nuts used as a tonic.
+Chemistry — According to Hager’s Handbook,*®^ the nuts contain melibiose, manni- 
+notriose, raffinose, and stachyose.
+Description — Deciduous shrub or small tree, rarely up to 25 m tall, with regular 
+pyramidal head; leaves 7.5 to 12.5 cm long, deeply cordate, rounded, ovate or obovate, 
+slightly lobed, doubly serrate, nearly glabrous above, pubescent beneath; petioles 2.5 cm 
+long, usually glabbrescent, stipules lanceolate and acuminate; catkins up to 12 cm long, 
+pendent; involucre much longer than nut, open at apex, divided almost to base into many 
+long-acuminate or linear serrate lobes, densely covered with glandular hairs; nut globose or 
+roundish-ovate, about 2 cm long, hard. Flowers late winter to early spring; fruits fall.^^®
+Germplsm — Reported from the Near East Center of Diversity, Turkish filbert, or cvs 
+thereof, is reported to tolerate drought, frost, poor soil, shade, and slo p e .C . colurna var. 
+glandulifera DC. has glandular-setose petioles and peduncles, with the lobes of involucre 
+less acute and more dentate. Some selectins are heavy producers. Many other named botanical 
+varieties, x C. colurnoides C. K. Sch. is a hybrid of C. avellana x C. colurna, grown 
+in Germany. (2n =
+Distribution — Native to southeastern Europe and southwestern Siberia, south to the 
+western Himalayas from Kashmir to Kumaon, at altitudes from 1,500 to 3,000 m; common 
+in Kashmir forests; also found in Afghanistan, Balkan Peninsula, and Rumania. Extensively 
+cultivated in Turkey.
+Ecology — Ranging from Cool Temperate Moist to Wet through Subtropical Dry Forest 
+Life Zones, Turkish filbert is reported to tolerate annual precipitation of 5.2 to 14.7 dm 
+(mean of 8 cases = 8.8), annual temperature of 8.4 to 18.6°C (mean of 8 cases = 12.0°C), 
+and pH of 5.3 to 7.2 (mean of 8 cases = 6.6).®^ A temperate plant, but not quite hardy 
+northward into the U.S. and Europe. Thrives on deep, fertile, well-drained soils, in regions 
+where summer temperatures are comparatively cool and winters uniform and mild. Winters 
+too mild or too severe injure both catkins and wood. Also winters with alternate thawing 
+and freezing are injurious. For best cultivation, winter temperatures should not drop below 
+- 10°C.2"«
+Cultivation — Turkish filbert is propagated from seeds or graftings on seedling stock. 
+Since it does not sucker or stool, as do most species of C orylu s, its seedlings are used as 
+understocks for horticultural varieties of the European and American species. Trees should 
+be planted 5 to 7 m or more apart, except for hybrid varieties, which are small-growing and 
+can be planted 3 to 5 m apart. Trees should be planted in late winter or very early spring, 
+after danger of severe freezing has passed. The same general methods of planting should 
+be used as for apple or peach trees. Newly transplanted and young trees should be cultivated 
+sufficiently to destroy all grass and weed growth before the beginning of tree growth in 
+spring and through July. Mulching trees with any type of organic matter is equally as 
+satisfactory as cultivation, provided that sufficient mulch is applied. In general, the same 
+cultural practices used for peaches are satisfactory for filberts. Filberts generally respond 
+readily to fertilizer applications, although no recommendation would apply to all conditions. 
+On most soils, it is not advisable to apply any fertilizer the first year after transplanting. 
+Beginning the second year, about 475 gm (1 lb) per tree of a 5-10-5 or 6-6-5 fertilizer should 
+be broadcast around tree just before beginning of tree growth. Amount of fertilizer increased
+125
+475 gm (1 lb) per year until the tenth or twelfth year, and from then on apply about 4.7 kg 
+(10 lbs) per tree per year. Prune trees to desirable shape and remove dead or broken branches. 
+Since Turkish filberts do not sucker, little attention is given to the trees after they are 
+established.^^®
+Harvesting — Nuts are harvested in fall. Trees bear every third year, beginning the 
+eighth year. However, in Turkey where they are extensively cultivated for the nuts, trees 
+yield annually from the fourth year onwards up to the twentieth year. Nuts of Turkish filberts 
+are said to be as good in quality as the English hazelnut. Nuts of some varieties drop free 
+from husk while others must be removed from husk by hand. Fallen nuts should be gathered 
+2 to 4 times during the harvest season as they do not all mature at same time. Those that 
+drop early should not be left on ground because of loss by rodents and birds, and because 
+of discoloration and moldiness due to wet weather. Nuts should be promptly dried by 
+spreading them in a thin layer in a dry place having good air circulation. Nuts dried in an 
+unheated building usually require 4 to 6 weeks for drying. During this process the nuts 
+should be stirred frequently to prevent molding. Temperature of nuts dried by artificial heat 
+should not exceed 46°C (115°F) — otherwise they will not store well. Kernels of fully dried 
+nuts are firm and brittle and will break with a sharp snap when hit with a hammer or crushed 
+with the fingers.
+Yields and economics — No specific data on yields separate from that of other filberts 
+cultivated in same areas, as Turkey and southeast Europe. However, some selections are 
+said to be very good producers of nuts. Extensively cultivated in Turkey, and to a lesser 
+degree in southeast Europe and western Asia, south into temperate Himalayas. Although 
+trees are said to yield a good crop, production figures are not separated from production of 
+other European or Asiatic filberts.
+Energy — Like other members of the genus C orylu s, this holds little promise as an 
+energy species, but can provide firewood and seed oils. As a tree species, it can provide 
+higher quality firewood than shrubby species of C orylus.
+Biotic factors — The following fungi are known to attack Turkish filbert: H yposylon 
+m ultiform e, L enzites jap ó n ica , M icrosph aeria alni, P hyllactinia corylea, and Pucciniastrum 
+coryli. The bacterium P seudom onas colurnae has been isolated from this species. Mycorrhiza 
+are necessary in the soil. As staminate and pistillate flowers do not always become fertile 
+on the same tree at the same time, and since most filberts are self-unfruitful, for commercial 
+production, several varieties should be planted near each other for cross pollination, thus 
+assuring good nut production.
+126 Handbook of Nuts
+CO RYLU S CORNU TA Marsh (BETULACEAE) Beaked Filbert
+Syn.: C orylu s rostrata Ait.
+Uses — Nuts used for human food and wildlife food; plants used for erosion control and 
+cover and for basket splints.
+Folk medicine — Ojibwa Indians used a poultice of boiled bark to help close and heal 
+wounds; Potawatomi used the inner bark as an astringent.^‘^
+Chemistry — No data available.
+Description — Deciduous shrub, 0.6 to 3 m tall, thicket-forming, sometimes a small tree 
+to 10 m tall; bark smooth; branchlets pubescent, villous or glabrous, later glabrescent, not 
+bristly; leaves 6 to 10 cm long, ovate or narrowly oval, acuminate, cordate or obtuse at 
+base, incised-serrate or serrulate on margins, glabrous or with scattered appressed hairs 
+above, sparsely pubescent beneath, at least along veins; petioles glandless, 0.4 to 0.8 cm 
+long; mature involucral of connate bracts 4 to 7 cm long, densely bristly toward base, usually 
+rather abruptly constructed into an elongated beak, cut at summit into narrowly triangular 
+lobes; nut ovoid, brown, compressed, striate, 1.2 to 2.3 cm long. Flowers February to May; 
+fruits July to September; seed dispersal July to winter.
+Germplasm — Reported from the North American Center of Diversity, beaked filbert, 
+or CVS thereof, is reported to tolerate frost, slope, smog, and S02-®^ Among botanical varieties 
+are the following: C. cornuta forma inerm is Fern., a form in Quebec with non-bristly 
+involucres; C. Cornunta var. californica (A. DC.) Sharp (C. californica (A.DC.) Rose), a 
+variety found on the West Coast. (2n = 28.)^^®
+Distribution — Native to eastern North America from Newfoundland and Quebec to 
+British Columbia, south to Georgia and Missouri, and on the west coast from California 
+northward. Cultivated else where.
+Ecology — Ranging from Boreal Moist through Cool Temperate Steppe to Wet Forest 
+Life Zones, beaked filbert is reported to tolerate annual precipitation of 3.5 to 11.6 dm 
+(mean of 10 cases = 6.8), annual temperature of 5.7 to 12.5°C (mean of 10 cases = 8.1°C), 
+and pH of 5.0 to 7.5 (mean of 9 cases = 6.5).^^ Naturally thrives in moist woods and 
+thickets, on low hillsides, in rich, well-drained soil. When cultivated, shrubs should be 
+planted in soils which are deep, fertile, and well-drained. Heavy clay or silt soils as well 
+as coarse, deep sand should be avoided. When planted on poorly drained soils, the shrub 
+grows poorly, is subject to winter injury, and bears few nuts.^^®
+Cultivation — Most filberts offered for sale by nurserymen have been propagated by 
+layering and are on their own roots. Trees or shrubs grown for 1 or 2 years in nursery after 
+the layers have been removed from parent stock are preferable to older plants. Some nurs­
+erymen propagated their stock on Turkish filbert roots that do not produce suckers. This 
+rootstock generally outgrows the scion to some extent. Beaked filberts can be propagated 
+from seed which has been stratified for 60 to 90 days at 5°C. Germination is hypogeous. 
+Natural seed dispersal is chiefly by animals. Stratified seed are planted in spring. However, 
+seed may be planted in fall in drills and protected from rodents. Horticultural varieties are 
+propagated by suckers, layering, budding or grafting, and cuttings. Filberts of all varieties 
+should be planted 5 to 7 m or more apart. In most cases, trees or shrubs are planted in late 
+winter or very early spring, after danger of severe freezing is passed. The same general 
+methods of planting should be used as for apple or peach trees. Newly transplanted and 
+young plants should be cultivated sufficiently to destroy all grass and weed growth before 
+the beginning of tree growth in spring and through July. Mulching plants with any type of 
+organic matter is equally as satisfactory as cultivation, provided that sufficient mulch is 
+applied. In general, the same cultural practices used for peaches are satisfactory for filberts. 
+Filberts generally respond favorably to fertilizer applications, although no recommendation 
+would apply to all situations. On most soils it is not advisable to apply any fertilizer the
+127
+first year after transplanting. Beginning the second year, about 475 g (1 lb) per tree of a 5- 
+10-5 or 6-6-5 fertilizer should be broadcast around the tree just before the beginning of tree 
+growth. The amount of fertilizer is increased 475 g/year until plants are 10 to 12 years old; 
+after that, about 4.7 kg per plant is sufficient. Pruning filberts is done to balance top with 
+loss of roots in planting operations, to train young trees to desired form, to remove dead, 
+broken or diseased branches, or to stimulate moderate growth on new shoots on old trees. 
+At planting, tree should be cut back to about 60 cm above the ground, leaving 4 to 6 branches 
+to grow. Trees or shrubs should be trained to the central leader form, provided it does not 
+mean removal of much wood. The more wood removed from young plants, the later they 
+come into bearing; therefore, only necessary pruning should be done. Pruning should be 
+done after pollen shedding is over and anthers have fallen. Since beaked filberts or hazelnuts 
+tend to sucker, the suckers should be removed promptly and the plant trained to a single 
+stem. Suckers should be removed at the point on the trunk or root where they originate; 
+cutting them off at surface of soil only increases the number that grow. Suckering operations 
+should be done 3 to 4 times a year, as they are easier to remove when young.^^^
+Harvesting — Fruits should be gathered by hand from bushes as soon as edges of husks 
+turn brown. Fruits should be spread out in a thin layer to dry for a short time, for about 4 
+to 6 days. Then husks are removed by flailing. The nuts, which are the commençai seeds, 
+may be sown, stratified, or stored. Storage in sealed containers at 5°C will retain some 
+viability in C. cornuta for at least 2 years.
+Yields and economics — Beaked filberts yield well every 2 to 5 years, and give a light 
+crop every year. Great quantities of hazelnuts are gathered each year for local home-use in 
+northeastern and northwestern U.S. and Canada. Many more are used as food for wildlife. 
+No exact figures are available on production. Hazelnuts are usually sold as mixed nuts, 
+especially during the winter months and holidays.^^^
+Energy — Probably no more promising than other C ory lus species for energy potential.
+Biotic factors — Most filbert varieties are self-unfruitful, even though staminate and 
+pistillate catkins are on the same tree or bush. Cross-pollination must be provided for 
+satisfactory fruit production. In all plantings, two or more varieties should be included. The 
+period of pistillate flowering is usually much longer than that of pollen-shedding on a 
+particular variety. Furthermore, pollen on one variety must be shed at the time when pistillate 
+flowers of the other variety are receptive. The following fungi are known to attack beaked 
+filberts or hazelnut plants: A pioporth e anom ala, C ercospora corylina, C ucurbitaria con- 
+globata, D iaporth e decedens, D ia tryp ella m inutispora, G loeosporium coryli, G. rostratum , 
+G nom oniella coryli, H ym enochaete agglutinans, M elanconis fla vo viren s, M icrosph aeria 
+alni, N ectria coryli, P ezicu la corylina, P hyllactin ia corylea, P hym atotrichum om nivorum , 
+P olysporus albellus, P . elegans, P. radiatus, P . stereoides, S eptoria corylina, and Sphaer- 
+opsis corylii. Among the insect pests, hazelnut weevil, in severe infestations, may completely 
+destroy the crop of nuts. Leaves are preferred food for Japanese beetles, and plants may be 
+completely defoliated by them. Filbert bud mite may be a pest problem. For control of all 
+pests, consult local State agent.
+128 Handbook of Nuts
+CORYLUS FEROX Wall. (BETULACEAE) — Himalayan or Tibetan Filbert 
+Syn.: Corylus tibetica Ratal, {thibetica) and Corylus ferox var. thibetica Franch.
+Uses — Kernel of nut edible, used raw, roasted, or in cookery, and as a flavoring.
+Folk medicine — No data available.
+Chemistry — No data available.
+Description — Deciduous tree to 10 m tall; young branches silky-hairy; leaves 7.5 to 
+12.5 cm long, oblong, ovate to obovate-oblong, usually rounded at base, acuminate, doubly 
+serrate, glabrous except along veins beneath, 12 to 14 pairs of veins; involucre glabrescent 
+to tomentose, forming a spiny bur about 3 cm across, longer than nut, consisting of 2 distinct 
+bracts; nuts from about twice in diameter as long to twice as long as wide.^^®
+Germplasm — Reported from the China-Japan Center of Diversity, Himalayan filbert, 
+or CVS thereof, is reported to tolerate frost and slope. (2n = 22,28.)^^
+Distribution — Native to central and western China to Tibet and central Himalaya, up 
+to 3,300 m altitude.
+Ecology — Ranging from Warm Temperate to Moist Forest Life Zones, Himalayan filbert 
+is reported to tolerate annual precipitation of 12.0 dm, annual temperature of 14.8°C, and 
+pH of 5.5.®^ Thrives in temperate forests on well-drained soils.
+Cultivation — This filbert is rarely cultivated, but rather, trees are taken care of in the 
+forest. Propagation is by natural distribution of seeds.
+Harvesting — Nuts are collected from native trees in the forest in the fall. Drying and 
+storage procedures are about the same as for other filberts.
+Yields and economics — No yield data available. Locally in central Asia, these filberts 
+are gathered and sold in local markets. They do not enter international trade.
+Energy — Not a promising energy species.
+Biotic factors — No data available.
+129
+CORYLUS HETEROPHYLLA Fisch. ex Besser (BETULACEAE) — Siberian Filbert
+Uses — Kernels of nuts used raw, roasted, cooked, or in confections.
+Folk medicine — Reported to be aperitif and digestive.
+Chemistry — No data available.
+Description — Deciduous shrub or small tree to 4 m tall; branchlets pubescent and 
+glandular-pilose when young; leaves 5 to 12 cm long and about as wide, orbicular-obovate 
+to deltoid-obovate, cordate at base, nearly truncate and abruptly acuminate at apex and with 
+a very short point, margins irregularly toothed or incisely serrate, green on both sides, 
+glabrous above, pubescent on veins beneath, petioles up to 13 cm long, pubescent and 
+glandular-pilose; involucre companulate, 2.5 to 3.5 cm long, somewhat longer than nut, 
+striate, glandular-setose near base, lobes of bracts entire or sparingly dentate, triangular; 
+nuts 1 to 3 in a cluster, at ends of branchlets, on stalks to 3 cm long, subglobose, about 
+1.5 cm across. Flowers May; fruits August.
+Germplasm — Reported from the China-Japan and Eurosiberian Centers of Diversity, 
+Siberian filbert, or cvs thereof, is reported to tolerate frost, low pH, and slope.Several 
+botanical varieties are known, and some are cultivated in northern Asia. C. heterophylla 
+var. yezoensis Koidz. (C. yezoensis (Koidz.) Nakai) — leaves obovate-orbicular to broadly 
+obovate, abruptly short acuminate, rarely glandular-pilose; involucres sparsely glandular- 
+pilose; Japan (Hokkaido, Honshu, Kyushu). Other varieties are var. thunbergii Blume, var. 
+crista-galli Burkill, var. setchuensis Franch., and var. yunnanensis Franch.®^’^^® (2n = 28.)
+Distribution — Native to eastern Siberia, eastern Mongolia, Manchuria, northern China 
+(Tschili), Ussuri, Amur, Korea; introduced and cultivated in Japan and France; probably 
+elsewhere.
+Ecology — Ranging from Cool Temperate to Moist through Warm Temperate Dry to 
+Moist Forest Life Zones, Siberian filbert is reported to tolerate annual precipitation of 12.0 
+to 14.7 dm (mean of 2 cases = 13.4), annual temperature of 14.8 to 14.8°C (mean of 2 
+cases == 14.8°C), and pH of 5.3 to 5.5 (mean of 2 cases = 5.4).®^ Naturally found along 
+woods and on mountain slopes, often forming dense thickets. Thrives in cool temperate 
+regions on soil with good drainage.
+Cultivation — Modest requirements greatly facilitate cultivation. Propagated from seed, 
+usually distributed naturally in the forest, and by suckers. The most elementary care of wild 
+stands results in considerable improvement in yield and quality of nuts.^^®
+Harvesting — Nuts are probably collected in the fall.
+Yields and economics — Nuts harvested commercially in Northern Asia, usually from 
+wild plants only. Does not enter international markets; usually marketed locally.
+Energy — Not a promising energy species.
+Biotic factors — No data available.
+130 Handbook of Nuts
+CO RYLU S MAXIMA Mill. (BETULACEAE) Giant or Lambert’s Filbert
+Syn.: C orylu s tu bu losa Willd.
+Uses — Widely cultivated for the nuts in Europe; used as roasted or salted nuts, or as 
+flavoring in confections and pastries. Sometimes naturalized, and of some interest as an 
+ornamental, especially the red-leaved form, found in parks in the Caucasus. This species is 
+considered the progenitor in Europe from which most cultivated filberts have been developed: 
+C. avellana is more often called the cobnut.
+Folk medicine — No data available.
+Chemistry — No data available.
+Description — Deciduous shrub or small tree, up to 10 m tall; branches somtimes glabrous, 
+mostly stipitate-glandular; leaves 7.5 to 15 cm long, 6 to 10 cm broad, orbicular, cordate 
+at base, short-acuminate, slightly lobed, doubly serrate, very often red, pubescent beneath; 
+petiole 1 to 2.5 cm long; staminate aments to 10 cm long,l cm in diameter; involucre tubular, 
+contracted above the nut, forming a gradually narrowed elongated deeply laciniate husk, 
+dentate at apex, finely pubescent outside, lower part fleshy, enveloping nut, splitting at 
+maturity; nut ovoid, sometimes subcylindrical, acuminate; kernel with thin red or white 
+skin. Flowers March; fruits September.
+Germplasm — Reported from the Central Asia and Near East Centers of Diversity, giant 
+filbert, or cvs thereof, is reported to tolerate frost, low pH, and slope. C. maxim a var. 
+purpurea Rehd. (C. avellana (var.)pu rpurea Loud., C. m axim a var. atropurpúrea Dochnahl) 
+has dark purple-red leaves. There are many varieties with large nuts. Cultivated forms are 
+partly hybrids with C. avellana, (2n = 22,28.)^^’^^®
+Distribution — Native to southeastern Europe, from Italy and Yugoslavia to Greece, 
+Turkey, and western Asia. Widely cultivated elsewhere in Europe and sometimes naturalized. 
+Cultivated in Crimea and on the Black Sea Coast for more than a century.
+Ecology — Ranging from Cool Temperate Wet through Warm Temperate Moist to Wet 
+Forest Life Zones, the giant filbert is reported to tolerate annual precipitation of 6.3 to 16.7 
+dm (mean of 2 cases = 10.5 dm), annual temperature of 9.7 to 14.8°C (mean of 2 cases 
+= 12.3°C), and pH of 5.3 to 6.8 (mean of 2 cases = 6.1). Thrives in a cool to warm 
+temperate climate under soil and climatic conditions similar to those for C. avellana.
+Cultivation — See C orylus am ericana.
+Harvesting — The harvesting of nuts begins in September. The beaked involucre must 
+be removed by hand, and then the nuts are dried for storage until marketed or used. After 
+removing the husk, nuts are spread out to dry in thin layers in a dry place having good air- 
+circulation. Nuts dried in an unheated building usually require 4 to 6 weeks for drying. They 
+should be stirred frequently to prevent molding. The temperature of nuts dried by artificial 
+heat should not be higher than 45°C; otherwise they will not store well.^^®
+Yields and economics — The species and its cultivars and hybrids are reported to be 
+good producers. Southeastern Europe and southwestern Asia, especially Crimea and the 
+Black Sea Region, are major producers. However, this filbert is not separated from the 
+Turkish and other filberts grown in the region. Prices vary from $125 to $150/ton for Turkish 
+filberts. About 240,000 MT of nuts are produced annually in Turkey and adjacent areas.
+Energy — Although not a promising energy species, this is one of the better species of 
+C orylus for energy production.
+Biotic factors — Fungi known to attack this filbert include: M ycosph aerella puntiform is, 
+P hyllactinia corylea, and Sphaeragnm onia carpinea. The bacterium, X anthom onas coryli, 
+also attack the plant. In some areas, winter injury may be serious. Pests include: Lecanium 
+corni (soft scale) and M yzocallis coryli (aphids).
+131
+COULA EDULIS Baill. (OLACACEAE) — African Walnut, Gabon Nut, Almond Wood
+Uses — The fruits, sold in Cameroon markets, have agreeably edible kernels, resembling 
+hazelnuts or chestnuts. They are eaten fresh, boiled in the shell, roasted, boiled, and pounded 
+and made into cakes. Some tribes ferment the fruits underground. The timber is red to 
+reddish-brown, closegrained, hard, heavy, resistant to water, and immune to insects, e.g., 
+termites, through liable to split. Suitable for house posts, railway sleepers, bridge-piles, and 
+charcoal, it has been suggested for heavy carpentry, stair treads, doors, turnery, and boat 
+and carriage construction. Durable under water, the wood can be used for bridges and 
+pilings.T he fruit shells make finger-rings in Nigeria.
+Folk medicine — The stomachic bark decoction is used for dysentery in Liberia. Powdered 
+bark is used in Equatorial Africa for dressing sores, and in decoctions to stimulate appetite 
+and counteract anemia, or in enemas for dysentery. Liberians believe the fruits eliminate 
+boils.
+Chemistry — Per 100 g, the seed (ZMB) is reported to contain 505 calories, 7.9 g protein, 
+25.7 g fat, 64.3 g total carbohydrate, 2.4 g fiber, 2.1 g ash, 180 mg Ca, and 269 mg P.®^ 
+DalzieF^ and Irvine^"^^ suggest that the oil content is closer to 50 than 25%. The seed fat is 
+very high in oleic acid (87 to 95%), with 3% linoleic, and 1.7% palmitic + stearic acids. 
+Menninger cites a source suggesting 87% oleic.
+Toxicity — Leaves said to be poisonous.W ood can cause allergy or asthma in wood­
+workers.^'^
+Description — Medium-sized tree to 20 m tall and 2 m girth; crown deep, dense; buttresses
+132 Handbook of Nuts
+slight or none; bark fairly smooth, thin, brownish-green; slash brown or yellow, white and 
+resinous in young trees, darkening to pink; young parts reddish-brown-hairy. Leaves 30 x 
+8 cm, often rusty, papery, elliptic to oblong-elliptic, glabrous, alternate; tip long-caudate- 
+acuminate; base cuneate; midrib slightly raised above; lateral nerves up to 14 pairs, sub­
+parallel, sunken above and raised below; petiole 2 to 3 cm long, usually twisted, rusty- 
+puberulous. Flowers (April to May, October to January) in rusty-brown axillary panicles; 
+calyx small, cup-shaped; petals 5, fairly thick; stamens 10. Fruit a drupe, ellipsoid-globose, 
+4 X 3 cm, nut-shell hard, rough ca. 4 mm thick, breaking into 3 portions when ripe, difficult 
+to break.
+Germplasm — Reported from the African Center of Diversity.
+Distribution — Sierra Leone to Gabon and Zaire; Liberia, Ivory Coast, Gold Coast, 
+Nigeria, Cameroon.
+Ecology — Reported from evergreen and deciduous forests, gabon nut is estimated to 
+range from Subtropical Dry to Wet through Tropical Dry to Moist Forest Life Zones, 
+tolerating annual precipitation of 8 to 35 dm, annual temperature of 23 to 28°C, and pH of 
+6.0 to 8.0.
+Cultivation — Can be grown as a plantation timber crop with the oil or nut as a by­
+product.
+Harvesting — In Angola, north of the Congo River, the nuts mature from December to 
+April.In Nigeria, it flowers January to May, fruiting in August.
+Yields and economics — Apparently sold only in Cameroon markets.
+Energy — The wood is suitable for charcoal*'*^ and it is so used in Gabon. The extremely 
+hard wood has a density of 1.073.
+Biotic factors — The wood is termite resistant.
+133
+CYCAS CIRCINALIS L. (CYCADACEAE) — Cica, Crazier Cycas 
+Uses — Speaking of Cycads in general, Egolf (in Menninger^®’) says
+Cycad nuts are rather large, many of them an inch across. They are fat and rounded, full of 
+starch, and mostly covered by a brilliant orange or reddish outer coat. They look as if they 
+are meant to be good to eat. The poisonous substance in Cycads is soluble in water. It can 
+be leached from the nuts or from the starchy center of the trunk by water, rendering them 
+fit to eat. It is impossible now to tell what primitive genius first discovered that such tempting 
+nuts could be made free of their poison. Perhaps some tribesman, wits sharpened by hunger, 
+found that Cycad nuts shed into a jungle pool, partially decomposed by water, could be eaten 
+whereas those fresh from the plant could not. Where the nuts are eaten they may be treated 
+whole, with repeated changes of water, and then beaten to a flour for cooking, or the raw 
+nuts may be beaten and the pulp washed in water and strained through a cloth . . . However 
+it happened, in nearly every tropical country where Cycads grow men sooner or later found 
+they could use the nuts for food. They are not an important staple, because nowhere do 
+Cycads grow in dense profusion, but in times of famine, when there is little else to eat, they 
+are as welcome as the finest delicacy.
+In Guam, they eat the green husk, fresh or dried, or they cut, soak, and sun-dry it. Indians 
+eat the fruit with sugar. In Java, Sumatra, Sri Lanka, and the Phillipines, the shoots and 
+leaves are used as a potherb. In Fiji they boil the kernels until they are soft. Indochinese 
+pound, soak, settle, and dry the kernels. Africans split the seeds, sun dry them for ca. 4 
+days, ferment them in a tin with banana leaves for a week, remove the mold, soak another 
+day, pulverize, and use as a porridge.Sap from the kernels has been said to be given to 
+children in the Celebes for “ population control.” Crushed seed also used to poison fish. A 
+gum can be extracted from breaks in the megasporophylls.^*^ Surface fibers from the leaves 
+have been made into cloth.
+Folk medicine — Reported to be carminative, narcotic, and poison, C. circinalis is a 
+folk remedy for nausea, sores, swellings, and thirst. Terminal buds are crushed in rice-water 
+for adenitis, furuncles, and ulcerous sores. Seeds are applied to malignant and varicose 
+wounds and ulcers. Seeds are squeezed and grafted onto tropical ulcers in Guam. The gum 
+is used for snakebite in India. Filipinos roast and grate the seeds, applying them in coconut 
+oil to boils, itch, and wounds. Indians poultice the female cones onto nephritic pain, using 
+the male bracts as aphrodisiac, anodyne, and narcotic. The gum, which expands many times 
+in water, is said to produce rapid suppuration when applied to malignant ulcers. The gum 
+also has a reputation for treating bugbite and snakebite.
+Chemistry — Seeds contain ca. 31% starch,-2 toxic glycoside, pakoeine, phytosterin, 
+and a reducing sugar.^° The pollen is said to be narcotic. Seeds possess antibiotic activity. 
+Sequoyitol is also reported, as is alpha-amino-beta-methylaminopropionic acid.
+Caution — FATALITIES are attributed to eating improperly prepared nuts. Many of 
+Captain’s Cook’s voyagers vomited following the ingestion of cycad nuts. Symptoms of 
+poisoning include headache, violent retching, vertigo, swelling of the stomach and legs, 
+depression, stupor, euphoria, diarrhea, abdominal cramps, tenesmus, muscle paralysis, and 
+rheumatism.
+Description — Evergreen ornamental shrub or small tree to 6 m tall, unbranched except 
+by accident, such as cutting of apex. Trunk stout with hard outer layer like bark, light 
+brown-gray, slightly scaly, becoming slightly fissured. Leaves apically crowded with stout 
+axis with 2 rows of short spines replacing leaflets toward base. Leaflets thick, stiff, hairless, 
+mostly opposite, 15 to 30 cm long, 1 to 2 cm broad, straight or curved, long-pointed at 
+apex, with prominent yellowish midvein, but without other visible veins. Male cones large, 
+brown, hard, and woody. Female trees produce a ring of light-brown wooly fertile leaves 
+6 to 12 inches long. Each leaf bears in notches along the axis 4 to 10 naked elliptic or nut­
+like seeds, hard with thin outer flesh.
+134 Handbook of Nuts
+Germplasm — Reported from the African and Indochina-Indonesian Centers of Diversity, 
+cica, or CVS thereof, is reported to tolerate some shade and waterlogging.
+Distribution — Old World Tropics, Native from Tropical Africa through southern Asia 
+and Pacific Islands. Pantropically introduced.
+Ecology — Estimated to range from Subtropical Dry to Moist through Tropical Dry to 
+Wet Forest Life Zones, cica is estimated to tolerate annual precipitation of 10 to 50 dm, 
+annual temperature of 21 to 26°C, and pH of 6.0 to 8.0. Hardy to Zone 10b.
+Cultivation — Rarely cultivated for food, more often cultivated as an ornamental. Easily 
+propagated from suckers or sprouts at the base of parent plants. Grows slowly.
+Harvesting — For sago starch, the trunks should be felled before fruiting (usually at 
+about 7 years). Since the felling of the trunk precludes fruiting, it follows that seeds are 
+harvested from older trees.
+Yields and economics — A cycas is said to produce annually ca. 550 seeds, yielding 
+about as much starch (ca. 2 kg) as an irreplaceable stem ca. 1 m long. Extraction of starch 
+from the seeds is said to be more economical.
+Energy — Since felling these trees is fatal, they are rarely, if ever, used as energy sources.
+Biotic factors — No data available.
+135
+CYCAS REVOLUTA Thunb. (CYCADACEAE) — Cycad Nut, Sotesu Nut
+Uses—(see Cycas circinalis.) Exported from Japan as an ornamental, used in Japan for 
+bonsai. According to Thieret,^*^ the fleshy testa (sweet and mucilaginous) and the starchy 
+kernels are both eaten. The roasted kernels, like so many other nondescripts, are said to 
+taste like chestnuts. Seeds are eaten by the Annamese of China, though preparation is tough. 
+Japanese use the young leaves as a potherb,and the cycad meal as a food extender and 
+for the preparation of sake, the sake called doku sake, or poisonous sake. A sago starch is 
+extracted from the pith and cortex of the stem before fruiting. It has been said, perhaps 
+exaggerated, that a small portion of the pith can support life for a long time. Gum is extracted 
+from wounds on the megasporophylls.^’^ Surface fibers from the leaves have been made 
+into cloth. Leaves are used for funeral decorations.^^
+Folk medicine — Reported to be emmenagogue, expectorant, fattening, and tonic, C. 
+revoluta is a folk remedy for hepatoma and tumors.^' The down from the inflorescence has 
+been used as a styptic, the terminal shoot as astringent, and diuretic. Seeds used as astringent, 
+emmenagogue, expectorant, and tonic, used for rheumatism.*^ “ The products extracted from 
+the seeds are useful to inhibit growth of malignant tumors. The gum, which expands 
+many times in water, is said to produce rapid suppuration when applied to malignant ulcers. 
+The gum also has a reputation for treating bugbite and snakebite.
+Chemistry — Thieret^’^ reports the kernels contain 12 to 14% CP and 66 to 70% starch. 
+Whiting^^* reports that fresh kernels contain 7% protein, 33% starch, dry kernels 12% protein, 
+60% starch, the pith 7 and 41, the fresh outer husk of the seed 4 and 21, the dry outer husk 
+10% protein, and 46% starch. Airdry stems contain 44.5% starch and 9.15% CP. Male 
+plants run 27 to 61% starch, averaging over 50% over the year; female stems average only 
+26%. Root nodules contain about 18% starch. Formaldehyde is reported from the kernels, 
+but cycasin (C8H16O7N2) is probably the culprit, in both nuts and pith. Thieret^^ reports that 
+the testa contains ca. 4% oil, the seeds 20 to 23.5% oil (an oil used during crises on Okinawa 
+during World War II). Duke and Ayensu^ report the seeds (ZMB) contain 13.9 to 15.4 g 
+protein, and 0.9 to 1.0 g fat. Also reported to contain 14% crude protein, 68% soluble non- 
+nitrogenous substances, and 0.16 to 0.22% combined formaldehyde, 90% of which can be 
+washed out with water. Seeds may yield 20.44% fat, the component fatty acids of which 
+are palmitic-, stearic-, oleic-, and a small amount of behenic-acid. Seeds contain 0.2 to 
+0.3% neocycasin A, neocycasin B, and macrozamin, and cycasin. Trunk contains mucilage 
+with xylose, glucose, and galactose. The wax composition is detailed in Hager’s Hand­
+book.'*^ Cycasin is carcinogenic to pigs and rats if ingested orally.*^ It also induces chro­
+mosomal aberrations in onion root tips.
+Caution — FATALITIES are attributed to eating improperly prepared nuts.
+Description — Trunk 1.8 m, densely clothed with the old leaf-bases. Leaves 0.6 to 1.8 
+m long; petiole thick, quadrangular; leaflets narrow, margin re volute. Carpophylls 10 to 23 
+cm long, blade ovate, laciniate nearly to midrib, stalk longer than blade, with 4 to 6 ovules. 
+Immature seed densely tomentose.'^^
+Germplasm — Reported from the Sino-Japanese Center of Diversity, this cycad, or cvs 
+thereof, is reported to tolerate drought, floods, poor soil, slope, and typhoons.
+Distribution — China, S. Japan, Formosa, Tonkin. Cultivated in Indian gardens.
+Ecology — Estimated to range from Warm Temperate Dry (without frost) to Wet through 
+Tropical Dry to Wet Forest Life zones, C. revoluta is estimated to tolerate annual precipitation 
+of 8 to 40 dm, annual temperature of 17 to 25°C, and pH of 6.0 to 8.5. Tolerates the poorer 
+steep soils of the Ryukyu’s. Hardy to Zone 9.^"^^
+Cultivation — Rarely cultivated for food, more often cultivated as an ornamental. Easily 
+propagated from suckers or sprouts at the base of parent plants. Grows slowly.
+Harvesting — For sago starch, the trunks should be felled before fruiting (usually at
+136 Handbook of Nuts
+about 7 years). Since the felling of the trunk precludes fruiting, it follows that seeds are 
+harvested from older trees.
+Yields and economics — Thieret^'^ reported that an estimated 3 million cycas leaves 
+with a gross value of ca. $30,000 were imported annually to the U.S.
+Energy — Since felled trees do not coppice, these trees are rarely, if ever, used as energy 
+sources.
+Biotic factors — In the Ryukyu Islands, the poisonous habu viper nests in the top of this 
+cycad.
+137
+CYCAS RUMPHII Miq. (CYCADACEAE) — Pakoo Adji, Pakis Adji, Pahoo Hadji, Akor
+Uses — (See Cyas circinalis.) A well-known oriental ornamental, this fem-like tree is 
+often planted, e.g., in cemeteries. The young shoots, shortly before unfolding, are cooked 
+as a potherb, often with fish. Eating too much is said to cause rheumatism. The poisonous 
+nuts are rendered edible by various types of elaborate processing. Steeping in water seems 
+to be one of the most common methods of preparation. In the Moluccas, a delicacy is made 
+by cutting the kernels into bars, putting them in a porous bag, and steeping in sea-water for 
+a few days. Then the bars are sun dried, pulverized in a basket, and mixed with brown 
+sugar and coconut. The starchy pith and cortex of the stem may be eaten after cooking. 
+Stems for “ sago” starch should be harvested before fruiting. Gums are extracted from 
+wounded megasporophylls.^*^ Stems are used in Indonesia to build small houses.
+Folk medicine — A folk remedy for colic in Java.^‘ The resin is applied to malignant 
+ulcers, exciting suppuration in an incredibly short time. In Cambodia, the leafless bulb is 
+brayed in water, rice-water, or water holding fine particles of clay in suspension, and applied 
+to ulcerated wounds, swollen glands, and boils. The gum also has a reputation for treating 
+bugbite and snakebite.
+Chemistry — Probably parallels that of Cycas revoluta.
+Description — Small, dioecious gummiferous tree, 1 to 6 m high, rarely higher. Trunk 
+terete, armored by the persistent petiole bases. Leaves in a dense terminal whorl, glabrous, 
+shortly petioled, pinnate, with 50 to 150 pairs patent leaflets, glaucous, shining above, 1.5 
+to 2.5 m long; leaflets linear-lanceolate, usually somewhat recurved; 1-nerved; the central 
+leaflets 20 to 35 cm long, 1 to 2 cm wide, the lower ones gradually shorter and narrower; 
+armed on the edges. Male cone stalked, oblong-ellipsoid, yellowish-brown, 30 to 70 cm 
+long, 12 to 17 cm wide, with numerous spirally arranged stamens; stamens cuneate with 
+upcurved acuminate tips, 3.5 to 6 cm long; the higher ones smaller, anantherous. Female 
+cone terminal, after anthesis producing new leaves at the apex; carpophylls numerous, densely 
+crowded, densely yellowish-brown tomentose along the edges with 2 to 9 big, short ovules, 
+25 to 50 cm long; tips of the carpophylls oblong, serrate, terminated by a long, entire, 
+upcurved point. Seeds ellipsoid or ovoid-ellipsoid, orange when ripe, 3 to 6 cm long, 2.5 
+to 5 cm diam.^^®
+Germplasm — Reported from the Indochinese-Indonesian and Australian Centers of 
+Diversity.
+138 Handbook of Nuts
+Distribution — Burma, Malaya, Andamans, Nicobars, Moluccas, New Guinea, and N. 
+Australia, cultivated in India.
+Ecology — Estimated to range from Subtropical Dry to Moist through Tropical Dry to 
+Wet Forest Life Zones, C. rumphii is estimated to tolerate annual precipitation of 10 to 50 
+dm, annual temperature of 21 to 26°C, and pH of 6.0 to 8.0.
+Cultivation — Rarely cultivated for food, more often cultivated as an ornamental. Easily 
+propagated from suckers or sprouts at the base of parent plants. Grows slowly.
+Harvesting — For sago starch, the trunks should be felled before fruiting (usually at 
+about 7 years). Since the felling of the trunk precludes fruiting, it follows that seeds are 
+harvested from older trees.
+Yields and Economics — A cycas is said to produce annually ca. 550 seeds, yielding 
+about as much renewable starch (ca. 2 kg) as an irreplaceable stem ca. 1 m long. Extraction 
+of starch from the seeds is hence said to be more economical.
+Energy — Rarely, if ever, used as energy sources.
+Biotic Factors — No data available.
+139
+CYPERUS ESCULENTUS L. (CYPERACEAE) — Tigemut, Yellow Nutsedge, Chufa
+Uses — Grown for the edible tubers, eaten when dry, raw, boiled, or roasted. Juice 
+pressed from fresh tubers is consumed in quantities in Europe, especially in Spain, as a 
+beverage, called Horchata de Chufas; sometimes it is chilled or frozen. Nuts used as substitute 
+for coffee; or for almonds in confectionery, or made into a kind of chocolate. In Africa, 
+nuts used in the form of milk pap, made by grinding fresh nuts fine and straining; then 
+boiling with wheat flour and sugar. Roasted nuts are ground and sieved to produce a fine 
+meal, a high caloric value, which is added along with sugar and other ingredients to water 
+as a beverage, or even eaten dry. Oil used for soap-making.^^* Used as a famine food.^^^ 
+The haulm is grazed by stock, plaited into rough ropes in Lesotho, and is suitable for making 
+paper pulp.^^ Tubers are relished by hogs, which are used to suppress the plant when it 
+becomes w e e d y .It has already infested more than 1,000,000 ha in the eastern U.S.*^^ 
+Folk medicine — According to Hartwell,the tubers are used in folk remedies for 
+felons and cancers. Reported to be aphrodisiac, astringent, CNS-sedative, CNS-tonic, dia­
+phoretic, diuretic, emmenagogue, emollient, excitant, lactagog, pectoral, puerperium, re­
+frigerant, sedative, stimulant, stomachic, sweetener, and tonic, tigemut is a folk remedy for
+140 Handbook of Nuts
+abscess, boils, cancer, colds, colic, felons, and flux.^* Medicinally, tubers are stimulant 
+and aphrodisiac.Decoction of rhizomes (including tubers) taken in Senegal for stomach 
+troubles; leaves poulticed onto forehead for migraine. In Lesotho, heavy consumption said 
+to cause constipation.^^ Young Zulu girls eat porridge mixed with a handful of boiled, 
+mashed root to hasten the inception of menstruation. Root chewed by the Zulu for relief of 
+indigestion, especially when accompanied by halitosis.
+Chemistry — Per 100 g, the root (ZMB) is reported to contain 461 to 476 calories, 5.5 
+to 6.5 g protein, 20.0 to 27.4 g fat, 65.1 to 72.6 g total carbohydrate, 10.5 to 11.7 g fiber, 
+1.9 to 2.8 g ash, 39.4 to 87.5 mg Ca, 230 to 321 mg P, 3.6 to 12.6 mg Fe, 0.13 to 0.44 
+mg thiamine, 0.14 mg riboflavin, 2.05 mg niacin, and 4.7 mg ascorbic acid.*^ Tubers contain 
+20 to 36% of a nondrying, pleasant tasting edible oil, similar to olive oil.^^^ Another analysis 
+of tubers reported 14.15% moisture, 25.82% oil, 5.21% albuminoids, 22.72% starch, 24.79% 
+digestible carbohydrates, 5.83% fiber, 1.48% mineral matter. The oil is reported to contain 
+17.1% saturated acids and 75.8% unsaturated acids. The component fatty acids are: 0.01% 
+myristic, 11.8% palmitic, 5.2% stearic, 0.5% arachidic, 0.3% linoceric, 73.3% oleic, and 
+5.9% linoleic.^® Burkill'^^ reports the oil to be 73% oleic acid, 12 to 13% palmitic acid, 6 
+to 8% linoleic acid, 5 to 6% stearic acid. Raw tubers of the genus C yperus have been 
+reported to contain per 100 g, 302 calories, 36.5% moisture, 3.5 g protein, 12.7 g fat, 46.1 
+g carbohydrate, 7.4 g fiber, 1.2 g ash, 25 mg calcium, 204 mg phosphorus, 8.0 mg iron, 
+0.28 mg thiamine, 0.09 mg riboflavin, 1.3 mg niacin, and 3 mg ascorbic acid. Dried tubers 
+are reported to contain 452 calories, 11.8% moisture, 4.0 g protein, 25.3 g fat, 56.9 g 
+carbohydrate, 4.7 g fiber, 2.0 g ash, 48 mg calcium, 212 mg phosphorus, 3.2 mg iron, 
+0.23 mg thiamine, 0.10 mg riboflavin, 1.1 mg niacin, and 6 mg ascorbic acid.^^
+Toxicity — Contains cineole, hydrocyanic acid, and myristic acid.^^
+Description — Perennial herb, forming colonies with creeping thread-like rhizomes 1 to 
+1.5 mm thick; some forms have tuber-like thickenings on rhizomes, these plants rarely 
+flower. Tubers 1 to 2 cm long, roots fibrous; culms erect, 2 to 9 dm tall, simple, triangular. 
+Leaves several, 3-ranked, pale green, 4 to 9 mm wide, about as long as culm, with closed 
+sheaths mostly basal. Umbel terminal, simple or compound, the longest involucral leaf much 
+exceeding the umbel; spikelets 0.5 to 3 cm long, 1.5 to 3 mm broad, yellowish to golden- 
+brown, strongly flattened, mostly 4-ranked, occasionally 2-ranked, along the wing-angled 
+rachis, blunt, tip acute to round; scales thin, oblong, obtuse, distinctly veined, thin, dry at 
+tip, 2.3 to 3 mm long. Achene yellowish-brown, 3-angled, lustrous, ellipsoid or linear to 
+oblong-cylindric, rounded at summit, 1.2 to 1.5 mm long, granular-streaked. Flowers July 
+to September, fruiting through December in extreme south; various in other parts of the 
+world.
+Germplasm — Reported from the Mediterranean Center of Diversity, tigemut, or cvs 
+thereof, is reported to tolerate heavy soil, laterite, salt, sand, virus, weeds, and waterlogging, 
+but not shade.Several botanical varieties are recognized. Two varieties in the U.S. are 
+C. esculentus var. angustispicatus Britt., with spikelets less than 2 mm wide, tapering to 
+slender points, and C. esculentus var. m acrostachys Boeckl., with spikelets 2 to 3 mm wide, 
+uniformly linear and rounded at apex.^^® (2n = 18, 108.)
+Distribution — Cosmopolitan, distributed in tropics, subtropics, and warmer temperate 
+regions of world, up to 2,000 m in some areas. Much cultivated in coastal regions of Ghana 
+and in some Mediterranean regions.Listed as a serious weed in Angola, Canada, Kenya, 
+Malagasy, Mozambique, Peru, South Africa, Tanzania, U.S., and Zimbabwe, a principal 
+weed in Australia, Hawaii, India, Mexico, and Switzerland, and a common weed in Ar­
+gentina, Iran, Portugal.
+Ecology — Ranging from Cool Temperate Moist to Wet through Tropical Very Dry to 
+Moist Forest Life Zones, tigemut is reported to tolerate annual precipitation of 1.8 to 27.8 
+dm (mean of 35 cases = 10.8), annual temperature of 6.9 to 27.5°C (mean of 34 cases =
+141
+18.6°C), and pH of 4.5 to 8.0 (mean of 29 cases = 6.3).^^ Common in wet soil, often a 
+weed in cultivated fields and pastures. Often locally abundant and weedy in sandy disturbed, 
+unstable, or loamy soil. Tolerant of nearly any climatic or soil situation, provided there is 
+sufficient water. Often limited to low, poorly drained areas in fields.Hardy to Zone 3.^^^ 
+According to Holm et al.,^^^ the species grows very well “ on all soil types” ; including 
+black peat soils, and performs equally well at pH ranges from 5 to 7. More ecological data 
+are reported by Holm et al.‘^^
+Cultivation — Reproduces by seeds and weak thread-like stolons. Propagated in spring 
+by planting small tubers or chufas, similar to potatoes. Crop requires no cultivation or 
+fertilizers.
+Harvesting — Tubers are harvested 5 to 6 months after planting. Two crops can be 
+attained in rainy season. Chufa Oil is obtained by pressing cleaned tubers.
+Yields and economics — One tuber weighing 200 mg can produce 36 plants and 332 
+tubers in 16 weeks, 1,900 plants and 7,000 tubers in one year. Holm et al.*^^ report as much 
+as 18 MT/ha tubers in the top 45 cm soil, with perhaps 30,000,000 tubers per hectare. 
+Yields of 800 kg root per hectare in 4 to 6 months have been rep o rted .Cyperus esculentus 
+is a serious weed in sugarcane in Hawaii, Puerto Rico, South Africa, and Swaziland; of 
+com in Angola, South Africa, Tanzania, and the U.S.; of cotton in Mozambique, the U.S., 
+and Zimbabwe; of soybeans in Canada and the U.S.; and of potatoes in Canada, South 
+Africa, and the U.S. More data are presented by Holm et
+Energy — Although 18 MT tubers/ha might sound like good energy potential, it takes a 
+lot of energy to harvest them. Perhaps it is energetically wise to let pigs do the harvesting. 
+Leaving a field fallow 4 years has reduced tuber numbers significantly (912 to 7 per 30 
+cm^), the equivalent of 21 to 1.6 MT/ha.Savel’eva et al.^^^ have considered this as a 
+possible raw material for industry in Russia.
+Biotic factors — Bees visit the flowers in Sierra Leone as a source of pollen.The insect 
+Bactra verutana is of interest for biocontrol of the chufa weed. Chufa is an alternative host 
+of the vims which produces lucerne dwarf. The following fungi have been reported on 
+yellow nutsedge: Aspergillus niger, Puccinia canaliculata, P. conclusa, and P. romagno- 
+liana. Nematodes isolated include: Caconema radicicola, Heterodera cyperi, Meloidogyne 
+arenaria, and M. In addition, Ascochyta sp. and Phyllachora cyperi have
+been reported.^
+142 Handbook of Nuts
+CYPER U S R O T U N D U S L. (CYPERACEAE) Purple nutsedge
+Uses — Considered the number one weed in many parts of the world,this sedge has 
+still been suggested as a landscape plant in China, and as a soil binder in India. Tuberous 
+rhizome, eaten in many areas as vegetable or chewed on, may be regarded as a famine food. 
+Plants used as fodder for cattle in West Africa and India. Tubers fed to pigs. Used as bait 
+for catching rats in Tanganyika. The tuber is burnt as a perfume in Tripoli. In Asia and 
+West Africa, the essential oil obtained from tubers, is used as a perfume for clothing and 
+to repel insects, probably due to the camphoraceous odor.^^^^^^^^
+Folk medicine — According to Hartwell,purple nutsedge is used in folk remedies for 
+phymata, abdominal tumors, glandular tumors, hard tumors, indurations of the stomach, 
+liver, spleen, and uterus, and cervical cancer. Reported to be alterative, analgesic, anodyne, 
+anthelmintic, antihistamine, aphrodisiac, astringent, bactericide, carminative, demulcent, 
+diaphoretic, diuretic, emmenagogue, emollient, fungistatic, lactagogue, stimulant, sto­
+machic, tonic, tranquilizer, vasodilator, vermifuge, and vulnerary, purple nutsedge is a folk 
+remedy for abdominal ailments, amenorrhea, ascites, bladder ailments, bowel ailments, 
+cancer of the cervix, chest ailments, cholera, circulation, colds, congestion, depression, 
+diarrhea, dysentery, dysmenorrhea, dyspepsia, fever, headache, hemicrania, hypertension, 
+impotence, inflammation, metritis, metroxenia, scorpion bites, snake bites, sores, stomach 
+ailments, stomach-ache, toothaches, trauma, tumors of the abdomen, ulcers, and wounds.
+In Mali the tubers are taken as an aphrodisiac. Made into a cough medicine for children. 
+Used in Africa and Asia for urinary troubles, indigestion, childbirth, jaundice, malaria, and 
+many other conditions.Plant used in Vietnam as a diuretic, emmenagogue, headache 
+remedy, and for uterine hemorrhage. The tuber is given to women in childbirth in Indo­
+china. The fresh tuber, made into a paste or warm plaster, is applied to the breast with 
+galactagogic intent, and, in a dry state to spreading ulcers, in the Indian Peninsula.The 
+tuber, in the form of ghees, powders, bolmes, and enemas is used as a folk remedy for 
+abdominal tumors. In Ghana, an infusion of the plant is given for cattle poisoning due to 
+Ipom oea repens
+Chemistry — Per 100 g, the edible tuber should resemble that of C yperus esculentus, 
+which (ZMB) contains 461 to 476 calories, 5.5 to 6.5 g protein, 20.0 to 27.4 g fat, 65.1 
+to 72.6 g total carbohydrate, 10.5 to 11.7 g fiber, 1.9 to 2.4 g ash, 29 to 88 mg Ca, 230 
+to 321 mg P, 2.6 to 12.6 mg Fe, 0.13 to 0.44 mg thiamine, 0.14 mg riboflavin, 2.05 mg 
+niacin, and 5 mg ascorbic acid.®^ Tubers of C yperus rotundus include 0.5 to 1.0% essential 
+oil, 0.21 to 0.24% alkaloid, 0.62 to 0.74% cardiac glycosides, 1.25% flavonoids, 1.62% 
+polyphenols, 13.22% saccharides, 9.2% starch, 3.72% pectin, 4.21% resin, and 3.25% total 
+acids (mostly malic), 0.009% vitamin C. In the essential oil, one finds cyperene-1, cyperene- 
+2, patchoulene (CJ5H22O), mutacone (C15H22O), beta-seliene, beta-cyperone, cyperenone, 
+1,8-cineole, limonene, beta-pinene, p-cymol, camphene, isocyperol (C,5H240). The fatty 
+oil contains glycerol, linolenic, linoleic, oleic, myristic, and possibly stearic acid. The tuber 
+also contains a substance capable of dissolving several times its weight in lecithin (and other 
+items which cause urinary calculi). Molasses extracted from the tuber contains 41.7% d- 
+glucose, 9.3% d-fructose, and 4% nonreducing sugars.Salicylic acid may be extracted 
+from leaves and sprouted tubers.
+Description — Perennial herb, forming colonies with long, slender, creeping rhizomes, 
+about 1 mm thick, with tuber-like thickenings at intervals, to 1 cm thick; culms slender, 8 
+to 60 cm tall, simple, smooth, triangular, longer than leaves. Leaves 2 to 6 mm wide, 
+crowded in the basal few centimeters, usually spreading. Inflorescence of simple or slightly 
+compound umbels, 3 to 11 cm long, on 3 to 8 extremely unequal peduncles, each bearing 
+a cluster of 3 to 9 divaricate spikelets; spikelets 0.8 to 2.5 cm long, chestnut-brown to 
+chestnut-purple, acute 12- to 40-flowered; bracts usually 3 or 4, about as long as inflores­
+143
+cence; scales keeled, straight, ovate, closely appressed, nerveless except on keel, 2 to 3.5 
+mm long, bluntish. Achene linear-oblong, 1.5 mm long, 3-angled, basally and apically 
+obtuse, granular, dull, olive-gray to brown, covered with a network of gray lines. Flowers 
+July to October or December; January to April in southern hemisphere.
+Germplasm — Reported from the Euro-Siberian and North American Centers of Diver­
+sity, purple nutsedge, or cvs thereof, is reported to tolerate alkali, heat, high pH, insects, 
+laterite, low pH, salt, and weeds. (2n = 108.)®^ Several ecotypes are recognized. Types 
+are described from India with the following variation in glume color: (1) yellowish-white, 
+(2) light-red, (3) coppery-red with metallic luster, and (4) dark-red with blackish tinge.
+Distribution — Native to Europe, Japan, and North America; widespread in all tropical, 
+subtropical, and warm temperate regions of the world.C. rotundas has been reported 
+from more countries, regions, and localities than any other weed in the world.
+Ecology — Ranging from Boreal Moist through Tropical Desert to Wet Forest Life Zones, 
+purple nutsedge is reported to tolerate annual precipitation of 3.0 to 46.1 dm (mean of 192 
+cases = 16.9), annual temperature of 0.0 to 28.6°C (mean of 156 cases = 20.2), and pH 
+of 4.3 to 9.1 (mean of 75 cases = 6.4).^^ Continuous shading reduces tuber and bulb 
+formation by 10 to 57%. Tubers cannot survive more than 10 days at 45°C or 30 min at 
+60°C. Tubers held at 50°C more than 48 hr no longer germinate. Exposure to — 4°C for 8 
+hr does not impair viability. Tubers, when dug, contain about 50% moisture. They cannot 
+survive when the level falls below 12 to 15%. Some tubers held in water for 200 days still 
+germinate satisfactorily when removed from water and placed under suitable growing con­
+ditions. Thrives in loamy or sandy soil anywhere; in many places up to 2,000 m altitude. 
+In wastelands, gardens, waysides, and in open spots; a troublesome weed in cultivated fields. 
+Requires a warm climate, no colder than the southern U.S., especially the Cotton Belt.^^® 
+According to Holm et al.^^^ it seems limited by cold temperatures, but other than this, it 
+grows in almost every soil type, elevation, humidity, soil moisture, and pH, but it cannot 
+stand soils with high salt content. It can survive the highest temperatures known in agriculture. 
+Also found on roadsides, in neglected areas, at the edges of woods, sometimes covering 
+banks of irrigation canals and streams. Nutsedge can take over entire streams or canals as 
+water becomes low. When water supply is low, it may become a problem in paddy rice in 
+which puddling of the soil cannot be done thoroughly.
+Cultivation — Propagated by seed and tuber-bearing rhizomes. Because it grows so 
+profusely, it is considered more a weed than a plant to be cultivated.
+Harvesting — Plants are harvested from native or naturalized stands. In Africa and Asia 
+it is harvested on a small scale for the oil, but in most areas it is allowed to grow wild.^^® 
+Flowering has been reported as early as 3 weeks in Israel and India, and 4 weeks in Trinidad, 
+with tuber formation occurring at 3 weeks in Hawaii, India, Puerto Rico, Trinidad, and the 
+southern U.S. In Israel, clipping every 2 weeks reduced tuber numbers by 60% and weight 
+by 85%.'^^
+Yields and economics — ''C yperus rotundas may produce up to 40,000 kilograms of 
+subterranean plant material per hectare.” In Mauritius, there may be 30 MT green tops and 
+tubers, withdrawing 815 kg/ha ammonium sulfate, 320 kg/ha muriate of potash, and 200 
+kg of superphosphate. In Argentina, the weed can reduce sugarcane harvested by 75%, the 
+sugar yield by 65%. Allowed to remain in corn-fields for 10 days in Colombia, it reduces 
+yield by 10%, 30% in 30 days, suggesting a percentage loss for each day it is allowed to 
+remain.
+Energy — The 40 tons of underground plant material, convertible to energy, is perhaps 
+most efficiently harvested by grubbing pigs.
+Biotic factors — C yperus rotundas is an alternate host of Fusarium sp. and P uccinia 
+canaliculata, of abaca mosaic virus, and of the nematodes M eloidogyne sp. and R otylenchus 
+sim ilis. The nutgrass moth, B actra traculenta, which bores into the stems of C yperus
+144 Handbook of Nuts
+rotundas, showed promise for biological control in Hawaii in the early years after its 
+introduction from the Phillippines in 1925. As the populations of B actra increased, so also 
+did those of the insect Trichogram m a m inutum , which parasitizes the eggs of many moths 
+and butterflies. So many of the eggs of B actra were killed that biological control of nutgrass 
+was never attained. The jack bean, C anavalia ensiform is, greatly inhibits tuber formation.
+In addition, C intractia m inor, P hyllachora cyperi, P uccinia cyperia, R hizoctonia solanP 
+and C intractia peribebu gen sis, H im atia stellifera, and P uccinia cyperi-tergetiformis^^^ are 
+reported.
+145
+DETARIUM SENEGALENSE J. F. Gmel. (CAESALPINIACEAE) Tallow Tree
+Syn.: D, heudelotianum Baill.
+Uses — The only seeds and the pulp around them are used as food sources in Africa. 
+The pulp can be made into a sweetmeat. The oily kernels, little eaten by humans, are beaten 
+into cattle fodder by the Nupe. Ashes of the fruits are used to prepare a snuff. Seeds are 
+used for necklaces and girdles. An aromatic resin, exuding from the trunk, is used to fumigate 
+African huts and garments. The resin is used as a masticatory and to mend pottery. The 
+wood is used for planks and boat-building in Liberia and sold in England as African Ma­
+hogany. Roots are boiled on the Gold Coast to prepare a bird-lime. Seeds are burned to 
+repel mosquitoes.^^’^^^
+Folk medicine — Senegalese use the wood decoction for anemia and cachexia. In Sierra 
+Leone, young shoots are boiled as a febrifuge. Liberians use the bark decoction for placental 
+retention. In French Guinea, the bark is boiled to make a lotion for itch. Nigerians use the 
+seed for people inflicted with wounds by poisoned arrows. In Ghana, the fruit is used for 
+rubbing chronic backache or tuberculosis of the spine. Fruits are used for chest ailments in 
+West Africa.
+Chemistry — Per 100 g, the raw fruit is reported to contain 116 calories, 66.9% moisture, 
+1.9 g protein, 0.4 g fat, 29.6 g carbohydrates, 2.3 g fiber, 1.2 g ash, 27 mg calcium, 48 
+mg phosphorus, 0.14 mg thiamine, 0.05 mg riboflavin, 0.6 mg niacin, and 1,290 mg ascorbic 
+acid. Dried fruit contains, per 100 g, 299 calories, 14.0% moisture, 3.4 g protein, 0.5 g 
+fat, 78.8 g carbohydrate, 7.1 g fiber, 3.3 g ash, 110 mg calcium, 0.01 mg thiamine, 0.03 
+mg riboflavin, 3.8 mg niacin, and 3 mg ascorbic acid.®^ Detaric acid has been isolated from
+146 Handbook of Nuts
+the fruits.According to Hager’s Handbook,'*^ the fruits are among the highest in the 
+world for vitamin C. The figures above suggest that might be true, but the vitamin C is lost 
+in drying. Other sources hint that the seeds or fruits are poisonous.
+Description — Tree to nearly 40 m tall, smaller in savanna, with large crown, girth 12 
+m, bole 12 m; slash pale-salmon, bark bluish, exuding a slightly fragrant gum or gum-resin, 
+twigs rusty. Leaves pinnate, more or less gland-punctuate; leaflets 6 to 12, leathery and 
+rather glaucous or minutely pubescent below, with numerous parallel lateral nerves. Flowers 
+in fragrant creamy axillary panicles, shorter than leaves, flowers small, profuse, sepals 4, 
+white, petals absent, stamens 10, buds glabrous or nearly so, ca. 4 mm long, sepals pubescent 
+within. Fruits round, succulent, like flattened mango, >6 cm in diameter, skin smooth, 
+crustaceous, with intermediate fibrous layer. Flowers May to August; fruits December to 
+January; Ghana.
+Germplasm — Reported from the African Center of Diversity, tallow tree, or cvs thereof, 
+is reported to tolerate drought and savanna. The savanna form (senegalense) is smaller than 
+the closed forest form (heudelotianum). Seeds of the latter are more likely to be poisonous.
+Distribution — Throughout west Tropical Africa.
+Ecology — A tree of the Closed Forest and Fringing Forests of moister savannas.^'
+Cultivation — Apparently cultivated only to a limited extent in Senegal.
+Harvesting — No data available.
+Yieds and economics — No data available.
+Energy — The wood bums slowly and is favored as a fuel because of the agreeable 
+odor.^
+Biotic factors — The heartwood is probably resistant to borers and termites.^*
+147
+ELAEIS GUINEENSIS Jacq. (ARECACEAE [PALMAE]) African Oil Palm
+Syn.: Elaeis melanococca J. Gaertn.
+Uses — Two kinds of oil are obtained from this palm, palm oil and palm kernel oil. Palm 
+oil is extracted from the fleshy mesocarp of the fruit, which contains 45 to 55% oil which 
+varies from light-yellow to orange-red in color, and melts from 25° to 50°C. For edible fat 
+manufacture, the oil is bleached. Palm oil contains saturated palmitic acid, oleic acid, and 
+linoleic acid, giving it a higher unsaturated acid content than palm kernel or coconut oils. 
+Palm oil is used for manufacture of soaps and candles, and more recently, in manufacture 
+of margarine and cooking fats. Palm oil is used extensively in the tin plate industry, protecting 
+cleaned iron surfaces before the tin is applied. Oil is also used as lubricant in the textile 
+and rubber industries. Palm kernel oil is extracted from the kernel of endosperm, and contains 
+about 50% oil. Similar to coconut oil, with a high content of saturated acids, mainly lauric, 
+it is solid at normal temperatures in temperate area, and is nearly colorless, varying from 
+white to slightly yellow. This nondrying oil is used in edible fats, in making ice cream and 
+mayonnaise, in baked goods and confectioneries, and in the manufacture of soaps and 
+detergents. Press-cake, after extraction of oil from the kernels, is used as livestock feed, 
+and contains 5 to 8% oil. Palm wine is made from the sap obtained by tapping the male 
+inflorescence. The sap contains about 4.3 g/100 m€ sucrose and 3.4 g/100 m€ glucose. The 
+sap ferments quickly and is an important source of Vitamin B complex in the diet of people 
+of West Africa. A mean annual yield for 150 palms is 4,000 €/ha, double in value to the 
+oil and kernels from the same number of palms. The central shoot (or cabbage) is edible.
+148 Handbook of Nuts
+Leaves used for thatching; petioles and rachices for fencing and for protecting the tops of 
+mud walls. Refuse after stripping the bunches is used for mulching and manuring; ash 
+sometimes used in soap-making.
+Folk medicine — According to Hartwell,the oil is used as a liniment for indolent 
+tumors. Reported to be anodyne, antidotal, aphrodisiac, diuretic, and vulnerary, oil palm 
+is a folk remedy for cancer, headaches, and rheumatism.
+Chemistry — As the oil is rich in carotene, it can be used in place of cod liver oil for 
+correcting Vitamin A deficiency. Per 100 g, the fruit is reported to contain 540 calories, 
+26.2 g H2O, 1.9 g protein, 58.4 g fat, 12.5 g total carbohydrate, 3.2 g fiber, 1.0 g ash, 82 
+mg Ca, 47 mg P, 4.5 mg Fe, 42,420 meg beta-carotene equivalent, 0.20 mg thiamine, 0.10 
+mg riboflavin, 1.4 mg niacin, and 12 mg ascorbic acid. The oil contains, per 100 g, 878 
+calories, 0.5% H2O, 0.0% protein, 99.1% fat, 0.4 g total carbohydrate, 7 mg Ca, 8 mg P, 
+5.5 mg Fe, 27,280 meg beta-carotene equivalent, 0.03 mg riboflavin, and a trace of thia­
+mine.The
+ fatty composition of the oil is 0.5 to 5.9% myristic, 32.3 to 47.0 palmitic, 1.0 
+to 8.5 stearic, 39.8 to 52.4 oleic, and 2.0 to 11.3 linoleic. The component glycerides are 
+oleodipalmitins (45%), palmitodioleins (30%), oleopalmitostearins (10%), linoleodioleins 
+(6 to 8%), and fully saturated glycerides, tripalmitin and diapalmitostearin (6 to 8%). 
+Micou^“ notes that vitamin E is a by-product of the process which converts palm oil into 
+a diesel-oil substitute.
+Description — Tall palm, 8.3 to 20 m tall, erect, heavy, trunks ringed; monoecious, 
+male and female flowers in separate clusters, but on same tree; trunk to 20 m tall, usually 
+less, 30 cm in diameter. Leaf bases adhere; petioles 1.3 to 2.3 m long, 12.5 to 20 cm wide, 
+saw-toothed, broadened at base, fibrous, green; blade pinnate, 3.3 to 5 m long, with 100 
+to 150 pairs of leaflets; leaflets 60 to 120 cm long, 3.5 to cm broad; central nerve very 
+strong, especially at base, green on both surfaces. Flower stalks from lower leaf axils, 10 
+to 30 cm long and broad; male flowers on short furry branches 10 to 15 cm long, set close 
+to trunk on short pedicels; female flowers and consequently fruits in large clusters of 200 
+to 300, close to trunk on short heavy pedicles. Fruits plum-like ovoid-oblong to 3.5 cm 
+long and about 2 cm wide, black when ripe, red at base, with thick ivory-white flesh and 
+small cavity in center; nuts encased in a fibrous covering which contains the oil. About 5 
+female inflorescences are produced per year; each inflorescence weighing about 8 kg, the 
+fruits weighing about 3.5 g each.
+Germplasm — Reported from the African Center of Diversity, the African oil palm or 
+CVS thereof is reported to tolerate high pH, laterite, low pH, savanna, virus, and water­
+logging.^^ Ehsanullah^^ reported on oil palm cultivars. African Oil Palm is monoecious and 
+cross-pollinated, and individual palms are very heterozygous. Three varieties are distin­
+guished: those with orange nuts which have the finest oil but small kernels; red or black 
+nut varieties which have less oil, but larger kernels. Sometimes oil palms are classified 
+according to the fruit structure: Dura, with shell or endocarp 2 to 8 mm thick, about 25 to 
+55% of weight of fruit; medium mesocarp of 35 to 55% by weight, but up to 65% in the 
+Deli Palms; kernels large, 7 to 20% of weight of fruit; the most important type in West 
+Africa; the Macrocarya form with shells 6 to 8 mm thick forms a large proportion of the 
+crop in western Nigeria and Sierra Leone. Tenera, with thin shells, 0.5 to 3 mm thick, 1 
+to 32% of weight of fruit; medium to high mesocarp 60 to 95% of weight of fruit; kernels 
+3 to 15% of fruit; larger number of bunches than Dura, but lower mean bunch weight and 
+lower fruit-to-bunch ratio. Pisifera, shell-less, with small kernels in fertile fruits, fruits often 
+rotting prematurely; fruit-to-bunch ratio low. Infertile palms show strong vegetative growth, 
+but of little commercial value; however it has now become of greatest importance in breeding 
+commercial palms. Deli Palm (Dura type), originated in Sumatra and Malaya, gives high 
+yields in the Far East, but not so good in West Africa. Dumpy Oil Palm, discovered in 
+Malaya among Deli Palms, is low-growing and thick-stemmed. Breeding and selection of
+149
+oil palms have been aimed at production of maximum quantity of palm oil and kernels per 
+hectare, and resistance to disease. Recently, much attention has been directed at cross­
+breeding with E. oleifera for short-trunk hybrids, thus making harvesting easier. Zeven^"^^ 
+elucidates the center of diversity, and discusses the interactions of some important oil palm 
+genes.
+Distribution — The center of origin of the oil palm is in the tropical rain forest region 
+of West Africa in a region about 200 to 300 km wide along the coastal belt from Liberia 
+to Angola. The palm has spread from 16°N latitude in Senegal to 15°S in Angola and 
+eastwards to the Indian Ocean, Zanzibar, and Malagasy. Now introduced and cultivated 
+throughout the tropics between 16°N and S latitudes. Sometimes grown as an ornamental, 
+as in southern Florida.
+Ecology — Occurs wild in riverine forests or in fresh-water swamps. It cannot thrive in 
+primeval forests and does not regenerate in high secondary forests. Requires adequate light 
+and soil moisture, can tolerate temporary flooding or a fluctuating water table, as might be 
+found along rivers. It is slightly hardier than coconut. Ranging ecologically from savanna 
+to rain forest, it is native to areas with 1,780 to 2,280 mm rainfall per year. Best developed 
+on lowlands, with 2 to 4 month dry period. Mean maximum temperatures of 30 to 32°C 
+and mean minimum of 21 to 24°C provides suitable range. Seedling growth arrested below 
+15°C. Grows and thrives on a wide range of tropical soils, provided they have adequate 
+water. Waterlogged, highly lateritic, extremely sandy, stony or peaty soils should be avoided. 
+Coastal marine alluvial clays, soils of volcanic origin, acid sands, and other coastal alluviums 
+are used. Soils with pH of 4 to 6 are most often used. Ranging from Subtropical Dry (without 
+frost) through Tropical Dry to West Forest Life Zones, oil palm is reported to tolerate annual 
+precipitation of 6.4 to 42.6 dm (mean of 27 cases = 22.7), annual temperature of 18.7 to 
+27.4°C (mean of 27 cases = 24.8), and pH of 4.3 to 8.0 (mean of 22 cases = 5.7).®^
+Cultivation — In wild areas of West Africa the forest is often cleared to let 75 to 150 
+palms stand per hectare; this yields about 2.5 MT of bunches per hectare per year. Normally, 
+oil palms are propagated by seed. Seed germination and seedling establishment are difficult. 
+A temperature of 35°C stimulates germination in thin shelled cvs. Thick-walled cvs require 
+higher temperatures. Seedlings are outplanted at about 18 months. In some places, seeds 
+are harvested from the wild, but plantation culture is proving much more rewarding. In a 
+plantation, trees are spaced 9 x 9 m; a 410-ha plantation would have about 50,000 trees, 
+each averaging 5 bunches of fruit, each averaging 1 kg oil to yield a total of 250,000 kg
+011 for the 410 ha. Vegetative propagation is not feasible, as the tree has only one growing 
+point. Because oil palm is monoecious, cross-pollination is general and the value of parent 
+plants is determined by the performance of the progeny produced in such crosses. Bunch- 
+yield and oil and kernel content of the bunches are used as criteria for selecting individual 
+palms for breeding. Controlled pollination must be maintained when breeding from selected 
+plants. Seed to be used for propagation should be harvested ripe. Best germination results 
+by placing seeds about 0.6 cm deep in sand flats and covering them with sawdust. Flats are 
+kept fully exposed to sun and kept moist. In warm climates, 50% of seed will germinate in 
+8 weeks; in other areas it may take from 64 to 146 days. Sometimes the hard shell is ground 
+down, or seeds are soaked in hot water for 2 weeks, or both, before planting. Plants grow 
+slowly at first, being 6 to 8 years old before the pinnate leaves become normal size. When 
+planting seedlings out in fields or forest, holes are dug, and area about 1 m around them 
+cleared. Young plants should be transplanted at the beginning of rainy season. In areas 
+where there is no distinct dry season, as in Malaya, planting out may be done the year 
+round, but is usually done during months with the highest rainfall. Seedlings or young plants,
+12 to 18 months old, should be moved with a substantial ball of earth. Ammonium sulfate 
+and sulfate or muriate of potash at a rate of 227 g per palm should be applied in a ring 
+about the plant at time of planting. Where magnesium may be deficient in the soil, 227 g
+150 Handbook of Nuts
+Epsom salts or kieserite should be applied also. In many areas oil palms are intercropped 
+with food plants, as maize, yams, bananas, cassava, or cocoyams. In Africa, intercropping 
+for up to 3 years has helped to produce early palm yields. Cover-crops are often planted, 
+as mixtures of C alopogonium m ucunoides, C entrosem a pu bescen s, and P ueraria ph aseo- 
+loides, planted in proportion of 2:2:1 with seed rate of 5.5 kg/ha. Natural covers and planted 
+cover crops can be controlled by slashing. Nitrogen dressings are important in early years. 
+Chlorosis often occurs in nursery beds in the first few years after planting out. Adequate 
+manuring should be applied in these early years. When nitrogen fertilizers, as sulfate of 
+ammonium, are used, 0.22 kg per palm in the planting year and 0.45 kg per palm per year 
+until age 4, should be sufficient. Potassium, magnesium, and trace elements requirements 
+should be determined by soil test and the proper fertilizer applied, according to the region, 
+soil type, and degree of deficiency.
+Harvesting — First fruit bunches ripen in 3 to 4 years after planting in the field, but 
+these may be small and of poor quality. Often these are eliminated by removal of the early 
+female inflorescences. Bunches ripen 5 to 6 months after pollination. Bunches should be 
+harvested at the correct degree of ripeness, as under-ripe fruits have low oil concentration 
+and over-ripe fruits have high fatty acid content. Harvesting is usually done once a week. 
+In Africa, bunches of semi-wild trees are harvested with a cutlass, and tall palms are climbed 
+by means of ladders and ropes. For the first few years of harvesting, bunches are cut with 
+a steel chisel with a wooden handle about 90 cm long, allowing the peduncles to be cut 
+without injuring the subtending leaf. Usually thereafter, an axe is used, or a curved knife 
+attached to a bamboo pole. A man can harvest 100 to 150 bunches per day. Bunches are 
+carried to transport centers and from there to the mill for oil extraction.
+Yields and economics — According to the Wealth of India, the oil yield of oil palm is 
+higher than that of any other oilseed crop, producing 2.5 MT oil per ha per year, with 5 
+MT recorded. Yields of semi-wild palms vary widely, usually ranging from 1.2 to 5 MT 
+of bunches per hectare per year. One MT of bunches yields about 80 kg oil by local soft 
+oil extraction, or 180 kg by hydraulic handpress. Estate yields in Africa vary from 7.5 to 
+15 MT bunches per hectare per year; in Sumatra and Malaya, 15 to 25 MT, with some 
+fields producing 30 to 38 MT. Estate palm oil extraction yield rates vary accordingly: D ura, 
+15 to 16% oil per bunch; D eli D u ra, 16 to 18% Tenera, 20 to 22%. Kernel extraction yields 
+vary from 3.5 to 5% or more. The U.S. imported nearly 90 million kg in 1966, more than 
+half of it as kernel oil. Recently, palm oil commanded $.31/kg, indicating potential yields 
+of about $1400/ha. In 1968 world producing countries exported about 544,000 long tons of 
+oil and 420,000 long tons of kernels. The main producing countries, in order of production, 
+are Nigeria, Congo, Sierra Leone, Ghana, Indonesia, and Malaysia. The U.K. is the largest 
+importer of oil palm products, importing about 180,000 MT of palm oil and 243,000 MT 
+of palm kernels annually. Japan, and Eastern European and Middle East countries also import 
+considerable quantities of palm oil and kernels. Some palm kernel oil extraction is now 
+being done in the palm oil producing countries. Previously, most of the kernels had been 
+exported, and the oil extracted in the importing countries.
+Energy — Bunch yields may attain 22,000 kg/ha; of which only about 10% is oil, 
+indicating oil yields of only 2,200 kg/ha. Higher yields are attainable. Corley^ suggests 
+plantation yields of 2 to 6 MT/ha mesocarp oil, experimentally up to 8.5 MT/ha. Hodge, 
+citing oil yields of 2,790 kg/ha, suggests that this is the most efficient oil-making plant 
+species. The seasonal maximum total biomass reported for oil palm is 220 MT wet weight. 
+When replanting occurs, over 40 MT/ha DM (dry matter) of palm trunks are available 
+(conceivably for energy production) after the 70% moisture from the wet material has been 
+expelled.^ Although annual productivity may approach 37 MT DM/ha, mean productivity 
+during the dry season is 10 g/mVday Averaged over the year, oil palm in Malaysia showed 
+a growth rate of 8 g/m^/day for an annual phytomass production of 29.4 MT/ha.Fresh
+151
+fruit bunch yields have been increased elsewhere by 2 MT/ha intercropping with appropriate 
+legumes. Estate yields in Africa are 7 to 15 MT bunches per year, with oil yields of 800 
+to 1800 kg/ha, and residues of yields of ca. 6 to 13 MT. It is probable that older leaves, 
+leaf stalks, etc., could be harvested with biomass yield of 1 to 5 MT/ha. Based on energetic 
+equivalents of total biomass produced, up to 60 barrels of oil per hectare could be obtained 
+from this species. An energy evaluation of all the wastes from the palm oil fruit was made, 
+and it revealed that this can satisfy ca. 17% of Malaysia’s energy requirements. Palm oil 
+could satisfy 20% more.^^^ An alcoholic wine can be made from the sap of the male spikes, 
+150 trees yielding about 4,000 ( of palm wine per hectare, per year. Worthy of energetic 
+interest is the suggestion of Gaydou et al.‘®^ that the oil palm can yield twice as much 
+energetically as sugarcane, at least based on the Malagasy calculations.
+Biotic factors — Many fungi attack oil palms, but the most serious ones are the following: 
+B last {P ythium splendens, followed by R hizoctonia lam ellifera), Freckle (C ercospora elaei- 
+dis), Anthracnose (B otryodiplodia palm arum , M elanconium elaeidis, G lom erella cingulata). 
+Seedling blight {C urvularia eragrostidis). Yellow patch and Vascular wilt (Fusarium ox- 
+ysporum ), Basal rot of trunk {C eratocystis pa ra d o x a , imp. stage of T hielaviopsis p ara d o x d ), 
+other trunk rots (G anoderm a spp., A rm illaria m ellea)\ Crown disease, rotting of fruit (M ar- 
+asm ius palm ivoru s). Spear rot or bud rot is caused by the bacterium E rw inia sp., which has 
+devastated entire areas in S. Congo. The A griculture H andbook 165 reports the leaf spot 
+(A chorella attaleae) and the Black Mildew (M eliola m elan ococcae, M . ela eis)^ The following 
+nematodes have been isolated from oil palms: A phelenchus avenae, H eterodera m arioni, 
+H elicotylenchus pseu dorobu stu s, H . m icrocephalus cocophilus (serious in Venezuela), Scu- 
+tellonem a clathrocau datus. The major pests of oil palm in various parts of the world are 
+the following: Palm weevils {Rhynchophorus ph oen icis, R. palm arum , R. ferru gin eu s, R. 
+schach). Rhinoceros beetles {O rcytes rhinoceros, O. boas, O. m onoceros, O . ow arien sis). 
+Weevils (Strategus aloeus, T em noschoita qu adripustulata), Leaf-miners {C oelaenom enodera 
+elaeidis, H ispolepsis elaeidis, Alurunus hum eralis), Slug caterpillar (P arasa viridissim a). 
+Nettle caterpillar {Setoria nitens), Bagworms (C rem astoph ysch epén du la, M ahesena corbetti. 
+M elisa plan a). Rodents may cause damage to seedlings and fruiting palms; some birds also 
+cause damage in jungle areas.
+152 Handbook of Nuts
+ELAEIS OLEIEERA (HBK) Cortes (ARECACEAE) — American Oil Palm, Corozo 
+Syn. Corozo oleifera (HBK) Bailey; Elaeis melanococca Gaertn., emend. Bailey; 
+Alfonsia oleifera HBK
+Uses — Plants are native and cultivated to a limited extent in South America; the oil is 
+used for soap-making, food, and lamp fuel. Its main value lies in its slow-growing, pro­
+cumbent trunk and high percent of parthenocarpic fruits, and for its hybridizing potential 
+with E laeis g u i n e e n s i s American oil palm is better for margarine-making than the African 
+oil palm, because the former has a low level of free fatty acids and a high melting point.
+Folk medicine — Reported to be tonic, corozo is a folk remedy for dandruff and other 
+scalp ailments, inflammation, and stomach problems.
+Chemistry — The pericarp yields 29 to 50%, the kernel 29 to 45% oil. The pericarp oil 
+contains 48.3% saturated fatty acids (1.0% C14, 32.6% palmitic, 4.7% Cjg), 47.5% oleic, 
+and 12.0% linoleic, with traces of arachidic acid (0.5%), 0.9% hexadecenoic acid, and 0.8% 
+linolenic acid.‘^^
+Description — Small palm; trunk procumbent, although an erect habit may be maintained 
+for about 15 years; erect portion 1.6 to 3 m tall, trunks lying on soil up to 8.3 m long; roots 
+formed along entire length of procumbent portion of trunk. Leaves 30 to 37 per plant; leaflets 
+about 6.3 cm broad, all lying in one plane, no basal swellings; spines on petioles short and 
+thick. Male inflorescence with 100 to 200 spikelets 5 to 15 cm long, pressed together until 
+they burst through the spathe just before anthesis, rudimentary gynoecium with 3 marked 
+stigmatic ridges; female inflorescence with spathe persisting after being ruptured by the 
+developing bunch; spikelets ending in a short prong. Flowers numerous, sunk in the body 
+of the spikelet; bunch of fruits surrounded by the fibers of the spathe, with no long spines; 
+bunches round and wide at their center, pointed at top, giving a distinctly conical shape, 
+rarely weighing more than 22.5 kg, usually much smaller, containing a large number of 
+small fruits. Fruits ripen from pale yellow to bright red (a high proportion, up to 90%, 
+parthenocarpic or abortive); perianth persistent as fruit ripens and becomes detached from 
+the bunch; fruits 2.5 to 3.0 cm long, weighing as little as 2 to 3.5 g each with average 
+weights from 8.5 to 12.6 g; nuts with 2 kernels fairly frequent, with 3 occasional.
+Germplasm — Reported from the South American Center of Diversity, corozo, or cvs 
+thereof, is reported to tolerate acid soils, drought, savanna, some salt-water, and waterlog­
+ging.^^ “ Tissue culture has increased interest in the hybrids of E. guineensis x E. oleifera: 
+the latter produces a high quality unsaturated oil, although the yield of oil is low. The oil 
+yield of the F, hybrid is intermediate between both parental species; in back crosses to E. 
+guineensis, however, occasional palms are found that combine good yield (from E. gu i­
+neensis) with improved oil quality and reduced height increment (from E. oleifera): such 
+palms can now be multiplied clonally.’’*^^ There are some variations in habit of growth and 
+leaf-formation. This species easily hybridizes with the p isifera form of E. gunieensis, the 
+African Oil Palm, and the fruits are relatively thin-shelled, but have no fiber 
+(2n = 32.)
+Distribution — Native to Central and South America (Brazil, Colombia, Venezuela, 
+Surinam, Panama, and Costa Rica.).^^*
+Ecology — Ranging from Subtropical Dry to Moist through Tropical Thom to Moist 
+Forest Life Zones, corozo is reported to tolerate annual precipitation of 6.4 to 15.2 (to 40) 
+dm (mean of 7 cases = 11.9), annual temperature of 21.0 to 27.8°C (mean of 7 cases = 
+24.4), and pH of (4 to) 5.0 to 8.0 (mean of 5 cases = 6.5).®^ Actually, I have observed 
+oil palm in much wetter situations than these data indicate. At the Panama-Costa Rica border, 
+where the rainfall is closer to 40 dm, there are abundant strands of corozo, some even said 
+to tolerate brackish water. In Latin America plants grow procumbent in swampy areas, and 
+more upright in drier areas. Best development is in lowland ravines with rainfall between
+153
+1,700 and 2,200 mm annually. Mean maximum temperatures of 30 to 32°C and mean 
+minimum temperatures of 21 to 24°C are suitable. Grows and thrives on a wide range of 
+tropical soils, provided they have adequate water; soils with pH 4 to 6 are most often used 
+for cultivation.
+Cultivation — When this palm is cultivated, seeds are planted in seedbeds and the 
+seedlings transplanted into the field when about 12 to 18 months old. Fruits are selected 
+from special mother plants, often after pollination with pollen of a selected male palm. Seeds 
+may be germinated in a germinator and the seedlings grown in a pre-nursery, and later in 
+a nursery. Transplants are planted where the bush has been checked. In the nurseries, plants 
+receive water and fertilizer and are shaded to protect them from sunburn. After being planted 
+out, they must receive more fertilizer. Ammonium sulfate and sulfate or muriate of potash 
+at a rate of 227 g per palm should be applied in a ring about the plant at time of planting. 
+Where magnesium may be deficient in the soil, 227 g Epsom salts or kieserite should be 
+applied also. Plants grow slowly at first, being about 7 years old before the typical pinnate 
+leaves form normal size. In many areas, oil palms are intercropped with vegetable and other 
+food crops, as maize, yams, bananas, cassava, or cocoyams. Intercropping for 3 years or 
+so has helped to produce early palm yields. Cover crops are often planted, as mixtures of 
+C alopogonium m ucunoides, C entrosem a pu bescen s, and P ueraria ph aseoloides, planted in 
+proportion of 2:2:1 with seed rates of 5.5 kg/ha. Natural covers and planted cover crops can 
+be controlled by slashing. Adequate manure should be applied during the early years to 
+provide nitrogen. When nitrogen fertilizers (e.g., sulfate or ammonium) are used, 0.22 kg 
+per palm in the planting years and 0.45 kg per palm per year until age 4, should be sufficient. 
+Potassium, magnesium, and trace elements requirements should be determined by soil test 
+and the proper fertilizer applied, according to the region, soil type, and degree of defi­
+ciency.
+Harvesting — Fruits mature from January to June, usually borne only about 1.5 m above 
+the ground, in an averge 5 clusters. Fruits begin to be formed about 4 years after planting 
+in the field. Often the first female inflorescences are cut off to allow better plant development. 
+Bunches ripen about 6 months after pollination. Ripe fruits are harvested about once a week. 
+Bunches are cut with machete or sharp knife, and carried to transport centers, from which 
+they go to the mill for oil extraction.
+Yields and economics — Bunches rarely weigh more than 22.5 kg, and generally average 
+8.5 to 12.67 g each; in Colombia, fruits weigh as little as 2.0 to 3.5 g. Fruit-to-bunch ratio 
+varies from 32 to 44%.^^^ Oil yield of E. oleifera is much lower than that of E. guineensis\^^^ 
+a tree can yield annually ca.25 kg fruit (equalling ca. 12,850 individual fruits).Hadcock^^® 
+describes a simple oil palm mill (capacity 250 kg bunches per hr) that would work on either 
+species of oil palm. Bunches are sterilized for 1 hr before stripping. After stripping, the 
+fruit is reheated for 1 hr before it is digested in a rapid digester operated by a 5 h.p engine. 
+Oil is extracted with a hydraulic press. The oil is separated from the crude material by means 
+of a continuous settling clarifier fitted with a heat exchanger to dry the oil. The efficiency 
+of oil recovery is only 75 to 86%. The mill, including the building cost, is U.S. $34,000.^^®
+Energy — See African oil palm, which has a somewhat higher energy potential.
+Biotic factors — Both bee- and wind-pollinated; but up to 90% of fruits may be par- 
+thenocarpic. Bees are common around male inflorescence and may act as pollinating agents. 
+Hermaphroditic inflorescence plants are found in America and in planted trees in the Congo. 
+Most of the pests and diseases of the African oil palm are associated with this palm also, 
+especially where it has been planted with E. guineensis
+154
+Handbook of Nuts
+ELEOCHARIS DULCIS (Burnì.f.) Trin. ex Henschel (CYPERACEAE) — Watemut, Chinese 
+Water chestnut, MA TAI, MA HAI
+Syn.: Andropogon dulce Burnì, f., Scirpusplantagineus Tetz., Scirpusplantaginoides
+Rottb., Scirpus tuberosus Roxb., Eleocharis plantaginea (Retz.) Roem. and 
+Schut., Eleocharis tuberosa Schultes
+Uses — Edible tubers or corms are used as a vegetable in many East Indian and Chinese 
+dishes. Sliced, they are esteemed in Chinese soups for their crisp texture and delicious flavor. 
+Sliced water chestnuts are one of the ingredients of chop suey in the U.S. They are rec­
+ommended, as well, in American salads and soups. Shredded water chestnuts often appear 
+in meat and fish dishes. Raw corms are eaten out of hand in lieu of fresh fruit in China. 
+East Indians cook the tubers, remove the rind, crush the meat with a hammer, sun dry, and 
+fry in coconut oil as a delicacy.
+Folk medicine — In China,^ the plant is used for abdominal pain, amenorrhea, anemia, 
+bruises, clots, gas, hernia, inflammation, liver, malnutrition, pinkeye, and swellings. 
+Porterfield^^® notes that Chinese give quantities to children who have ingested coins, in the 
+belief that the water chestnuts will decompose the metal.
+Chemistry — Per 100 g, the root (ZMB) contains 360 to 364 calories, 7.4 to 8.5 g 
+protein, 0.7 to 1.6 g fat, 84.8 to 87.6 g total carbohydrate, 3.2 to 3.9 g fiber, 5.1 to 6.0 g 
+ash, 18.4 to 26.5 mg Ca, 299 to 407 mg P, 2.8 to 3.7 mg Fe, 53 to 92 mg Na, 2,304 to 
+2,545 mg K, 0 |xg beta-carotene equivalent, 0.16 to 0.65 mg thiamine, 0.11 to 0.92 mg 
+riboflavin, 4.6 to 5.3 mg niacin, and 18 to 32 mg ascorbic acid.®^ Another analysis suggested 
+77% carbohydrate (half sugar, half starch) and 8% albuminoids.^ According to Porterfield,^^® 
+the water chestnut contains ca.77% carbohydrates. The cane-sugar content, in water-free 
+samples, averages about 27.5%, while protein is rather low. The starch content of the fresh 
+corm is ca. 7 to 8%.
+155
+Description — Perennial aquatic or paludal rush-like herb, with elongate rhizomes, 
+terminated by a tuber; culms terete, erect, 40 to 80 cm tall, 2.5 mm thick, glaucous-green, 
+smooth, septate-nodose within, arising from short, dark-brown, basal tuber or corm 5 cm 
+or less in diameter. Sheaths 5 to 20 cm long, frequently partially reddish. Spikelets cylin­
+drical, 4 cm long, 3 to 4 mm thick, scales broadly elliptic, 5 to 6 mm long. Achenes obovate- 
+orbicular, 2 mm long, lustrous, tawny, smooth, bristles with short spines at tip, these shorter 
+toward apex, style-base short-deltoid with strongly depressed inconspicuous basal disc. 
+Flowers summer; fruits July to October.
+Germplasm — Reported from the China-Japan Center of Diversity, water chestnut, or 
+CVS thereof, is reported to tolerate waterlogging.*^ Two cvs recognized in China are ‘Ma 
+Tai’, or common water-chestnut, usually black and about 2.5 cm in diameter: ‘Mandarin’ 
+water chestnut, dark reddish-brown, with slight cover of light-brown skin, and about 3.2 
+cm in diameter. Shell is a tough hard skin, and the kernel resembles a potato in consistency, 
+color, and composition.^^*
+Distribution — Native to the East Indies, China and Japan, Fiji, Philippines, India, and 
+New Caledonia, Chinese water chestnuts are cultivated throughout the Far East, especially 
+in Taiwan, Malaysia, and Ryukyu Islands.^^* Zeven and Zhukovsky^^® mention it for West 
+Africa, as well. Rosengarten^*^ suggests its cultivation in the Atlantic and Gulf Coastal States 
+as far north as Virginia. They are suggested also for Puerto Rico and Hawaii.
+Ecology — Ranging from Subtropical Dry to Moist through Tropical Dry to Moist Forest 
+Life Zones, water chestnut is reported to tolerate annual precipitation of 8.7 to 24.1 dm 
+(mean of 3 cases = 16.7), annual temperature of 18.7 to 26.6°C (mean of 3 cases = 
+22.9°C), and pH of 5.3 to 5.5 (mean of 2 cases = 5.4).*^ Hardy only to Zone 9*^^ or perhaps 
+to Zone 7,^"^^ tolerating average annual minimum temperatures of 5 to 10°F (to 15 to 12°C), 
+Chinese water chestnuts grow in shallow water, and are adapted for planting along edges 
+of ponds, in boggy places, or in marshes, remaining green during the fall and winter. In 
+colder areas, plants are grown in pots, tubs, or pools of water.^^*
+Cultivation — Planting is done annually in June or July. Old corms are first planted in 
+wet mud and, when sprouted, are planted usually about 15 cm deep in fields of mud covered 
+with some, but not too much, water. Also propagated by offsets from the corms, it spreads 
+by means of horizontal rhizomes. It grows practically throughout the year, at least until 
+ready to replant for the next season. Corms should be planted in rich, fertile soil, one to 
+each 15-cm pot, when grown for local or limited culture. Pots should be submerged so that 
+the soil surface is covered with 15 cm of water. Potted plants may be put out in pools when 
+weather is warm and settled, but should be brought in before frost.^^* DeRigo and Winters^^ 
+recommend 224 kg N (ammonium sulfate), 112 kg P2O5 (superphosphate), and 168 kg K2O 
+(muriate of potash), as the best fertilizer combination for water chestnut growers with soils 
+similar to those in the Savannah station of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
+Harvesting — Corms, mature and ready for use in about 6 months, are harvested as 
+needed. For commerical purposes, toward the end of the season all the tubers in a clump 
+may be harvested. After the tops are removed, tubers may be plowed up and hand picked. 
+At harvest time, the corms, 3 to 5 cm in diameter, may be produced on the rhizomes to a 
+depth of 25 cm. Corms are cleaned, dried, and shipped to markets.^^*
+Yields and economics — Plants are very prolific, and a plant may yield 10 to 12 kg of 
+chestnuts per season. Yields as high as 40 MT/ha are reported from China, higher than the 
+35 MT/ha reported by DeRigo and Winters.The 10 MT/ha reported in The Wealth of 
+India'^^ may be more realistic. Rosengarten^*^ more optimistically suggests 25 to 50 tons per 
+hectare. They are used extensively as food in the East Indies, China, and Japan. Canned 
+Chinese water chestnuts are imported from Hong Kong in large quantities into Europe, Great 
+Britain, and the U.S.^^*
+Energy — Accepting tuber yields of 40 MT/ha, the tubers being ca. 75% water, there
+156 Handbook of Nuts
+is a DM yield of 10 MT/ha. This could be used as a food or energy source. Tops, normally 
+discarded, would probably represent even less DM, also available for energy production.
+Biotic factors — Attacked by several fungi: Cladosporium herbarum, Claviceps nigricans, 
+Curvularia lunata, C. maculans, Cylindrosporium eleocharidis, Dermatosorus eleocharidis, 
+Entyloma eleochardis, E. parvum, Epicoccum nigrum, Mucor circinelloides, Pestalotia 
+scripina, Physoderma heleocharidis, Puccinia eleocharidis, P. liberta, Uredo incomposita, 
+Uromyces eleocharidis, Dicaeoma eleocharidis. The following nematodes have been isolated 
+from Chinese water chestnuts; Dolichodorus heterocephalus, Hoplolaimus coronatus, and 
+Paratylenchus sarissus
+157
+FAGUS GRANDIFOLIA Ehrh. (FAGACEAE) — American Beech
+S yn .: Fagus americana S w eet, Fagus ferruginea A lt., Fagus atropurpuea Sudw,
+U ses — Nuts eaten raw, dried, or cooked; they usually have a sweet taste. Sometimes 
+roasted and ground for use as a coffee substitute.Beech buds may be eaten in the spring^®^ 
+and young leaves cooked as greens in the spring. The inner bark is dried and pulverized for 
+bread flour in times of need and used as emergency food. Beechnuts are used to make cakes 
+and pies.^^® Nuts are a fattening feed for hogs and poultry,and also provide food for 
+wildlife. Trees make excellent ornamentals and provide valuable timber. The wood is heavy, 
+straight-grained, of close texture, hard, but not durable, and hence it is not used as building 
+timber, though extensively used for ordinary lumber ware, furniture, and cooperage stock. 
+Also used for boxes, clothes-pins, crates, cross-ties, flooring, food containers, fuel, general 
+millwork, handles, laundry appliances, pulpwood, spools, toys, veneer, and woodenware. 
+After steaming, the wood is easy to bend and is valuable for the curved parts of chairs. 
+Wood tar (source of creosote) is obtained through destructive distillation of the wood.^^"^ 
+Early settlers used the wood mainly for fuel wood. Makes excellent charcoal that was used 
+by blacksmiths and in furnaces for smelting iron.^^^
+F olk m ed icin e — Reported to be antidote and poison, American beech is a folk remedy 
+for bums, frostbite, rash, and scald,^^ UphoP^"^ reports it to be antiseptic, antipyretic, a 
+stimulating expectorant, used for chronic bronchitis, pulmonary tuberculosis, and vomiting
+158 Handbook of Nuts
+seasickness. Guiaicol (from beech wood creosote) is expectorant and intestinal antiseptic. 
+Cherokee Indians chewed the inner bark as a worm treatment. Potawatomi Indians used a 
+decoction of leaves on frostbitten extremities and made a leaf decoction compound for 
+bums.^*^ Rappahannock Indians applied it to poison ivy rash three times daily in the form 
+of a wash made by steeping a handful of beech bark, from the north side of the tree, in a 
+pint of water with a little salt.^^®
+Chemistry — Per 100 gm, the seed is reported to contain 608 calories, 20.8 g protein, 
+53.5 fat, 21.7 g total carbohydrate, 4.0 g fiber, and 4.0 g ash.^^ Rosengarten^^^ reports 
+beech nuts contain 19.4% protein, 20.3% carbohydrates, and 5,667 calories per kg. Another 
+source lists beech nuts as containing (per 100 g) 568 calories, 19.4 g protein, 50.0 g fat, 
+20.3 g carbohydrate, and 6.6% water.Smith^*® reports 6.6% water, 21.8% protein, 49.9% 
+fat, 18.0% carbohydrates, 3.7% ash, and 6,028 calories per kg. The wood is a source of 
+methyl alcohol and acetic acid. Guaiacol is derived from beech wood creosote by fractional 
+distillation.
+Toxicity — Occasionally nuts cause poisoning in man and domestic animals. There have 
+been reports that indicate gastrointestinal distress, probably caused by a saponin glycoside.*®"^
+Description — Deciduous tree, to 30 (to 40) m tall and 1 m in diameter, round-topped; 
+bark smooth, gray; winter-buds long, lanceolate, acute; twigs slender, often slightly zigzag. 
+Leaves alternate, short-petioled, simple, ovate-oblong, obovate or elliptical, 6.5 to 12.5 cm 
+long, sharply serrate to denticulate, thin, papery, broadly acute to subcordate at base, straight- 
+veined, densely silky when young, becoming glabrous above and dark bluish-green and 
+usually silky-pubescent beneath, turning yellow in fall. Flowers monoecious, appearing with 
+leaves; staminate flowers in drooping heads, subtended by deciduous bracts, with small 
+calyx, deeply 4 to 8 cleft and 8 to 16 stamens; pistillate flowers in 2 to 4-flowered spikes, 
+usually in pairs at end of short peduncle, subtended and largely concealed by numerous 
+subulate bracts, calyx adnate to ovary with 6 acuminate lobes. Burs prickly, about 2 to 2.5 
+cm in diameter, dehiscing into 4 valves, partially opening upon maturity; nuts triangular, 
+up to 2 cm long, 2 or 3 in each bur; seed-coat brown, removed from kernel before eating. 
+Root-suckering causes thickets around old trees. Flowers spring; fruits fall.^^^
+Germplasm — Reported from the North American Center of Diversity, American beech, 
+or CVS thereof, is reported to tolerate frost, high pH, limestone, low pH, shade, slope, weeds, 
+and waterlogging.^^ Three natural varieties can be distinguished: var. grandifolia — prickles 
+of bur 4 to 10 mm long, erect, spreading or recurved, with leaves usually sharply serrate, 
+grows in rich upland soils, from Nova Scotia and New Brunswick to Minnesota, south to 
+Virginia and Kentucky, and in mountains to North Carolina, Illinois, and southeastern 
+Missouri; var. caroliniana (Loud.) Fern, and Rehd. — prickles of bur 1 to 3 (to 4) mm 
+long, usually abruptly reflexed from near base, leaves more acuminate and often merely 
+denticulate, found in moist or wet lowland forests, on or near Coastal Plain, Massachusetts 
+to Florida and Texas, and north in the Mississippi Valley to southern Illinois and Ohio; var. 
+pubescens Fern, and Rehd. — leaves soft-pubescent below, sometimes only slightly so. 
+Natives in Kentucky and other mountainous areas where both major varieties occur separate 
+them into Red and White Beech, due to color of wood.^^® ‘Abrams’ and ‘Abundance’ were 
+introduced into trade in 1926 by Willard Bixby. Both appeared to produce superior nuts. 
+‘Jenner’ is said to bear regular crops of exceptionally large nuts.^^^ (2n = 12.)
+Distribution — Generally distributed throughout eastern U.S. and Canada, from Nova 
+Scotia and New Brunswick, south to Florida, west to Minnesota, Wisconsin south to Texas.
+Ecology — Ranging from Cool Temperate Moist to Wet through Subtropical Moist Forest 
+Life Zones, American beech is reported to tolerate annual precipitation of 6.7 to 12.8 dm 
+(mean of 9 cases = 10.5), annual temperature of 7.0 to 17.6°C (mean of 9 cases = 10.8°C), 
+and pH of 4.5 to 6.5 (mean of 8 cases = 5.5).^^ Grows well in acid soils on rather dry 
+hillsides, but will grow in lowlands of Coastal Plain. Thrives where soil is protected by
+159
+mulch of its own leaves. On many rich upland and mountain slopes, this long-lived tree 
+forms nearly pure stands. Southward often found on bottom-lands and along margins of 
+swamps.Hardy to Zone 3.^^^
+Cultivation — Propagates readily from seed sown in fall or stratified and kept for sowing 
+in spring. Cover with V2 inch of soil; protect from vermin.Fall-sown beds should be 
+mulched until midsummer and kept in half-shade until past mid-summer of first year.^^^ 
+Seedlings should be transplanted frequently, for 2 to 3 years, to prevent formation of a long 
+taproot. Horticultural varities are grafted on seedling stock and grown on under glass until 
+planted out.^^^ Trees are slow-growing and may live 400 years or more.^^^
+Harvesting — Nuts are gathered after heavy frosts have caused them to drop to the 
+ground. Treated like other nuts until used.^^^ Fresh nuts will deteriorate within a few weeks 
+if not properly dried. Shells are easily removed with the fingernails.Wood is harvested 
+from trees 60 to 90 cm in diameter.
+Yields and economics — Rudolf and Leak^®^ report between 2,860 to 5,060 cleaned 
+seeds per kg (1,300 to 2,300/lb). Beech nuts are a very minor product in North America, 
+compared to other nuts. Used more by people with limited supplies of nuts. Lumber is the 
+more important commercial product.
+Energy — The heavy wood (sp. grav. 0.65 to 0.75) is used for fuel wood and charcoal. 
+The seeds, though copious at times, are so small that they could hardly be considered an 
+energy source. One could multiply seed yields by 0.5 to get a rough idea of the oil potential.
+Biotic factors — Serious bark disease associated with the presence of beech scale, 
+prevalent in Canada and Maine. Dormant oil spray is used to check scale. Nicotine-sulfate 
+can be used when young leaves first appear. Mottle-leaf or scorch disease, resulting in 
+premature leaf-fail, is prevalent on American beech, the exact cause is not yet known. 
+The Agriculture Handbook 165"^ reports the following as affecting this species: Anthostoma 
+turgidum, Armillaria mellea, Botryosphaeria hoffmanni, Ceratostomella echinella, C. mi- 
+crospora, Cercospora sp., Coccomyces comitialis, C. coronatus, Coniothyrium fagi, Con- 
+opholis americana, Cryptodiaporthe galericulata, Cryptosporella compta, Cytospora spp., 
+C. pustulata, Daedalea ambigua, D. confragosa, D. unicolor, Daldinia concentrica, D. 
+vernicosa, Diaporthefagi, Diatrype spp., Dichaenafaginea, Discosia artocreas, Endobotrya 
+legans, Endoconidiophora virescens, Endothia gyrosa, Epifagus virginiana, Favolus alveo- 
+laris, Fomes applanatus, F. connatus, F. everhartii, F. formentarius, F. igniarius, F. 
+pinicola, Gloeosporium fagi, Graphium album, Hericium coralloides, H. laciniatum, Hy- 
+menochaete spp., Hypoxylon spp., Lasiophaeriapezizula, Libertellafaginea, Microsphaera 
+alni. Microstroma sp., Mycosphaerella fagi, M. punctiformis, Nectria cinnabarina, N. 
+coccinea, N. galligena, Pholiota spp., Phomopsis sp., Phoradendron flavescens, Phyllac- 
+tinia corylea, Phyllosticta faginea, Phytophthora cactorum, Polyporus spp., Poria spp., 
+Scorias spongiosa, Septobasidium spp., Steccherinum ochraceum, S. septentrionale, Ster- 
+eum spp., Strumella coryneoidea, Trametes spp., Ustulina deusta, U. linearis, Valsa spp., 
+Xylaria corniformis, and X. digitata. Erineum (leaf deformity caused by mites) is also 
+reported. In addition, Browne,lists: Fungi— Asterosporium hoffmannii, Cerrena unicolor, 
+Ganoderma appalanatum, Gnomonia veneta, Hericium caput-ursi, Hymenochaete tabacina, 
+Hypoxylon blakei, H. cohaerens, Inonotus glomeratus, I. obliquus, Phellinus igniarus, 
+Phyllactinea guttata, Polyporus adustus, P. hirsutus, P. versicolor, Poria laevigata, Sterum 
+fasciatum, S. purpureum, Torula ligniperda, Valsa leucostomoides. Hemiptera — Corythu- 
+cha pallipes. Cryptococcus fagi, Parthenolecanium corni, Phyllaphis fagi, Prociphilus im- 
+bricator. Lepidoptera — Alsophila pometaria, Cenopis pettitana, Choristoneura fractivittana, 
+Datana integerrima, D. ministra, Disphragia guttivitta, Ennomos magnaria, E. subsignaria, 
+Halisidota maculata, Hemerocampa leucostigma, Lymantria dispar, Nadata gibbosa, Op- 
+erophtera bruceata, Orgyia antiqua, Pandemis lamprosana, Paraclemensia acerifoliella, 
+Symmerista albifrons, S. leucitys, Tetralopha asperatella. Mammalia — Erethizon dorsatum.
+160 Handbook of Nuts
+FA G U S SYLVATICA L. (FAGACEAE) — European Beech
+Uses — The nuts are sweet and edible when roasted. Roasted nuts can be used as a 
+substitute for coffee. Press-cake from decorticated nuts is used as a feed for cattle, pigs, 
+and poultry.Oil expressed from nuts is used for cooking, illumination, and manufacture of 
+soap. Used as a substitute for butter. Leaves used as a substitute for tobacco. Trees furnish 
+excellent timber. Wood is heavy, hard, straight-grained, close textured, durable, easy to 
+split, strong, resistant to abrasion, and used for flooring, cooperage, furniture, turnery, 
+utensils, wagons, agricultural implements, wooden shoes, spoons, plates, pianos, ship build­
+ing, railroad ties, brush backs, meat choppers, construction of dams, water-mills, excelsior, 
+wood pulp, and is an excellent fuel. Takes a good polish and can be easily bent when 
+steamed. In Norway and Sweden, boiled beech wood sawdust is baked and then mixed with 
+flour to form the material for bread. Source of creosote, which is used as a preservative 
+treatment of timber. Trees make excellent ornamental plants as leaves remain on tree most 
+of winter.
+Folk medicine — Reported to be carminative, poison, analgesic, antidote, antipyretic, 
+antiseptic, apertif, astringent, laxative, parasiticide, refrigerant, and tonic, European beech 
+is a folk remedy for blood disorders and fever.Source of creosote, used as a deodorant 
+dusting powder in cases of gangrene and bed sores when mixed with plaster of paris.^°
+Chemistry — Hager’s Handbookreports the leaves to contain pentosane, methylpen- 
+tosane, idalin, a wax, cerotonic acid, p-hydoxybenzoic acid, vanillic acid, p-coumaric-, 
+ferulic-, caffeic-, chlorogenic-acid, and traces of inositol and sinapic acid; myricetin, leu- 
+codelphinidin, quercetin, isoquercitrin, leucocyanidin, and kaempferol; n-nonacosan, beta- 
+sitosterol, alanine, aminobutyric acid, arginine, asparagine, glutamine, hydroxy glutamic 
+acid, glycine, hydroxyproline, leucine, lysine, methionine, phenylalanine, proline, threo­
+nine, tyrosine, valine, serine; and a little cystine, tyrosine, and histidine. The seeds contain 
+25 to 45% oil (3.5% stearic-, ca.5% palmitic-, 40 to 76% oleic-, and ca.10% linoleic-acid); 
+also choline, neurine, trimethylamine, sugar, malic-, citric-, oxalic-, lactic-, and tannic- 
+acids; gums, betaine, sinapic-, caffeic-, and ferulic-acids; saponins, tannins, and the alkaloid 
+fagine. Bark contains 3 to 4% tannin, citric acid, beta-sitosterol, betulin. Arachidylalcohol 
+(arachinalcohol, n-eicosylalcohol C20H42O), vanilloside (C14H18O8), docosanol, tetracosanol, 
+hexacosanol; lauric-, myristic-, palmitic-, stearic-, oleic-, and linoleic-acid. Wood contains 
+0.5% 1-arabinose (C5H10O5), 18% d-xylose (C5H10O5), 1-rhamnose, and d-galactose.^^^
+Toxicity — Raw nuts are poisonous, probably due to the presence of a saponin (CSIR, 
+1948-1976).
+Description — Trees deciduous, long-lived, up to 30 m tall, round-topped; trunk smooth, 
+gray; buds slender, fusiform, acute, reddish-brown; branches smooth. Leaves alternate, ovate 
+or elliptic, acute, cuneate or rounded at base, 5 to 10 cm long, glabrous, at least along 
+veins, with 5 to 8 pairs of conspicuous lateral veins, denticulate, shinking dark-green above, 
+turning reddish-brown in fall. Male flowers numerous, in long-stalked aments, perianth 
+divided almost to base; peduncles 5 to 6 cm long. Nut ovate, 12 to 30 mm in diameter, 
+brown; cupule woody, about 2.5 cm wide, deeply divided into 4 valves which are covered 
+outside with awl-shaped spines. April to May.^^^
+Germplasm — Reported from the Euro-Siberian Center of Diversity, European beech, 
+or CVS thereof, is reported to tolerate frost, high pH, limestone, low pH, shade, slope, and 
+smog.^^ There are many variations of leaf color and size, and branchlet habit. Some of the 
+horticultural varieties include: var. albovariegata — leaves variegated with white; var. 
+asplenifolia Lodd. — leaves very narrow, deeply toothed or lobed; var. atropunicea Sudw. 
+(var. atropurpúrea Hort., var. purpurea Ait., var. riversii Hort., var. suprea) — Purple 
+Beech, leaves purple; var. borneyensis — intermediate between vars. pén du la and tortusa\ 
+leaves coarsely toothed; var. laciniata (var. incisa Hort., var. heterophylla Loud.) — Femleaf
+161
+or Cutleaf Beech, leaves deeply toothed or lobed or sometimes entire and linear; var. latifolia
+— leaves to 15 cm long and 10 cm wide; var. luteovariegata — leaves variegated with 
+yellow; var. m iltoniensis — drooping form; var. pén du la Lodd. — Weeping Beech, branches 
+drooping; var. purpuero-pendula Hort. — branches drooping with purple leaves; var. ro- 
+seom arginata — leaves purple edged with pale pink; var. rotundifolia — leaves nearly 
+orbicular, 2.5 cm or less long; var. quercifolia Schelle (var. quercoides Hort.) — leaves 
+deeply toothed and sinuate; var. qu ercoides Pers. — bark dark, rough, oak-like; var. tortuosa 
+Dipp. (var. rem illyensis) — branches twisted and contorted, drooping at tips; var. tricolor
+— leaves nearly white, spotted with green and edged with pink; var. varigata — leaves 
+variegated with white or yellow; var. zlatia Spaeth — leaves yellow.(2n = 22,24.^^)
+D istrib u tion — Central and southern Europe, east to the Caucasus, ascending to 1,700 
+m in Alps. Introduced to Ireland; widely planted as ornamental. Found as far north as 
+southeastern Norway.
+E cology — Ranging from Cool Temperate Steppe to Wet through Warm Temperate Dry 
+to Moist Forest Life Zones, European beech is reported to tolerate annual precipitation of 
+3.1 to 13.6 dm (mean of 29 cases = 7.8), annual temperature of 6.5 to 18.0°C (mean of 
+29 cases == 9.7°C), and pH of 4.5 to 8.2 (mean of 25 cases = 6.3).^^ In woods on well- 
+drained soils, often in mountains and on hillsides. Thrives on northern and eastern exposures, 
+enduring much shade, shunning poor soils and swamps, protecting and improving the soil. 
+Thrives on loamy limestone soil, but will grow on acid soils. Thrives where soils are protected 
+by mulch of its own leaves; growing best in dry sandy loams. Trees are relatively insensitive 
+to unfavorable conditions.Hardy to Zone 4.^"^^
+C u ltivation — Propagation readily attained by seed in fall or stratified and kept for sowing 
+in spring. Protect seeds and seedlings from vermin. Seedlings should be transp-anted every 
+second or third year to prevent formation of long taproot. Varieties are grafted on seedling 
+stock under glass. All upright forms may be clipped to form excellent hedges.
+H arvestin g — Nuts are harvested in fall, usually after they fall to ground. Nuts are also 
+harvested all winter by wildlife. Timber harvested from mature trees.
+Y ields and econ om ics — Since beech-nuts do not enter markets for human consumption, 
+no data are available. The nuts are not a commercial item, but are especially valuable as 
+food for wildlife. Trees form extensive forests, and the wood is a common hardwood tree 
+in Denmark and Germany, where it is raised as pure growth or as mixed woodland. Nurseries 
+propagate large numbers for ornamentals.
+E n ergy — CanneP^ presents biomass data showing that trees ca. 100 years old, spaced 
+at 1200 trees per ha, averaged 23.7 m tall, a basal area of 48.2 m^/ha, and a stem volume 
+of 460 mVha. The stem wood plus the stem bark, on a DM basis, weighed 365 MT/ha, the 
+branches 49, the foliage 5, and the roots were estimated at 50 MT/ha for a total standing 
+biomass of ca. 468 MT/ha. The current annual increment (CAI) of stem wood and bark was 
+3.6 MT/ha/yr, which total was estimated at 9.3 MT/ha/yr. These data were taken in a brown 
+forest soil in Bulgaria 42 to 43°N, 23 to 25°E, 1400 to 1600 m elevation. On red alluvial 
+soil in Denmark (56°00'N, 12°20'E, elevation 200 m), 200-year-old trees, averaging 26 m 
+tall, had CAIs of only 5.9 mVha/yr compared with 12.7 for 54-year-old trees. Beck and 
+Mittman^^ showed that annual litter fall was close to 5 MT/ha in a pure beech stand in the 
+Black Forest of West Germany (mean annual temperature 8.3°, annual precipitation 10.5 
+dm; elevation 325 m). In Sweden, Nihlgard and Lindgren^^^ cite annual above-ground 
+productivity of 10.4 to 16.7 MT/ha with yearly increments (CAI) of 7.1 to 11.0 MT/ha. 
+Apparently, the annual productivity ranges from 3 to 17 MT/ha. Such biomass could and 
+does serve as a source of energy in temperate forests. The wood is an excellent fuel,^^"^ and 
+would probably make good charcoal.
+B iotic factors — Wooly aphis often covers the surface of leaves of European beech; it 
+is controlled by application of oil spray. Nicotine sulfate also is used when young leaves
+162 Handbook of Nuts
+first appear. Trees are relatively free of fungal and bacterial diseases and are not seriously 
+damaged by insects or other p e s t s . The Agriculture Handbook 165"^ lists the following as 
+affecting this species: Armillaria mellea, Endothia gyrosa. Massaria macrospora, Nectria 
+cinnabarina, Phomopsis spp., and Phytophthora cactorum. Erineum — leaf deformity caused 
+by mites, Leaf Scorch — cause unknown, and Mottle Leaf — cause unknown are also listed. 
+In addition, Browne^^ lists: Fungi — Armillaria mucida, Asteroporium hoffmannii, Auri- 
+cularia auricula-judae, Bulgaria inquinans, Cerrena unicolor, Daedalea quercina, Endothia 
+parasitica. Fistulina hepática. Pomes annosus, F. conchatus, F. fomentarius, F. fraxineus, 
+F. pinicola, Ganoderma applanatum, Gnomonia veneta, Helicobasidium purpureum. Her- 
+icium erinaceus, Hydnum cirrhatum, H. diversidens, Hysterographium fraxini, Inonotus 
+cuticularis, /. obliquus, Laetiporus sulphureus, Microsphaera alphitoides, Nectria coccinea, 
+N. coccinea faginata, N. ditissima, N. galligena, Oxyporus populinus, Phellinus igniaris, 
+Pholiota adiposa, Phyllactinia guttata, Phytophthora cinnamomi, P. syringae, Pleurotus 
+ostretus, P. ulmarius, Polyporus adustus, P. giganteas, P. squamosus, P. zonatus, Pythium 
+debaryanum, P. ultimum, Rosellinia quercina, Steccherinum septentrionale, Stereum hir- 
+sutum, S. purpureum, S. rugosum, Trametes hispida, Truncatella hartigii, Ustulina deusta, 
+Volvariella bombycina. Angiospermae — Viscum album. Coleóptera — Agrilus viridis. 
+Apoderas coryli, Byctiscus betulae, Cerambyx cerdo, Leperisinus varias, Melolontha mel- 
+olontha, Mesosa nebulosa, Phyllobius argentatus. Platypus cylindrus, Prionous coriareus, 
+Rhynchaenus fagi, Rhynchites betulae, Strophosomus coryli, Xyleborus dispar. Diptera — 
+Contarinia fagi, Hartigiola annulipes, Mikola fagi, Oligotrophus fagineus, Phegobia tor- 
+natella, Phegomyiafagicola. Hemiptera — Cryptococcus fagi, Fagocyba cruenta, Phyllaphis 
+fagi. Hymenoptera — Caliroa annulipes, Nematus fagi. Lepidoptera — Carcina quercana, 
+Cossus cossus, Diurnea fagella, Ectropis crepuscularia, Hepialus humuli, Laspeyresia fa- 
+giglandana, Lithocolletis faginella, Lymantria monacha, Nepticula hemargyrella, N. tityr- 
+ella, Operophtera bramata, Strophedra weirana, Tortrix viridana. Aves — Columba 
+palumbus. Mammalia — Apodemus sylvaticus, Clethrionomys glarcolus. Dama dama. Mi­
+crotis agrestis, Sciurus carolinensis, S. vulgaris.
+163
+GINKGO BILOBA L. (GINKGOACEAE) — Ginkgo, Maidenhair Tree
+Uses — Valued by the Orientals as a sacred tree, for food, medicine, and ritual. Once 
+the acrid nauseous pulp is removed from around them, the seeds can be boiled or roasted 
+to make a delicacy, the nut, with a flavor likened by one author to mild Swiss cheese. As 
+a delicacy at feasts, the nuts are supposed to aid digestion and alleviate the effects of drinking 
+too much wine. Important in oriental medicine, the ginkgo is now under cultivation as a 
+medicinal plant in the Occident. Chinese use the seed to wash clothing. Seed are digested 
+in wine to make a cosmetic detergent.The thick fleshy seed coat is used as an insecticide. 
+The light, yellowish, brittle wood is used for chess-boards and toys. Very valuable in highly 
+polluted air as an ornamental shade tree, along streets and in parks.
+Folk medicine — According to Hartwell,the nuts are used in folk remedies for cancer 
+in China, the plant for corns in Japan. In China, macerated in vegetable oil for 100 days, 
+the fruit pulp is traditionally used for asthma, bronchitis, gonorrhea, tuberculosis, and 
+worms.^ According to Monachino,"^*^ the nauseous fruit juice becomes antitubercular after 
+immersing in oil for three months. This activity is not lost with sterilization at 100°C for 
+30 min. Daily administration of 150 gm/kg of the extract of the oil-immersed fruits showed 
+definite activity against Mycobacterium tuberculosis in guinea pigs. Pan-fried seeds are used 
+for leucorrhea, polyuria, seminal emissions, and tuberculosis; seeds, seedcoats, or leaves 
+are used for asthma, cough, leucorrhea, spermatorrhea. Seeds are considered antitussive, 
+astringent, sedative. Raw seed is said to be anticancer, antivinous; with a fishy taste; they
+164 Handbook of Nuts
+are consumed, dyed red, at Chinese weddings; said to help bladder ailments, blenorrhea, 
+and uterine fluxes. Used for cardiovascular ailments in Szechuan. Ginkgolic acid is active 
+against the tubercle bacillus. Elsewhere, leaf extracts are used in peripheral arterial circulation 
+problems like arteriosclerotic angiopathy, post-thrombotic syndrome, diabetic vasoconstric­
+tion with gangrene and angina, intermittent claudication, Raynaud’s disease. Extracts are 
+inhaled for ear, nose, and throat ailments like bronchitis and chronic rhinitis.^
+Chemistry — Per 100 g, seeds (ZMB) contain 403 calories, 10.2 to 10.5% protein, 3.1 
+to 3.5% fat, 83.0% total carbohydrate, 1.3 g fiber, 3.1 to 3.8 g ash, 11 mg Ca, 327 mg P, 
+2.6 mg Fe, 15.3 mg Na, 1139 mg K, 392 mg beta-carotene equivalent, 0.52 mg thiamine, 
+0.26 mg riboflavin, 6.1 mg niacin, and 54.5 mg ascorbic acid.®^ Dry kernels (ca. 59% of 
+the seed weight) contain; 6% sucrose, 67.9% starch, 13.1% protein, 2.9% fat, 1.6% pen­
+tosans, 1% fiber, and 3.4% ash. The globulin of the kernel, accounting for 60% of the total 
+nitrogen, is rich in tryptophane. Fruit pulp, bitter and astringent, contains a volatile oil and 
+a number of fatty acids from formic to caprylic. Press-juice contains: ginnol (C27H56O),
+bilobol (C2,H3402), ginkgol (C24H34O), ginkgic acid (C24H42O2), ginkgolic (hydroxy) acid 
+(C22H34O3), ginkgolic (saturated oxy) acid (C2,H3203), ginkgolic acid (C24H48O2), an acid 
+corresponding to the formula C21H42O3, an acidic oil, asparagine, reducing sugars, and 
+phosphoric acid. Autumn leaves contain ginnol, sitosterol (C27H64)), ipuranol (C33H56O6), 
+shikimic acid or shikimin (C7H10O5), linolenic acid, acacetin, apigenin, and substances 
+conforming to the formula CnH,405 and Ci,Hi406. Fallen leaves of the plant contain a bright 
+yellow crystalline substance, ginkgetin (C32H220,o). Leafy branches contain ceryl alcohol 
+and sterols. Staminate flowers of Paris-grown trees contain 3.27 to 3.57% (ZMB) deoxy­
+ribonucleic acid. Male inflorescence may contain raffinose (up to 4% on fresh weight basis). 
+Wood contains raffinose and xylan (2.5%). Bark contains tannin dissolved in a pectinous 
+mucus.
+Toxicity — Seeds are reputed to be toxic raw, sometimes resulting in children’s deaths. 
+According to Duke and Ayensu,^ large quantities can induce convulsions, dyspnea, emesis, 
+and pyreticosis. Expressed fruit Juice causes erythema, edema, papules, pustules, and intense 
+itching. Some suggest that even old nuts can induce dermatitis. The pollen may cause hay 
+fever.
+Description — Deciduous dioecious trees to nearly 35 m tall, often slenderly conical and 
+sparsely branched when young, spreading in age. Leaves on stalks up to 7.5 cm long, fan­
+shaped, usually 5 to 8 (15 to 20) cm across, with 2 large lobes, usually undulate or notched, 
+but with numerous branching parallel veins. Male and female strobili on different trees. 
+Males appear in early spring as catkins drooping from short shoots (3 to 6 on one shoot), 
+bearing numerous loosely arranged stamens. Female axes arise from short spur shoots in 
+pairs or in threes, each with a long stalk bearing on each side a naked ovule, surrounded 
+at the base by a collar-like rim. Seed with a yellow fleshy outer covering enveloping the 
+woody shell containing the edible kernel.Seeds 400 to 1,150 per kg.
+Germplasm — Reported from the China-Japan Center of Diversity, ginkgo, or cvs thereof, 
+is reported to tolerate acid soil, air pollution, disease, frost, insects, and slope. Dallimore 
+and Jackson"^^^ describe several ornamental cvs, ‘Aurea’ with leaves yellow even in summer, 
+‘Fastigiata’ with the branches almost erect, ‘Laciniata’ with deeply cut leaves, ‘Pendula’ 
+with weeping branches, and ‘Variegata’ with yellow-variegated leaves.
+Distribution — Rarely seen wild, even in China and Japan, yet doing well widely in the 
+temperate world as a cultivar. Rosengarten,^®^ terming it “ unknown in the wild’’, notes that 
+it has been cultivated as a sacred tree in Chinese Buddhist temple courtyards for over 1,000 
+years. Introduced into America in 1784, it has generally been successful on good sites in 
+moist temperate areas of the midwestem and eastern U.S., and along the St. Lawrence River 
+in Canada.^
+Ecology — Estimated to range from Cool Temperate Moist to Wet through Warm Tern-
+165
+perate Moist to Wet Forest Life Zones, ginkgo is expected to tolerate annual precipitation 
+of 8 to 12 dm, annual temperature of 9 to 14°C, and pH of 4.5 to 6. Waterlogging, strong 
+winds, hardpan, and alkaline soils are to be avoided. According to Balz,"^^^ though ginkgo 
+tolerates cold, frost, and snow, it does well with summer temperatures above 25°C and air 
+relative-humidity ca. 50 to 60%. Monthly rainfall in summer should not fall below 40 mm. 
+Deep, light, mellow soils, well-drained and aerated, produce optimal growth. Good growth 
+is reported on soils with 2% coarse sand, 10% fine sand, 37% coarse silt, 40% fine silt,
+and 11% clay, as well as 5% coarse sand, 45% fine sand, 25% coarse silt, 15% fine silt,
+and 10% clay. Soils should not contain more than 10 to 15% clay. A pH of 5 to 5.5 is
+recommended with 100 to 200 ppm P2O5, 260 to 400 ppm K2O, 60 to 120 ppm Mg, 3 to
+5% humus, and <1% salts. The soil should warm up early in spring with late autumn leaf 
+fall; i.e., no frost between April 1 and October 31 (7 month or more growing season). 
+Isolation of 1,800 to 2,000 hr/year (250 hr/month midsummer) is considered adequate.
+C ultivation — Chinese say that triquetrous seeds produce male trees, lenticular seeds 
+produce females. Seeds germinate readily but grow slowly. Cuttings take as long as 2 years 
+to root. Seed should be cold-stratified 30 to 60 days for seed collected before completion 
+or after ripening. Germinative capacity may vary from about (0 to) 30 to 85%. For amenity 
+plantings, seeds should be sown in furrows in November and covered with 5 to 8 cm soil 
+and a sawdust mulch. Based on limited studies, one Swiss firm, planning to grow the plant 
+in the U.S., suggested sowing the seed under plastic tunnels at a spacing of 25 x 4 cm, 
+equalling ca. 1,000,000 seed per ha. With an 80% germination rate, there were 800,000 
+plants per ha, held in the tunnel for 2 years, expected to attain 30 cm the first year, 1.2 m 
+the second. In autumn of year 2 or spring of year 3, taproots are shortened to 10 to 15 cm 
+by under-cutting the stems, cut back to 30 cm by mowing. In the spring of the year, plants 
+are outplanted mechanically, at 100 x 30 cm or 33,000 plants per ha.
+H arvestin g — For the pharmaceutical industry, plants are cut back to 30 cm every year 
+in October. Trees start bearing fruits at ca. age 25"^^^ (Monachino, 1956) or 30-40 years^ 
+(Ag. Handbook 450, 1974).
+Y ields and E con om ics — In heavy fruiting years, the trees can bear enough fruits to 
+cover 50% of the area circumscribed by the crowns. The Swiss Pharmaceutical firm antic­
+ipated 2,400 to 3,200 kg green leaves per ha in the third year (first year outplanted), 6,000 
+to 8,000 in the second year outplanted, and 20,000 to 25,000 kg in the third year outplanted.
+E nergy — From a biomass point of view, the ginkgo is not very promising as an energy 
+species. The pulp and seed husks are waste products, when the nuts are gathered. Both 
+could be extracted for chemurgics, then processed into energy products. Extracted leaves 
+could also be useful for biomass fuels.
+B iotic factors — According to Monachino,the tree is not attacked by insects and it 
+is resistant to disease. The A griculture H andbook 165"^ reports the following as affecting 
+ginkgo: F om es connatus (sapwood or wound rot), G lom erella cingulata (leaf spot, anthrac- 
+nose), M eloidogyne sp. (root knot nematodes), P h yllosticta ginkgo (leaf spot), P hym atotri- 
+chum om nivorum , P olyporu s spp. (sapwood rot), and X ylaria longeana (seed rot).
+166 Handbook of Nuts
+GNETUM GNEMON L. (GNETACEAE) — Manindjo, Malindjo, Tangkil
+Uses — In India, the seeds are eaten after roasting or cooking. Filipinos use the fruits as 
+a coffee substitute.Fruits are first peeled and then cooked in Java; then the homy testa 
+can be separated; kernels are then pounded and sundried. This mass is then fried in coconut 
+oil and salted to eat with rice. Also sweetened and eaten as a delicacy with tea or coffee. 
+Young leaves are eaten, raw or steamed. Young leaves and inflorescences are cooked with 
+sea food.^^® In Fiji, young leaves are cooked with coconut milk. Bark yields a fiber used 
+for making rope.^^ To obtain the strong fiber, durable in sea water, the branches are peeled 
+and the bark beaten and split into fine filaments. With good tensile and breaking strengths, 
+the fiber is valued for fishing and nets.^® The wood from old trees is dark, brittle, and not 
+very durable. Younger poles are used for mooring posts for rafts and boats. Branches may 
+be split for cooperage.
+Folk medicine — Indochinese use the roots as a general antidote to poison.
+Chemistry — Per 100 g, the kernel is reported to contain 30 g H2O, 10.9 g protein, 1.6 
+g fat, 52.9 g total carbohydrate, 0.9 g fiber, and 1.7 g ash. Young leaves and stem tips 
+contain 81.9% H^O, 1.33% ash, 0.24% P2O5, 0.11% CaO, and 0.01% Fe203."''
+Toxicity — If eaten raw, the young leaves, inflorescences and fmits may irritate the 
+mouth.
+Description — Tree (sometimes lianoid) 5 to 22 m high, the crown narrow, conical; 
+tmnk straight or somewhat crooked; main branches whorled, often somewhat drooping. 
+Leaves opposite, shortly stalked, oblong-lanceolate or elliptic-oblong; base acute, obtuse or 
+rounded, apex shortly acuminate, acute; entire, thinly coriaceous, above dark-green, shining, 
+beneath light-green, pinnatinerved, 5 to 20 cm long, 3 to 8 cm wide, petiole 0.5 to 1 cm 
+long. Flowers dioecious, sometimes apparently monoecious, in stalked articulate spikes 
+composed of 5 to 8 whorls; whorls supported by an undulate cup. Male spikes single or 
+fascicled, 3 to 5 cm long; female spikes solitary, usually longer than the male ones, to 10 
+cm long; stalks of the inflorescences 1.2 to 2 cm long. Fruits sessile, ellipsoid, shortly
+167
+cuspidate, 2 to 2.5 cm long, dark-red when ripe, containing a single large starchy edible
+seed.^^’^^^
+Germplasm — Reported from the Indochinese-Indonesian Center of Diversity, manindjo, 
+or CVS thereof, is reported to tolerate alternating dry and wet seasons. Var. ovalifolium is 
+considered the wild type, var. gnemon the cultivar.
+Distribution — Native from Assam to Malaysia and Fiji, introduced to Java, Sumatra, 
+and else where.
+Ecology — Better adpated to seasonal than to ever-humid tropical forests.
+Cultivation — Cultivated in Asian plains, extending easily to an altitude of 1200 m. 
+Sometimes planted in orchards, but mostly in mixed gardens. In the Solomon Islands, seeds 
+may be sown, but more frequently, seedlings are transplanted from beneath established trees. 
+Vegetative propagation is not known in Santa Cruz on the Solomons. Trees sometimes polled 
+to keep them low. They recover readily from pruning.
+Harvesting — In Santa Cruz, Solomon Islands, fruiting peaks around September to 
+October and March to April.Fibers are said to be best harvested when trees are 5 m tall. 
+Notable for their ability to recover from the near girdling induced by fiber harvest, the older 
+trees, often scarred, may be harvested again.
+Yields and economics — Rare in the markets of Malaya, more common in Java.^^ 
+Energy — In Fiji, at least, the plant is used for firewood.
+Biotic factors — No data available.
+168 Handbook of Nuts
+HELIANTHUS ANNUUS L. (ASTERACEAE) — Sunflower
+Uses — Cultivated primarily for the seeds which yield the world’s second most important 
+source of edible oil. Sunflower oil is used for cooking, margarine, salad dressings, lubri­
+cation, soaps, and illumination. A semi-drying oil, it is used with linseed and other drying 
+oils in paints and varnishes. Decorticated press-cake is used as a high protein food for 
+livestock. Kernels eaten by humans raw, roasted and salted, or made into flour. Poultry and 
+cage birds are fond of raw kernels. Flowers yield a yellow dye. Plants used for fodder, 
+silage and green-manure crop. Hulls provide filler in livestock feeds and bedding.
+Folk medicine — Medicinally, seeds are diuretic, expectorant, and used for colds, coughs, 
+throat, and lung ailments. According to Hartwell,the flowers and seeds are used in folk 
+remedies for cancer in Venezuela, often incorporated in white wine. Reported to be anodyne.
+169
+antiseptic, aphrodisiac, bactericidal, deobstruent, diuretic, emollient, expectorant, insecti­
+cidal, malaria preventive, sunflower is a folk remedy for aftosa, blindness, bronchiectasis, 
+bronchitis, carbuncles, catarrh, cold, colic, cough, diarrhea, dysentery, dysuria, epistaxis, 
+eyes, fever, flu, fractures, inflammations, laryngitis, lungs, malaria, menorrhagia, pleuritis, 
+rheumatism, scorpion stings, snakebite, splenitis, urogenital ailments, whitlow, and wounds.
+Chemistry — Per 100 g, the seed is reported to contain 560 calories, 4.8 g H2O, 24.0 
+g protein, 47.3 g fat, 19.4 g total carbohydrate, 3.8 g fiber, 4.0 g ash, 120 mg Ca, 837 mg 
+P, 7.1 mg Fe, 30 p,g Na, 920 mg K, 30 mg beta-carotene equivalent, 1.96 mg thiamine, 
+0.23 mg riboflavin, 5.4 mg niacin, and 0 mg ascorbic acid. Seeds contain 25 to 35 % oil, 
+but cultivars have been bred in Russia with up to 50% oil. Oil contains 44 to 72% linoleic 
+acid, and 13 to 20% protein of high biological value and digestibility. Stems and husks are 
+rich in potash.
+The forage (ZMB) contains 8.8% protein, 2.9% fat, 77.2% total carbohydrate, 30.3 g 
+fiber, and 11.1 g ash. Young shoots contain: 13.0% protein, 1.9% fat, 70.3% total car­
+bohydrate, 20.4 g fiber, 14.8 g ash, 1,670 mg Ca, and 370 mg P per 100 g. The flowers 
+contain 12.7% protein, 13.7% fat, 64.3% total carbohydrate, 32.9 g fiber, 9.3 g ash, 630 
+mg Ca, and 80 mg P per 100 Sunflower oil has a high concentration of linoleic acid, 
+intermediate level of oleic acid, and very low levels of linolenic acid. The saturated acids, 
+palmitic and stearic, rarely exceed 12%, and the minor acids, lauric, arachidic, behenic, 
+lignoceric, eicosenoic, etc. rarely add up to as much as 2%. Tocopherol, or vitamin E, is 
+an important vitamin and natural antioxidant. Sunflower oil is somewhat unique in that the 
+alpha form predominates, with 608, 17, and 11 mg/kg of alpha, beta, and gamma, compared 
+with 116, 34, and 737, respectively, for soybean oil.^^
+Description — Variable, erect, often unbranched, fast-growing, annual herb; stems 0.7 
+to 3.5 m tall, hirsute. Leaves alternate, ovate, long-petioled, lamina with 3 main veins, 10 
+to 30 cm long, 5 to 20 cm wide, apex acute or acuminate, lower leaves opposite and cordate. 
+Flowering head terminal on main stem, 10 to 40 cm in diameter, rotating to face the sun, 
+sometimes drooping, heads on lateral branches smaller; outer ray flowers neuter with yellow 
+ligulate corolla, disc florets numerous, spirally arranged, perfect; ovary inferior with single 
+basal ovule. Achenes obovoid, compressed, slightly 4-angled, variable in size and color, 
+seldom less than 1 cm long, usually from 1 to 1.5 cm long, full-colored or striped. Taproot 
+strong, penetrating to depth of 3 m and with large lateral spread of surface roots. Flowers 
+late summer and fall; fruits fall.^^^
+Germplasm — Reported from the North American (and secondarily, the Eurosiberian) 
+Center of Diversity, sunflower, or cvs thereof, is reported to tolerate disease, drought, frost, 
+fungi, high pH, laterite, limestone, low pH, mycobacteria, photo-period, poor soil, rust, 
+salt, sand, smog, virus, weeds, and waterlogging.®^ Botanically, the sunflower is treated as 
+the following subspecies: ssp. lenticularis is the wild sunflower; ssp. annuus is the weedy 
+wild sunflower; and ssp. macrocarpus is cultivated for edible seeds. Cultivars are divided 
+into several types: Giant types: 1.8 to 4.2 m tall, late maturing, heads 30 to 50 cm diameter, 
+seeds laige, white or gray, or with black stripes; oil content rather low; ex. ‘Mammoth 
+Russian’. Semi-dwarf types: 1.3 to 1.8 m tall, early maturing, heads 17 to 23 cm diameter, 
+seeds smaller, black, gray or striped; oil content higher; ex., ‘Pole Star’ and ‘Jupiter’. Dwarf 
+types: 0.6 to 1.4 m tall, early maturing, heads 14 to 16 cm diameter, seeds small, oil content 
+highest; ex., ‘Advance’ and ‘Sunset’. Gene centers are in the Americas, with genuine 
+resources for resistance in southern U.S. and Mexico. Two types of male sterility are known. 
+Although “ sunchoke” is the name given to the hybrid with the Jerusalem artichoke, much 
+of what is sold as sunchoke in the U.S. is, in fact, straight Jerusalem artichoke. (2n =
+3 4 )82,278
+Distribution — Native to western North America, sunflower is one of a few crops to 
+have evolved within the present confines of the U.S. Early introduced to Europe and Russia, 
+the species has now spread to countries both tropical and temperate.
+170 Handbook of Nuts
+Ecology — Sunflowers are grown from the Equator to 55°N Lat. In the tropics, they 
+grow better at medium to high elevations, but tolerate the drier lowlands. They thrive 
+wherever good crops of com are grown. Young plants withstand mild freezing. Plants are 
+intolerant of shade. As sunflowers have highly efficient root systems, they can be grown in 
+areas which are too dry for many crops. Plants are quite drought-resistant except during 
+flowering. In South Africa, reasonable yields have been obtained with 25 cm of rainfall by 
+dwarf CVS. Giant types require more moist conditions. Crops may be grown on a wide range 
+of soils, including poor soils, provided they are deep and well-drained. Plants are intolerant 
+of acid or waterlogged soils. Ranging from Boreal Moist through Tropical Thom to Wet 
+Forest Life Zones, sunflower tolerates annual precipitation of 2 to 40 dm (mean of 195 cases 
+= 11.4), annual temperature of 6 to 28°C (mean of 194 cases = 19.6), and pH of 4.5 to 
+8.7 (mean of 121 cases = 6.6)®^’^^*
+Cultivation — Seed, harvested at 12% moisture content and stored, will retain viability 
+for several years. Sunflower production may be adapted to mechanized or unmechanized 
+societies. Propagation is always by seed. Plant with com or beet planter, 2.5 to 7.5 cm 
+deep, spaced 0.2 m apart in 0.6 to 0.9 m rows; seed rate of 5.6 kg/ha, giving about 62,500 
+plants per ha. May be planted earlier in spring than com, since plants are more tolerant to 
+frost. Early weed control is an important factor in yield, so cultivate lightly and early. 
+Sunflowers respond well to a balanced fertilizer based on soil test; usually a 1-2-3 NPK 
+ratio is best, with a need for boron and other trace elements on lighter soils. Application of 
+foliar fertilizers of liquid NPK on plants increases yield 62% with one application and 97% 
+with two applications. Sunflowers should not occur in rotation more than once in every 4 
+years, and should not be in rotations with potatoes.
+Harvesting — Crop matures about 4 months from sowing; some Russian cvs mature in 
+70 days. Harvest when involucral bracts turn yellow and seeds become loose, but before 
+shedding begins. Harvesting methods are similar to those of com: heads are gathered, dried, 
+and threshed. For fodder or silage, crop is harvested at the flowering stage. Seed oil is either 
+cold- or hot-pressed. Cold-pressed oil is usually pale-yellow, with a mild taste and pleasant 
+odor, much esteemed as a salad and cooking oil, especially for butter substitutes. Hot-pressed 
+oil is reddish-yellow and is used for technical purposes and as a burning oil. With modem 
+methods, hot-pressed oil may be refined for edible purposes.
+Yields and economics — Average yields range from 900 to 1,575 kg/ha of seed; however, 
+yields of over 3,375 kg/ha have been reported. Heads may contain 1,000 to 4,000 florets, 
+with the potential of as many seeds. Yields from dried seeds are 40% oil, 35% protein meal, 
+and 20 to 25% hulls. In 1979, the world low production yield was 308 kg/ha in Algeria, 
+the international production yield was 1,266 kg/ha, and the world high production yield was 
+2,420 kg/ha in A ustria.W ith DM yields ranging from 4 to 9 MT/ha (in 3 months) and 
+seed yields ranging from 300 to more than 3,000 kg/ha, a straw factor of 3 seems appropriate. 
+With an average yield of ca. 1,500 kg/ha (North Dakota), a hectare would yield nearly 225 
+gallons of oil, 75% of which could be extracted on the farm. Twelve to 15 gallons are 
+required to raise a hectare; hence the fuel from one hectare could produce 8 to 11 hectares 
+of crop. In the U.S., the highest average commercial yields occurred in North Dakota and 
+Minnesota, which averaged 1,170 and 1,267 kg/ha respectively, compared with 1,019 kg/ha 
+for Texas. Pryde and Doty^^® suggest average oil yields of 589 kg/ha from 1,469 kg/ha seed. 
+Telek and Martin^^^ suggest oil yields of 450 kg/ha. Experimentally, at Davis, California, 
+April plantings yielded 2,592 to 3,181 kg/ha (45.5 to 48.5% oil). May plantings, 2,676 to 
+3,161 kg/ha (45.5 to 48.4% oil), June plantings 956 to 2,643 kg/ha (40.8 to 43.7% oil), 
+and July plantings 702 to 2,447 kg/ha (40.2 to 42.6% oil). The lowest oil yield was 282 
+kg/ha, the highest, 1,543 kg/ha.^^ In India, rain-fed sunflower gave seed yields of 1,120 
+kg/ha in pure stands, 1,050 to 1,070 intercropped with cowpea, and 1,010 to 1,070 kg/ha 
+intercropped with peanuts.Volunteer sunflowers themselves may constitute a weed prob­
+171
+lem, as few as 3/m^ reducing wheat yields by 16%, 23/m^ reducing yields by 35%. World 
+production of sunflower seed in 1970 was 9.6 million MT, grown on 8.2 million ha, yielding 
+1,170 kg/ha. Largest producers are the USSR, Rumania, Bulgaria, Argentina, Yugoslavia, 
+Turkey, and South Africa. In the tropics, Tanzania produces 10,000 to 20,000 MT per year. 
+Cultivars grown in Minnesota contain higher percentages of the desirable linoleic acid than 
+same cultivars in other states. Major importers of sunflower seed were Italy, West Germany, 
+and Japan. Oil prices in the U.S. in 1970 were $331/ton. Production costs in fully mechanized 
+production in the U.S. is about SlOO/ha with fertilizer, $87 without; hand labor figured at 
+$2/hr. By 1982, sunflower oil was trading at $.59/kg compared to $.50 to .54 for coconut, 
+$.53 for com oil, $.48 for cottonseed, $.59 for linseed, and $.42 for soybean.
+Energy — According to the USD A phytomass files, annual productivity ranges from 
+3 to 15 MT/ha. North Dakota researchers are testing a small auger press, operated on the 
+farm, that can extract ca.75 to 80% of the oil in sunflower seeds, or ca. 55 gallons (barely 
+more than one 42-gallon barrel) from an average yield of 1,400 Ib/acre. It takes one acre’s 
+production to farm and produce 8 to 11 more acres, our usual 10:1 ratio. In North Carolina, 
+Harwoodconcluded that sunflower seed was most promising for on-farm production of 
+vegetable oil fuels; soybeans, peanuts, and cottonseed considered not well-suited. Sunflowers 
+yield ca. 2.5 MT/ha, with ca. 40% oil, indicating a potential of 250 gallons of oil per ha 
+if seed were processed in a mill. On-farm processing would produce closer to 200 gallons 
+(ca. 5 barrels) at a cost of more than $2.00 per gallon. Production costs are less than one 
+barrel per hectare. Harwood puts the energetic returns at greater than 5:1 compared to 3:1 
+for peanuts, 2:1 for soybeans, and 1:1 for cottonseed. Pratt et al.^^^ report an endurance test 
+involving engines fueled with various mixtures of sunflower oil (25 to 50%) with diesel oil 
+(75 to 50%). Two motors needed repair, ten were operating with no apparent difficulties, 
+of which two were said to be doing even better. Ohio yields on poor soils (Wood County) 
+were only 260 Ib/acre (yielding 9.3 gallons of screw press oil); and on good soils (Champaign 
+County), 1,680 Ib/acre (yielding 69.1 gallons oil) cropped after wheat in a double-cropping 
+system. Sunflower oil should be dewaxed before being used as a diesel substitute. In 
+Australia, sunflower was first commercially planted in 1967, has great potential for expansion 
+as a rainfed energy crop. Little water is required for processing oilseeds (unlike ethanol), 
+and the seed coat can provide sufficient energy for heat and steam for oil extraction. 
+Australians figure a net energy gain of 2 € for every 3 € produced. A hundred kg of dry 
+seed will yield about 40 kg oil, 15 to 25 kg hulls, and 40 kg proteinaceous meal. Hulls 
+have been pressed into fuel “ logs” . Threshed heads are ground and fed to cattle elsewhere. 
+The heads are rich in pectin. Studies have shown that sunflower yields 33.1 MT silage per 
+ha, compared to com at 19.26 MT/ha. Annual DM productivity ranges from 3 to 15 MT/ha. 
+DM yields averaged closer to 5 MT spaced at 43,000 plants per ha, 8 MT spaced at 172,000 
+plants per ha near Clarksville, Maryland. In these experiments, the sunflower followed 
+barley.Jake Page’s discussion^"^^ is picturesque: “ But I happen to like sunflow­
+ers . . . They can be grown almost anywhere in the country and you can grow between 500 
+and 3,000 pounds of sunflower seeds on an American acre in three months if you’re clever. 
+The soil can be lousy, the rainfall terrible . . . if the average American com farmer put 10 
+percent of his land into sunflowers, he could become self-sufficient in fuel. It seems that 
+using vegetable oil may be more efficient, in a net energy sense, than growing plants for 
+conversion into alcohol (another nice alternative fuel) because the processing for alcohol is 
+more elaborate, expensive, and energy intensive.”
+Biotic factors — In the USDA’s Agriculture Re sear a new pest of sunflower is
+reported. A scarab beetle {Phyllophaga lancolata) devastated more than 400 ha near Lehman, 
+Texas. Eucosma womonana, is also a newly reported sunflower pest in Texas. Seed is set 
+low when selfed, as most cvs are self-incompatible. Florets on one head open over 5 to 6 
+days and may wait 2 weeks for fertilization. Cross-pollination may be facilitated by 2 to 3
+172 Handbook of Nuts
+hives of honeybees per ha, the hives spaced in rows 300 to 400 m apart, as they need to 
+be distributed to give coverage to all blooms. Gophers dig up seeds; birds eat tremendous 
+amounts of seeds from the maturing crop. Insects can be destructive to seeds not stored 
+properly. The following fungi are known to cause diseases in sunflowers: Albugo trago- 
+pogonis, Alternarla tenuis, Alternarla zinniae, Armillaria mellea, Ascochyta helianthi, Bo­
+trytis cinerea, Cercospora bidentis, Cercospora helianthi, Cercospora helianthicola, 
+Cercospora pachypus, Corticium rolfsii, Cystopus cubicus, Cystopus tragopogonis, Dia- 
+porthe arctii, Diplodina helianthi, Entyloma polysporum, Erysiphe chicoracearum, Fusar­
+ium acuminatum, Fusarium conglutinans, Fusarium culmorum, Fusarium equiseti, Fusarium 
+javanicum, Fusarium oxysporum, Fusarium sambucinum, Fusarium scirpi, Fusarium sem- 
+itecum, Fusarium solani, Helminthosporium helianthi, Leptosphaeria helianthi, Leveillula 
+compositarum, Leveillula taurica, Macrophomina phaseoli, Oidium helianthi, Ophiobolus 
+helianthi, Phialea cynthoides, Phoma olerácea, Phymatotrichum omnivorum, Plasmopara 
+halstedii, Puccinia helianthi, Pythium debaryanum, Pythium irregulare, Phythium splen- 
+dens, Pythium ultimum, Rhabdospora helianthicola, Rhizoctonia rocorum, Rhizoctonia so­
+lani, Rhizoctonia bataticola, Rhizopus nodosus, Sclerotinia fuckeliana, Sclerotinia libertiana, 
+Sclerotinia minor, Sclerotinia sclerotiorum, Sclerotium rolfsii, Septoria helianthi, Sphaer- 
+othecafulginea, Sphaerotheca humuli, Uromycesjunci, Verticillium albo-atrum, Verticillium 
+dahliae. Bacteria reported as infecting sunflowers include: Agrobacterium tumefaciens. Bac­
+terium melleum, Erwinia aroides. Pseudomonas cichorii. Pseudomonas helianthi, and Pseu­
+domonas solanacearum. Virus diseases reported from sunflowers are Apple mosaic, Argentine 
+sunflower. Aster yellows, Brazilian tobacco streak. Cucumber mosaic. Tomato spotted wilt. 
+Peach ringsport. Peach yellow-bud mosaic. Pelargonium leaf-curl. Tobacco necrosis. To­
+bacco ringspot, and Yellows. Sunflowers are parasitized by the following flowering plants: 
+Cuscuta pentagona. Cuscuta arvensis, Orobanche aegyptiaca, Orobanche cumana. Oro­
+banche muteli. Orobanche ramosa. Striga hermonthica. Striga asiatica. Striga lutea. Striga 
+senegalensis. Sunflowers are attacked by many nematodes: Anguina balsamophila, Aphe- 
+lenchoides ritzemabosi, Ditylenchus destructor, Ditylenchus dipsaci, Helicotylenchus cav- 
+enessi, Helicotylenchus microcephalus, Helicotylenchus microlobus, Helicotylenchus 
+pesudorobustus, Heterodera schachtii, Longidorus maximus, Meloidognye arenaria, Me- 
+loidogyne hap la, Meloidogyne incognita acrita, Meloidogyne javanica, Meloidogyne tha- 
+mesi, Paratylenchus minutus, Pratylenchus penetrans, Rotylenchulus reniformis, Scutellonema 
+clathricaudatum, Trichodorus christiei, dXiá Xiphinema ifacolum^'^^^'^^^
+173
+HYPHAENE THEBAICA (L.) Mart. (ARECACEAE) Doum Palm
+U ses — Unripe kernels are edible, but the ripe kernels are hard as a marble, and even 
+strung together to make a weapon. In Bomu Africa, the nuts are pounded to make a meal 
+sold instead of millet. The rind of the fruits is dry and sweet, edible in some, inedible in 
+others. The part of the germinating seedling just below ground is edible, as is the cabbage 
+or palm heart. Trunks yield a sago starch. Osbom^'*^ relates how people in Kharga gnaw on 
+the glossy brown fruits. Though fibrous and tough, the fruits have a pleasant flavor suggestive 
+of carob or ginger bread. Beverages are made from the fruits. In parts of the Sahara desert, 
+the spongy internal parts of the fruit are an important dietary element. Mixed with date 
+infusion, the doum nut constitutes a cooling drink much valued medicinally. Stalks of the 
+cotyledons are eaten. Inner leaves are valued for forage, while the outer may be used for 
+fuel. Fronds, usually unexpanded, used in plaited strips to make mats, hats, baskets, fans, 
+bowls, and ropes. A fiber obtained from the root is used for snares and fish nets. Fronds 
+of the palm are used for fuel. The hard fruit, used as vegetable ivory, is also the source of 
+a black dye. Stems are used in house construction. Ashes are used as
+F olk m ed icin e — According to HartwelF^^ the fruits are used in folk remedies for 
+indurations of the limbs. The thick root is used in African folk remedies for hematuria, in 
+some cases due to bilharzia. According to Boulos,"*^ the resin from the tree, diaphoretic and 
+diuretic, is recommended both for tapeworm and for the bites of poisonous animals. The 
+fruits are astringent and anthelmintic. Breads made from the fruit have been recommended 
+in fluxes. The beverage made from the fruits is recommended, at least around Kharga, for
+174 Handbook of Nuts
+strenghtening the heart and for gastroenteritis. Mixed with date infusion, the doum is rec­
+ommended for febrile conditions on the Sahara.
+Chemistry — Per 100 g, the dried nut contains 395 calories, 5.7 to 6.2 g H2O, 2.4 to 
+5.0 g protein, 4.9 to 8.0 g fat, 6.5 to 11.0 g fiber, 1.9 to 5.4 g ash, 121 to 168 mg Ca, 
+and 170 to 281 mg P. GohP*® reports that whole nuts of the doum palm (91.4% DM) contain 
+(ZMB): 4.5% crude protein, 24.7% crude fiber, 3.6% ash, 2.6% fat, and 64.6% nitrogen- 
+free extract. Ground kernels (90.4% DM) from Somalia contain 9.0% CP, 7.3% CF, 2.8% 
+ash, 7.0% EE, and 73.9% NFE. Per 100 g, the seed (ZMB) contains 420 calories, 4.1 g 
+protein, 6.8 g fat, 85.7 g total carbohydrate, 10.0 g fiber, 3.3 g ash, 153 mg Ca, and 240 
+mg P.^^ According to Watt and Breyer-Brandwijk,^^^ the nut contains 50% mannitol, which 
+when hydrolyzed with dilute acid furnishes 56 to 58% reducing sugars, 80% of which is 
+mannose.
+Description — Palm to 10 m tall, the trunk branching dichotomously 1 to 2 or more 
+times. Leaves large, flabellate, with linear-lanceolate lobes, and numerous upward-curved 
+hooks on petioles. Flowers small and whitish, monoecious, the male spadices surrounded 
+by pointed male spathe-bracts, branches of female spadix being stouter. Fruits 5 x 5 cm, 
+yellowish-brown, globose-guadrangular, with strong fiber surrounding the hard seeds.
+Germplasm — Native to the African and Middle Eastern Centers of Diversity, the doum 
+palm is said to tolerate drought and fire. The closely related H . indica Becc., often confused 
+with H. th ebaica, is probably the only germplasm native to the Middle East.
+Distribution — Sometimes gregarious, forming dense stands along rivers in hot dry 
+valleys of tropical Africa, the Middle East, and western India, especially common in the 
+coastal regions of East Africa and in Eritrea.
+Ecology — Flourishes in rich sandy loam. Growth, flowering, and fruiting are luxuriant 
+in moist places, but in dry places the fruits become small. With no hard data at hand, I 
+estimate that the palm is most at home in Subtropical to Tropical Thom to Moist Forest 
+Life Zones, tolerating even drier climates along water-courses. Johnson^^^ calls it a promising 
+desert palm for deserts and semideserts up to 600 m. Plants wind-polinated. Fmits dissem­
+inated by elephants, baboons, and donkeys, all of which may eat the fmits. Young leaves 
+are eaten by camels.
+Cultivation — Cultivated as an ornamental curio, e.g., in India, the palm can be prop­
+agated by seed or off-shoots.^®
+Harvesting — Plant parts harvested as needed.
+Yields and economics — No data available.
+Energy — Around Bomu, Africa, the leaves are used as fuel, especially in boiling down 
+salt. The sap can be used for alcohol production. Since this is a very destmctive process, 
+it has been outlawed in Eritrea and Kenya. The pod yields an active charcoal with high 
+decolorizing and absorbing power.
+Biotic factors — Nuts and the beads made from them may be attacked by the scolytid 
+beetle, C occotrypes dactyliperda Fabr. Preventive measures are discussed in The W ealth o f 
+India
+175
+INOCARPUS EDULIS Forst. (FABACEAE) — Tahiti Chestnut, Otaheite Chestnut, Poly­
+nesia Chestnut
+Syn: Inocarpus fagiferus (P ark in son ) F osberg?
+U ses — Nuts said to be edible after processing. Menninger^^ says what I have long 
+observed: almost any nut which is difficult to describe is said to taste like a chestnut. So 
+with this one. Seeds are sometimes allowed to ferment in pits in the ground. Natives of 
+Santa Cruz roast the fruits or slowly dry the unhusked fruit over a fire.^^^ More often they 
+are boiled or roasted in ashes. Some Samoans make purees from the cooked seeds. Said to 
+be the principle food of the mountaineers of Fiji. Cattle are said to eat the leaves.^^ Seeds 
+are strung as beads.Wood used in furniture.
+F olk m ed icin e — Reported to be antidotal to fish poisoning, and useful for blood-shot 
+eyes, diarrhea, and hemorrhage.^* Mixed with the fern Drynaria to treat virulent gonorrhea 
+in Indonesia. Astringent bark is used for intestinal complaints in Malaya.Seed is boiled 
+in coconut milk for parturitional uterine hemorrhage.
+C h em istry — Per 100 g, the seed (ZMB) is reported to contain 426 calories, 6.7 g protein, 
+7.9 g fat, 82.8 g total carbohydrate, 4.4 g fiber, 2.6 g ash, 0.46 mg thiamine, and 4 mg 
+ascorbic acid.®^ BurkilP^ reports the seeds (ZMB) analyze 7% fat, 10% albumens, 2.5% 
+ash, and 80% non-nitrogenous substances, mostly starch.
+D escrip tion — Tree to 25 m tall, handsome; trunks usually deeply furrowed, commonly 
+fluted or buttressed; crown dense. Leaves simple, entire, large, oblong-lanceolate, short- 
+petioled, pinnately nerved, leathery; stipules very small, soon caducous. Flowers white, 
+cream, or yellow, fragrant, in axillary, simple or branched spikes resembling catkins when 
+young; bracts small, connate with rachis, somewhat pouched; bracteoles small; calyx tubular- 
+campanulate, bilabiate, membranous, irregularly 2- to 5-toothed; petals 4 to 6, usually 5, 
+subequal, imbricate in bud, linear-lanceolate, upper part crinkled; stamens twice the number 
+of petals, alternately long and short, the longer ones briefly joined to the petals; anthers 
+small, uniform, ovary subsessile or short-stalked, 1-, seldom 2-ovuled; style very short; 
+stigma oblique. Pod short-stalked, oblique-obovate, flattened, 2-valved, subdrupaceous, 
+leathery, indéhiscent, 1-seeded.®
+176 Handbook of Nuts
+Germplasm — Reported from the Australian and Polynesian Centers of Diversity, the 
+Tahiti chestnut, or cvs thereof, is reported to tolerate swamps, waterlogging, and perhaps 
+some salt. (2n = 20.)^’^^°
+Distribution — Native of eastern Malaysia and the Pacific, cultivated in the Malay 
+Peninsula. Cultivated successfully in Peradeniya and Singapore. Allen and Allen describe 
+it as ubiquitous throughout the South Pacific Islands.^
+Ecology — Estimated to range from Subtropical Dry to Wet to Tropical Dry through 
+Moist Forest Life Zones, Tahiti chestnut is estimated to tolerate annual precipitation of 10 
+to 50 dm, annual temperature of 22 to 28°C, and pH of 6.0 to 8.0. Rosengarten says, “ It 
+prefers a hot, humid, tropical climate at low altitude, with well-distributed rainfall, and 
+thrives along the banks of streams and even in swamps.” Often a second-story component 
+of low-lying forest.
+Cultivation — Rarely cultivated. In Santa Cruz, the seeds are sprouted in the shade and 
+transplanted. It is more gathered than cultivated.
+Harvesting — Fruits start bearing at about age 8. In Santa Cruz, Solomon Islands, there 
+are two main harvests per year, and nuts are stored with the fibrous pods intact after cooking 
+in large earth ovens.
+Yields and Economics — No data available.
+Energy — No data available.
+Biotic factors — Nitrogen-fixing nodules were not detected in Philippine specimens.^
+177
+JATROPHA CURCAS L. (EUPHORBIACEAE) — Physic Nut, Purging Nut
+Uses — According to Ochse,^^^ “ the young leaves may be safely eaten, steamed or 
+stewed.” They are favored for cooking with goat meat, said to counteract the peculiar smell. 
+Though purgative, the nuts are sometimes roasted and dangerously eaten. In India, pounded 
+leaves are applied near horses’ eyes to repel flies. The oil has been used for illumination, 
+soap, candles, adulteration of olive oil, and making Turkey red oil. Nuts can be strung on 
+grass and burned like candlenuts.^^^ Mexicans grow the shrub as a host for the lac insect. 
+Ashes of the burned root are used as a salt substitute.A gaceta, Dumag, and Batolos^ 
+conclude that it has strong molluscicidal activity. Duke and Wain^^ list it for homicide, 
+piscicide, and raticide as well. The latex was strongly inhibitory to watermelon mosaic 
+virus.Bark used as a fish poison.In South Sudan, the seed as well as the fruit is used 
+as a contraceptive.^®^ Sap stains linen and can be used for marking.Little, Woodbury, 
+and Wadsworth list the species as a honey plant.
+Folk medicine — According to Harwell,the extracts are used in folk remedies for 
+cancer. Reported to be abortifacient, anodyne, antiseptic, cicatrizant, depurative, diuretic, 
+emetic, hemostat, lactagogue, narcotic, purgative, rubefacient, styptic, vermifuge, and vul­
+nerary, physic nut is a folk remedy for alopecia, anasarca, ascites, bums, carbuncles, 
+convulsions, cough, dermatitis, diarrhea, dropsy, dysentery, dyspepsia, eczema, erysipelas, 
+fever, gonorrhea, hernia, incontinence, inflammation, jaundice, neuralgia, paralysis, par­
+turition, pleurisy, pneumonia, rash, rheumatism, scabies, sciatica, sores, stomachache, sy­
+philis, tetanus, thmsh, tumors, ulcers, uterosis, whitlows, yaws, and yellow fever.
+Latex is applied topically to bee and wasp stings.Mauritians massage ascitic limbs with
+178 Handbook of Nuts
+the oil. Cameroon natives apply the leaf decoction in arthritis.Colombians drink the leaf 
+decoction for venereal disease.Bahamians drink the decoction for heartburn. Costa Ricans 
+poultice leaves onto erysipelas and splenosis. Guatemalans place heated leaves on the breast 
+as a lactagogue. Cubans apply the latex to toothache. Colombians and Costa Ricans apply 
+the latex to bums, hemorrhoids, ringworm, and ulcers. Barbadians use the leaf tea for 
+marasmus, Panamanians for jaundice. Venezuelans take the root decoction for dysentery. 
+Seeds are used also for dropsy, gout, paralysis, and skin ailments.Leaves are regarded 
+as antiparasitic, applied to scabies; rubefacient for paralysis, rheumatism, also applied to 
+hard tumors.Latex used to dress sores and ulcers and inflamed tongues.Seed is viewed 
+as aperient; the seed oil emetic, laxative, purgative, for skin ailments. Root is used in 
+decoction as a mouthwash for bleeding gums and toothache. Otherwise used for eczema, 
+ringworm, and scabies.I received a letter from the Medical Research Center of the 
+University of the West Indies shortly after the death of Jamacian singer Robert Morley:
+I just want you to know that this is not because of Bob Morley’s illness, why I am revealing 
+this . . . my dream was: this old lady came to me in my sleep with a dish in her hands; she 
+handed the dish to me filled with some nuts. 1 said to her, “ What were those?” She did not 
+answer. I said to her, “ PHYSIC N U T S.” She said to me, “ This is the cure for cancer.”
+I found this Jamaican dream rather interesting. Four antitumor compounds, including 
+jatropham and jatrophone, are reported from other species of Jatropha.®^ Homeopathically 
+used for cold sweats, colic, collapse, cramps, cyanosis, diarrhea, and leg cramps.
+Chemistry — Per 100 g, the seed is reported to contain 6.6 g H2O, 18.2 g protein, 38.0 
+g fat, 33.5 g total carbohydrate, 15.5 g fiber, and 4.5 g ash.®^ Leaves, which show anti­
+leukemic activity, contain alpha-amyrin, beta-sitosterol, stigmasterol, and campesterol, 7- 
+keto-beta-sitosterol, stigmast-5-ene-3beta, 7-alpha-diol, and stigmast-5-ene-3beta, 7 beta- 
+diol.^^"^ Leaves contain isovitexin and vitexin. From the drug (nut?) saccharose, raffinose, 
+stachyose, glucose, fructose, galactose, protein, and an oil, largely of oleic- and linoleic- 
+acids.^®^ Poisonous seeds can cause death due to phytotoxin, curcin. Curcasin, arachidic-, 
+linoleic-, myristic-, oleic-, palmitic-, and stearic-acids.
+Toxicity — The poisoning is irritant, with acute abdominal pain and nausea about V2 
+hour following ingestion. Diarrhea and nausea continue but are not usually serious. Depres­
+sion and collapse may occur, especially in children. Two seeds are strong purgative. Four 
+to five seeds are said to have caused death, but the roasted seed is said to be nearly innocuous. 
+Bark, fruit, leaf, root, and wood are all reported to contain HCN.^^^ Seeds contain the 
+dangerous toxalbumin curcin.®^
+Description — Shrub or tree to 6 m, with spreading branches and stubby twigs, with a 
+milky or yellowish rufescent exudate. Leaves deciduous, alternate but apically crowded, 
+ovate, acute to acuminate, basally cordate, 3- to 5-lobed in outline, 6 to 40 cm long, 6 to 
+35 cm broad, the petioles 2.5 to 7.5 cm long. Flowers several to many in greenish cymes, 
+yellowish, bell-shaped; sepals 5, broadly deltoid. Male flowers many with 10 stamens, 5 
+united at the base only, 5 united into a colum. Female flowers borne singly, with elliptic 
+3-celled, triovulate ovary with 3 spreading bifurcate stigmata. Capsules 2.5 to 4 cm long, 
+finally drying and splitting into 3 valves, all or two of which commonly have an oblong 
+black seed, these ca. 2 x 1
+Germplasm — Reported from the Central and South American Centers of Diversity, 
+physic nut, or cvs thereof, is reported to tolerate slope. There is an endemic species in 
+Madagascar, J. mahafalensis, with equal energetic promise.
+Distribution — Though native to America, the species is almost pantropical now, widely 
+planted as a medicinal plant which soon tends to establish itself. It is listed, e.g., as a weed 
+in Brazil, Fiji, Honduras, India, Jamaica, Panama, Puerto Rico, and Salvador.
+Ecology — Ranging from Tropical Very Dry to Moist through Subtropical Thom to Wet
+179
+Forest Life Zones, physic nut is reported to tolerate annual precipitation of 4.8 to 23.8 dm 
+(mean of 60 cases = 14.3) and annual temperature of 18.0 to 28.5°C (mean of 45 cases 
+= 25.2).«2
+Cultivation — Grows readily from cuttings or seeds. Cuttings strike root so easily that 
+the plant can be used as an energy-producing living fence post.
+Harvesting — For medicinal purposes, the seeds are harvested as needed. For energy 
+purposes, seeds might be harvested all at once, the active medicinal compounds might be 
+extracted from the seed, before or after the oil, leaving the oil cake for biomass or manure.
+Yields and economics — According to Gaydou et al.,^®^ seed yields approach 6 to 8 
+MT/ha with ca. 37% oil. They calculate that such yields could produce the equivalent of 
+2,100 to 2,800 € fuel oil per ha (see table under Energy Section). In Madagascar, they have 
+ca. 10,000 ha of purging nut, each producing ca. 2,400 € (or 24 h€) oil per ha for a potential 
+production of 240,000 h€.*®'^
+Energy — The clear oil expressed from the seed has been used for illumination and 
+lubrication, and more recently has been suggested for energetic purposes, one ton of nuts 
+yielding 70 kg refined petroleum, 40 kg “ gasoil leger” (light fuel oil), 40 kg regular fuel 
+oil, 34 kg dry tar/pitch/rosin, 270 kg coke-like char, and 200 kg ammoniacal water, natural 
+gas, creosote, etc. In their study, Gaydou et al.^®^ compare several possible energy species 
+with potential to grow in Malagasy. Oil palm was considered energetically most promising, 
+but this species was considered second most promising.
+Crop Fuel Energetic
+production production equivalent
+(MXlia) (eiia) (kwlilia)
+Elaeis guineenis 18—20 3,600-^,000 33,900—37,700
+Jatropha curcas 6—8 2,100—2,800 19,800—26,400
+Aleurites fordii 4—6 1,800—2,700 17,000—25,500
+Saccharum officinarum 35 2,450 16,000
+Ricinus communis 3—5 1,200—2,000 11,300—18,900
+Manihot esculenta 6 1,020 6,600
+Biotic Factors — A griculture H andbook N o. 165 lists the following as affecting Jatropha 
+curcas: C litocybe tabescens (root rot), C olletotrichum g loesporioides (leaf spot), and Phak- 
+opsora jatro p h ico la (rust)."^
+180 Handbook of Nuts
+JESSENIA BATAUA (Mart.) Burret. (ARECACEAE) — Seje, Mil Pesos, Jagua, Pataba, 
+Pataua
+S yn .: Jessenia polycarpa K arst.
+U ses — Fruits provide an oil with a taste almost identical to that of the olive. “ There is 
+no question about pataua oil being an excellent edible oil.” ^^^ Ripe fruits are harvested and 
+piled up a day or so to encourage further ripening. They are then steamed in water, and the 
+pulp separated from the bony seed with a mortar. Brazilians may simple press out the oil. 
+The seeds are also consumed as food, and the milky residue from oil extraction, the “ yucuta’ ’, 
+is consumed as a beverage. The oil, used as a cooking or edible oil, is also used in medicine. 
+A chocolate-colored chicha is made by mashing the fruit, straining out the fruits, and adding 
+sugar. Wood is used for both bows and arrow-points.
+181
+Table 1
+JE S S E N IA COMPARISON OF OIL OF 
+B A T A U A WITH OLIVE OIL
+Jessenia bataua* Olive oil 
+Fatty acid samples {%) samples (%
+Palmitic 13.2 ± 2.1 11.2
+0.6 ± 0.2 1.5 
+Palmitoleic
+Stearic 3.6 ± 1.1 2.0
+Oleic 77.7 ± 3.1 76.0
+Linoleic 2.7 ± 1.0 8.5 
+0.6 ± 0.4 0.5
+Linolenic
+Other 1.6 (range 0.2 — 4.6)
+Values given as the mean standard deviation of
+12 separate samples.
+From Balick, M. J. and Gershoff, S. N ., Econ. Bot., 
+35, 261, 1981. Copyright 1981, The New York Botan­
+ical Garden. With permission.
+Folk medicine — In the Guahibo area, the oil is used for asthma, cough, tuberculosis, 
+and other respiratory problems. Elsewhere it is used for bronchitis, catarrh, consumption, 
+flu, leprosy, and parturition.^®’^* At least four scientists have speculated that natives gain 
+weight, appear healthier with more endurance, and reported fewer respiratory infections 
+during the season of daily consumption of “ mil pesos.” Colombians consider the oil ver­
+mifugal.*®^
+Chemistry — I repeat Balick and Gershoff s^^ useful table (Table 1) comparing the oil 
+of bataua with olive oil, because olive oil has recently gotten press as very salubrious. Note 
+that the bataua, like the olive, contains about 80% oleic acid, a feature recently praised in 
+Lubrizol’s special high-oleic sunflower. Parenthetically, I add that Johnson*^^ reports much 
+lower oleic acid values, 0.48 to 40.67%. He puts the entire fruit’s oil content at 7.4%, the 
+mesocarp pulp at 18.2%, and the seed at 3%. If Lubrizol’s sunflower is good for the temperate 
+zone, this oil should be great for the tropical zone. I also repeat Balick and Gershoff’s^^ 
+Table 3. The data suggest that, though tryptophan and lysine were the limiting amino acids, 
+bataua protein is better than most grain and legume proteins.(see Table 2.) Balick and 
+Gershoff’s Table 4^^ compares the “ milk” of the seje with human milk, cowmilk, and 
+soybean milk, (see Table 3.)
+Description — Unbranched palm to 15 (to 25) m tall, the mature trunk spineless (when 
+young, the trunk is covered with dark brown fibers and spines to 80 cm long). Leaves 
+pinnate, arching, 6 to 8 (to 10) m long, the rachis deep, canaliculate, vaginate at the base. 
+Leaflets alternate, lanceolate, acute, 40 to 75 mm wide. Spathe ca. 1 m long, woody, 
+terminating in an acute process. Spadix with 100 to 225 racemes, flowers cream-colored; 
+petals valvate. Panicles may contain 1,000 fruits, each weighing 10 to 15 g. There may be 
+two panicles per year. Fruits drupaceous, ellipsoid to ovoid, 2.5 to 4 cm long, deep purple 
+when ripe.^^’^®’^^
+Germplasm — Reported from the South American Center of Diversity, mil peso is 
+reported to tolerate waterlogging. Although taxonomists have tended to recognize at least 
+two species of Jessenia, Balick and Gershoff^ suggest that there is only one. Guajibo Indians 
+distinguish a type with whitish mesocarp and another with purplish or pinkish mesocarp. 
+Further, they recognize a slender variant with a reddish inner skin tissue.^®
+Distribution — Distributed over much of the northern half of South America, including 
+Panama and Trinidad.
+182 Handbook of Nuts
+Table 2
+AMINO ACID ANALYSIS OF J E S S E N IA B A T A U A
+Mg amino acid per g protein Amino acid Per cent of FAOAVHO
+Amino acid component (mean ± standard deviation)* scoring pattern*’ scoring pattern
+Isoleucine 47 ± 4 40 118
+Leucine 78 ± 4 70 111
+Lysine 53 ± 3 55 96
+Methionine 18 ± 6
+Cystine 26 ± 6
+Methionine ± cystine 44 ± 9 35 126
+62 ± 3
+Phenylalanine
+Tyrosine 43 ± 5
+105 ± 7 60 175
+Phenylalanine -f tyrosine
+69 ± 6 40 173
+Threonine
+68 ± 4 50 136
+Valine
+Tryptophan 9 ± 1 10 90
+Aspartic acid 122
+Serine 54
+Glutamic acid 96
+Proline 75
+Glycine 69 ± 4 
+Alanine 58 ± 4 
+Histidine 29 ± 4 
+Arginine 56 ± 2
+“ Values represent mean ± standard deviation for 7 separate samples with the exception of tryptophan, for 
+which only 3 samples were analyzed.
+^ FAO/WHO provisional amino acid scoring pattern. The scoring pattern represents an “ ideal protein’’ con­
+taining all the essential amino acids to meet requirements without excess (FAO/WHO, 1973).
+From Balick, M. and Gershoff, S. N ., Econ. Bot., 35, 261, 1981. Copyright 1981, The New York Botanical 
+Garden. With permission.
+Table 3
+COMPARISON OF “MILK’’ O F J E S S E N IA B A T A U A AND 
+OTHER MILKS
+Approx. % calories from each component
+Jessenia bataua 
+milk Human milk* Cow milk* Soybean milk*
+Fat 55.3 45.9 49.8 37.6
+Protein l A 5.6 20.9 37.9
+Carbohydrate 37.3 48.5 29.3 24.5
+* USDA, 1963.
+From Balick, M. J. and Gershoff, S. N ., Econ. Bot., 35, 261, 1981. Copyright 1981, 
+The New York Botanical Garden. With permission.
+Ecology — Estimated to range from Tropical Dry (along river courses) to Rain through 
+Subtropical Dry to Rain Forest Life Zones, the mil pesos is estimated to tolerate annual 
+precipitation of 15 to 100 dm, annual temperature of 21 to 27°C, and pH of 4.5 to 7.5. 
+Once said to have formed solid gallery forests, but also occurring in inland forest up to
+1,000 m.
+183
+Cultivation — Though not normally cultivated, this palm should be given priority in 
+testing for plantation culture. “ It has never been cultivated, the minute amounts of oil that 
+have entered local native markets always having been extracted from wild tre e s .S e e d s 
+apparently take 20 to 40 days to germinate.
+Harvesting — Trees may not fruit for 10 to 12 years.^^^ Fruits ripen from April to 
+November in Colombia, September to January in Brazil. Natives believed it bears heavier 
+in alternate years like so many of our native fruits.Too often the trees are felled to obtain 
+the fruits. But about two months after felling, the Guajibo also harvest the edible grubs of 
+the palm weevil.^^’^®
+Yields and economics — Trees average 14 kg fruit per season.Schultes^^® says the 
+fruit clusters may weigh 30 kg yielding 1.5 to 3 kg oil. The high price of the similar olive 
+oil would suggest introducing this palm into cultivation. An effort towards this end has 
+been initiated by the Centro de Dasarollo Las Gaviotas in the Orinoquia of Colombia. 
+PIRB256 calculates that the oil can be produced for about $0.20/kg, 1/8 the cost of olive oil. 
+Many Latin Americans, nonetheless, import edible oils. Unfortunately, most of the Brazilian 
+stands are remote from Belem where there are large vegetable oil factories. “ The low yield 
+of oil, coupled with a lack of machinery adapted to processing this fruit, have resulted in 
+very limited production.
+Energy — “lam not terribly optimistic on Jessenia as an oilseed fuel, as the oil is simply 
+too valuable to bum. In the world market, it (is) probably four times the price of palm oil, 
+and thus would be a waste to put in engines.Still, the Colombian natives extract 3 to 4 
+bottles of oil from a raceme.
+Biotic factors — No data available.
+184 Handbook of Nuts
+JU G LAN S AILANTHIFOLIA Carr. (JUGLANDACEAE) — Heartnut, Japanese or Siebold 
+Walnut
+Syn.: Juglans sieboldiana Maxim., Juglans mirabunda Koidz., Juglans lavallei Dode,
+Juglans sachalinensis (Miyabe et Kudo) Komar., Juglans allardiana Dode, 
+Juglans coarctata Dode
+Uses — Heartnut is grown primarily for the kernels of the nuts, used in confectioneries 
+and pastries. Wood soft, not strong, of little value as lumber.^^® Wood dark-brown, not 
+easily cracked or warped, used for gunstocks, cabinet work, and various utensils in Japan. 
+Bark and exocarp of fruit used for dying.Good shade tree and often planted as an 
+ornamental.
+Folk medicine — Reported to be antitussive and tonic.
+Chemistry — Not data available.
+Description — Tall erect tree, to 20 m tall, often grown as a low, wide-branching tree; 
+branches grayish-brown, densely glandular-pubescent when young; bark whitish. Leaves 
+large, petiolate, with 9 to 21 leaflets; leaflets ovate-oblong, 8 to 12 cm long, 3 to 4 cm 
+wide, abruptly acute to acuminate, appressed-serrulate, minutely stellate-pubescent above 
+on both surfaces when young, sessile and obliquely truncate at base; petioles and rachis 
+densely glandular. Staminate aments 10 to 30 cm long; pistillate aments 10- to 20-flowered, 
+pedunculate, densely brown pubescent with crisped hairs. Nut pubescent, with hard shell, 
+broadly ovoid to nearly globose, 2.5 to 3.5 cm long, mucronate, rugose, with raised sutures. 
+Very variable. Flowers May; fruits summer to fall.^^^
+Germplasm — Reported from the China-Japan Center of Diversity.Nuts vary consid­
+erably in size and roughness. Best-known varieties of common Siebold walnut are ‘DardinelT 
+and ‘English’. Heartnut {Juglans ailanthifolia var. cordiform is [Maxim.] Rehd. [Syn.: J. 
+cordiform is Maxim; J. su bcordiform is Dode]) has a cordate or cordate-ovoid, rather de­
+pressed shell, with relatively thin shell, is nearly smooth with a shallow groove on each 
+side, and has better shelling quality. ‘Fodermaier’ and ‘Wright’ are the best cvs, although 
+a great many selections have been made and named. Most named heartnuts were introduced 
+to the U.S. in the 1920s and 1930s. This cv is extensively cultivated in Japan and the U.S. 
+Hybrids with butternuts (Butterjap or buttemut-siebold) resemble the Siebold in branching, 
+leaves, and long racemes of nuts, but resemble the butternut in shape of nut, tree hardiness, 
+and resistance to serious diseases. Leaves larger than in the butternut. In breeding, its high 
+resistance to M elanconis fungus is transmitted to its hybrids with butternuts. The small size 
+of the nut has led to selections of clones. Siebold walnut is susceptible to butternut curculio 
+and to witches’ broom or bunch disease, the cause of which is unknown, but an insect- 
+transmitted virus is suspected. Hybrid ‘Grietz’ is better adapted to southern localities than 
+butternut; and ‘Helmick’ is hardier and very promising. Some cvs are not hardy as far north 
+as New York. Juglans aveliana Dode and J. notha Rehd. are alleged hybrids between J. 
+ailanthifolia Carr, and J. regia var. orientis (Dode) Kitam.^^® A number of cvs and hybrids 
+of heartnut have been developed which should prove useful for cross-breeding. Vigorous 
+hybrids, called “ buartnuts” have been produced by crossing heartnuts and butternuts. These 
+hybrids combine the butternut’s desirable kernel flavor and superior climatic adaptability 
+with the heartnut’s higher yield and better crackability.^®^ (2n = 32.)
+Distribution — Native to Japan. Introduced to San Jose Valley of California about 1870; 
+now grown more extensively in northeastern U.S. and southern Ontario. Not worth planting 
+in pecan country, and not valued where Persian walnuts (7. regia) thrive. Unadapted to 
+extreme temperatures on Northern Plains and Rocky Mountain regions.
+Ecology — Ranging from Warm Temperate Dry to Moist Forest Life Zones, heartnut is 
+reported to tolerate annual precipitation of 5.4 to 12.0 dm (mean of 4 cases = 8.3), annual 
+temperature of 14.7 to 25.0°C (mean of 4 cases = 18.1), and pH of 5.5 to 6.8 (mean of
+185
+3 cases = 6.4).*^ Thrives on wide range of soils from clay to sand, and even makes rapid 
+and luxuriant growth on rather poor soil.^^^ Very common along streams and on wettish 
+plains.Bears early, and endures temperatures to — 40°C. However, it is more successfully 
+grown in areas from Nova Scotia, through Wisconsin and Iowa to southern Oregon and 
+British Columbia and south to Virginia, New Mexico, and northern Arizona.Able to 
+withstand winters not too cold for peaches. Grown throughout Atlantic coastal states. Pacific 
+northwest, and more protected northern areas.Foliage is sometimes injured and season’s 
+crop destroyed by late spring frosts.
+C ultivation — Propagation by grafting, methods being the same as for butternut and 
+black walnut. Siebold grafts easily on its own seedlings and on butternut (7. cinered). It 
+also grafts easily on black walnut, but does not outgrow the stock. Also propagated by 
+layering, by bending low-growing branches to the ground and burying about 10 cm, leaving 
+remainder of branch protruding upright. Limb is cut half through on underside close to 
+trunk, firmly bound with cord to form a girdle, and treated with tree dressing. Bent-down 
+limb should be shaded from trunk to ground to prevent sunscald. Layers require about 2 
+years to root. Grafted trees or rooted limbs are planted in the orchard about same distances 
+as other walnuts, about 20 m each way.^^*
+H arvestin g — Fruits are borne in long racemes and in good locations, trees produce 
+prolifically. Nuts fall to ground in late summer and early fall, and should be harvested by 
+picking up the nuts as soon as they fall, to discourage infestation by maggots. Hulls are 
+removed and nuts dried for a few days, and then stored as for other walnuts.
+Y ields and econ om ics — Heartnuts yield from 106 to 275 nuts per kg, and crack out 
+about one-fourth to one-third kg in kernels.Grown on a noncommercial basis in north­
+eastern U.S. and lower Ontario.
+E n ergy — All walnuts are oilseeds, producing good timber, but their value is greater for 
+ends other than energetic ends. Yielding better than butternut, this might conceivably be a 
+better energy species.
+B iotic factors — In some parts of New York State, a beetle burrows in the terminal 
+shoot. Because of Siebold walnut and heartnut’s high resistance to M elanconis fungus, it is 
+used for hybridizing with butternut, to which it transmits its resistance.Nearly decimated 
+in the U.S. in the early 20th century by walnut bunch disease.The A griculture H andbook 
+165"^ reports the following as affecting heartnut: M elanconis ju glan dis (canker, dieback), 
+M eloidogyne spp. (root knot nematodes), X anthom onas ju glan dis (bacterial blight). Also 
+listed are brooming disease (virus), rosette (physiogenic, (?) zinc deficiency), and witches’ 
+broom (cause unknown).
+186 Handbook of Nuts
+JU G LA N S CINEREA L. (JUGLANDACEAE) — Butternut, White Walnut, Oil Nut
+Uses — Butternut grown primarily for its nuts, used fresh, roasted, or salted, in confec­
+tioneries, pastries, and for flavoring. Sugar may be made from the sap. Green husks of fruit 
+are used to dye cloth, giving it a yellow-to-orange color.Bark used by pioneers to make 
+a brown dye.^^ Narragansett Indians called the butternut ‘wussoquat’ and used the nuts to 
+thicken their pottage.Amerindians ate butternuts raw, cooked, or ground into a meal for 
+baking in cakes. Iroquois used seed oil for cooking and as a hair dressing. Nuts were 
+combined with maple sugar in New England to make maple-butternut candy.The early 
+settlers in New England found they could store the nuts for years as insurance against 
+starvation. The wood is coarse-grained, light-brown, turning darker upon exposure, used 
+for boat construction, boxes, buildings that come into contact with the ground, cabinet work, 
+carving, crates, fence posts, furniture, interior finishing of houses, and mill work. Used to 
+make some propellers for early windmills.
+Folk medicine — According to Hartwell,pills made from the bark and poultices made 
+from the shucks are said to be folk remedies for cancer. Reported to be alterative, cathartic, 
+laxative, stimulant, tonic, and vermifuge, butternut is a folk remedy for cancer, dysentery, 
+epithelioma, liver ailments, mycosis, tapeworms, tumors, and warts.Butternut bark (the 
+inner bark of the root) is used for fevers and as a mild cathartic.Grieve**^ reports the 
+inner bark of the root, collected in May or June, is the best for medicinal use. Has been 
+recommended for syphilis and old ulcers; said to be rubefacient when applied to the skin.
+Chemistry — Per 100 g, the seed (ZMB) is reported to contain 654 calories, 24.6 g 
+protein, 63.6 g fat, 8.7 g total carbohydrate, 3.0 g ash, and 7.1 mg Fe.^^ Smith^*® reports 
+the butternut to be 86.40% refuse, 4.5% water, 27.9% protein, 61.2% fat, 3.4% total 
+carbohydrates, 3.0% ash, and 3,370 calories per pound. Butternut bark (the inner bark of 
+the root) contains resinoid juglandin, juglone, juglandic acid, and an essential oil.^^® Roots 
+give off a toxin that poisons many other plants in the root area.^^^
+Description — Tree to 35 m, with straight trunk 0.6 to 1 m in diameter, round-topped; 
+bark smooth, light-gray on young branches, becoming light-brown and deeply fissured, to 
+2.5 cm thick; winter-buds terminal, 1.3 to 2 cm long, flattened, outer scales covered with 
+pale pubescence; axillary buds dark-brown with rusty pubescence, ovoid, flattened, rounded 
+at apex, 0.3 cm long. Leaves 35 to 75 cm long, with stout pubescent petioles, compound 
+with 11 to 17 oblong-lanceolate leaflets, 5 to 7.5 cm long, to 5 cm wide, finely serrate, 
+glandular, sticky, yellow-green and rough above, pale pubescent beneath; leaves turning 
+yellow or brown before falling in fall; hairy fringe present above leaf-scars. Flowers dioe­
+cious, staminate flowers in thick aments to 1.2 to 5 cm long, calyx 6-lobed, light-yellow 
+to green, puberulent on outer surface; bract rusty-pubescent, acute at apex, stamens 8 to 12 
+with nearly sessile dark-brown anthers, slightly lobed connectives; pistillate flowers in 6- 
+to 8-flowered spikes, constricted above the middle, coated with sticky glandular hairs, 
+stigmas red, about 1.3 cm long. Fruits in drooping clusters of 3 to 5, obscurely 2- or 4- 
+ridged, ovoid-oblong, covered with rusty, clammy hairs, 3 to 6 cm long with thick husk; 
+nut elongated, ovoid, deeply ridged with 4 prominent and 4 less-prominent ribs, light-brown, 
+2-celled at base, 1-celled above the middle; kernel white to cream, sweet, very oily, soon 
+becoming rancid. Flowers April to June; fruits fall.^^^
+Germplasm — Reported from the North America Center of Diversity, butternut, or cvs 
+thereof, is reported to tolerate bacteria, fungus, limestone, poor soil, slope, and weeds. 
+Cvs have been selected with excellent shelling qualities, some of them now being grown 
+are ‘Kenworthy’, ‘Kinneyglen’, ‘Buckley’, ‘Helmick’, ‘Craxezy’, ‘Henick’, ‘Johnson’, 
+‘Sherwood’, ‘Thrill’, and ‘Van der Poppen’. x ju glan s quadrangulata Rehd., a natural 
+hybrid between7. cinerea and7. regia, occurs occasionally in eastern Massachusetts. Hybrids 
+between butternut (7. cinerea) and heartnut (7. ailanthifolia) have appeared in the U.S.^^^
+187
+‘Aiken’ was the first grafted butternut available.Grafted cv ‘Deeming’ reported to bear 
+“ when it is two feet high’’.^*° (2n = 32.)
+Distribution — Native to eastern North America, from southern New Brunswick to 
+Ontario, Michigan, southern Minnesota, and South Dakota, south to eastern Virginia, central 
+Kansas, and northern Arkansas, and in the mountains to northern Georgia, Alabama, and 
+western Tennessee. Occasionally cultivated elsewhere. Most abundant northward.
+Ecology — Ranging from Cool Temperate Moist to Wet through Warm Temperate Dry 
+Forest Life Zones, butternut is reported to tolerate annual precipitation of 5.4 to 12.3 dm 
+(mean of 8 cases = 8.6), annual temperature of 8.4 to 18.0°C (mean of 8 cases = 12.1°C), 
+and pH of 4.9 to 7.2 (mean of 7 cases = 6.2).®^ Thrives in rich, moist soils near banks of 
+streams, on low rocky hills, as well as in forests, along fences, and road-sides. However, 
+it cannot be depended upon as an ornamental planting. Succeeds fairly well on poor upland 
+soils, but thrives best on fertile, slightly acid or neutral soils with good drainage. Hardiest 
+of any of the northern nuts, but short-lived under some conditions, apparently due to fungus 
+disease.Hardy to Zone 3.^"^^
+Cultivation — Trees in the forest and along road-sides develop from natural dispersal of 
+nuts. When cultivated, nuts or small trees can be planted. To assure viability, seeds should 
+not be more than a few years old. Plant where tree is to grow, in spring or fall, burying 
+about 2.5 cm in the ground. Fall-planted nuts should be well protected from nut-hunting 
+squirrels. Spring-planted nuts should be planted as early as possible, so they can be frozen 
+in the ground a few times. Nuts may be stored in freezer a few days before planting to 
+insure sprouting. Mid-summer sprouting seedlings grow rapidly, possibly reaching 1 m by 
+summer’s end. Plant 10 to 12 m apart for nut production; 5 m apart for timber production. 
+Generally takes 10 years from planting to first harvest; the first crop should be a big one.'^^ 
+Trees are usually grafted either on seedling butternut or black walnut stocks. Black walnut 
+stocks are reported to give earlier bearing trees. Butternut is a rather rapid-growing tree; 
+however, it begins to deteriorate when it reaches medium size. Trunks of older trees are 
+usually hollow. Otherwise, it requires about the same care and cultivation as other nut 
+trees.Ashworth^® reports that it is difficult to graft, possibly due to high sap pressure and 
+abundant sap flow in the spring.
+Harvesting — Nuts are harvested by picking them up from the ground after they have 
+fallen in early to late fall. Husk is removed and nuts are allowed to dry for a few weeks by 
+spreading them one deep on a warm attic floor, a greenhouse bench, a sunny garage floor, 
+etc. Should be stirred up occasionally so they dry thoroughly. Store in a well-ventilated, 
+dry, cool, squirrel-proof place. Kernels are removed by cracking nuts. A hammer and anvil 
+or a block of hard wood seems to be the best cracking method. Another method is to cover 
+the nuts with hot water and soak them until the water cools. They will crack easily and 
+meats come out intact. Kernels may be stored dried, salted, or frozen until used.^^®
+Yields and economics — Yield data for this species are usually included with other native 
+and cultivated walnuts. Kernels of butternut are harvested along with other walnuts and sold 
+salted or variously packaged.Two billion board feet of butternut lumber was reported to 
+be cut in 1 year in 1913. Production in 1941 was ca. 920,000 board feet. West Virginia, 
+Wisconsin, Indiana, and Tennessee have been the leading states in production of butternut 
+lumber. West Virginia mills shipped ca. 250,000 board feet to North Carolina furniture 
+plants in 1963. In 1960, the total veneer production was ca. 4 billion square feet; in 1965, 
+ca. 14 billion square feet face veneer was shipped. Butternuts are less important commercially 
+than black walnuts.
+Energy — Both timber and seed oils could be used for energy, but they are, at the 
+moment, probably more suitable for other ends. This species is said to yield less than J. 
+ailanthifolia.
+Biotic factors — The following fungi are known to attack butternut: Actinothecium
+188 Handbook of Nuts
+juglandis, Botryosphaeria ribis, Cercospora juglandis, Cylindrosporium sp., Fusarium av- 
+enaceum, Gnomonia leptostyla, Marsonia juglandis, Melanconis juglandis, Microstroma 
+brachysporum, M. juglandis, and Nectria galligena. Trees are attacked by Witches’ broom, 
+the cause of which is unknown. The nematodes Caconema radicicola and Meloidogyne sp. 
+have also been isolated from the tree.*^^’^^*
+189
+JUG LAN S HINDSII Jeps. ex R.E.Sm. (JUGLANDACEAE) — California or Hind’s Black 
+Walnut
+Syn.: J u g la n s californ ica var. h in d sii Jeps.
+Uses — Kernels of nuts edible, of good quality, but small, used for confectioneries, 
+pastries, and roasted or salted nuts. Wood hard, coarse-grained, dark-brown, often mottled, 
+with pale thick sap wood. Often cultivated in California as street and shade tree.^"^^
+Folk medicine — No data available.
+Chemistry — No data available.
+Description — Deciduous, round-topped tree 10 to 20 m tall, occasionally to 25 m, with 
+erect, unbranched trunk 3.3 to 13 m, 30 to 60 cm in diameter; bark strong-scented, gray- 
+brown, smoothish, longitudinally fissured into narrow plates; branches pendulous; branchlets 
+villose-pubescent, reddish-brown, lenticels pale. Leaves 22 to 30 cm long, alternate, com­
+pound; petioles and rachis villose-pubescent; leaflets 15 to 19, thin, 6 to 10 cm long, 2 to 
+2.5 cm wide, ovate-lanceolate to lanceolate, long-pointed, often slightly flacate, margin 
+serrate, base rounded cuneate to cordate, upper surface puberulous while young, becoming 
+bright-green and glabrous, lower surface with tufts of hairs and villose-pubescent along 
+midrib and primary veins. Staminate flowers in slender glabrous or villose aments 7.5 to 
+12.6 cm long, calyx elongated, covered with pubescence, 5- or 6-lobed, stamens 30 to 40, 
+with short connectives bifid at apex; pistillate flowers oblong-ovoid, thickly covered with 
+villose-pubescence about 0.3 cm long. Fruit globose, 3 to 5 cm in diameter, husk thin, dark- 
+colored with soft pubescence; nut nearly globose, somewhat flattened at ends, faintly grooved 
+with remote longitudinal depressions, shell thick; seed small and sweet.
+Germplasm — Reported from the North American Center of Diversity, Hind’s black 
+walnut, or cvs thereof, is reported to tolerate high pH.^^ In California, natural hybrids are 
+known between this walnut and Juglans nigra; also a hybrid ‘Paradoxa’ (J. hindsii x J. 
+regia) has been produced artificially. J. hindsii var. quercina Sarg. (7. c a lif ornica (var.) 
+quercina Babcock) has leaves with 1 to 5 leaflets, usually 3, short-stalked or sessile, broadly 
+ovate to oblong, obtuse or emarginate, serrate or entire, 1.3 to 5 cm long. (2n = 24.)^^^
+Distribution — Native to Coastal region of central California. Sometimes cultivated in 
+California, eastern U.S., and Europe.
+Ecology — Ranging from Warm Temperate Thom to Dry Forest Life Zones, Hind’s black 
+walnut is reported to tolerate annual precipitation of 3.1 to 6.6 dm (mean of 2 cases = 
+4.9), annual temperature of 12.7 to 14.7°C (mean of 2 cases = 13.7), and pH of 6.8 to 
+8.2 (mean of 2 cases = 7^).^^ In natural habitats, trees are found along streams and rivers. 
+Trees not suitable for lawn-planting because rootstock is very susceptible to crown rot 
+(Phytophthora cactorum ), especially if given frequent summer irrigation.
+Cultivation — Trees used as stock for Persian walnut (7. regia), top-worked high to 
+provide butt logs for walnut timber.
+Harvesting — Fruit gathered when ripe in fall. Treated like other walnuts.
+Yields and economics — Valued mostly as a shade or street tree in California, and as 
+stock on which to graft varieties of Persian walnut (7. regia). Butt logs 45 cm in diameter 
+bring about $200 each.^^®
+Energy — Endangered or threatened species are not recommended as energy species. 
+However, if abundant in cultivation, this species could serve as a high-priced oilseed and 
+firewood, though the fmit and timber could find better uses.
+Biotic Factors — Trees are resistant to oak root fungus, but particularly susceptible to 
+crown rot {P hytophthora cactorum ). The following are also reported as affecting this species: 
+C acopaurus epacris, C ylindrosporium ju g la n d is (leaf spot). M icrostrom a ju glan dis, Xan- 
+thom onas ju glan dis (bacterial blight). Also reported are Black-line (girdle-graft incompat­
+ibility) and Little leaf (zinc deficiency)."^
+190 Handbook of Nuts
+JUGLANS NIGRA L. (JUGLANDACEAE) — Eastern Black Walnut
+Uses — Black walnut is one of most valuable natural forest trees in the U.S. The nuts 
+furnish a food product, used mainly for flavoring baked goods, pastries, and confectioneries. 
+The wood has good texture, strength, and is coarse-grained, very durable, of a rich dark- 
+brown color with light sapwood; used in cabinet-making, gun-stocks, interior finishes of 
+houses, furniture, air-planes, ship-building. Wood is also easy to work, resistant to destruc­
+tive fungi and insect pests. Woody shells on fruits are used to make jewelry. Green fruit 
+husks are boiled to provide a yellow dye. Trees are used for shade and ornamentals.
+Folk medicine — The bark and leaves are considered alterative, astringent, detergent, 
+laxative, and purgative. They are used for eczema, herpes, indolent ulcers, scrofula. The 
+unripe fruit is sudorific and vermifugal, and used for ague and quinsy, and is rubbed onto 
+cracked palms and ringworm. Oil from the ripe seeds is used externally for gangrene, leprosy, 
+and wounds. Burnt kernels, taken in red wine, are said to prevent falling hair. Green husks 
+are supposed to ease the pain of toothache. Indians used the root bark as a vermifuge. 
+Macerated in warm water, the husks and/or leaves, are said to destroy insects and worms, 
+without destroying the grass. Insects are said to avoid the walnut; hence it is often used as 
+a poor man’s insect repellent. Rubbed on faces of cattle and horses, walnut leaves are said 
+to repel flies. The roots and/or leaves exude substances which are known to inhibit ger­
+mination and/or growth of many plant species. All parts of the plant contain juglone, which 
+inhibits other plant species. Juglone has antihemorrhagic activity.
+191
+Chemistry — The genus Juglans is reported to contain the following toxins: folic acid, 
+furfural, inositol, juglone, nicotine, and tryptophane.^^ Juglone has an oral LD50 of 2500 
+|xg in mice. Chloroform is said to constitute a large part of the essential oil of the leaves. 
+Per 100 g, black walnut contains 3.1% water, 628 calories, 20.5 g protein, 59.3 g fat, 14.8 
+g total carbohydrate (1.7 g fiber), 2.3 g ash, a trace of Ca, 570 mg P, 6 mg Fe, 3 mg Na, 
+460 mg K, 3(X) lU Vitamin A, 0.22 mg thiamine, 0.11 mg riboflavin, and 0.7 mg niacin.
+Description — Tree up to 33 m tall, occasionally to 50 m, and often 100 years old; trunk 
+straight, often unbranched for 20 m, 1.3 to 2 m in diameter; branches forming a round- 
+topped crown, mostly upright and rigid; branchlets covered at first with pale or rusty matted 
+hairs, and raised conspicuous orange lenticels; bark 5 to 7.5 cm thick, dark-brown tinged 
+red, deeply furrowed with broad rounded ridges; twigs light-brown with channeled pith; 
+terminal bud as broad as long; no hairy fringe above leaf-scar; leaves compound, deciduous, 
+30 to 60 cm long, petioles pubescent, with 13 to 23 leaflets; leaflets 7.5 to 8 cm long, 2.5 
+to 3 cm wide, long-pointed, sharply serrate, slightly rounded at base, yellow-green, thin, 
+glabrous above, soft-pubescent beneath, turning bright-yellow in fall before falling; staminate 
+aments thick, 7.5 to 12.5 cm long, compact, not-stalked, single; calyx 6-lobed, lobes 
+concave, nearly orbicular, pubescent on outer surface, its bract nearly triangular with rusty 
+brown tomentum; stamens 20 to 30, in many series, connectives purple, truncate, nearly 
+sessile; pistillate aments in 2 to 5-flowered spikes, bracts with pale glandular hairs, green, 
+puberulous, calyx-lobes ovate, acute, puberulent on outer surface, glabrous or pilose within; 
+fruit solitary or in pairs, globose, oblong or pointed at apex; husk yellow-green or green, 
+smooth or roughened with clusters of short pale articulate hairs, 3 to 5 cm in diameter, 
+indéhiscent; nut oval, oblong or round, rough or sculptured, 3 to 3.5 cm in diameter, dark- 
+brown tinged red, 4-celled at base, slightly 2-celled at apex; kernel sweet, soon becoming 
+rancid. (2n = 32.) Flowers April to May; fruits at frost in fall.®^’^^^
+Germplasm — At present, nearly 100 varieties of black walnuts have been selected and 
+named. Many can be propagated to order, or scions may be obtained for grafting upon 
+established stocks. Varieties or cultivars differ in hardiness, response to length of growing 
+season, summer heat, resistance to diseases and susceptibility to insect damage. ‘Thomas’ 
+is the most cultivated variety in New York; ‘Synder’ and ‘Cornell’ have good cracking 
+quality for northern areas; ‘Wiard’, for Michigan; ‘Huber’ and ‘Cochrane’, for Minnesota; 
+‘Sparrow’, ‘Stambaugh’, and ‘Elmer Myers’ are all good in parts of the South; ‘Ohio’ and 
+‘Myers’ are good in north central areas. Natural hybrid, x Juglans intermedia Carr (7. 
+nigra x J. regia) has been recorded in the U.S. and Europe. In California, ‘Royal’ (7. 
+nigra X 7. hindsii) has been artificially produced. Reported from the North American Center 
+of Diversity, walnut is reported to be relatively tolerant to disease, drought, fire, frost, 
+fungi, high pH, heat, insects, limestone, slopes, smog, and weeds.
+Distribution — Grows naturally in 32 states and in southern Ontario, Canada; most 
+abundant in Allegheny Mountains to North Carolina and Tennessee. Occasionally cultivated 
+as an ornamental in eastern U.S., western and central Europe. Planted in Europe for timber.
+Ecology — Wind pollinated, walnut may play a small role in hay fever. Suited to rich 
+bottomlands and fertile hillsides from lower Hudson Valley southward, walnut will grow a 
+few hundred miles outside its natural range, but may not bear nuts. Seedling trees mature 
+fruit rather generally throughout area with a growing season of about 150 days and an average 
+summer temperature of 16.5°C. Best suited to deep, rich, slightly acid or neutral soil, with 
+good drainage, but will not succeed on infertile upland soil or on soils with poor drainage. 
+Reliable indicators for suitable land are good stands of white oak and tulip popular, or where 
+com grows well. Because trees have a deep tap-root, they are drought-resistant. Black walnut 
+is reported from areas with annual precipitation from 3 to 13 dm (mean of 19 cases = 9), 
+annual temperature from 7 to 19°C (mean of 19 cases = 11), and pH from 4.9 to 8.2 (mean 
+of 15 cases = 6.3).®^’^^®
+192 Handbook of Nuts
+Cultivation — Improved varieties do not come true from seed, hence, propagation is by 
+grafting scions (twigs) from trees of desired varieties onto main stems of 2- to 3-year old 
+native seedlings. Scions develop crowns that bear nuts of their own variety. As there is little 
+information available to indicate the best varieties for different localities, local nurseries 
+should be consulted as to the best for a given locality. Trees are self-fertile, but the sequence 
+of male and female blooming, called dichogamy, can and often does minimize chances of 
+a tree shedding pollen on its own pistils. In different trees pollen may be shed before the 
+receptivity period of female flowers, or at same time, or after pistil receptivity. For greatest 
+possible nut production, plant trees of 2 or more varieties, as different varieties have over­
+lapping pollen-receptivity periods and can pollinate each other. Young plants are best trans­
+planted in early spring, at which time new roots will grow rapidly to replace those lost in 
+transplanting. In the South, young trees may be planted in fall or winter. For nut production, 
+trees are spaced 20 m apart. For trees up to 2.3 m tall, dig hole 0.6 m deep and 1 m wide. 
+Place tree at same depth in hole as it stood in nursery and spread out roots well. Fill hole 
+with topsoil and firm down soil. Form a basin around edge of hole and soak soil immediately. 
+Black walnuts require large quantities of nitrogen and phosphorus. Apply mixed fertilizer 
+(5-10-5 or 10-10-10) each year under tree branches when buds begin to swell in early spring. 
+Use rates of 450 g/year of 5-10-5 fertilizer, or 230 g/year for 10-10-10, per tree. Do not 
+use during first year, because of danger of injuring roots. In strongly acid soils, apply lime 
+to change pH to 6 or 6.5. Do not over-lime, as this makes zinc in soil unavailable to tree. 
+Soils east of Mississippi River are often deficient in magnesium, so crushed dolomite 
+limestone is used to correct this condition and reduce acidity of soil. Prune any suckers that 
+come from below graft on trunk. In orchards, trees over 15 years old may be interseeded 
+with grasses and legumes, and animals may be turned in to pasture, as they will not damage 
+older trees. All black walnuts tend to bear heavy nut crops every second year. No cultural 
+practices have been developed to offset this type of alternating. Some trees bear every year, 
+while others bear every third year. Others mainly react to climatic conditions with no pattern. 
+In the U.S. growing seasons are divided into 3 zones: North of Mason-Dixon Line, 140 to 
+180 days; south to North Carolina, northern Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas, and 
+Oklahoma, 180 to 200 days; south of that, 220 to 260 days. Varieties are selected for each 
+area. When trees bearing fruits of exceptional quality are found, they are propagated and 
+cultivated for nut production in that area.^^^
+Harvesting — Nuts are harvested from native trees as well as from improved selections 
+and cultivars. Fruit ripens in one season, usually by late September or early October. Most 
+production is from wild trees growing on non-crop land, and these represent the main 
+commercial source of kernels for today’s market. Nuts should be harvested as soon as they 
+fall, in order to get light-colored kernels with mild flavor. Leaving them on ground causes 
+some discoloration of kernel. Hulls of native trees are thick and heavy, whereas those of 
+Thomas’ and ‘Ohio’ have thinner hull, those of ‘Myers’ being thinnest of all. Hull may be 
+mashed and removed by hand, or by mechanical devices. After removing the hulls, nuts 
+should be washed thoroughly and spread out to dry in direct sunlight. Drying takes 2 to 3 
+weeks; nuts can then be stored in a cool, dry place until needed. Nuts are cracked and 
+kernels removed for use.^^®
+Yields and economics — Although Duke®^ reported yields of 7.5 MT seeds, this is 
+probably highly optimistic. Elsewhere it is said that 95% of the wild black walnut seeds are 
+empty or aborted. Perhaps yields could be as high as 2.5 MT/ha under intensive management, 
+which is attainable in the commercial walnut, Juglans regia. Selections are made based on 
+weight of nuts. Trees may bear at rates of 7,500 seed per ha. Nuts from wild trees weigh 
+about 17 g (27 nuts per lb); for selected varieties, weights vary from 15 to 30 g; those 20 
+g or over are: ‘Michigan’ (20); ‘Grundy’, ‘Monterey’, ‘Schreiber’ and ‘Thomas’ (21); 
+‘Victoria’ (22); ‘Hare’ (23); ‘Pinecrest’ (25); and ‘Vandersloot’ (30). ‘Thomas’, ‘Ohio’ and
+193
+‘Myers’ begin bearing nuts in second or third year after planting, while native trees usually 
+do not begin to bear until about 10 years after planting. In 5 to 6 years, these three varieties 
+bear about one-fourth bushel of nuts; at 15 to 20 years of age, the first two bear 2 bu of 
+nuts, ‘Myers’ about 1 bu, and native trees about V4 bu. Lumber trees yield about 1150 board 
+feet at 76 years old. Nut shelling industry is centered in and around Arkansas, Kansas, 
+Kentucky, Missouri, Oklahoma, Tennessee, West Virginia, and Virginia. Because of the 
+scarcity of trees and the long growing period required to get wood, walnut lumber is not in 
+great demand as it used to be. More frequently grown in Europe for lumber. Walnuts are 
+grown in the U.S. for nuts and ornamentation. In the U.S. the following are said to deal in 
+walnut oil: Main Pure Food Company (13660 S. Figueroa, Los Angeles, California) and 
+Tunley Division, Welch, Home and Clark Co. (1000 S. 4th Street, Harrison, New Jersey) 
+Well-formed trees will yield lumber worth thousands of dollars.
+Energy — Oil contents of the seeds run about 60%, suggesting that if the walnut yields 
+of 7.5 MT/ha were attained, there might be as much as 4.5 MT oil there. Hulls and exocarp 
+might be used to fuel the processing, as the value of the timber improves with age (one tree 
+commanded $35,0(X) at an Ohio auction). Prunings and culls, as well as fallen and dead 
+limbs, might about to 5 MT/ha/year.
+B iotic factors — Walnut anthracnose is most serious disease to native trees. ‘Ohio’ is 
+resistant to this disease; ‘Myers’ is less resistant. Disease over-winters in fallen leaves and 
+reinfects new leaflets in mid-May until mid-June, often defoliating entire trees. Many nuts 
+are empty or contain blackened, shriveled kernels. Bunch disease, of which the cause and 
+means of spread are unknown, stunts growth of the tree and lowers nut production. The 
+most serious insect pests are walnut lace bug, curculios, walnut husk maggot, walnut cat­
+erpillar and fall web-worm. Serious damage may also be caused by leaf-eating caterpillars, 
+scales, aphids and twig girdlers. County agricultural agents should be consulted for measures 
+to control these in a particular area.^^® Nematodes include M eloidogyne sp., P ratylenchus 
+cojfeae, P . p ra ten sis, and P. vulnus.^^^ The following are reported in A gricu ltu re H an dbook 
+165"^ as affecting Juglans nigra: B otryosph aeria ribis, C ercospora ju g la n d is (leaf spot), 
+C ladosporium sp. (? scab), C. pericarpiu m , C ylindrosporium ju g la n d is (leaf spot), C ytospora 
+sp. (canker), C. albiceps, P om es igniarius, G nom onia leptostyla (anthracnose, leaf spot, 
+leaf blotch), M eloidogyne spp. (root knot nematodes). M icrostrom a ju g la n d is (downy spot, 
+white mold), N ectria ditissim a, P h leospora m ultim aculans (leaf spot), P horandendron fla - 
+vescens (mistletoe), P hym atotrichum om nivorum (root rot), P hytophthora cinnam om i (collar 
+rot of seedlings), P ratylenchus m usicola, R habdospora ju glan dis, Sclerotium rolfsii (seedling 
+blight), S phaeropsis druparum , Stereum fa scia tu m , and X anthom onas ju g la n d is (bacterial 
+blight)."^
+194 Handbook of Nuts
+JUGLANS REGIA L. (JUGLANDACEAE) — English Walnut, Carpathian or Persian Walnut
+Uses — Principally valued as an orchard tree for commercial nut production. Nuts are 
+consumed fresh, roasted, or salted, used in confectioneries, pastries, and for flavoring. The 
+shells may be used as antiskid agents for tires, blasting grit, and in the preparation of 
+activated carbon. Ground nut shells are used as an adulterant of spices. Crushed leaves, or 
+a decoction are used as insect repellant and as a tea. Outer fleshy part of fruit, very rich in 
+Vitamin C, produces a yellow dye. Fruit, when dry pressed, yields a valuable oil used in 
+paints and in soap-making; when cold pressed yields a light-yellow edible oil used in foods 
+as flavoring. Young fruits made into pickles, also used as fish poison. Twigs and leaves 
+lopped for fodder in India. Decoction of leaves, bark, and husks used with alum for staining 
+wool brown. Wood hard, durable, close-grained, heavy, used for furniture and gun-stocks. 
+Tree often grown as ornamental.
+Folk medicine — According to Hartwell,English walnuts are used in folk remedies 
+for aegilops, cancer, carbuncles, carcinoma, condylomata acuminata, corns, excrescences, 
+growths, indurations, tumors, warts, and whitlows, especially cancerous conditions of the 
+breast, epithelium, fauces, groin, gullet, intestine, kidneys, lip, liver, mammae, mouth, 
+stomach, throat, and uterus. Reported to be alterative, anodyne, anthelmintic, astringent, 
+bactericide, cholagogue, depurative, detergent, digestive, diuretic, hemostat, insecticidal, 
+laxative, lithontryptic, stimulant, tonic, and vermifuge, the English walnut is a folk remedy 
+for anthrax, asthma, backache, caligo, chancre, colic, conjunctivitis, cough, dysentery, 
+eczema, ejaculation, favus, heartburn, impotence, inflammation, intellect, intestine, intox­
+ication, kidney, legs, leucorrhea, lungs, rheumatism, scrofula, sore, syphilis, and worms.
+Chemistry — Per 100 g, the seed is reported to contain 647 to 657 calories, 2.5 to 4.2 
+g H2O, 13.7 to 18.2 g protein, 63.6 to 67.2 g fat, 12.6 to 15.8 g total carbohydrate, 1.6 
+to 2.1 g fiber, 1.7 to 2.0 g ash, 92 to 106 mg Ca, 326 to 380 mg P, 3.0 to 3.3 mg Fe, 2 
+to 3 mg Na, 450 to 536 mg K, 0.50 |xg beta-carotene equivalent, 0.27 to 0.50 mg thiamine, 
+0.08 to 0.51 mg riboflavin, 0.7 to 3.0 mg niacin, and 0 to 5 mg ascorbic acid. Wealth of 
+India^^ also reports, per 100 g, 2.7 mg Na, 687 mg K, 61 mg Ca, 131 mg Mg, 2.4 mg Fe, 
+0.3 mg Cu, 510 mg P, 104 mg S, and 23 mg Cl, and 2.8 |jLg I (as well as Ar, Zn, Co, and 
+Mn). About 42% of the total phosphorus is in phytic acid; lecithin is also present. The 
+immature fruit is one of the richest sources of ascorbic acid, the skin with 1,090 mg/100 g, 
+the pulp with 2,330 mg. The leaves, also rich in ascorbic acid (almost 1% of the weight), 
+are rich in carotene (ca. 0.3% wet weight). Juglone is the active compound in the leaves; 
+also quercetin, cyanadin, kaempferol, caffeic acid, and traces of p-coumaric acid, hyperin 
+(0.2%), quercitrin, kaempferol-3-arabinoside, quercetin-3-arabinoside. The seed oil contains 
+3 to 7% palmitic, 0.5 to 3% stearic, 9 to 30% oleic, 57 to 76% linoleic, and 2 to 16% 
+linolenic acids. The oil cake, with 86.6% dry matter (DM), contains 35.0% protein, 12.2% 
+fatty oil, 27.6% carbohydrates, 6.7% fiber, 5.1% ash (digestible nutrients: 31.5% crude 
+protein, 11.6% fatty oil, 23.5% carbohydrates, and 1.7% fiber). The shells contain 92.3% 
+DM, 1.7% protein, 0.7% fatty oil, 31.9% carbohydrates, 56.6% fiber, and 1.4% ash.^®’®^ *®^
+Description — Deciduous, monoecious trees, 12 to 15 m tall (Payne vars.), 17 to 20 m 
+tall (‘Eureka’, ‘Placentia’, ‘Mayette’, ‘Franquette’), or rarely up to 60 m tall; bark brown 
+or gray, smooth, fissured; leaf-scars without prominent pubescent band on upper edge. 
+Leaves alternate, foetid, pinnate, without stipules; leaflets 15 to 24, opposite, 6 to 15 cm 
+long, ovate-oblong to ovate-lanceolate, acuminate; margin irregularly serrate, glabrescent 
+above, pubescent and glandular beneath. Flowers developing from dormant bud of previous 
+season’s growth; staminate flowers in axillary, pendulous aments 5 to 15 cm long, developing 
+1 to 4 million pollen grains each; flowers in axils of scales, with 2 bracteoles, perianth- 
+segments 1 to 4, stamens 3 to 40; pistillate flowers in clusters of 3 to 9, developing as many 
+nuts; in selected varieties not only terminal bud produces fruit, but all lateral buds on previous
+195
+years growth also produce; perianth 4-lobed. Fruit 3.5 to 5 cm in diameter, globose or 
+slightly obovoid, pubescent; nut ovoid, acute, strongly ridged, not splitting.
+G erm p lasm — Reported from the Eurosiberian and Central Asian Centers of Diversity, 
+English walnut, or cvs thereof, is reported to tolerate frost, high pH, heat, insects, low pH, 
+and slope. (2n = 32,36.)^^ Varieties are selected on basis of high heat tolerance, resistance 
+to walnut blight {X anthom onas ju glan dis), tolerance for winter cold, and yield and quality 
+of kernels. Most promising cvs are of Carpathian origin and have been introduced from 
+Poland; they withstand temperatures below those recorded in the the fruit belt of New York. 
+Recent superior cvs include: ‘Broadview’, ‘Schafer’, ‘Littlepage’, ‘McKinster’, ‘Metcalfe’, 
+‘Jacobs’, and ‘Colby’. Other varieties widely grown in the world include: ‘Marmot’, ‘Mey- 
+lanaise’, ‘Come’, ‘Gourlande’, ‘Mayette’, ‘Brantôme’, ‘Ashley’, ‘Glackner’, ‘Nugget’, 
+‘Poe’, ‘Franquette’, ‘Concord’, ‘Ehrhardt’, ‘Payne’, and ‘Waterloo’. Persian walnuts have 
+been hybridized with butternuts, black walnuts, and other European and Oriental walnuts. 
+Juglans regia var. orientis (Dode) Kitam. J. orientis Dode; J. regia var. sinensis sensu 
+auct. Japan (non DC.) is a widely cultivated Chinese tree, with glabrous leaves and bran- 
+chlets, leaflets 3 to 9, obtuse, entire, except in young trees, and nuts relatively thin-shelled.
+D istrib u tion — Native to the Carpathian Mountains of eastern Europe, but often found 
+growing wild eastward to Himalayas and China. Widely cultivated throughout this region 
+and elsewhere in temperate zone of the Old and New World. Thrives in temperate Himalayas 
+from 1,000 to 3,000 m altitude. In North America, thrives as far north as New York State. 
+Introduced from Spain by way of Chile to California about 1867. In 1873 ‘Kaghazi’ was 
+introduced in northern California and a seedling ‘Eureka’ has become the important source 
+of our commercial cvs.^^®
+E cology — Ranging from Cool Temperate Steppe to Wet through Subtropical Thom to 
+Moist Forest Life Zones, English walnut is reported to tolerate annual precipitation of 3.1 
+to 14.7 dm (mean of 25 cases = 8.4), annual temperature of 7.0 to 21.1°C (mean of 25 
+cases = 12.0), and pH of 4.5 to 8.2 (mean of 21 cases = 6.4). Thrives on rich, sandy 
+loam, well-drained, slightly acid or neutral. Responds well to cultivation and fertilization. 
+In areas where hardiness is a problem, trees should not be forced into excessive vegetative 
+growth. Minimum temperature should not go below - 29°C. One fault of Carpathian walnut 
+is that it begins growth early in spring with the result that crop and foliage may be damaged 
+by late frosts. When fully dormant, trees can withstand temperatures from — 24°C to — 2 T C 
+without serious damage. French cvs may be more winter hardy. ‘Eureka’ is less hardy than 
+newer cvs being produced for northern California, Oregon, and higher altitudes. High summer 
+temperatures damage kernels, slightly at 38°C, severely at 40.5 to 43.5°C. Quite variable 
+resistance to heat among varieties. Reported from areas with pH 4.5 to 8.3, annual rainfall 
+3 to 15 dm, and annual temperature 7 to 19°C. Rains in late spring and summer increase 
+walnut blight infections.
+C ultivation — Since trees are deep-rooted, soil should be fertile, well-drained, alluvial, 
+2 m or more deep, of medium loam to sandy or silt loam texture, and free of alkali salts, 
+especially excessive boron. Seedling trees show great variation as to hardiness, type of fruit 
+and fruitfulness. ‘Paradox’ hybrids, ‘Royal’ hybrids m d Juglans hindsii are used as rootstocks 
+for grafting Persian and Carpathian walnuts. Rootstock of Juglans regia may be used if oak 
+root fungus {A rm illaria m ellea) is absent in area. Persian walnuts have been grafted to 
+Chinese wingnut (P terocarya stenoptera) Selected varieties are best whip- or bark-grafted 
+or patch-budded on seedling trees, or top-worked on existing trees. Persian walnuts are 
+planted in the orchard from 10 to 20 m each way; however, many spacings are in use 
+depending on cv and cultivation methods. Intercropping young walnuts may be useful for 
+the first 5 to 10 years. Intercropping may be difficult because of irrigation, spraying, and 
+use of equipment for cultivation of the intercrop. Holes should be dug amply wide to 
+accommodate roots, planting no deeper than they were in the nursery. Roots should never
+196 Handbook of Nuts
+be allowed to dry out. Topsoil should be used to fill hole, firmly tamped around roots. Do 
+not transplant when soil is wet. Nut trees must have tops reduced or cut back, either before 
+or after planting, usually to about 1.5 to 2 m from ground level. Lower buds should be 
+suppressed so the upper ones will be forced to grow and make the framework of the tree. 
+Newly planted trees should be staked, either with a single stake driven close to the tree and 
+tying it to the stake, or driving three stakes equidistant, fastening tree to each with stout 
+cord so as not to injure bark. After trees are planted, they should be watched, and watered 
+during dry spells until established. When irrigated, a total of 2V2 to 5 acre feet of water per 
+acre should be applied throughout the year, including normal rainfall. The modified central 
+leader system of training young walnuts is recommended for western orchards, in which 4 
+or 5 main framework branches spaced both vertically and horizontally are developed; the 
+first branch should be started no lower than 2 m from the ground. The trend is toward 
+heavier and more consistent pruning both in young and old trees; very fruitful new varieties 
+respond more readily than some of the older varieties. Standard method for applying zinc 
+to walnut trees is to drive zinc-bearing metal pieces or glazing points into outer sapwood 
+of trees. Other mineral deficiencies which must be corrected are iron, manganese, boron, 
+potassium, magnesium, phosphorus, and copper.
+Harvesting — Pollination is often a problem, as Persian walnuts are monoecious, with 
+separate staminate and pistillate flowers in different parts of the same tree. Staminate catkins 
+are 10-15 cm long and produce 1-4 million pollen grains each. Sometimes freshly picked 
+catkins are put on paper in room at 2 rC and the shed pollen stored in desiccator at 0°C. 
+Then pollen is blown on trees by fan mounted on truck. Helicopters are sometimes used to 
+blow pollen over orchard. Under favorable conditions, the husks of nuts crack open and 
+adhere temporarily to twigs, allowing nuts to fall to the ground, usually between September 
+1 and November 7. Nut fall may be hastened by shaking the trees with long poles or a boom 
+shaker. During harvest period, nuts are picked up 3 or 4 times before the total crop has 
+matured and dropped. Nuts should not be allowed to remain on ground too long. Nuts are 
+washed, if dirty, and spread out in shallow trays with bottom slats spaced 1.5 to 2 cm apart. 
+Nuts should not be exposed to sun for entire day. Trays are piled up so as to permit ventilation 
+after nuts have become warm. Too-fast drying causes shell to crack and open. In large 
+orchards, a drying house is constructed for curing process. After curing and bleaching, nuts 
+are graded and packed for shipment.
+Yields and economics — Newer cvs begin producing nuts in 5 to 6 years; by 7 to 8 
+years, they produce about 2.5 tons of nuts per hectare. Orchards on relatively poor, unir­
+rigated mountain soil report 1.5 to 2.25 MT/ha; orchards in well-cultivated valleys, 6.5 to 
+7.5 MT/ha. A grown individual can yield about 185 kg, but 37 kg is more likely.In the 
+U.S., California is the major producing area, with about 129,400 acres producing 77,000 
+tons nuts per year; Oregon is second with about 3,500 tons annually; the total valued at 
+about $32.3 million. About 60% of Persian walnuts are sold shelled. Lumber from large 
+trees may bring up to $1,500 per
+Energy — If the walnut yields of 7,500 kg/ha®^ yielded all their 65% (63 to 67%) oil, 
+there is a potential oil yield of nearly 5 MT per year, a very worthwhile target, if attainable. 
+The green hulls have recoverable ascorbic acid content (2.5 to 5% of dry weight). Hulls 
+contain 12.2% tannin, bark contain 7.5%, leaf blades contain 9 to 11%. After extraction of 
+the vitamin C and tannin, the residues might be used for fuel or ethanol. Prunings from the 
+trees might contribute another 5 MT biomass per year.
+Biotic factors — Seedlings are very susceptible to mushroom root rot, and Walnut girdle 
+disease ‘Blackline’ is thought to occur when certain horticultural varieties of Juglans regia 
+are grafted on rootstocks of Juglans hindsii and its hybrids, associated with graft incom­
+patibility. Fungi known to attack Persian walnuts include: A ltern arla nucis, A rm illaria 
+m ellea, A scoch yta ju glan dis, A spergillus fla vu s, A uricularia auricula-judae, A uricularia
+197
+mesenterica, Cerrena unicolor, Cladosporium herbarum, Coniophora cerebella, Coprinus 
+micaceus, Coriolus tephroleucus, Cribaría violaceae, Cryptovalsa extorris, Cylindrosporium 
+juglandis, C. uljanishchevii, Cytospora juglandina, Cytosporina juglandina, C. juglandi- 
+cola, Diplodia juglandis, Dothiorella gregaria, Erysiphe polygoni, Eutypa ludibunda, Ex- 
+osporina fawcetti, Fomes fomentarías, F. igniarius, F. ulmarius, Fusarium avenaceum, F. 
+lateritium, Ganoderma applanatum, Glomerella cingulata, Gnomonia ceratostyla, G. Jug­
+landis, G. leptostyla, Hemitricia leiotyichia, Hypoxylon mediterraneum, Inonotus hispidas, 
+Laetiporus sulphureus, Lentinus cyathiformis, Ficea tenera, Marsonia juglandis, Melanconis 
+carthusiana, M. juglandis, Melanconium juglandis, M. oblongum, Melanopus squamosus, 
+Microsphaera alni, M. juglandis, Microstroma juglandis, Mycosphaerella saccardoana, M. 
+woronowi, Nectria appianata, N. cinnabarina, N. ditissima, Oxyporuspopulinus, Phelliunus 
+cryptarum, Phleospora multimaculans, Phoma juglandis, Phomopsis juglandis, Phoma jug­
+landis, Phyllactinia guttata, Phyllosticta juglandina, P. juglandis, Phymatotrichum omni- 
+vorum, Phytophthora cactorum, P. cinnamomi, P. citrophthora, Pleospora vulgaris, Pleurotus 
+ostreatus, Polyporus hispidas, P. picipes, P. squamosus, Polystictus versicolor, Rhizopus 
+nigricans, Stereum hirsutum, Trametes suaveolens, Tubercularia juglandis, T. vulgaris, 
+Verticillium albo-atrum. Bacteria attacking Persian walnut include: Agrobacterium tume- 
+faciens. Bacillus mesentericus. Bacterium juglandis. Pseudomonas juglandis, Xanthomomas 
+juglandis. Cuscuta pentagona also parasitizes the tree. The following nematodes have been 
+isolated from Persian walnut: Cacopauruspestis, Diplogaster striatus, Diplogaster coronata, 
+Ditylenchus intermedias, Meloidogyne arenaria, M. javanica, M. sp., Pratylenchus coffeae, 
+P. pratensis, P. vulnus, Rhabditis debilicauda, R. spiculigera, Tylolaimophorus rotundi- 
+cauda. Among the insect pests of this walnut are the following: Walnut Blister mite (Er- 
+iophytes tristriatus). Walnut aphid (Chromaphis juglandicola), Italian pear scale (Diaspis 
+piricola). Calico scale (Eulecanium cerasorum), Frosted scale (Parthenolecanium prui- 
+nosum). Walnut scale (Quadraspidiotus juglansregiae). Codling moth (Cydia pomonella). 
+Fruit tree leaf-roller {Archips argyrospila), Indian meal moth {Plodia interpunctella), Walnut 
+caterpillar {Dataña integerrima). Red-humped caterpillar (Schizura concinna). Walnut span 
+worm (Phigalia plumigeraria), and Walnut husk fly (Rhagolestis completa).
+198 Handbook of Nuts
+LECYTHIS MINOR Jacq. (LECYTHIDACEAE) — Coco de Mono 
+Syn: L ecyth is elliptica H.B.K.
+Uses — These trees are cultivated for the nuts, which have a delicious flavor and possess 
+a high oil content. Small trees are highly ornamental.
+Folk medicine — Duke and Wain^^ cite the species as antiasthmatic, depilatory, and 
+poisonous.
+Chemistry — The seeds have been reported to be somewhat toxic, especially if eaten in 
+large quantities. Ingesting the nuts is known to cause loss of hair and nails, at least in 
+seleniferous areas. Though seeds taste agreeable, injestion may induce nausea, anxiety, and 
+giddiness. Dickson^^ attributes the temporary loss of hair and fingernails that he experienced 
+after eating 300 to 600 seeds of L. minor to toxic elements in the seeds. Throughout northern 
+Colomiba, L. minor is thought to be poisonous. Castaneda,however, feels they are 
+nontoxic. The toxicity of the seeds may depend upon the soils. Some evidence suggest that 
+toxic seeds come from plants found on soil high in selenium.Mori^^^ suggests that the 
+data suggesting toxicity in L. ollaria may in fact refer to this species. Without voucher 
+specimens, weTl never know.
+Toxicity — Identified as a selenium-containing analog of the sulfur amino acid, cysta­
+thionine, the active compound has the following formula: HOOC-Ch(NH2)-CH2-Se-CH2- 
+CH(NH2)C00H.3^"
+Description — Small to medium-sized trees, often branched from base when in open 
+habitats, 5 to 25 m tall, to 70 cm DBH, the crown dilated. Twigs gray, glabrous to pubescent. 
+Bark gray, relatively smooth when young, with deep vertical fissures when older. Leaf 
+blades ovate, elliptic, or oblong, 8.5 to 24.5 x 4.5 to 10 cm, glabrous, coriaceous, with 
+12 to 19 pairs of lateral veins; apex mucronate to acuminate, infrequently acute; base obtuse 
+to rounded, infrequently truncate, narrowly decurrent; margins usually crenulate to serrate, 
+infrequently entire; petiole 5 to 20 mm long, usually puberulous, infrequently glabrous. 
+Inflorescences racemose, unbranched, or once-branched, terminal or in axils of uppermost 
+leaves, the principal rachis 10 to 35 cm long, with 10 to 75 flowers, all rachises pubescent, 
+the pedicels jointed, 1 to 3 mm long below articulation, subtended by an ovate, caducous 
+bract 2 to 4 x 2 to 3 mm, with 2 broadly ovate, caducous bracteoles 3 to 6 x 3 to 4 mm 
+inserted just below articulation. Flowers 5 to 7 cm diameter; calyx with 6 widely to very 
+widely ovate, green lobes 6 to 11 x 6 to 9 mm; petals 6, widely obovate or less frequently 
+widely oblong to oblong, 27 to 42 x 14 to 25 mm, green in bud, usually white, less 
+frequently light-yellow at anthesis; hood of androecium dorsiventrally expanded, 20 to 23 
+X 19 to 25 mm, with well-developed, inwardly curved, antherless appendages, the outside 
+of hood white or light-yellow, the appendages always light-yellow; staminal ring with 300 
+to 410 stamens, the filaments 2 mm long, dilated at apex, light-yellow, the anthers 0.5 to
+0.7 mm long, yellow; hypanthium usually pubescent, infrequently glabrous; ovary 4-locular, 
+with 3 to 6 ovules in each locule, the ovules inserted on floor of locule at juncture with 
+septum, the summit of ovary umbonate, the style not well differentiated, 2 to 4.5 mm long. 
+Fruits cup-like, globose or turbinate, 5 to 7 x 7 to 9 cm, the pericarp 7.5 to 11 mm thick. 
+Seeds fusiform, 2.4 to 3 x 1.3 to 2 cm, reddish-brown, with 4 to 6 light-brown longitudinal 
+veins when dried, the testa smooth, with cord-like funicle surrounded by fleshy white aril 
+at base."'"’"^’""5
+Germplasm — Reported from the South American Center of Diversity, coco de mono, 
+or CVS thereof, is reported to tolerate low pH.^^ Very closely related to another coco de 
+mono, Lecythis ollaria, found east of the Andes and also suspected to exhibit seed toxicity. 
+(X = 17.)
+Distribution — Introduced at Mayaguez, P.R.; La Lima, Honduras: Summit, Panama; 
+and Soledad, Cuba. Ranges from the Maracaibo lowlands of Venezuela to the northern coast
+199
+of Colombia from where it ascends the Magdalena and Cauca Valleys. This species most 
+often occurs in dry, open, somewhat disturbed habitats, where it grows as a small, much- 
+branched tree. However, it is also found in moister forests, especially along watercourses, 
+where it forms a handsome, single-trunked tree to 25 meters.
+Ecology — Ranging from Tropical Very Dry to Wet Forest Life Zones, coco de mono 
+is reported to tolerate annual precipitation of 9.1 to 22.8 dm (mean of 3 cases = 15.1 dm), 
+annual temperature of 24.4 to 26.5°C (mean of 3 cases = 25.3°C), and pH of 5.0 to 8.0 
+(mean of 3 cases = 6.6).^^ Thrives along rivers in tropical forests.
+Cultivation — Trees are easily propagated from seeds, but never systematically culti­
+vated.^^®
+Harvesting — Flowers most profusely from April to December and produces mature fruit 
+from December to February throughout its native range. At Summit Gardens, Panama, where 
+it is cultivated as an ornamental, this species flowers during the wet season from April to 
+November.Like Brazil nuts, these nuts are collected from native trees when ripe. Trees 
+may begin to bear fruit when only 2 m tall.^^®
+Yields and economics — Formally, before 1968, nuts were distributed regularly, at least 
+locally in Honduras.
+Energy — These relatively slow-growing trees and their prunings could serve as energy 
+sources. Annual leaf litter from another species of Lecythis was nearly 2 MT/ha/year.^^^
+Biotic factors — Probably pollinated by bees and disseminated by fruit bats as in Lecythis 
+pisonis.
+200 Handbook of Nuts
+LECYTHIS OLEARIA L. (LECYTHIDACEAE) — Monkey Pod, Monkey Pot, Olla de Mona
+Uses — The Monkey Pot is grown and/or collected for the seeds, which are edible and 
+are the source of an oil used for illumination and for making soap. Sap may be mixed into 
+an agreeable drink. Wood is easy to split, strong, and polishes well. Resistant to insects, 
+termites, and barnacles, it is used for wharves, piles, sluices, and house-framing. Bark is 
+recommended for tanning.
+Folk medicine — Oil extracted from the seeds is considered a powerful hemostat.'^^ 
+Latex of the pericarp is used by South American Indians as a depilatory.
+Chemistry — Ingestion of the seed has associated with alopecia and selenium poisoning, 
+as manifested by acute intoxication, fever, diarrhea, and various neurological symptoms, 
+the active principle being the selenium analog of the sulfur amino acid cystathionine.*^ 
+While I might try the seeds were I suffering cancer or AIDS, there are enough toxicology 
+data to make me avoid the seeds as part of my regular diet. After prolonged exposure to 
+active extracts or the seeds, sacrificed guinea pigs exhibited hair growth inhibition, atrophy 
+and disappeamce of the sebaceous glands, marked atrophy of the epidermis, edema, and 
+intraalveolar hemorrhage of the lungs, necrotic foci of the liver and spleen, and intense 
+sinusoidal congestion of the adrenals.Such symptoms might also result from experimental 
+self-medication.
+Description — Small-to-medium tree with warty branches; bark reddish-yellow, hard and 
+heavy; wood reddish-yellow to dark-brown, very strong. Leaves sessile or subsessile, al­
+ternate, chartaceous, ovate to oblong-ovate, apex acute to obtuse, base rounded to subcordate, 
+subserrate, the reticulate venation not prominent, 5.2 to 9 cm long, 2.5 to 5 cm wide. 
+Inflorescence in terminal spikes, with ovate deciduous bracts. Flowers variable; sepals 6, 
+oblong, uneven with rounded margins, concave, persistent; petals 6, larger than the sepals, 
+spathulate, subequal, oblong, to subrounded, concave, with a reflex margin, white. Capsule
+201
+pot-shaped, brown, rounded, 3.5 to 6 x 5.6 to 8.2 cm, with a 6-lobed ring-shaped, obtuse 
+calycine ring; pericarp woody; seeds with brown covering and a yellowish oily meat.^^’^^^
+Germplasm — Reported from the South American Center of Diversity, monkey pot, or 
+CVS thereof, is reported to tolerate limestone and low pH.^^ Some authors think this is 
+conspecific with L. minor. Prance and Mori,^^^ tabulating the differences, maintain them as 
+distinct.
+Distribution — North-central Venezuela, east of the easternmost branch of the Andes, 
+west of the Paria Peninsula, and north of the Rio Orinoco.
+Ecology — Ranging from Subtropical Moist through Tropical Very Dry to Moist Forest 
+Life Zones, monkey pot is reported to tolerate precipitation of 9.1 to 22.8 dm (mean of 4 
+cases = 13.3), annual temperature of 23.7 to 26.2°C (mean of 4 cases = 24.8°C), and pH 
+of 5.0 to 7.1 (mean of 4 cases = 6.4).^^ Usually a small tree in savanna-like environments, 
+sometimes to 20 m tall in more favorable environments.
+Cultivation — Trees are easily propagated from seed, in nature probably disseminated 
+by bats.
+Harvesting — Seeds harvested from wild trees as available. Extraction of oil said to be 
+carried out by local populations.
+Yields and economics — Seed collected locally and used for oil or as a food, especially 
+by natives of northern South America.
+Energy — I can only speculate about these tropical trees with no real yield data. With 
+breeding for dwarfing and improved reliability and quantity of yield, I think these trees 
+could yield 1 to 3 MT oil per ha. Prunings, fruit husks, and leaf litter could also be captured 
+for energy conversion.
+Biotic factors — No pests or diseases reported on this plant.
+202 Handbook of Nuts
+LECYTHIS PISONIS Cambess. (LECYTHIDACEAE) — Sapucaia
+Uses — Sapucaia nuts and paradise nuts are almost contradictory terms, paradise implying 
+a good exotic flavor, and sapucaia because, according to one interpretation, the nuts were 
+fed to chickens by Amazonian 
+Indians.Mori is of the opinon that sapucaia is the Tupi- 
+guorani name given to the fruit because of the wailing sound of the wind blowing across 
+the empty open fruits.Some connoisseurs consider them the finest of nuts. The kernels, 
+eaten raw or roasted, are occasionally used to make candies or cakes. An edible oil expressed 
+from the kernels is also used to produce soap and illumination. Since monkeys are fond of 
+the seeds, the empty pods, with lids removed, are baited with com to trap monkeys who 
+can get their open hands in but have trouble getting their closed hands out. The trees could 
+be widely planted, as they furnish fuel, food, timber, and are ornamental.Still they have 
+their detractions. Falling empty pods are dangerous to pedestrians. Trees are deciduous, so 
+leaves must be raked after they have fallen. The fleshy flowers are also messy.
+Folk medicine — The oil is regarded as antipodriagic and cardiotonic. Water preserved 
+in the fmits for 24 hr is said to remove skin blemishes.While I find no anticancer data 
+for this species, I would not hesitate to eat the seeds of the seleniferous varieties if I had 
+cancer or AIDS. I might suffer from nausea and alopecia, side effects common with synthetic 
+chemotherapy. Some people trek to New York to visit with an M.D. (I. Revici) who has 
+“ anti-AIDS medications” based on synthetic combinations of selenium and fatty acids or 
+vegetable oils. I urge further testing of seleniferous Lecythidaceous fmits in the U.S. cancer 
+screening program.
+Chemistry — Rosengarten^^^ suggests that the kernels contain ca. 62% fat and 20% 
+protein. Pereira^^^ says fmits contain 9% oil. Finding no more data on these Lecythis species, 
+I suggest that they might be comparable in composition to Brazil nuts in component fatty 
+acid percentages, i.e., ca. 15% palmitic-, ca. 5% stearic-, ca. 45% oleic-, and ca. 35% 
+linoleic. Selenium content might be predicted to vary with provenance. Nuts are said to get 
+rancid within a week or two.^^
+Description — Tree to 40 m tall, 1V2 m DBH, deciduous near the end of the dry season. 
+Leaves simple, alternate, entire, penninerved. Flowers large, attractive, yellow to lilac or 
+lavender or blue, sepals 6, petals 6, stamens numerous, ovary 4-locular. Pods 30 to 40 
+seeded, operculate. Seeds wrinkled, irregularly oblong, ca. 5 cm long, more rounded than 
+Brazil nuts, lighter brown and with thinner shell. Kernels ivory white, with a creamy texture. 
+Mori and Prance,keenly aware of the taxonomic complexities of the group, list 10 
+characteristics, the combination of which uniquely identifies the “ sapucaia group” :
+1. Large trees (at maturity they are emergents)
+2. Brownish bark with pronounced vertical fissures
+3. Laminated outer bark
+4. Deciduous leaves which are flushed shortly before or at the same time as the flowers
+5. Leaves, flowers, and fmits which possess an unidentified compound that oxidizes 
+bluish-green when the parts are bmised
+6. Hood of androecium flat with the proximal appendages anther-bearing and the distal 
+ones antherless
+7. Pollen of the hood anthers turning from yellow or white to black after 24 hr
+8. Short styles with an annular expansion towards the apex
+9. Large, dehiscent, woody fmits
+10. Seeds with a long cord-like funicle which is surrounded by a large fleshy aril
+Germplasm — Reported from the South American Center of Diversity, sapucaia and 
+closely related species, show a rather general lack of tolerance to environmental extremes.
+203
+Such narrow tolerances seem to be characteristics of rainforest species. As defined by Mori 
+and Prance,the sapucaia group consists of three species, in addition to L. piso n is (incl. 
+L. usitata): L. am pla (incl. L. costaricen sis) from Nicaragua to Colombia, L. lanceolata, 
+from Rio de Janeiro to Bahia, and L. zabucaja (incl. L. tum efacta), from Venezuela and 
+the Guianas disjunctly to Central Amazonia. Many of the data in the literature on sapucaia 
+may refer to one or the other of these.
+D istrib u tion — Common in the coastal forests of eastern Brazil and Amazonia.
+E cology — Estimated to range from Tropical Moist to Wet through Subtropical Dry to 
+Wet Forest Life Zones, sapucaia is estimated to tolerate annual precipitation of 12 to 42 
+dm, annual temperature of 23 to 2 T C , and pH of 4 to 8. Said to occur in samll groups near 
+hilltops in forests. The ‘sapucaia’ group of L ecythis is not found at elevations over 800 m 
+or in the dryer savanna or caatinga habitats. They inhabit forests with around 20(X) mm or 
+more rainfall per year and in some areas tolerate moderate dry seasons of up to 6 months. 
+Nevertheless, this is a typical moist-forest group which provides a good example of the 
+effects of climatic and geological changes on the distribution and evolution of neotropical 
+lowland trees.T he annual leaf litterfall of a 10-year-old stand was estimated at 1,849 
+kg/ha at Pau-Brasil Ecological Station, on oxisols (haplorthoxs) pH 4.5 to 5.5, annual 
+precipitation 13 to 14 dm, annual temperature 24 to 25°C with annual amplitude of 7 to 
+362 on the phenology and floral biology are treated by Mori et al.^^° Over 6 years 
+in Bahia, leaf fall was mostly from September to December, flowering in October and 
+November, and fruiting 7 months later in March and April (southern hemisphere).
+C ultivation — Seeds could be planted in situ or in pots for transplant later.
+H arvestin g — Said to start bearing when 8 to 10 years old, the seeds are largely harvested 
+from the wild, often by animals other than man. Bats are the dispersal agent. It is very 
+difficult for man to get the seeds before bats get them.^*^
+Y ield s and econ om ics — Rosengarten^®^ quotes estimates of 70 kg nuts per tree. None­
+theless, there are no large plantations, only a few small plantings in Brazil, the Guianas, 
+the West Indies, and Malaysia. The fact that the fruit is dehiscent, exposing the delicious 
+nuts to the nut-eating animals and birds, makes this much less attractive than its relative, 
+the Brazil nut, for commercial exploitation. Dwarfed cvs, which might be bagged for 
+protection from predators, might make the sapucaia a more attractive commercial possiblity.
+E n ergy — Assuming 50 kg nuts per tree and 100 trees per ha (they may bear quite 
+precociously) and 60% oil, there is an incredible 3 MT oil per hectare, if you could capture 
+it all. This edible oil could be used for fuel, if fuel were more valuable than food, and the 
+press-cake, if non-seleniferous, could be used for food or feed. Prunings from the trees, as 
+well as the husks, might be used for fuel. As Periera^^^ notes, the dry fruits serve as fuel. 
+Leaf litter alone approaches 2 MT/ha/hr.
+B iotic factors — Mori and Prance^^^ found that the carpenter bee, X ylocopa fro n ta lis, is 
+a regular visitor to the flowers. It transports two types of pollen from the flower, viable 
+pollen from the staminal ring and non viable pollen (the reward) from the hood of the flowers. 
+Non viable pollen is collected and placed in pollen baskets; viable pollen, deposited on head 
+and back, causes fertilization.Bats, monkeys, parrots, and peccaries probably obtain most 
+of the pro duc tion.In Trinidad, bats {P hyllostom us hastatus) remove the seeds, 
+dropping them after eating the aril, either in flight or under their roosts. Bats are the main 
+dispersers.
+204 Handbook of Nuts
+LICANIA RIGIDA Benth. (ROSACEAE) — Oiticica 
+Syn.: P lera g in a um hresissim a Arruda Camara
+Uses — Seeds of this tree are the source of Oiticica Oil, a drying oil used in place of 
+tung oil for varnishes and protective coatings. Trees are sometimes grown as shade trees in 
+villages where the plants are native. Timber sometimes used in construction.*’
+Folk medicine — No data available.
+Chemistry — Hilditch and Williams*^^ indicate that the seed fat contains 61% alpha- 
+licanic acid (4-keto-9,l 1,13-octadecatrienic acid) (C18H28O3) and 17% alpha- elaeostearic 
+acids. Licanic acid is unique among natural fatty acids in containing a ketonic group. 
+According to Vaughan,the oil most closely resembles tung oil in chemical and physical 
+properties. The oil cake contains 9% protein, but contains so much tannin and residual oil 
+as to be unsuitable for animal feed. Hager’s Handbook*^^ puts the oil content of the whole 
+fruit at 33 to 45%, the kernels at 49 to 65%. Of this, 70 to 82% is alpha-licanic acid, 4 to 
+12% oleic-, up to 4% linoleic-, 10 to 11% palmitic-, and stearic- and isolicanic-acid. 
+Myricetin is also reported. Here we have no exception to disprove the rule. In general, 
+tropical oilseeds have higher percentages of saturated fatty acids, compared to their temperate 
+counterparts. In the Rosaceae, seed fats of tropical genera have about 10% saturated fatty 
+acids, temperate genera about 5%. The tropical oils hence become rancid more rapidly. *^®’*^* 
+Description — Small tree to 15 m tall, with spreading crown, the young branches lanate 
+to tomentellous, soon becoming glabrous and lenticellate. Leaves oblong to elliptic, 6.0 to
+13.0 (to 16.0) cm long, 2.8 to 6.5 cm broad, coriaceous, rounded to cordate at base, glabrous 
+and shining on upper surface, the lower surface with deeply reticulate venation quite or 
+nearly describing stomatal cavities, with lanate pubescence among but not on veins; midrib 
+prominulous above, puberulous toward base when young; primary veins 11 to 16 pairs.
+205
+prominent on lower surface, prominulous above; 5.0 to 8.0 cm long, tomentose when young, 
+becoming glabrescent with age, terete, with two sessile glands. Stipules linear, to 10.0 mm 
+long, membranous, caducous. Inflorescenes racemose panicles, the rachis and branches 
+gray-tomentose. Flowers 2.5 to 3.5 mm long, in small groups, sessile on primary branches 
+of inflorescence. Bracts and bracteoles 1.5 to 2.5 mm long, ovate, tomentose on exterior, 
+persistent, entire to serrulate, eglandular. Receptacle campanulate, gray-tomentose on ex­
+terior, tomentose within; pedicels to 0.5 mm long. Calyx lobes acute, tomentose on exterior, 
+tomentellous within. Petals 5, densely pubescent. Stamens ca. 14; filaments equalling calyx 
+lobes, connate to about half-way from base, densely pubescent. Ovary attached to base of 
+receptacle, villous. Style equalling calyx lobes, villous nearly to apex. Fruit elliptic, 4.0 to 
+5.5 cm long; epicarp smooth, drying green or black; mesocarp thin, fleshy; endocarp thin, 
+fibrous, fragile, fibers arranged longitudinally promoting longitudinal dehiscence, sparsely 
+pubescent within. Germination hypogeal.^^^
+Germplasm — Reported from the South American Center of Diversity, oiticica, or cvs 
+thereof, is reported to tolerate drought. Some efforts have been made to develop high- 
+yielding strains which can be propagated vegetatively. The number of native trees is limited 
+by their habitat requirements and cannot be increased to meet increasing demands for oil.®^^^^
+Distribution — Dry forests and gallery forests of northeastern Brazil. According to 
+Prance,this species is cultivated outside its natural range, e.g., in Trinidad, “but is not 
+used commercially outside Brazil.” This tree is confined primarily to the arid regions of 
+northeastern Brazil, including the states of Ceara, Rio Grande de Norte, Bahia, Piaui, 
+Maranhao, Paraiba, and northern Pernambuco. Introduced to Trinidad and a few other regions 
+with similar ecological conditions.
+Ecology — Oiticica trees thrive on dry tropical lowlands where there is a dry season from 
+July to December and where the annual rainfall varies from ca. 9 to 14 dm.®^ It is often 
+found in dry open grasslands bordering rivers. Plantations should be put on well-drained, 
+alluvial, fertile soils, rich in potash, with a pH of about 7.0. The average temperature should 
+be 31.7 to 32.9°C.^^^ Markley^^ suggests that it is especially common along the banks of 
+rivers, said to form dense groves in rich alluvial soils.
+Cultivation — Propagation is by seed, grafting, and budding. Seeds lose their viability 
+soon after ripening, seeds 6 months old having lost most of their viability. Best growth is 
+obtained when the seeds are sown in well-watered, good alluvial soils, in a nursery. Seedlings 
+are about 17 cm tall in 60 days. The nursery should be irrigated and deeply cultivated. 
+Transplants are set 0.5 m apart in rows 1 m apart and irrigated every 10 to 15 days during 
+the dry season. Four months after transplanting (when the seedling is about 6 months old) 
+seedlings average nearly a meter tall. Stocks are grafted when 5 to 7 months old. Several 
+methods of grafting, including inarching and budding, have been tried, with budding being 
+most practicable, because of the difficulty in transporting stocks when inarching. Buds 
+sprouted in 25 to 80 days after grafting, mostly in 24 to 40 days. The period between sowing 
+of seed and final setting of the grafted tree in the orchard is about 22 months, depending 
+upon the time of the rainy season.
+Harvesting — Usually 3 years after the beginning of nursery work or 2 years and 3 
+months after grafting, about 12% of the trees were found to flower and set fruit. Then the 
+trees continue to bear for many years, some estimate as long as 75 years. Ripened fruits 
+fall to the ground or are knocked off by shaking the trees. They are collected by men, 
+women, and children, and delivered to local warehouses. Extracting companies maintain 
+collection stations at the end of or along the few available roads or railroads in the regions 
+where the nuts grow native. After the refining companies receive the fruits, they ship them 
+to larger warehouses or the extracting companies where the fruits are cleaned and prepared 
+for processing. Seed (kernel) is easily removed from the husk and the oil obtained by pressure 
+alone, or by pressure plus action of solvents. Because of its unpleasant odor and semisolid
+206 Handbook of Nuts
+state, its uses will be greatly restricted until means are found for refining it and keeping it 
+in a liquid state. After pressing, the oil is transported to the refinery. Harvesting is from 
+December through April. As Vaughan^^^ puts it, “ From December to March, the fruits 
+fall to the ground and are collected.”
+Yields and economics — Having seen no published yield data on this tree, I estimate 
+that in good years a tree may drop 2 to 3 MT fruits per hectare, suggesting potential kernel 
+yields of 1,200 to 3,000 kg, and oil yields of 700 to 1,800 kg/ha. Concerning the oil yields, 
+the following data may be helpful: average weight per nut = 2.27 to 4.7 g; average percent 
+of kernel per nut = 58 to 70%; average percent of oil per kernel = 52.9 to 60%.^^^ Felling 
+the tree and exporting seed are prohibited. Brazil has the monopoly on production of Oiticica 
+Oil, producing annually ca. 20,000 MT, this amount fluctuating from year to year. Vaughan^^^ 
+suggested an annual seed production of 54,000 MT. In 1941, Brazil produced 18 to 19 MT, 
+exporting more than 16 MT.^^^ Oiticica oil must compete with tung, dehydrated castor oil, 
+and in some cases, with linseed oil. Around 1957, the industry was centered in Ceara, where 
+14 of the 20 processing mills were located. The largest mill, Brazil Oiticica S.A., had a 
+reported crushing capacity of 3,500 tons per month, mostly oiticica and cashew.
+Energy — Prunings and falling biomass from large trees like this could easily add up to 
+5 to 10 MT/ha. Seed yields should be higher than those of temperate tree members of the 
+Rosaceae, e.g., almond. The press-cake, because of a relatively toxic reputation, might be 
+better for fuel than for food.
+Biotic factors — Fertilization of the flowers is by means of insects, but a large number 
+of buds drop before opening or without setting fruit. It has been estimated that for a tree to 
+set 150,000 seeds (458 kg), it would have to bear 12 million buds.^^®
+207
+MAC AD AMI A INTEGRIFOLIA Maiden & Betche, MAC AD AMI A TETRAPHYLLA L. John­
+son (PROTEACEAE) — Macadamia Nuts, Australian Nuts
+Uses — Macadamia nuts are eaten raw or, after cooking in oil, are roasted and salted; 
+also used to make an edible bland salad oil. Rumsey^®^ recommends it also as a timber tree 
+and ornamental. Years ago a coffee-like beverage known as “ almond coffee” was marketed 
+from the seeds.
+Folk medicine — No data available.
+Chemistry — Per 100 g, the nut is reported to contain 691 calories, 3.0 to 3.1 g H2O, 
+7.8 to 8.7 g protein, 71.4 to 71.6 g fat, 15.1 to 15.9 g total carbohydrate, 2.5 g fiber, 1.7 
+g ash, 48 mg Ca, 161 mg P, 20 mg Fe, 264 mg K, 0 mg (3-carotene equivalent, 0.34 mg 
+thiamine, 0.11 mg riboflavin, 1.3 mg niacin, and 0 mg ascorbic acid.®^ According to 
+MacFarlane and Harris, the oil is high in monounsaturates (79%) and palmitoleic acid 
+(16 to 25%). The composition ranges from 0.1 to 1.4% lauric, 0.7 to 0.8 myristic, 8.0 to 
+9.2 palmitic, 15.6 to 24.6 palmitoleic, 3.3 to 3.4 stearic, 54.8 to 64.2 oleic, 1.5 to 1.9 
+linoleic, 2.4 to 2.7 arachidic, 2.1 to 3.1 eicosenoic, and 0.3 to 0.7% behenic acids. The 
+oil-cake contains 8.1% moisture, 12.6% oil, 2.6% crude fiber, 33.4% crude protein, and 
+43.3% N-free extract.
+Description — Macadamia integrifolia: trees up to 20 m tall, with spread of 13 m. Leaves 
+opposite in seedlings, later in whorls of 3, pale-green or bronze when young, 10 to 30 cm 
+long, margins with few or no spines, petioles about 1.3 cm long. Flowers creamy white, 
+petalless, borne in groups of 3 or 4 along a long axis in racemes, much like grapes. Fruit
+208 Handbook of Nuts
+consisting of a fleshy green husk enclosing a spherical seed; nuts round or nearly so, surface 
+smooth or nearly so, 1.3 to 2.5 cm in diameter; shell tough, fibrous, difficult to crack; 
+kernel white, of uniform quality, shrinking only slightly after harvesting. Flowers June 
+through to March, some strains almost ever-bearing, flowering while fruiting.
+M acadam ia tetraph ylla: trees up to 20 m tall, with spread of 13 m. Leaves opposite in 
+seedlings, commonly in fours rarely in threes or fives, purple or reddish when young, margins 
+serrate with many spines, up to 50 cm long, sessile or on very short petioles. Flowers pink, 
+in large racemes. Fruit consisting of a fleshy green husk enclosing one seed; nuts usually 
+elliptical or spindle-shaped, surface pebbled; kernel grayish; variable in quality and shrinking 
+some after harvest. Flowers between August and October, producing one main crop. Between 
+these two distinct types are numerous intermediate forms varying in spininess of leaves, 
+color of flower, size of nut and thickness of shell.
+Germplasm — Reported from the Australian Center of Diversity, macadamias or cvs 
+thereof are reported to tolerate drought, slope and wind.^^ Since 1956, M acadam ia inte- 
+grifolia (smooth-shelled type) and M acadam ia tetraphylla L. (rough-shelled type) are the 
+names properly applied to the cultivated Macadamia nuts. Prior to this time they had been 
+generally referred to M acadam ia ternifolia. F. Muell. is a distinct species, bearing small, 
+bitter, cyanogenic seeds less than 1.3 cm in diameter, inedible and never cultivated. Many 
+cultivars have been developed, and grafted trees of promising selections have been made. 
+Three cvs of M . integrifolia, ‘Kakea’, ‘Ikaika’ and ‘Keauhou’, have been planted extensively 
+in Hawaii, all giving satisfactory production under favorable conditions. ‘Keaau’ has been 
+more recently recommended for commercial planting in Hawaii, since it is highly resistant 
+to wind and yields 5 to 10% more than previous cvs, the entire crop maturing and dropping 
+before the end of November. Most of the Australian crop is based upon M . tetraphylla, 
+with some orchards of grafted M . integrifolia cvs. Among the medium- to thick-shelled 
+selections, used mainly for processing, are ‘Richard’, ‘Tinana’, ‘Our Choice’ and ‘Hinde’. 
+Rough-shelled types, mostly grown for table purposes, are ‘Collard’, ‘Howard’, ‘Sewell’ 
+and ‘Ebony’. Cvs showing hybrid characteristics are ‘Oakhurst’ and ‘Nutty Glen’. ‘Ted- 
+dington’ is a hybrid with thin shell.
+Distribution — Native to coastal rain-forests of central east Australia (New South Wales 
+and Queensland). Introduced in other parts of tropics, e.g., Ceylon, and commercially grown 
+in Costa Rica, Hawaii, and France, at medium elevation.
+Ecology — Ranging from Warm Temperate Dry (without frost) through Tropical Moist 
+Forest Life Zones, macadamias are reported to tolerate annual precipitation of 7 to 26 dm, 
+annual temperature of 15 to 25°C, and pH of 4.5 to 8.0.^^ Macadamia grows best in rain­
+forest areas, along coasts with high humidity and heavy rainfall. However, it is tolerant of 
+adverse conditions when once established. Inland crops are usually lighter than coastal crops. 
+Trees produce a deep taproot and relatively few lateral roots; therefore, they may need 
+windbreaks in exposed areas. Under orchard conditions, trees are shapely, robust, and more 
+heavily foliaged than they are in rain-forest. Grows well on a wide range of soils, but fails 
+on infertile coastal sands, heavy clays, or gravelly ridges. Yields well on deep, well-drained 
+loams and sandy loams. Slopes steeper than 1 in 25 should be planted on the contour, and 
+every precaution taken to prevent soil erosion.
+Cultivation — Propagation by seed is not difficult, but seedlings are variable in production 
+and nut characteristics, and of little value for commercial plantings. Freshly harvested nuts 
+are best for germination, but require 30 to 90 days before germination. Propagation is usually 
+by cuttings, marcottage, and side-tongue grafts. Root-stocks for grafting are readily grown 
+from seed by ordinary nursery means. Grafting in Macadamia is more difficult than in most 
+nut trees, due to hardness of wood. Best results are obtained when seedling root-stocks are 
+side-wedge grafted with selected scions. After-care of graft is similar to that practiced in 
+other trees. Budding is much less satisfactory than grafting. The most suitable time for
+209
+transplanting young trees to orchard is from February to April in Australia and in Hawaii, 
+when rainfall is good and sufficient soil moisture available. Taproot should be severed about 
+30 cm below ground about 6 weeks before time to transplant, to allow fibrous roots to 
+develop. Roots are very susceptible to exposure and should not be allowed to dry out. Grafted 
+trees should be planted with the union well above ground level and watered immediately. 
+Since trees have a tendency to grow tall, young trees, when about 75 cm tall, should be 
+topped little by little to produce a few evenly spaced limbs, thus developing a strong, rounded 
+symmetrical tree. Little pruning is required in bearing trees except to discourage leaders, to 
+reduce lateral growth, to let in light, and to make cultural and harvesting operations more 
+favorable. Pruning should be done toward the end of winter after the crop is harvested. 
+Macadamia grows best in soils with a good supply of humus. Farm-yard manure may be 
+added, and green manure crops can be grown between trees in summer. Under orchard 
+conditions, regular applications of fertilizer are required, as a 8:10:5 formula, at a rate of 
+.45 kg per tree per year of age, maximum of 4.5 kg. Fertilizer should be applied in early 
+spring just before trees make new growth and start flowering. Zinc deficiencies seem to be 
+a problem with this tree — the symptoms being small, yellowish or slightly mottled leaves 
+which are bunched together, crop retardation, and poor shoot growth. The condition corrected 
+by application of foliar spray in early spring after the first flush of growth, at a rate of 4.5 
+kg zinc sulfate, 1.3 kg soda ash (or 1.7 kg hydrate lime) in 100 gal water. However, spray 
+is effective at any period of year if symptoms are obvious. Since root system is rather close 
+to surface, shallow cultivation for weed control should be practiced. Summer cover crops, 
+e.g., cowpeas, and autumn green manure crops may be grown between trees until harvest 
+time. Grazing cattle on weeds and grass in orchards has the advantage of adding animal 
+manure.
+Harvesting — Nuts mature 6 to 7 months after flowering and should be allowed to ripen 
+on the trees. Usually the nuts fall to the ground when mature. In some cvs, nuts remain on 
+trees and must be removed with rakes. After harvesting, nuts are dehusked, usually with an 
+improvised com-sheller, washed, placed on wire trays for about 6 weeks to dry out, graded, 
+and shipped to market. Machinery for cracking shells has been designed for processing 
+purposes, in addition to several efficient hand-operated crackers, which produce a kernel 
+undamaged. Kernels which are broken during cracking are used by confectioners. Shelled 
+kernels deteriorate rather quickly unless kept in vacuum-sealed jars. Processed nuts when 
+roasted and slightly salted keep extremely well.^^^’^"^®
+Yields and economics — Most trees begin bearing fruit at 6 to 7 years, while other trees 
+must be 10 to 15, vegetatively propagated trees bearing earlier. Yield records vary widely, 
+depending on strain characteristics and environmental factors. Macadamia has great com­
+mercial potential in the tropics and makes an excellent door-yard tree. In addition to pro­
+duction of nuts in Australia, production in Hawaii in 1970 amounted to 5750 tons. Presently, 
+production is being developed in South Africa, Paraguay, Costa Rica, Jamaica, Samoa, and 
+Zimbabwe.
+Energy — According to Saleeb et al.,^^® nuts of M. integrifolia and M. tetraphylla are 
+equal in oil content, with an iodine value of 75.4 and 71.8, respectively. They describe a 
+method for partially extracting the oil (6 to 14% of the weight of intact oven-dry kernels), 
+rendering them more attractive, digestible, and less fattening, while diverting 14% of the 
+weight to oil production. In Australia yields are estimated at about 45 kg per tree annually; 
+in Hawaii, at 135 kg per tree. New cultivars are known to yield as much as 3.75 tons/ha, 
+averaging 1 ton of kernels, which should contain more than 700 kg oil/ha renewably (oil 
+makes up 65 to 75% of the kernel).
+Biotic factors — Macadamia trees are attacked by G loeosporium sp. (Blossom blight) 
+and M acrophom a m acadam iae. Nematodes isolated from trees include: H elicotylenchus 
+dihystera, R otylenchus erythrinae, and Xiphinem a am ericanum . In Hawaii, the Southern 
+green stink-bug is a serious problem, damaging about 10% of the seed.^*^
+210
+MADHUCA LONGIFOLIA (L.) Macbr. (SAPOTACEAE) — Mahua, Illupei Tree, Mawra 
+Butter Tree
+Syn.: Madhuca indica J. F. Gmel., Bassia longifolia L.
+Uses — Mahua is valued for its edible flowers and oil-bearing seeds. Fresh flowers are 
+extremely sweet, less so when dried, having a flavor resembling that of figs. Rich in vitamins, 
+the flowers are eaten fresh or dried and cooked with rice, grains or shredded coconut, fried 
+or baked into cakes, or ground into flour and used in various foodstuffs. A large portion of 
+the crop of flowers is made into syrup containing ca. 60% sugar, suitable for making jams, 
+sweetmeats, or as a honey substitute, for production of alcohol (with average yields of 90 
+gals of 95% alcohol per ton of dried flowers), for making vinegar, or distilled liqueurs and 
+wine. Molasses sugar of good quality is made from mahua. Syrup is used by natives of 
+Bastar (in Madhya Pradesh) instead of brown sugar. Flowers, and spent flowers after fer­
+mentation, are used as feed for livestock. The flesh of animals fed on mahua flowers has a 
+delicate flavor. Pressed cake of corollas is used as fertilizer. Mahua cake has insecticidal 
+and piscicidal properties. Because the saponin present in it has a specific action against 
+earthworms, it is applied to lawns and golf greens. Used, along with Acacia concinna, as 
+a hairwash in South India. Seeds, with 50 to 60% fat content, are the source of Mahua Oil 
+or Tallow Mawra Butter, used for manufacturing soaps and candles, and when refined, used 
+as butter. Oil has poor keeping quality. Used for edible and cooking purposes in some rural 
+areas. Refined oil is also used in the manufacturer of lubricating greases and fatty alcohols, 
+and as a raw material for the production of stearic acid. Wood is durable, lasting exceptionally 
+well under water, planes well, and takes a good finish, but is difficult to saw, and has a 
+tendency to split or crack. Wood is used for building purposes, as door and window frames, 
+beams, and posts, furniture, sports goods, musical instruments, oil and sugar presses, boats 
+and ship-building, bridges, well construction, turnery, agricultural implements, drums, carv­
+ing, and has been tried for railway sleepers. The bark contains 17% tannin and is used for 
+dyeing and tanning. Mahua berries are eaten raw or cooked, and are eaten by cattle, sheep, 
+goats, monkeys, and birds. Sometimes used as green manure.
+211
+Folk Medicine — According to Hartwell,the flowers are used in folk remedies for 
+abdominal tumors. Reported to be anodyne, antidote, astringent, bactericide, carminative, 
+demulcent, emetic, emollient, expectorant, insecticide, lactagogue, laxative, piscicide, re­
+frigerant, stimulant, and tonic, mahua is a folk remedy for bee-sting, bilious conditions, 
+blister, blood disorders, breast ailments, bronchitis, cachexia, cholera, colds, consumption, 
+cough, diabetes, dysuria, ear ailments, eye ailments, fever, fistula, gingivitis, headaches, 
+heart problems, intestinal ailments, itch, leprosy, orchitis, phthisis, piles, pimples, rheu­
+matism, skin ailments, smallpox, snakebite, suppuration, tonsillitis, tuberculosis, tumors of 
+the abdomen, and wounds.^’ The gummy juice is used for rheumatism, the bark decoction 
+as an astringent and emollient, and as a remedy for itch; root, bark, leaves, and flowers for 
+snakebite, the flowers for scorpion sting.Mahua is considered to be astringent, stimulant, 
+emollient, demulcent, and nutritive in Ayurvedic medicine. Bark used to treat rheumatism, 
+ulcers, itches, bleeding and spongy gums, tonsillitis, leprosy, and diabetes. The emollient 
+oil is used in skin diseases, rheumatism, bilious fevers, burning sensations, headaches; being 
+laxative, it is useful in habitual constipation, piles, and hemorrhoids; and is used as an 
+emetic. Used in winter for chapped hands. Roots are applied to ulcers, bleeding tonsillitis, 
+rheumatism, diabetes mellitus, and spongy gums. Medicinally, flowers are reported to be 
+cooling, aphrodisiac, demulcent, galactagogue, expectorant, nutritive, tonic, and carmina­
+tive, are considered to be beneficial in heart diseases, bronchitis, coughs, wasting diseases, 
+burning sensation, biliousness, and ear complaints; dried flowers used as a fomentation in 
+orchitis. Fried flowers are eaten by people suffering from piles. Mahua flowers show anti­
+bacterial activity aginst Escherichia coli. The edible honey from the flowers is reported to 
+be used for eye diseases. Liquor made from the flowers used as an astringent and a tonic. 
+Mahua leaves are astringent, used in embrocations. Fruit used for bronchitis, consumption, 
+and blood diseases; seeds are galactagogue.
+Chemistry — Per 100 g, the inflorescence (ZMB) is reported to contain 5.0 g protein, 
+1.8 g fat, 89.0 g total carbohydrate, 1.6 g fiber, 4.2 g ash, 130 mg Ca, and 120 mg P. Per 
+100 g, the leaf (ZMB) is reported to contain 9.1 g protein, 3.9 g fat, 79.4 g total carbohydrate,
+19.0 g fiber, 7.6 g ash, 1460 mg Ca, and 210 mg P.®^ An insoluble gum from incisions on 
+the trunk contains 48.9% gutta, 38.8% resin, and 12.3% ash. Bark contains 17% tannin. 
+The wood contains naphthaquinone, lapachol, and alpha- and beta-lapachones; the essential 
+oil from the fruit pulp contains ethyl cinnamate, alpha-terpineol, and a sesquiterpene fraction. 
+Myricetin and myricetin-3-O-L-rhamnoside has been isolated from the leaves.In addition. 
+The Wealth of India^^ reports 51.1% fatty oil, 8.0% protein, 27.9% N-free extract, 10.3% 
+fiber, and 2.7% ash in an analysis of the seed kernel. Senaratne et al.^®^ report the fatty 
+acid components of the seed oil to be 23% palmitic, 15% stearic, 46% oleic, 14% linoleic, 
+and traces of linolenic acids. The glyceride structure of the oil is reported to be 1% dipalmito- 
+stearins, 1% oleo-dipalmitins, 27% oleo-palmitostearins, 41% palmito-dioleins, and 30% 
+stearodioleins. The Wealth of India'^^ reports the values are trace trisaturated, 47% mono- 
+unsaturated-disaturated, 36% mono-saturated-diunsaturated, and 17% tri-unsaturated. Per 
+100 g, the corollas are reported to contain 18.6% moisture, 4.4% protein, 0.5% fat, 72.9% 
+total sugars, 1.7% fiber, 2.7% ash, 140 mg P, 140 mg Ca, and 15 mg Fe; magnesium and 
+copper are present. The sugars are identified as sucrose, maltose, glucose, fructose, ara- 
+binose, and rhamnose. Corollas also contain 39 lU carotene, 7 mg ascorbic acid, 37 |xg 
+thiamine, 878 |xg riboflavin, and 5.2 mg niacin per 100 g. Folic acid, pantothenic acid, 
+biotin, and inositol are also present. Corollas also contain an essential oil, anthocyanins, 
+betaine, and salts of malic and succinic acids. The ripe fruits, per 100 g, are reported to 
+contain 73.64% moisture, 1.37% protein, 1.61% fat, 22.69% carbohydrates, 0.69% mineral 
+matter, 45 mg Ca, 22 mg P, 1.1 mg Fe, 512 lU carotene, and 40.5 mg ascorbic acid; tannins 
+are present. The oil contains 22.7% ethyl cinnamate, 3.5% alpha-terpineol, and 67.9% 
+sesquiterpene and sesquiterpene alcohol. The green leaves contain 78.95% moisture, 19.60%
+212 Handbook of Nuts
+organic matter, 0.43% N, 1.45% mineral matter, 0.43% potash (K2O), 0.087% phosphoric 
+acid (P2O5). and 0.10% silica. Analysis of samples of coagulum from incisions made in the 
+bark show 12.2 to 19.9% caoutchouc, 48.9 to 75.8% resin, and 11.9 to 38.9% 
+insolubles.
+Toxicity — According to Burkill,^^ there is a saponin or sapo-glucoside in the seeds 
+which has a destructive action on the blood. Awasthi et al.^'^ report the presence of a bitter 
+glucosidic principle from mahua seed that was shown to possess digitalis-like action on frog 
+heart. Over-consumption of mahua flowers is reported to cause vomiting and stomach 
+disorders. ;2^
+Description — Large deciduous tree, 13 to 17 m tall, with a short trunk and numerous 
+spreading branches forming a dense rounded crown. Leaves elliptic to linear-lanceolate, 8 
+to 20 cm long, 3 to 4.5 cm wide, tapering to base, glabrous when mature, clustered at ends 
+of branches. Flowers small, in dense clusters of 30 to 50 at ends of branches; corolla tubular, 
+1.5 cm long, yellowish to cream-colored, thick, fleshy, globe-shaped, enclosed at the base 
+in a velvety chocolate-brown calyx. Fruit an ovoid berry up to 5 cm long, yellow when 
+ripe. Seeds 1 to 4, yellow to brown, ovoid, shining, 2.5 to 3 cm long, kernel about 70% 
+by weight of seed and containing 35 to 40% of a greenish grease (fat-oil). Trees shed their 
+leaves in February, and flowers appear in March and April, at which time the ground beneath 
+the trees is carefully cleared. Flowers March to April; fruits May to June.^^^
+Germplasm — Reported from the Hindustani Center of Diversity, mahua, or cvs thereof, 
+is reported to tolerate drought, frost, insects, poor soil, slope, savanna, and waterlogging.®^ 
+According to The W ealth o f India van Royen revised the taxonomy and nomenclature of 
+the genus M adhuca of the Malaysian area. He merged M . indica and M . longifolia under 
+the latter name and distinguished two varieties, var. longifolia and var. latifolia.'^^
+Distribution — Native to southern India. Although it grows spontaneously in some parts, 
+it is extensively cultivated throughout India and Sri Lanka.
+Ecology — Ranging from Warm Temperate Moist through Tropical Very Dry to Moist 
+Forest Life Zones, mahua is reported to tolerate annual precipitation of 7.0 to 40.3 dm (mean 
+of 4 cases = 17.7), annual temperatures of 24.2 to 27.5°C (mean of 4 cases = 25.4°C), 
+and pH of 5.0 to 7.5 (mean of 3 cases = 6.6).®^ Mahua, usually drought-resistant, is 
+especially suited for dry or waste lands where little else will grow. Trees thrive on dry, 
+stony ground in all parts of India, and are protected by the natives. Trees are frost-hardy, 
+but do suffer from severe conditions. It is sometimes found in waterlogged or low-lying 
+clayey and shallow soils. Requires full sun and is readily suppressed by shade. When cut 
+in dry season, plants coppice well, but not during the rainy season.^^®
+Cultivation — In southern India, trees are frequently cultivated as an avenue tree. Seeds 
+may germinate naturally during the rainy season, soon after falling, where earth is washed 
+into small hollows. Subsequent growth is slow, but is favored by sunlight. For artificial 
+propagation, seeds are sown directly or for transplant. Fresh seeds are sown in July and 
+August, in prepared lines or patches. Transplanting may be risky due to the long, delicate 
+taproots. In India, seeds are sown directly in deep containers or the seedlings transplanted 
+into them from the nursery during the first rainy season a few weeks after germination. 
+Young trees are frequently intercropped with annual crops, at least during the first 10 to 15 
+years. ^^®
+Harvesting — Under favorable soil and climatic conditions, mahua trees begin to bear 
+fruit in 8 to 10 years after planting, and continue to do so for over 60 years. Corollas fall 
+in great showers in early morning to the previously cleaned ground, from about the end of 
+March until the end of April. They are collected by women and children and spread out on 
+mats to dry in the sun, shrinking to about one-half their weight and turning reddish-brown. 
+Sometimes flowers are collected before they drop; in some places it is the practice to remove 
+only the corolla, leaving the pistil to ripen to a fruit. Harvest period is 7 to 10 days for a
+213
+single tree. Flowers, when dried, are sold to distilleries, where they are immersed in water 
+for about 4 days, allowed to ferment and thereafter distilled. The spirit, somewhat similar 
+to Irish whiskey, has a strong, smokey, and rather fetid flavor, improved by aging, producing 
+a strong palatable drink. One ton of dried flowers produces ca. 90 gal of 95% ethyl alcohol. 
+Fruits may occur in alternate years. Fruits fall from tree when ripe or may be dropped by 
+shaking the branches. Season for collecting is short, from May to June, but may be extended 
+until December in southern India. Seeds are separated from the smooth chestnut-brown 
+pericarp by bruising, rubbing, or subjecting them to moderate pressure. Then they are dried 
+and shelled to get the kernel, these constituting the Mahua seed of commerce. Mahua oil 
+is extracted by cold expression; the yield of oil, depending on the efficiency of equipment, 
+varies from 20 to 43%, the highest gotten when extracted by solvents. In Central India, 
+kernels are pounded, boiled, wrapped in several folds of cloth, and then the oil is expressed. 
+Fresh Mahua Oil from properly stored seeds is yellow with a disagreeable odor. In warmer 
+areas, the oil is a liquid; in cold weather or areas, it solidifies to a buttery consistency. 
+Mahua cake from seeds is used as a manure, alone or mixed with mineral fertilizers, or 
+made into a compost with sawdust, cane trash, or bagasse, about 3 months being required 
+for nitrification of the cake. Quantities (1,000 to 1,750 tons) of this compost are exported 
+from India to Sri Lanka and Britian annually. Mahua cake also has insecticidal and piscicidal 
+properties, and is applied to lawns and golf courses against earth worms.
+Y ield s and E con om ics — Trees require about 20 years to attain full production of flowers 
+and seeds; an average tree producing from 90 to 125 kg of flowers per year. Mahua is 
+essentially a forest crop. Still, the total amount of seeds collected in the forest is less than 
+from trees in semi-cultivated areas. An estimated 7 million trees in India produce about
+100,000 tons of seed per year. India is the principal producer of all products of mahua, and 
+the bulk of the crop is consumed locally. Some products are exported to Belgium, Germany, 
+France, and Britain. Indian mills convert 15,000 to 30,000 tons of seeds into oil annually.
+E n ergy — A good fuel wood, it is hard and heavy, specific gravity approximately 0.95 
+to 0.97. Pruning, perhaps amounting to 2 to 4 MT ha, could be used for firewood. Sap wood 
+has a calorific value of 4,890 to 4,978 calories (8,802 to 8,962 Btu); heartwood, 5,005 to 
+5,224 calories (9,010 to 9,404 Btu). Seed oil (20 to 43%) could be used for diesel substitution, 
+the press-cake converted to power alcohol. Assuming 100 trees per ha and 1(X) kg flowers 
+per tree, one might expect 900 gallons (>20 barrels) ethanol per hectare.
+B iotic factors — Trees are damaged by loranthaceous parasites. Mahua trees are affected 
+by several fungi: S copella (U rom yces) echinulata (rust), P olystictus steinheilianus (white 
+spongy rot). P om es caryoph ylli (heart rot of stems), and P olyporus gilvus (root and butt 
+rot). Leaves are eaten by caterpillars: A chaea ja n a ta , A nuga m ultiplicans, B om boletia nu- 
+gatrix, M etanastria hyrtaca, and R hodoneura s p p ., A crocercops spp. (leaf-miners); the bark 
+is destroyed by O donoterm es obesus, C optoterm es ceylanicus, and K aloterm es sp. (white 
+ants) and X yloctonu s scolytoides (bark borers); sap wood of dead trees is damaged by Schis- 
+toceros an abioides and X ylocis tortilicornis (ghoon borers).Also attacked by the sap- 
+sucker U naspis acum inata In addition, Browne^^ lists Angiospermae: D en drophthoe fa l- 
+cata; Lepidoptera: O phiusa ja n a ta .
+214 Handbook of Nuts
+MORINGA OLEIFERA Lam. (MORINGACEAE) — Horseradish-Tree, Benzolive Tree, 
+Drumstick-Tree, Sohnja, Moringa, Murunga-Kai
+Syn.: Moringa pterygosperma Gaertn., Moringa nux-ben Perr., Guilandina moringa L.
+Uses — Described as “ one of the most amazing trees God has created” .A lm o st every 
+part of the Moringa is said to be of value for food. Seed is said to be eaten like a peanut 
+in Malaya. Thickened root used as substitute for horseradish. Foliage eaten as greens, in 
+salads, in vegetable curries, as pickles and for seasoning. Leaves pounded up and used for 
+scrubbing utensils and for cleaning walls. Flowers are said to make a satisfactory vegetable; 
+interesting particularly in subtropical places like Florida, where it is said to be the only tree 
+species that flowers every day of the year. Flowers good for honey production. Young pods 
+cooked as a vegetable. Seeds yield 38 to 40% of a nondrying oil, known as Ben Oil, used 
+in arts and for lubricating watches and other delicate machinery. Haitians obtain the oil by 
+crushing browned seeds and boiling in water. Oil is clear, sweet and odorless, said never 
+to become rancid (not true, according to Ramachandran et al.).^®"^ It is edible and used in 
+the manufacture of perfumes and hairdressings. Wood yields blue dye. Leaves and young 
+branches are relished by livestock. Commonly planted in Africa as a living fence (Hausa) 
+tree. Ochse^^® notes an interesting agroforestry application; the thin crown throws a slight 
+shade on kitchen gardens, which is “ more useful than detrimental to the plants” . Trees 
+planted on graves are believed to keep away hyenas and its branches are used as charms 
+against witchcraft. In Taiwan, treelets are spaced 15 cm apart to make a living fence, the 
+top of which is lopped off for the calcium- and iron-rich foliage.Bark can serve for 
+tanning; it also yields a coarse fiber. Trees are being studied as pulpwood sources in India. 
+Analyses by Mahajan and Sharma^®^ indicate that the tree is a suitable raw material for 
+producing high alpha-cellulose pulps for use in cellophane and textiles. In rural Sudan, 
+powdered seeds of the tree Moringa oleifera are used to purify drinking water by coagulation. 
+In trials, the powder was toxic to guppies (Poecilia reticulata)^ protozoa {Tetrahymena 
+pyriformis), and bacteria {Escherichia coli), and it inhibited acetylcholinesterase. It had no
+215
+effect on coliphages, lactic dehydrogenase, or invertase, and the equivalent of cotyledon 
+powder up to 1000 mg/liter had no mutagenic effect on salmonella. Pericarp had no effect. 
+Powdered cotyledon at 5 mg/liter affected oxygen uptake of T. pyriformis, 30 to 40 mg/liter 
+disturbed locomotion of guppies, and the 96-H LC50 for guppies was 196 mg/liter. Toxic 
+effects may have been due to 4(alpha-1-rhamnosyloxy) benzyl isothiocyanate, a glycosidic 
+mustard oil. The toxin seemed not to be a danger to the health of man, at least not in the 
+concentrations present during the use of the seeds for nutrition, medicine, or water purifi­
+cation.^®^ For the low-turbidity waters of the Blue Nile, only a quarter seed per liter of water 
+is required, for moderately turbid water, half a seed, and for fully turbid, 1 to 1.5 seeds 
+per liter. Such seed are hulled, crushed, and reduced to a powder.
+Folk Medicine — According to Hartwell,the flowers, leaves, and roots are used in 
+folk remedies for tumors, the seed for abdominal tumors. Reported to be abortifacient, 
+antidote (centipede, scorpion, spider), bactericide, cholagog, depurative, diuretic, ecbolic, 
+emetic, estrogenic, expectorant, purgative, rubefacient, stimulant, tonic, vermifuge, and 
+vesicant — horseradish-tree is a folk remedy for adenopathy, ascites, asthma, baldness, 
+boils, bums, catarrh, cholera, cold, convulsion, dropsy, dysentery, dysuria, earache, epi­
+lepsy, erysipelas, faintness, fever, gout, gravel, hematuria, hysteria, inflammation, madness, 
+maggots, neuralgia, palsy, pneumonia, rheumatism, scabies, scrofula, scurvy, skin ailments, 
+snakebite, sores, spasms, splenitis, sterility (female), syphilis, toothache, tumors, ulcers, 
+vertigo, wounds, and yellow-fever.^^ The root decoction is used in Nicaragua for dropsy. 
+Root juice is applied externally as mbefacient or counter-irritant. Leaves applied as poultice 
+to sores, mbbed on the temples for headaches, and said to have purgative properties. Bark, 
+leaves, and roots are acrid and pungent, and are taken to promote digestion. Oil is somewhat 
+dangerous if taken internally, but is applied externally for skin diseases. Bark, regarded as 
+antiscorbutic, exudes a reddish gum with properties of tragacanth; sometimes used for 
+diarrhea. Bitter roots act as a tonic to the body and lungs, and are emmenagogue, expectorant, 
+mild diuretic, and stimulant in paralytic afflictions, epilepsy, and hysteria. Other medicinal 
+uses are suggested in Kirtikar and Basu,^^^ Morton,and Watt and Breyer-Brandwijk.^^^
+Chemistry — Per 100 g, the pod is reported to contain 86.9 g H2O, 2.5 g protein, 0.1 
+g fat, 8.5 g total carbohydrate, 4.8 g fiber, 2.0 g ash, 30 mg Ca, 110 mg P, 5.3 mg Fe, 
+184 lU Vitamin A, 0.2 mg niacin, and 120 mg ascorbic acid, 310 |xg Cu, 1.8 |xg I. Young 
+pods contain indoleacetic acid and indole acetonitrile.^®® Leaves contain 75 g H2O, 6.7 g 
+protein, 1.7 g fat, 14.3 g total carbohydrate, 0.9 g fiber, 2.3 g ash, 440 mg Ca, 70 mg P, 
+7 mg Fe, 110 |xg Cu, 5.1 |xg I, 11,300 lU Vitamin A, 120 |xg Vitamin B, 0.8 mg nicotinic 
+acid, 220 mg ascorbic acid, and 7.4 mg tocopherol per 100 g. On a ZMB, leaf curries 
+contain 25.8 ppm thiamin, 7.26 ppm riboflavin, and 35 ppm niacin.^®^ If ascorbic acid is 
+the target, leaves should be gathered before flowering and consumed quickly. Estrogenic 
+substances, including the antitumor compound, beta-sitosterol, and a pectinesterase are also 
+reported. Leaf amino acids include 6.0 g arginine per 16 g N, 2.1 histidine, 4.3 lysine, 1.9 
+tryptophane, 6.4 phenylalanine, 2.0 methionine, 4.9 threonine, 9.3 lucine, 6.3 isoleucine, 
+and 7.1 valine. Pod amino acids include 3.6 g arginine per 16 g N, 1.1 g histidine, 1.5 g 
+lysine, 0.8 g tryptophane, 4.3 g phenylalanine, 1.4 g methionine, 3.9 g threonine, 6.5 g 
+leucine, 4.4 g, isoleucine, and 5.4 valine. Seed kernel (70 to 74% of seed) contains 4.08 
+g H2O, 38.4 g crude protein, 34.7 g fatty oil, 16.4 g N free extract, 3.5 g fiber, and 3.2 g 
+ash. Seeds contain 100 ppm Vitamin E and 140 ppm beta-carotene.^^ The seed oil contains 
+9.3% palmitic, 7.4% stearic, 8.6% behenic, and 65.7% oleic acids among the fatty acids. 
+(Myristic and lignoceric acids have also been reported.) The cake left after oil extraction 
+contains 58.9% crude protein, 0.4% CaO, 1.1% P2O5 and 0.8% K2O. Gums exuding from 
+the trunks contain L-arabinose, D-galactose, D-glucuronic acid, L-rhamnose, and D-xylose.^^^ 
+Pterygospermin (C22H18O2N2S2), a bactericidal and fungicidal compound, isolated from 
+Moringa has an LD50 subcutaneously injected in mice and rats of 350 to 400 mg/kg body
+216 Handbook of Nuts
+weight. It might serve as a fruit- and vegetable preservative. In low concentrations, it protects 
+mice against staphylococcus infections.^® Root-bark yields two alkaloids: moringine and 
+moringinine. Moringinine acts as a cardiac stimulant, produces rise of blood-pressure, acts 
+on sympathetic nerve-endings as well as smooth muscles all over the body, and depresses 
+the sympathetic motor fibers of vessels in large doses only. The root alkaloid, spirochin, 
+paralyzes the vagus nerve, hinders infection, and has antimycotic and analgesic activity. In 
+doses of 15 g, the root bark is abortifacient.^^^
+Description — Short, slender, deciduous, perennial tree, to about 10 m tall; rather slender 
+with drooping branches; branches and stems brittle, with corky bark. Leaves feathery, pale- 
+green, compound, tripinnate, 30 to 60 cm long, with many small leaflets, 1.3 to 2 cm long, 
+0.6 to 0.3 cm wide, lateral ones somewhat elliptic, terminal one obovate and slightly larger 
+than the lateral ones; flowers fragrant, white or creamy-white, 2.5 cm in diameter, borne 
+in sprays, with 5 sepals, 5 petals; stamens yellow. Pods pendulous, brown, triangular, 
+splitting lengthwise into 3 parts when dry, 30 to 120 cm long, 1.8 cm wide, containing 
+about 20 seeds embedded in the pith, pod tapering at both ends, 9-ribbed. Seeds 1 to 2 cm 
+wide, dark-brown, with 3 papery wings. Main root thick. Fruit production in March and 
+April in Sri Lanka.
+Germplasm — Reported from the African and Hindustani Centers of Diversity, Moringa 
+or CVS thereof is reported to tolerate bacteria, drought, fungus, laterite, mycobacteria, and 
+sand.*^ Several cvs are grown: ‘Bombay’ is considered one of the best, with curly fruits. 
+Others have the fruits 3-angled or about round in cross-section. In India, ‘Jaffna’ is noted 
+for having fruits 60 to 90 cm, ‘Chavakacheri murunga’ 90 to 120 cm long. (2n = 28.)
+Distribution — Native to India, Arabia, and possibly Africa and the East Indies; widely 
+cultivated and naturalized in tropical Africa, tropical America, Sri Lanka, India, Mexico, 
+Malabar, Malaysia, and the Philippine Islands.
+Ecology — Ranging from Subtropical Dry to Moist through Tropical Very Dry to Moist 
+Forest Life Zones, Moringa is reported to tolerate annual precipitation of 4.8 to 40.3 cm 
+(mean of 53 cases = 14.1) annual temperature of 18.7 to 28.5°C (mean of 48 cases = 
+25.4) and pH of 4.5 to 8. (mean of 12 cases = 6.5). Thrives in subtropical and tropical 
+climates, flowering and fruiting freely and continuously. Grows best on a dry sandy soil, 
+but grows “ in all types of soils, except stiff clays’’.^® Drought resistant.
+Cultivation — In India, the plant is propagated by planting limb cuttings 1 to 2 m long, 
+from June to August, preferably. The plant starts bearing pods 6 to 8 months after planting, 
+but regular bearing commences after the second year. The tree bears for several years.
+Harvesting — Fruit or other parts of the plant are usually harvested as desired, according 
+to some authors; but in India, fruiting may peak between March and April and again in 
+September and October. Seed gathered in March and April and oil expressed.
+Yields and economics — I feel, from personal observations, that Moringa’s biomass and 
+pod production should approach that of Prosopis growing in the same habitat. A single tree, 
+3 years old, can yield more than 600 pods per year, or up to 1000."^® A single fruit will have 
+ca. 20 seeds, each averaging 300 mg, suggesting a seed yield of 6 kg per tree, an oil yield 
+conservatively of 2 kg per tree. Such could be very useful in poor developing countries 
+which import vegetable oils. I would suggest a target yield of about 10 MT pods per hectare. 
+Horseradish-tree is grown locally in India, Sri Lanka, and elsewhere, and is consumed as 
+a local product, either ripe or unripe.
+Energy — According to Verma et al.,^^® “ saijan” is a fast-growing tree being planted 
+in India on a large scale as a potential source of wood for the paper industry. At Fort Meyers, 
+Florida, trees attain ca. 5 m height 10 months after seed is planted.It seems doubtful that 
+the wood and seed oil could both be viewed as fountains of energy. According to Burkill,^^ 
+“ The seeds yield a clear inodorous oil to the extent of 22 to 38.5%. It bums with a clear 
+light and without smoke. It is an excellent salad oil, and gives a good soap . . . It can be
+217
+used for oiling machinery, and indeed has a reputation for this purpose as watch oil, but is 
+now superseded by sperm oil.” Sharing rather similar habitat requirements with the jojoba 
+under certain circumstances, perhaps it might be investigated as a substitute for sperm whale 
+oil like jojoba. Growing readily from cuttings, the ben oil could be readily produced where 
+jojoba grows. Coming into bearing within two years, it could easily be compared to jojoba 
+in head-on trials. I recommend such.
+Biotic factors — Fruitflies (Gitona spp.) have infested the fruits which then dried out at 
+the tip and rotted.Leaves of young plants and freshly planted stumps are attacked by 
+several species of weevils {Myllocerus discolor var. variegatus, M. 1 l-pustulatus, M. ten- 
+uiclavis, M. viridanus and Ptochus ovulum). Also parasitized by the flowering plant, Den- 
+drophthoe flacata. Fungi which attack the horseradish-tree include: Cercospora moringicola 
+(Leaf-spot), Sphaceloma morindae (Spot anthracnose), Puccinia moringae (rust), Oidium 
+sp., Polyporus gilvus, and Leveillula taurica (Papaya powdery mildew).
+218 Handbook of Nuts
+N ELU M BO NUCIFERA Gaertn. (NELUMBONACEAE) Sacred Lotus, Lotus Root, Indian 
+Lotus, Hasu
+Syn.: Nymphaea nelumbo L., Nelumbo nelumbo (L.) Karst., Nelumbium nelumbo
+(L.) Druce, Nelumbium speciosum Willd.
+Uses — Rhizomes and seeds of the sacred lotus are frequently used for food, especially 
+in the Orient. The small scale-like leaves on the rootstock, up to 30 cm long, are used as 
+food in some countries. Plants are grown by Chinese and Japanese for the edible tubers, 
+which are used much like sweet potatoes, roasted, steamed, or pickled. In China, a type of 
+arrowroot is prepared from the rhizomes. Leaves may be eaten raw as a vegetable in salads. 
+Fruits can be eaten after the seeds are removed. Flowering stalks are eaten as a vegetable. 
+Seeds are usually boiled or roasted after removing the bitter-tasting embryo, or eaten
+r a w 209,278.283
+Folk medicine — According to Hartwell,the lotus is used in folk remedies for corns.
+219
+calluses, and tumors, and/or indurations of the abdomen, cervix, ear, limbs, kidney, liver, 
+and spleen. In China, the leaf juice is used for diarrhea or decocted with licorice for sunstroke 
+or vertigo. Flowers decocted, alone or with roses, for premature ejaculation. Floral receptacle 
+decocted for abdominal cramps, bloody discharge, metrorrhagia, and non-expulsion of am- 
+niotic sac. Fruit decocted for agitation, fever, heart, and hematemesis. Seed used for diarrhea, 
+enteritis, insomnia, metrorrhagia, neurasthenia, nightmare, spermatorrhea, splenitis, leu- 
+corrhea, and seminal emissions. The nourishing seeds are believed useful in preserving 
+health and strength, and promoting circulation. Root starch given for diarrhea, dysentery, 
+dyspepsia, the tonic paste applied to ringworm and other skin ailments. Plant refrigerant in 
+smallpox, said to stop eruptions. Antidote to alcohol and mushroom. Honey from bee visitors 
+is considered tonic; used for eye ailments. The embryo is used for cholera, fever, hemoptysis, 
+spermatorrhea. Knotty pieces of rootstock used for épistaxis, dysentery, hematemesis, he- 
+matochezia, hematuria, hemoptysis, and metrorrhagia. Cotyledons believed to promote vi­
+rility and alleviate leucorrhea and gonorrhea. Stamens said to purify the heart, permeate the 
+kidneys, strengthen the virility, blacken the hair, make joyful the countenance, benefit the 
+blood and check hemorrhages; for hemoptysis, spermatorrhea.^ According to Kirtikar and 
+Basu,‘^^ nearly every part of the plant has a distinct name and economic use. Ayurvedics 
+use the whole plant to give tone to the breast, and to correct biliousness, fever, nausea, 
+strangury, thirst, and worms. They use the root for biliousness, body heat, cough, and thirst, 
+the stem for blood disorders, leprosy, nausea, and strangury, the leaves for burning sen­
+sations, leprosy, piles, strangury, and thirst, the flower for biliousness, blood defects, cough, 
+eyes, fever, poisoning, skin eruptions, and thirst, the “ aphrodisiac” anthers in bleeding 
+piles, diarrhea, inflammations, mouth sores, poisoning, thirst, and as a uterine sedative, the 
+fruit for blood impurities, halitosis, and thirst, the “ aphrodisiac” seeds for burning sensa­
+tions, diarrhea, dysentery, leprosy, nausea, and to strengthen the body, and the honey as 
+an excellent tonic, useful in eye diseases. Yunani employ the diuretic root in chest pain, 
+leucoderma, smallpox, spermatorrhea, and throat ailments, the flower for bronchitis, internal 
+ailments, thirst, and watery eyes, and as a tonic for the brain and heart, the seeds for chest 
+complaints, fevers, leucorrhea, menorrhagia, and as a uterine tonic.
+Chemistry — Per 100 g, the seed (ZMB) is reported to contain 318 to 390 calories, 16.6 
+to 24.2 g protein, 1.0 to 2.7 g fat, 70.2 to 76.2 g total carbohydrate, 2.5 to 13.1 g fiber, 
+4.5 to 5.2 g ash, 139 to 330 mg Ca, 298 to 713 mg P, 6.1 to 7.1 mg Fe, 17.4 to 49.0 mg 
+Na, 942 to 1665 mg K, 0 to 35 jxg beta-carotene equivalent, 0.65 to 0.75 mg thiamine, 
+0.18 to 0.26 mg riboflavin, 1.9 to 7.8 mg niacin, and 0 to 44 mg ascorbic acid. The rhizome 
+(ZMB) contains 16.7 mg protein, 0.6 g fat, 74.1 g total carbohydrate, 4.9 g fiber, 6.8 g 
+ash, 370 mg Ca, 1.36 mg thiamine, 0.37 mg riboflavin, 12.96 mg niacin, and 93 mg ascorbic 
+acid.®^ Saline extracts bacteriostatic. Extracts show antitumor activity, vindicating its herbal 
+anticancer reputation. Liriodenine is active in the KB tumor system, oxoushinsunine, cy­
+totoxic; nuciferine and nomuciferine, antispasmodic. Anonaine, armepavine, demethylco- 
+claurine, gluconic acid, isoliensinine, liensenine, liriodenine, lotusine, D-N-methylcoclaurine, 
+neferin, nelumboside, N-nomuciferine, nomuciferine, nuciferine, pronuciferine, quercitin, 
+and roemerine are reported.Hagers Handbook^®^ mentions quercetin, isoquercitrin, leu- 
+cocyanidin, and leucodelphinidin from the leaves, quercetin, isoquercitrin, luteolin, glu- 
+coluteolin, kaempferol, and robinin in the petals and stamens. Seeds contain the active beta- 
+sitosterol and related esters, as well as glutathione, the embryo containing methylcorypalline 
+(a coronary dilator^'^O» luteolin-7-glucoside, mtin, and hyperoside. Raffmose and stachyose 
+have been isolated from the rhizome, ( + )catechin, ( + )-gallocatechin, neochlorogenic acid, 
+gallocatechin, leucocyanidin, and leucodelphinidin from the roots.H su et al.^"^^ add the 
+cardiotonic alkaloid higenamine. Is it a wonder that a chemistry set like this is considered 
+sacred in some parts of the world?
+Description — Perennial rhizomatous herbaceous aquatic, from a stout, creeping root­
+220 Handbook of Nuts
+stock 10 to 20 m long, branching, bearing numerous scale-like leaves as well as foliage 
+leaves, with milky juice; leaves blue-green with a silvery sheen, waterproof, peltate, circular, 
+up to 90 cm in diameter, concave, on petioles up to 1 m long above water, margins raised 
+upwards, the leaf-stalks and flower-stalks 1 to 2 m tall, hollow, with small scattered prickles; 
+flowers borne singly at ends of stalks, opening on three successive days before fading, 
+fragrant, extending above the leaves on long cylindrical stems; flowers 10 to 26 cm in 
+diameter, sepals 4 to 5, green caducous, inserted at base of receptacle, petals numerous, 
+rose-red to white, free, obovate, obtuse, 8 to 12 cm long, 3 to 7 cm broad, anthers linear, 
+yellow, 15 to 20 mm long, the filaments linear, 7 to 25 mm long; receptacle spongy, in 
+fruit in 10 cm high and wide, flat, the nuts (seeds) embedded within; nuts 2.0 cm by 1.3 
+cm, ovoid to ellipsoidal, brown to blackish, protruding like knobs, without endosperm, with 
+a hard pericarp. Flowers June to August.
+Germplasm — Reported from the Near Eastern Center of Diversity, sacred lotus, or cvs 
+thereof, is reported to tolerate bacteria, frost, and waterlogging.®^ Many varieties are cul­
+tivated in various parts of the world. Some of the best known cvs are album grandiflorum; 
+album plenum (‘Shiroman’, with double white flowers 30 cm across); kermesinum (light 
+rose); kinshiren (white shaded pink); osiris (deep rose); pulchrum (dark rosy-red); pekinese 
+rubrum (rosy-carmine); roseum (rosy-pink); plenum (large and double); pygmaeum (dwarf). 
+Seeds known to be 200 years old have been germinated from collections in dry Gobi Desert 
+lakes, plants of these are now being grown in the Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens in Washington, 
+D.C.^^® Priestley and Posthumus^^® describe viable Manchurian seed radiocarbon dated as 
+over 450 (ca. 466) years old. (2n = 16.)
+Distribution — Native from the southern border of the Caspian Sea to Manchuria, south 
+throughout the warmer parts of India, Pakistan, China, Iran, Japan, and Australia. It is 
+cultivated in some Mediterranean countries and is naturalized in Rumania. It was commer­
+cially introduced in the U.S. about 1876; it has now become naturalized.^^®
+Ecology — Ranging from Warm Temperate Dry to Moist through Tropical Very Dry to 
+Moist Forest Life Zones, sacred lotus is reported to tolerate annual precipitation of 6.4 to 
+40.3 dm (mean of 11 cases = 14.2), annual temperature of 14.4 to 27.5°C (mean of 11 
+cases = 19.6°C), and pH of 5.0 to 7.5 (mean of 10 cases = 6.2).®^ Lotus thrives with 
+plenty of sunshine and rich soil. The rhizomes grow in mud at the bottom of water, 60 to 
+90 cm deep. They require a minimum winter temperature above freezing. A good soil would 
+contain two parts loam and one part well-decayed manure. Once set, the plants flower freely. 
+Unless the roots are frozen, they are not harmed by the cold.^^®
+Cultivation — Sacred lotus may be propagated from seed, sown in shallow pans of sandy 
+soil, immersed in water tanks heated to 15°C. Seedlings are allowed to grow in the seed 
+pans until large enough to plant out in tubs or ponds. When seeds are sown directly in ponds 
+or pools, they are rolled in a ball of clay and dropped in the water. The hard seeds germinate 
+better if scarified by boring or filing. Plants may be propagated by sections of the rhizomes 
+placed in large tubs or pools, indoors or outdoors. Divisions of the tubers may also be used 
+similarly. From 30 to 45 cm of compost is placed in a vessel, or tubs may be filled with 
+soil and submerged so that the soil surface is 18 to 30 cm below water level. Planting should 
+be in spring when weather has definitely warmed. Plants will grow in ponds or larger bodies 
+of water, as well as in tubs or half-barrels. Tubers may also be planted in late spring just 
+before they start new growth, in rich soil in the bottom of a pond, in water 30 to 90 cm 
+deep. If rhizomes are covered with sufficient water to prevent them from freezing (about 
+90 cm), they will over winter satisfactorily. If water is not deep enough to prevent the 
+rhizomes from freezing, the pool should be drained in the fall, the tubs removed to a cellar 
+or some place where the temperature is maintained about 1 to 8°C, or the plants should be 
+covered with 1 m or so leaves, hay, or straw and left outdoors for the winter.^^®’^®^
+Harvesting — Parts are harvested when available or needed.^^®
+221
+Yields and economics — Commercially, only the rhizomes are sold in shops and markets 
+in southeastern Asia.^^® Duke®^ reports rhizome yields of 4.6 MT/ha.
+Energy — This aquatic plant seems better viewed as an edible ornamental rather than a 
+vigorous biomass candidate. I don’t find it recommended (like the water hyacinth and cattail, 
+for example) by the champions of aquatics for energy.
+Biotic factors — Sacred lotus is attacked by several fungi: A ltern aría nelum bii, A. tenuis, 
+C ercospora nelum bii, Fusarium bulbigenum , G loeosporium nelum bii, M acrosporium neF 
+umbii, M yrothecium roridum , Phom a nelum bii, P h yllosticta nelum bonis, P hysoderm a n el­
+umbii, and Sclerotium rolfsii. It is also attacked by B acillus nelum bii.
+222 Handbook of Nuts
+NYPA FRUTICANS Wurmb. (ARECACEAE) — Nipa Palm
+Uses — Menninger^^ summarizes that the palm supplies roofing, thatching, baskets, 
+matting, cigarette wrappers, fuel, alcohol, sugar, toddy, and other products. Also useful for 
+stabilizing soils in tidal terrain. The nut is jelly-like at first, becoming nutty, and finally so 
+hard as to require grating or pounding for eating raw.^®^ The tender palm hearts are eaten 
+as a vegetable. Leaves are much valued for thatching, basketry, and mats. Umbrellas, sun- 
+hats, raincoats, mats, and bags are made from the leaves in the Philippine Islands. Midribs 
+are used for making coarse brooms and as fuel. Young unexpanded leaves are used as 
+cigarette wrappers. Leaflets, with 10.2% tannin and 15.2% hard-tans are used for tanning 
+leather. When fishing, fishermen submerge nipa leaves in the sea to attract fish. Salt is 
+obtained by burning the roots or leaves and leaching the ash. The ash is used, with wood- 
+tar, in blackening teeth. Sap is used for making jaggery, sugar,^^^ alcohol, and vinegar. 
+Arrows are made from the petioles in the Mentawai Islands.
+Folk Medicine — Reported to be intoxicant, nipa palm is a folk remedy for centipede 
+bites, herpes, sores, toothache, and ulcers.’* The sugar is used in a tonic prescription. The 
+stem-bud has been used in making a charmed preparation to counteract poison.
+Chemistry — Of 18% of solids in the fresh sap, 17% was found to be sucrose, 1/2% 
+ash. The increase in total carbohydrates in the kernels was from 71 to 78%, between the 
+time they were removed for sugar-tapping (3 months) and at maturity (4 months). Leaves 
+contain 10% tannin.Fresh nipa sap contains ca. 17% sucrose and only traces of reducing 
+sugars. Vinegar (from sap fermented ca. 2 weeks) contains 2 to 3% acetic acid. Inunature 
+seeds contain ca. 70% starch. Leaflets contain ca. 10.2% tannin and 15.2% hard-tans.
+Description — Gregarious palm, the rootstock stout, branched, covered with the sheaths 
+of old leaves, leafing and flowering at the ends of the branches. Leaves pinnatisect; 4.5 to
+223
+9 m long; leaflets linear-lanceolate, 1.2 to 1.5 m long, the sides reduplicate in vernation. 
+Spadix 1.2 to 2.1 m long, terminal, erect in flower, drooping if fruit. Flowers monoecious, 
+male in catkin-like lateral branches of the spadix, female crowded in a terminal head, perianth 
+glumaceous. Male flowers minute, surrounded with setaceous bracteoles; sepals linear with 
+broad truncate inflexed tips, imbricate; petals smaller; stamens 3; filaments connate in a 
+very short column; anthers elongate, basifixed; pistillode 0. Female flowers much longer 
+than the male; sepals 6, rudimentary, displaced; staminodes 0; carpels 3, connate, tips free 
+with an oblique stigmatic line; ovules 3, erect. Fruit large, globose syncarp, 30 cm in 
+diameter, of many obovoid, hexagonal, 1-celled, 1-seeded carpels, 10 to 15 cm long, with 
+pyramidal tips and infra-apical stigmas; pericarp fleshy and fibrous; endocarp spongy and 
+flowery; seed erect, grooved on one side; testa coriaceous, viscid within, adherent to the 
+endocarp; hilum broad; endosperm homy, equable, hollow; embryo basilar, obconic.*^^
+Germplasm — Reported from the Indochinese-Indonesian Center of Diversity, the nipa 
+palm, or cvs thereof, is reported to tolerate heavy soils, salt, and tidal waterlogging. (2n 
+= 16.)
+Distribution — India south to Australia and New Guinea,in tidal mud from the mouth 
+of the Ganges to Australia.Introduced in the mangroves of South Nigeria, where it has 
+mn wild.^^® Reported to have grown successfully in brackish waters of southern Florida.
+Ecology — Estimated to range from Subtropical Dry to Wet through Tropical Dry to 
+Moist Forest Life Zones, nipa palm is estimated to tolerate annual precipitation of 5 to 45 
+dm, annual temperature of 21 to 27°C, and pH of 6.5 to 8.5. Often gregarious in mangrove 
+swamps and tidal forests, growing best in alluvial deposits of clayey loam with sufficient 
+salt.^®
+Cultivation — Cultivated in Sumatra for wine and foliage production. Reproduces nat­
+urally by seed and detached portions of rhizome. It may attain 2 m height during its first 
+year.*^® Management consists of thinning natural stands to 2,500 to 3,500 palms per ha, 1.5 
+to 2 m apart. Periodic pmning to maintain 7 to 8 leaves if favorable to sap production. 
+Other authors suggest much wider spacings, 380 to 750 trees per ha. Bangladesh nursery 
+results are best where submerged at least 230 min/day.
+Harvesting — Nuts are harvested as needed. The palm is ready for wine tapping after 
+the second flowering, when about 5 years old. Tapping may continue 50 years or more. If 
+the plant bears more than one spadix, one is topped, the other removed. Sap collection is 
+continued for about 3 months.
+Yields and economics — The average yield of sap per plant is 43 €. According to 
+McCurrach,^®^ one hectare of nipa will yield 8,000 gals of sweet syrup, inexpensive source 
+of sugar, vinegar, and particularly alcohol. Nipa production is rural-based and labor intensive, 
+though probably less so than other alcohol plants.
+Energy — On Bohol Island in the Philippines, a mini-distillery was set up to evaluate 
+potential for the production of ethanol from the nipa palm. Sap of the nipa contains ca. 15% 
+sugar, which can be collected from mature fruits stalks after cutting off the head. With care, 
+this can be repeated over an extended period of time, yielding up to 40 € per tree per season. 
+This translates to a projected 30,000 € juice per hectare. Cultivated palms may produce as 
+much as 0.46 £ per tree per day, equivalent to ca. 8,000 £ alcohol per ha per year.^^^ 
+Halos^^‘ states that nipa is a better alcohol producer on a hectare basis than sugarcane or 
+coconut, comparing better with sweet potato. In 1919, 2 1/4 million gallons (more than 
+50,(XK) barrels) alcohol were produced from nipa palm. Midribs of the leaves are sometimes 
+used for fuel.
+Biotic factors — Grapsid crabs are the worst pests of young nipa palms. Pollinated by 
+Drosophila flies.
+224 Handbook of Nuts
+ORBIGNYA COHUNE (Mart.) Dahlgren ex Standi. (AREACEAE) Cohune Palm
+Syn.: A tta lea coh u n e Mart.
+Uses — Seeds are source of Cohune Oil, a nondrying oil, considered finer than that of 
+coconut, used in food, as illuminant, and in the manufacture of soap. Very young buds, or 
+cabbage, consumed as a vegetable. Young leaves used to make hats and other apparel, and 
+for thatching.Pole-like rachis of the leaf used for forming the framework of huts. Large 
+quantities of nuts were once used in England for preparing charcoal used in gas masks. 
+Fruits made into sweetmeats and used as fodder for livestock. Trunk used for building. Sap 
+used for winemaking and for making intoxicating beverage.^^®’^*^
+Folk medicine — Reported to be poisonous.
+Chemistry — Per 100 g, the seed (ZMB) is reported to contain 6.9 g protein and 52.2 
+g fat. The tissue removed from the seed contained 1.2 g protein and 0.5 g fat.^^
+Toxicity — “ It was said that if too much of the nut was eaten, constipation and sometimes 
+death might result.
+Description — Tall monoecious palm 16 to 20 m tall; trunk to 30 cm thick, spineless, 
+usually ringed, covered with old leafbases. Leaves with petioles flat above, rounded below, 
+fibrous at base; blade up to 10 m long, erect, pinnate with 30 to 50 pairs of leaflets; leaflets 
+45 cm or less long, stiff, dark-green; flower-stalks from lowest leaves, in woody spathe. 
+Flowers small; staminate flowers fall as spathe opens; anthers slender, pale, contorted and 
+spirally twisted. Fruit 7.5 cm long, ovoid, in large grape-like clusters. Flowers February.
+Germplasm — Reported from the Middle American Center of Diversity, cohune palm, 
+or CVS thereof, is reported to tolerate limestone, poor soil, sand, slope, savanna, and wa­
+terlogging. 2n = 32.^^
+Distribution — Native to wet Atlantic lowlands of Central America from Mexico to 
+Honduras and Belize; grown south to Panama and northern South America.
+Ecology — Ranging from Subtropical Dry to Moist through «Tropical Day Forest Life 
+Zones, cohune palm is reported to tolerate annual precipitation of 6.4 to 40.3 dm (mean of 
+5 cases = 18.3), annual temperature of 21.3 to 26.5°C (mean of 5 cases = 24.1°C), and 
+pH of 5.0 to 8.0 (mean of 3 cases = 6.9). Thrives in tropical swamps and uplands, or in 
+tropical greenhouses, where night temperatures are not below 15.5°C; occurs from sea-level 
+to 600 m altitude, and appears on all types of soils, including marls, limestones, granites, 
+and slate-derived soils, as well as shales and mudstones. Grows in small congested patches. 
+Occurs also along large streams, on upland sites, on hills and in valleys, preferring rich 
+pockets of soil.®^’^^®
+Cultivation — Lacking basal shoots, the palm is propagated by seed, in rich soil containing 
+loam, manure, and sand in proportions of 3-1-1. Seeds retain their viability for ca. 6 months. 
+Seeds should be planted about 5 cm deep and watered freely. Spacings between trees should 
+allow about lOO/ha.^^®
+Harvesting — When freed of competing vegetation, lianas, and epiphytes, each palm 
+bears prolifically. In natural habitat, trees generally do not bear fruit until crown is free in 
+the canopy.
+Yields and economics — Yields vary; often nuts are not available enough to supply an 
+oil-mill economically. Large supplies of nuts are not readily available and accessible. Fruits 
+or nuts are exported from Central America for soapmaking.
+Energy — Although not so promising as the babassu for oil production, the germplasm 
+of the cohune may contribute to building a bigger genetic base for other oleiferous species. 
+Specific gravity of the wood is 0.868 to 0.971.^^^
+Biotic factors — The following fungi cause diseases in this palm: Achorella attaleae, 
+Gloeosporium palmigenum, and Poria ravenalae.^^^'^^^ Bruchid beetles may damage the 
+seeds, destroying both embryo and endosperm.
+225
+ORBIGNYA MARTIAN A Barb. Rodr., ORBIGNYA OLEIFERA Burret, ORBIGNYA SPE­
+CIOSA (Mart.) Barb. Rodr. (ARECACEAE) — Babassu
+Uses — Babassu kernels taste, smell, and look like coconut meat, but contain more oil. 
+The oil can be used for the same purposes as coconut oil, for margarine, shortening, general 
+edibles, toilet soap, fatty acids, and detergents. Unlike many palm oils, the babassu oil does 
+not quickly turn rancid. Babassu oil is rich in “ practically all of the elements needed in the 
+manufacture of plastics, detergents, emulsifiers, and many related materials” (H. G. Bennett, 
+as quoted in Balick^^). The protein- and oil-rich seed cakes are suitable for animal feed. 
+The endocarp is a good fuel. Leaves are used for thatching. Palm hearts are also eaten.
+Folk medicine — The oil is used in medicinal salves.
+Chemistry — Atchley^^ cites analyses with 9.4 to 16.2% protein, fat content of 0.2 to 
+62.9% oil — the higher oil figure possibly representing fruit rather than seed. NAS^^^ notes 
+that fruit oil may be as high as 72%. Pesce^^^compares the analysis of the coconut with 
+babassu (Table 1). Mesocarp runs 16.3 to 17% moisture, 1.5 to 4.9% fatty material, 63.8 
+to 71.3% starch, 0.0 to 0.8% sugar, dextrim cellulose 2.05%, 3.12 to 3.19% nitrogenated
+226 Handbook of Nuts
+Table 1
+BABASSU KERNELS AND COCONUT COPRA
+Babassu Coconut 
+(Orbignya martiana) {Cocos nucífera) 
+(%)
+Moisture
+4.21 3.80
+Oil
+66.12 66.00
+Protein
+7.17 7.27
+Digestible carbohydrates 14.47 15.95
+Woody fiber
+5.99 4.55
+Ash
+2.03 2.43
+From Johnson, D. V ., Ed. and Transl. (Original by Pesce, C.), Oil Palms 
+and Other Oilseeds of the Amazon Reference Publications, Algonac, M ich., 
+1985, 199. With permission.
+Table 2
+CHEMICAL COMPOSITION 
+AND PROPERTIES OF 
+COCONUT AND BABASSU OIL
+Coconut oil Babassu oil
+Fatty acids
+(%) (%)
+Saturated
+Caproic 0.0—0.8 0.0—0.2
+Caprylic 5.5—9.5 4.0—6.5
+Capric 4.5—9.5 2.7—7.6
+Laurie 44.0—52.0 44.0-46.0
+Myristic 13.0—19.0 15.0—20.0
+Palmitic 7.5— 10.5 6.0—9.0
+Stearic 1.3 3.0—6.0
+Arachidic 0.0—0.4 0.2—0.7
+Unsaturated
+Oleic 5.0—8.0 12.0—18.0
+Linoleic 1.5—2.5
+1.4—2.8
+From Eckey, E. W ., Vegetable Fats and Oils,
+Reinhold Publishing, New York, 1954. With 
+permission.
+material, 1.2% ash, and 0.3 to 11.4% undetermined. The press-cake has 11.6% moisture, 
+6.5% oil, 19.8% protein, 40.0% digestible carbohydrates, 16.5% woody fiber, and 5.6% 
+ash.*^^ Eckeycompares the coconut oil with that of babassu (Table 2).
+Description — Tall, erect, smooth-stemmed palm. Leaves erect-declined, large, elegant, 
+recurved at the flexuous apex; leaflets long, rigid, proximate, oblique-acuminate, disposed 
+in a vertical plane. Spadix large, ramose, pendent; branches rigid, bracted, dense; female 
+spadices with many sessile flowers on branches and male flowers abortive, small in the 
+apices; in male spadices, flowers with small calyx, petals two, rarely three, biquadridentate; 
+curved inward, overlapped; stamens 24, aggregated in groups of eight; loculus of anthers 
+irregularly coiled and twisted. Female flowers much larger, ovoid-oblong, bibracted, fer­
+ruginous tomentoso; sepals broadly oblong, obtuse-careened-acuminate; petals slightiy smaller, 
+oblong, with irregularly serrated margins, at the protracted apex tri-dentate; androecia abor­
+tive, half the number of petals; stigmas 3 to 6. Drupe large, oblong, conical, pointed.
+227
+enveloped almost half-way, at the base ferruginous-tomentose and at the apex albo-tomen- 
+tose, haloed, 3 to 6 seeded.
+Germplasm — Reported from the Brazilian Center of Diversity, babassu, or cvs thereof, 
+is reported to tolerate alkalinity, sand, savanna, and waterlogging, perhaps even brackish 
+water.^°‘ Taxonomically confusing, the literature has contradictory references to O. martiana, 
+O. oleifera, and O. speciosa as the true “ Babassu” . The taxon oleifera “ prefers a drier, 
+semi-deciduous forest” .^^
+Distribution — Babassu ranges from 3 to 10°S latitude and 40 to 70°W longitude in 
+Brazil.
+Ecology — Estimated to range from Tropical Dry to Wet through Subtropical Dry to Wet 
+Forest Life Zones, babassu is estimated to tolerate annual precipitation of 15 to 60 dm, 
+annual temperature of 23 to 29°C, and pH of 4.5 to 8.0. Babassu grows best in alkaline or 
+neutral soils, under average rainfall and good drainage; but it is found in areas of high to 
+low rainfall, dry to swampy conditions, and generally in siliceous soils. It occurs as isolated 
+specimens and in solid stands, but principally in mixed hardwood forests, except in Maranhao 
+and Piaui, on the Pantanal of Mato Grosso and in local areas in some river valleys, where 
+it may form dense f o r e s t s .T h e day I spent on the bus crossing Maranhao and Piaui 
+was dominated by panoramas of babassu.
+Cultivation — Mostly harvested from the wild, like Brazil-nuts and cashews. While 
+plantations have been established, little has been done to examine the variability of wild 
+trees for use in breeding and selection programs.
+Harvesting — Slow to mature, babassu may start yielding at 8 years, rising to 12 years, 
+and bearing for 75 years or longer. While the palm flowers year round, it does not always 
+set fruit. In Brazil, fruits ripen from July to November, then fall to the ground. After 
+collection, the fruit is usually dried in the sun to facilitate removing the kernel from the 
+shell.With an axe and mallet, capable natives can shell up to 8 kg kernels a day, but are 
+more likely to average 4 to 5 kg a day.
+Yields and economics — At an Office of Technology Assessment in 1980, Duke adduced 
+incredible figures stating that some babassu trees were reported to yield more than a ton of 
+fruit per year. Of the fruit, 10% is kernel, 50% (to 68%) of which is oil, indicating a yield 
+of ca. 40 kg oil per tree, or a barrel of oil for every four trees.Assuming a 63 to 70% oil 
+content per kernel, Balick^^ suggests a possible maximum of ca. 63 kg oil per tree per year, 
+indeed a living “ oil-factory” . Though individual trees are reported to produce 1000 kg nuts 
+a year, palms on cultivated plantations have yielded 1,500 kg/ha nuts. The fruit weighs 150 
+to 200 g and may contain 3 to 8 kernels containing 60 to 70% oil and constituting 10% of 
+the fruit’s weight. The kernel is surrounded by a pulp that is 10% starch, enclosed by a 
+hard woody shell nearly 12 mm thick. The pulp constitutes 20% of the weight of the fruit. 
+American imports peaked in 1945 at nearly 45,000 tons in a year when Brazil harvested 
+more than 70,000 tons. In 1974, Brazil produced >200,000 tons babassu kernels worth ca. 
+500 million cruzeiros. Babassu is probably the only species that could replace coconut in 
+the production of olein and stearin.Babassu, covering nearly 15 million swampy hectares 
+in the Amazon and employing nearly 100,000 people in Brazil, has been recommended for 
+further study and use by the NAS. Back in 1957, Markley^®® noted, “ It is probably the 
+largest vegetable oil industry in the world wholly dependent on a wild plant, developed from 
+an indigenous cottage industry and still capable of further expansion.” Markley^®* gives 
+details of the historical production and value of the Brazilian crop. Pinto^^"^ tabulates data 
+for 1940 to 1949.
+Energy — As early as 1951, Pinto^^"^ noted, “ The shells and husks have proved to be a 
+source of fuel and when distilled may yield useful hydrocarbon products and also carbon 
+suitable for gas absorption. The whole nut is occasionally used for the production of oily 
+smoke in the curing of wild rubber; also, buttons are made from the shells.” Michael Balick^*
+228 Handbook of Nuts
+says, “ the babassu palm is one of the best sources of fuel in the form of charcoal or coke. 
+Babassu charcoal bums with a lower content of sulfur, and in some cases has more volatile 
+material than certain mineral coals.” In Brazil during World War I, the nuts were found 
+equivalent to coal in heat content, and the husks were easily converted to coke.^^ Analyzing 
+62 kinds of biomass for heating value, Jenkins and Ebeling*"^^ reported a spread of 19.92 to 
+18.83 MJ/kg, compared to 13.76 for weathered rice straw to 23.28 MJ/kg for pmne pits. 
+On a percent DM basis, the husks contained 79.71% volatiles, 1.59% ash, 18.70% fixed 
+carbon, 50.31% C, 5.37% H, 42.29% O, 0.26% N, 0.04% S, and undetermined residue. 
+Assuming 250 babassu trees per hectare, Pinto^^^ projects a potential production of 34,932,040 
+MT of kernels and (using his 65% figure) >22 million MT oil (or more than 55 million 
+barrels per year). This is about 15 times 1974 production of ca. 220,000 MT and 1978 
+production of ca. 240,000 MT. During World War II, liquid fuels were derived from babassu, 
+which burned easily and cleanly in diesel engines. Residues can be converted to coke and 
+charcoal. Clearly, this and other oil palms deserve further study as potential energy sources.
+Biotic factors — The tree is sometimes attacked by beetles. Pachymerus nucleorum often 
+destroy the fallen fmits.
+229
+PACHIRA AQUATIC A Aubl. (BOMBACACEAE) — Saba Nut, Malabar Chestnut, Provision 
+Tree, Maranhau Nut
+Uses — According to Sturtevant,^^^ the roasted nuts taste like chestnut, no nut being 
+better than this nut cooked with salt. Not all nut-eaters would agree. Young leaves and 
+flowers are also used as a vegetable. The seeds contain 50 to 58% oil, with an aroma 
+suggesting licorice or fenugreek. Panamanians and/or Colombians make a breadstuff from 
+powdered roasted seed. UphoP^'* suggests that seeds of large fruited types are used as cacao 
+substitutes. Choco witch doctors are said to use the seeds as a narcotic (but I’m not sure 
+that, in fact, they do). Bark yields a yellow dye used to tint sails, fishing nets, and lines.
+Folk medicine — Saba nut is a folk remedy for eye ailments and inflammations. Gua­
+temalans use the bark and immature fruits for liver afflictions. Bark, which has demonstrated 
+antibiotic activity, is used for diabetes in Panama.*®
+Chemistry — Per 100 g (ZMB), the seed of Pachira macrocarpa is reported to contain 
+560 calories, 16.9 g protein, 41.4 g fat, 37.9 g total carbohydrate, 13.1 g fiber, 3.7 g ash, 
+87.7 mg Ca, 302.3 mg P, 4.0 mg Fe, 76.1 mg Na, 7(X) mg K, 1300 |xg beta-carotene 
+equivalent, 0.03 mg thiamine, 0.06 mg riboflavin, 4.02 mg niacin, and 25.4 mg ascorbic 
+acid.*^ Seeds contain 58% fat. The seed fats of a Congo specimen contained 46% palmitic, 
+43% oleic, and 11% linoleic acids. Those of a Sudanian specimen contained 50.7% palmitic 
+and stearic, 40.8% oleic, and 8.5% linoleic. Those from South America contained 56% 
+palmitic, 3% stearic, 7.5% oleic, and 5% linoleic acids. There is also a report of 26.5% 
+cyclopropenoid acids in the seed fat.^^* Bark contains 2.7% tannin.
+D^ription — Evergreen tree to 23 m high and 70 cm dbh, often buttressed; outer bark 
+hard, planar, thin, with weak distant vertical fissures; inner bark thick, reddish, marbled 
+with white. Leaves palmately compound, glabrous; stipules ovate, ca. 1 cm long; petioles
+230 Handbook of Nuts
+to 24 cm long, often ribbed, swollen at both ends; leaflets 5 to 7(9), oblong-ovate to elliptic, 
+caudate-acuminate to apiculate at apex, tapered to an acute base and decurrent on petiolule, 
+5 to 29 cm long, 3 to 15 cm wide, whitish-lepidote especially below. Flowers sweetly 
+aromatic, usually solitary in upper axils; pedicels stout, 1 to 5.5 cm long; calyx more or 
+less tubular, truncate, the lobes obscure; petals 5, valvate, linear, greenish-white to brown, 
+17 to 34 cm long, ca. 1.5 cm wide, curled outward at anthesis, stellate-puberulent outside, 
+glabrous to villous inside; stamens many, scarlet in apical third, white basally, erect to 
+spreading, slightly shorter than petals, variously united in small clusters basally to middle, 
+the clusters finally uniting with staminal column; anthers horseshoe-shaped, dehiscing by 
+straightening; ovary broadly ovoid, ca. 1 cm long; style colored like stamens but several 
+cm longer; stigma of 5 tiny lobes. Capsules reddish-brown, elliptic, oblong-elliptic, or 
+subglobose, shallowly 5-sulcate, mostly to 20(30) cm long and 10(12) cm wide, the valves 
+5, densely ferrugineous outside, appressed-silky-pubescent within; seeds usually 2 or 3 per 
+carpel, irregularly angulate, mostly 3 to 4.5 cm long at maturity, brown, buoyant, embedded 
+in solid, white, fleshy mesocarp.^^
+Germplasm — Reported from the Latin America Center of Diversity, saba nut, or cvs 
+thereof, is reported to tolerate drought and waterlogging. The genus apparently contains 
+only one more species, the very similar Pachira insignis.^^^
+Distribution — Native to the Americas, Mexico to Peru and Brazil, but cultivated in 
+Angola and the Congo, Florida, and the West Indies. According to R obyns,it ranges 
+from southern Mexico through Central America to Ecuador, northern Peru and northern 
+Brazil; often cultivated throughout tropical America, in some isles of the Antilles, in Africa 
+and Asia.
+Ecology — Ranging from Tropical Moist to Wet through Premontane Moist to Wet Forest 
+Life Zones, saba nut is estimated to tolerate annual precipitation of 20 to 50 dm, annual 
+temperature of 22 to 28°C, and pH of 6 to 8.5. Rather pure stands occur, rather typical of 
+Tropical Moist and Wet Forests in Panama.Apparently confined to riverine and swamp 
+situations in my experience. The seeds may germinate while floating, striking root when 
+they lodge on soils.
+Cultivation — Menninger^^ says it is grown commercially in the Congo, but I know of 
+no cultivation, except as a curio, here in America.
+Harvesting — Trees as short as 2 m may begin flowering and fruiting.In Panama, 
+flowering all year though concentrated in February to April; most of the fruits mature from 
+March to August. New leaves appear around May.
+Yields and Economics — With precocious fruiting, the tree may produce many large 
+fruits, with many large seeds.
+Energy — With more than 50% oil, seeds might be viewed as an oilseed candidate for 
+fresh-water and slightly brackish swamps in the tropical moist to wet forest life zones.
+Biotic factors — Pachira insignis is listed as an important alternative host to Steirostoma 
+breve (Cocoa beetle), major cocoa pest in tropical South America and the Caribbean Is­
+lands.
+231
+PAULLINIA CUPANA Kunth ex H.B.K. (SAPINDACEAE) — Guaraña, Uabano, Brazilian 
+Cocoa
+Syn.: Paullinia sorbilis Mart.
+Uses — Guaraña is a dried paste, chiefly of crushed seeds, which may be swallowed, 
+powdered, or made into a beverage. It is a popular stimulant in Brazil among natives who 
+grate a quantity into the palm of hand, swallow it, and wash it down with water. Taste is 
+astringent and bitterish, then sweetish. A refreshing guaraña soft drink is made in Brazil 
+similar to making the ordinary drink, but sweetened and carbonated. Odor is similar to 
+chocolate. Cultivated by the Indians and seed made into a paste, sold in two grades. Said 
+to be used also in cordials and liqueurs (fermented with cassava). Brazilian Indians make a 
+breadstuff from pounded seeds. Tyler^^^ notes that Coca-Cola — Brazil uses guaraña in a 
+carbonated beverage it markets there. I enjoyed it with rum at the airport in Rio. “ Zoom” , 
+a rather tasty beverage, has been promoted as a “ cocaine” substitute. Menninger calls it 
+“ the most exciting nut in the world” . Erickson et al.^^ mention the product “ guaraña flor” , 
+a flour extracted from burned flowers.
+Folk medicine — A nervine tonic and stimulant, the drug owes its properties to caffeine. 
+Used for cardiac derangements, headaches, especially those caused by menstrual or rheumatic 
+derangements, intestinal disorders, migraine and neuralgia. Action is sometimes diuretic, 
+and used for rheumatic complaints and lumbago. Said also to alleviate fever, heat stress.
+232 Handbook of Nuts
+and heart ailments. With words like aphrodisiac, diet, narcotic, and stimulant associated 
+with guaraña in the herbal literature, it is little wonder that the herb has excited curiosity 
+among avante-garde Americans. Promotional literature states that guaraña outsells Coke in 
+Brazil, suggesting that Amazon natives sniff the powdered seeds, and stating (wrongly or 
+rightly) that guaraña decreases fatigue and curtails hunger. However, Latin Americans used 
+the plant mainly as a stimulant and for treating chronic diarrhea and headache.People 
+accustomed to guaraña swear “ that it improves health, helps digestion, prevents sleepiness, 
+increases mental activity” , and many whisper that it also improves sexual activity, but “ it 
+might act as a limiting factor to fertility(Pio Correa, as quoted in Menninger^^).
+Chemistry — Indians in South America also made an alcoholic beverage from the seeds 
+along with cassava and water. Guaraña contains guaranine, an alkaloid similar to theine of 
+tea and caffeine of coffee; about 2.5 to 5% caffeine; and 5 to 25% tannin, as catechutannic 
+acid. An 800 mg tablet of “ Zoom” is said to contain ca. 60 mg caffeine.Adenine, 
+catechin, choline, guanine, hypoxanthine, resin, saponins, theobromine, theophylline, tim- 
+bonine, and xanthine are reported, in addition to the caffeine.^®®
+Toxicity — May be quite high in caffeine (possibly the highest of any plant).Dysuria 
+often follows its administration. Has been approved for food use (§172.510). In humans, 
+caffeine, 1,3,7-trimethylxanthine, is demethylated into three primary metabolites: theo­
+phylline, theobromine, and paraxanthine. Since the early part of the 20th century, theo­
+phylline has been used in therapeutics for bronchodilation, for acute ventricular failure, and 
+for long-term control of bronchial asthma. At 100 mg/kg theophylline is fetotoxic to rats, 
+but no teratogenic abnormalities were noted. In therapeutics, theobromine has been used as 
+a diuretic, as a cardiac stimulant, and for dilation of arteries. But at 100 mg, theobromine 
+is fetotoxic and teratogenic.^^ Leung^^® reports a fatal dose in man at 10,000 mg, with 1,000 
+mg or more capable of inducing headache, nausea, insomnia, restlessness, excitement, mild 
+delirium, muscle tremor, tachycardia, and extrasystoles. Leung also adds “ caffeine has been 
+reported to have many other activities including mutagenic, teratogenic, and carcinogenic 
+activities; . . . to cause temporary increase in intraocular pressure, to have calming effects 
+on hyperkinetic children . . . to cause chronic recurring headache . . . ” .
+Description — Large, woody, evergreen perennial, twining or climbing vine to 10 m 
+tall, usually cultivated as a shrub; leaves small, pinnate, 5-foliolate, alternate, stipulate, 10 
+to 20 cm long, the petiole 7 to 15 cm long, flowers in axillary racemes, yellow; the sepals 
+3 to 5, 3 mm long, petals 3 to 5 mm long, hairy; fruit a 3-valved capsule with thin partitions, 
+in clusters like grapes, pear-shaped, 3-sided; seed(s) globose or ovoid, about the size of a 
+filbert, purplish-brown to brown or blackish, half enclosed in the aril, flesh-colored, white, 
+yellow, or red, easily separated when dry. Germination cryptocotylar, the eophylls unifo- 
+liolate.^^®
+Germplasm — Reported from the South American Center of Diversity, guaraña, or cvs 
+thereof, is reported to tolerate a pronounced dry season.®^
+Distribution — Native to the Brazilian Amazon Basin, especially in the region of Maues, 
+in the valley of the Papajoz River, below Manaos,^®"^ in the upper regions of the Orinoco 
+Valley in southwestern Venezuela, and in the Moist Evergreen Forests of northern Brazil. 
+It has been reported in parts of Uruguay and was introduced in Sri Lanka and France (1817) 
+from South America.It seems to be thriving at the New Alchemist’s outpost in Gandoca, 
+Costa Rica (TMF).
+Ecology — Ranging from Tropical Dry to Moist through Subtropical Moist to Wet Forest 
+Life Zones, guaraña is reported to tolerate annual precipitation of 10 to 24 dm and annual 
+temperature of 23 to 27°C.®^ Guaraña grows naturally in deep acidic oxisols, where there 
+is a pronounced dry season from June to September. Flowering commences at the end of 
+the rainy season. The plant does not tolerate soil compaction. Although guaraña was originally 
+a swamp creeper in the moist evergreen forests of the Amazon, it has been more successfully
+233
+grown on well-drained black sandy soils. Plants do not do well when cultivated on yellow 
+clay soils.
+Cultivation — Guaraña is obtained from both wild and cultivated plants.Pio Correa, 
+however, states that the plants are never found wild.^^^ Since seeds require about 3 months 
+to germinate, cultivated guaraña is usually propagated by shoots. Young shoots are spaced 
+about 7 m apart, and a triangular bower is built over each plant to provide support for the 
+climbing vine. Or seedlings may be spaced at 4 x 4 m (625 plants per ha) or 3 x 3 m 
+(1,100 plants per ha). Young plants should be shaded. Leguminous ground covers are often 
+established between the plants (P ueraria, V id a ). It has been suggested as an intercrop for 
+B actris gasipaes. It can be planted among growing cassava plants. Planting is usually in 
+February and March. Once established, plants require practically no care, except for 
+weeding.
+Harvesting — Plants begin to flower and produce a small quantity of fruit when about 
+3 years old. Production increases with maturity, and vines live about 40 years. Fruits, like 
+clusters of grapes, are hand-picked in October, November, and December, after they have 
+ripened. As soon as the berries are harvested, they are thoroughly soaked in water, passed 
+over a sieve to remove the seeds from the white pulp (aril) that surrounds them and the 
+seeds placed in the sun to dry. After drying, seeds are immediately baked or roasted for 
+half a day to prevent fermentation, which sets in rapidly after the fruit is picked from the 
+vine. Seeds are roasted over a slow fire in clay ovens, skillfully, so that all seeds are equally 
+toasted and not burned. Roasted seeds, removed from the ovens, are separated from their 
+dry paper-thin shells by rubbing in the palm of the hands or by placing them in sacks and 
+beating them with clubs. Then the kernels are macerated with mortar and pestle. The coarse 
+powder produced is mixed with a little water and kneaded into a paste which is shaped into 
+cylindrical sticks or loaves ca. 2.5 cm in diameter and 12 to 30 cm long, weighing about 
+225 g each (about 1/2 lb). These “ cakes” are dried and smoked for about 60 days in an 
+open-fire drying house, where they require a dark chocolate-brown color and a metallic 
+hardness. Crude guaraña is sold on the market in this form, which will keep for many 
+years.
+Yields and economics — A mature guaraña shrub or vine averages 1.3 to 5.0 kg/year 
+seed, occasionally yielding 9 kg; still, yields run only 77 to 175 kg dried seed per hectare.
+In past decades, Brazil produced about 80 MT of guaraña paste annually, and exported about 
+50 MT. Herbal interests may have stimulated trade since then. About 6,(X)0 ha are now 
+cultivated, much of it in the Brazilian county of Maues, which produces ca. 80% of the 
+world’s supply as of 1980.^^’^^®
+Energy — Lacking biomass data for this species, I will suggest that the pods, as residue, 
+might equal or exceed in quantity the biomass of the harvested seeds. The pulp and aril 
+probably represent less biomass, also a waste product. Prunings might be used for fuel wood.
+Biotic factors — The most severe fungus known to attack guaraña is C olletotrichum 
+guaranicola Alb., which attacks the foliage and inflorescence. “ Black speckle” , caused 
+also by C olletotrichum sp., can be controlled by such compounds as benomyl, captafol, 
+macozeb, and methyl thiophanate. Fusarium decem ceH arare Brick, (so-called “ trunk gall” ), 
+causing a proliferation of buds resulting in large masses of nonproductive tissue, can kill 
+the plant. A red root rot is caused by G anoderm a ph ilip p i (Bres. & P. Henn.) Bres., causing 
+yellowing of the foliage, gradual decline, often followed by death. Pollination is by insects, 
+primarily bees and wasps; ants are also numerous.
+234 Handbook of Nuts
+PHYTELEPHAS MACROCARP A Ruiz and Pav. (ARECACEAE) — Ivory Nut Palm, Tagua
+Uses — In Ecuador, they have “ commercialized” the hard, compact, heavy, brilliant 
+seeds, so highly valued for their thousand uses, and industrial applications, especially in 
+the button industry. The cabbage is quite edible, usually cooked, and the young fruits make 
+a beverage said to be just as good as coconut water; older fruits become thicker and more 
+mucilaginous or gelatinous, at which time it may be spooned out as a custard. Finally, they 
+harden as the “ vegetable ivory.” More recently, it has been used in polishing compounds 
+for the metals finishing industry. The roots are boiled to make a beverage. Refuse from the 
+button “ tumerys” can be made into cattle food and it is less legitimately used as a coffee 
+substitute, probably after scorching. According to Gohl,^^® ivory nut meal can be used for 
+all classes of livestock without any particular restrictions. Durable leaves used for thatch, 
+the stems are split and used for flooring. Empty spathes have been used as very durable 
+broom heads.
+Folk Medicine — A liquid prepared by boiling the roots is considered diuretic in Ecuador.
+Chemistry — Per 100 g, the seeds contain (ZMB) 5.3 g protein, 1.6 g fat, 91.6 g total 
+carbohydrate, 9.3 g fiber, and 1.5 g ash.^^® Seeds may contain 40% Mannan A and 25%
+235
+Mannan B. Mannan A yields on hydrolysis 97.6% mannose, 1.8% galactose, and 0.8% 
+glucose. Mannan B yields 98.3% mannose, 1.1% galactose, and 0.8% glucose. Nuts are 
+said to contain the alkaloid phytelephantin. Personal correspondence reveals that it is the 
+raw material for the preparation of the sugar D-mannose. D-mannan has shown some antitumor 
+activity.
+Description — Acaulescent or short-stemmed diocecious palms to 20 m tall, 70 cm DBH. 
+Leaves pinnate, to 4 m long, 15 to 30 in the rosette, leaflets in a single plane, to 70 cm 
+long. Male flowers in elongate cluster to 2 m long. Female flowers in heads to 50 cm long 
+with perianth, the tepals to 30 cm long. Ovary 4- to 6-locular; style with 4 to 9 long lobes.
+Germplasm — Reported from the Tropical American Center of Diversity, tagua, or cvs 
+thereof, is reported to tolerate rocky soil, shade, and temporary waterlogging.
+Distribution — Panama to Brazil, Venezuela, and Ecuador. Although a species of mature 
+forest, it is often left to stand in cleared pastures and banana plantations.
+Ecology — Estimated to range from Subtropical Moist to Rain through Tropical Moist 
+to Rain Forest Life Zones, tagua is estimated to tolerate annual precipitation of 20 to 110 
+dm, annual temperature of 22 to 28°C, and pH of 4.5 to 8.0. Sometimes gregarious; said 
+to “ prefer” naturally drained or porous soils, but flourishes on some rocky terrain and in 
+clay alluvial terraces. Ranges from sea level to 1800 m above sea level.
+Cultivation — Tagua is rarely cultivated. There have been a few plantations started in 
+Ecuador, mountaineers merely scattering the seeds and weeding them, perhaps thinning them 
+occasionally. Seeds begin to germinate in 3 to 4 months. Young plants may need protection 
+from the sun.
+Harvesting — A tagua may mature in 10 years, faster than commonly believed,^ starting 
+flowering only at 14 to 15 years (BurkilF^ says they start fruiting at 6 years), such that the 
+fruit appears to arise from the ground. Then the females produce fruits “ uninterruptably” 
+every subsequent year, a palm lasting for centuries in the mountains. Fruiting occurs through­
+out the year. When collectors are in too big a hurry, they may destructively fell the tree, 
+which kills it, unable to coppice. The unripe fruits thus obtained, are artificially matured 
+under organic matter, becoming the “ blond” tagua, as opposed to the “ dark” or “ black” 
+tagua. Leaves to be used for thatching are first fermented for 8 to 15 days.
+Yields and economics — Well-developed palms produce 15 to 16 mazorcas (clusters), 
+each of which weighs 8 to 15 (to 19) kg. Twelve inflorescences will yield 100 pounds of 
+seeds with their shells, or ca. 60 pounds of shelled seed. Seeds may weigh up to 240 g. 
+Burkill figures that each tree produces 45 to 100 kg fruits per yr for 50 to 100 years. Back 
+in 1948, Acosta-Solis^ noted that a good price was about $0.70/l(X) lb. In 1928, Esmeraldas 
+Ecuador exported more than 1000 tons of seeds, 1929 being the highest year ever, with 
+nearly 2200 tons exported, dwindling down to 500 tons by 1941, and almost nothing after 
+that. In New York, in 1941, the Esmeraldas tagua was worth only ca. $2.00/100 lb, a mere 
+$0.10/kg.2
+Energy — Phytelephas microcarpa is said to produce a valuable oil.^^*
+Biotic factors — In Ecuador, a coleopteous larva attacks the stem, destroying the pith, 
+and often killing the tree; superficially this resembles the larva of Rhynchophorus palmarum. 
+Dryocoetes sp. (Coleóptera) may attack the fruit.^
+236 Handbook of Nuts
+PINUS EDULIS Engelm. (PINACEAE) — Piñón, Pine Nut, Nut Pine, Silver Pine 
+Syn.: P in u s cem broides var. edu lis (Engelm.) Voss and C aryopitys edu lis Small.
+Uses — The State Tree of New Mexico, this species furnishes the piñón nuts or Indian 
+nuts of commerce. Piñón nuts are evident in the firepots of the Gatecliff Shelter, Nevada, 
+carbon-dated at 6000 years. Nuts (seeds) considered main article of subsistence by Indians 
+of California, Nevada, and Utah, eaten raw or, more frequently, roasted. Nuts have a rather 
+disagreeable flavor but are highly nutritious, rich in protein. Seeds are smaller but tastier 
+than those of the single-leaf piñón. In spring, buds at ends of limbs, inner bark, and core 
+of cone (which is something like cabbage stalk when green) are eaten. Wood is mainly used 
+for fuel and fenceposts; infrequently the tree-form is used for lumber of fair quality. The 
+piñón wood was also used in Indian construction. The pitch was used as a glue for water­
+proofing jugs, as a black dye for blankets, and to repair pottery. Navajo smeared piñón 
+pitch on a corpse prior to burial. Hopi dabbed it on their foreheads to protect them against 
+sorcery. Navajo used it for incense.
+Folk medicine — According to Hartwell,the pitch is used in folk remedies for tumors 
+of the fingers and external cancers. Reported to be antiseptic and suppurative, the plant is 
+used as a folk remedy for boils, bugbites, laryngitis, myalgia, pneumonia, sores, sore throat, 
+swellings, syphilis, and wounds. Various parts of the plant are used medicinally by Indians: 
+crushed nuts for treatment of bums or scalds; smoke from burning branches for coughs, 
+colds, and rheumatism; and pitch for sores and wounds. Fumes of burning pitch were inhaled 
+by Indians for headcold, cough, and earache.^'
+Chemistry — Per 100 g, the “nut” is reported to contain 714 calories, 3.0 g H2O, 14.3 
+g protein, 60.9 g fat, 18.1 g total carbohydrate, 1.1 g fiber, and 2.7 g ash.®^
+Description — Straggling tree, forming a broad, pyramid-shaped crown in young trees 
+and later becoming round-topped, to 15 m tall, usually smaller; diameter to nearly 1 m; 
+tmnk often crooked and twisted; bark irregularly furrowed and broken into small scales. 
+Leaves mostly 2 to a fascicle, sometimes with varying proportions of 1- or 3-needled 
+fascicles, 2 to 4 (5) cm long, sharp-pointed, margins entire, sheaths of the fascicles deciduous, 
+the odor of the crushed foliage fragrant. Staminate cones about 6 mm long, yellow, soon 
+fading. Ovulate cones subterminal or lateral, 2 to 5 cm long, nearly as wide, ovoid, usually 
+brown at maturity, short-stalked, the scales becoming thickened, 2 to 6 mm long, 4-sided, 
+knobbed at the apex, the dorsal umbo inconspicuous; seeds large, 10 to 16 mm long, brown, 
+wingless, thick-shelled; cotyledons 6 to 10.^®
+Germplasm — Reported from the North American Center of Diversity, piñón, or cvs 
+thereof, is reported to tolerate severe climatic conditions, including low relative humidity, 
+very high evaporation, intense sunlight, low rainfall, hot summers, slope, weeds, and alkaline
+237
+soil.^^ Piñón, or pine nuts, refer to the seeds of several pine species which grow along the 
+western area of North America from British Columbia southward into Mexico. P inus cem - 
+broides Zucc., or Mexican nut-pine, occurs in mountains of central and northern Mexico 
+and extends northward into New Mexico and southeastern Arizona; it is a tree to 20 m tall 
+with needles in fascicles of 3, bright green, 2.5 to 5 cm long, and seeds more or less 
+cylindrical to obscurely triangular and somewhat compressed at apex, about 1.5 to 2 cm 
+long. Pinus m onophylla Torr., or single-leaf piñón, occurs from Utah and Nevada, south 
+to Baja California and Arizona; it is a tree up to 7 m tall with the needles occurring singly, 
+or rarely in pairs, rather pale glaucous green, about 3.5 cm long, and seeds 1.3 to 1.5 cm 
+long and oblong. Hybrids between P. edulis and P. m onopylla are produced naturally, 
+especially in Utah; such trees have both 1 or 2 needles per fascicle, and other anatomical 
+features of the leaves are intermediate between the two species. Artificial hybrids have also 
+been produced with similar characteristics. P. edulis var. albo-variegata Hort. has white 
+leaves mixed with the green leaves.
+D istrib u tion — Dry rocky places in the Colorado Plateau region of southwest Wyoming, 
+Utah, western Colorado, extreme western tip of Oklahoma, western Texas, New Mexico, 
+adjacent Chihuahua, Mexico, and eastern Arizona.^®
+E cology — Ranging from Warm Temperate Thom to Wet through Subtropical Moist 
+Forest Life Zones, piñón, or cvs thereof, is estimated to tolerate annual precipitation of 3 
+to 21 dm (mean of 3 cases = 15), annual temperature of 15 to 21 °C (mean of 3 cases = 
+18), and pH of 5.0 to 8.5 (mean of 3 cases = 5.1).*^ To 1500 to 2750 m elevation. Thrives 
+on high tablelands at elevations from 1,600 to 3,000 m altitude, on shallow, rocky soil, 
+where annual rainfall of 30 to 45 cm and climate is arid. Sometimes forms pure groves but 
+more often grows along with oak, juniper, or yellow pine.^^^ Hardy to Zone 5.^"^^
+C u ltivation — Trees or shmbby plants cultivated by Indians as far north as British 
+Columbia. Propagated from seeds scattered over ground. Not apparently cultivated in any 
+orderly fashion. Elsewhere grown as an ornamental. Trees are slow-growing, and often form 
+a compact shmb.^^*
+H arvestin g — Cone matures in August or September of second season and sheds seed 
+shortly thereafter. Seeds are gathered in quantities in favorable seasons. Indians usually 
+collect nuts from the ground after cones have opened, or beat the nuts loose from their cones 
+with poles. Present-day nut-collectors, who often collect the nuts for recreation and then 
+sell them to local groceries, break off cone-bearing limbs, or tear green cones loose with 
+garden rakes, causing serious damage to trees, thus lowering their productivity. Nuts are 
+dried and sorted much like other nuts. They have unusual keeping qualities and may be 
+stored for as much as 3 years without becoming rancid.
+Y ields and econ om ics — No data available, as most nuts are collected from wild plants 
+which vary widely in their size and productivity. Trees do not bear regularly nor equally 
+fruitfully. Piñón is considered a staple food for some Indian groups, both for themselves 
+and as an article for selling at markets, especially in New Mexico, Arizona, and Mexico. 
+Prices range to as much as $2.85 per pound in retail groceries.
+E nergy — Historically, the wood, the cones, the needles, and the pitches and resins of 
+pines have been used as energy sources. Scandinavians have even adapted automobile engines 
+to run on turpentine-like compounds. Although the seeds may run more than 50% oil, they 
+seem better adapted to edible than to energy ends.
+B iotic factors — A gricu ltu re H an dbook 165"^ lists the following as affecting this species: 
+Arceuthobium cam pylopodum Engelm. f. divaricatum (western dwarf mistletoe), A rm illaria 
+m ellea (root rot), C oleosporium crow ellii (needle rust), C. jo n esii (needle rust), C ronartium 
+occidentale (piñón blister rust), D iplo d ia pin ea (seedling blight), E lytroderm a deform ans 
+(needle cast, witches’-broom). P om es p in i (butt and heartwood rot), and H ypoderm a sac- 
+catum. (needle cast)."^ Wild animals also collect the nuts.
+238 Handbook of Nuts
+PINUS QUADRIFOLIA Pari, ex Sudw. (PINACEAE) — Parry’s Pine-Nut, Piñón 
+Syn.: P in u s cem broides var. p a rra ya n a (Engelm.) Voss and P in u s p a rra ya n a Engelm.
+Uses — Nuts (seeds), which are rich in proteins, are used as an important food supply 
+by Mexicans and Indians, in Lower California especially. Seeds are eaten raw or in con­
+fections under name of pignolia. Taste is that of piney-flavored peanuts, except that the 
+meat is softer. Dense foliage makes the tree desirable as an ornamental tree in cultivation. 
+Trees also used in environmental forestry, as watershed, and as habitat or food for wildlife.^ 
+Folk medicine — According to Hartwell,the ointment derived from the pitch is said 
+to be a folk remedy for external cancers. Duke and Wain^‘ report Parry’s pine-nut to be a 
+folk remedy for cancer.
+Chemistry — No data available.
+Description — Evergreen trees to 12.3 m tall, with thick, spreading branches forming a 
+pyramid, eventually becoming round-topped and irregular. Needles stout, in fascicles of 4, 
+not over 3.5 cm long, pale glaucous green, incurved, irregularly deciduous, mostly falling 
+the third year. Cones subglobose, chestnut-brown, lustrous, 3.5 to 5 cm broad, broadly 
+ovate, compact until mature; scales thick, pyramidal, conspicuously keeled, umbo with 
+minute prickle. Seeds few, large, dark red-brown, mottled, about 1.3 cm long; shell thin 
+and brittle. Fruit matures in August or September of second season. Hybridizes with P. 
+monophylla, single-leaf piñón, from border of U.S. into Baja California, Mexico.Fruit 
+green before ripening; yellowish or reddish-brown when ripe. Flowers June; cone ripens in 
+September; seeds dispersed September to October.^
+Germplasm — Reported from the Middle America Center of Diversity, Parry’s pine- 
+nut, or CVS thereof, is reported to tolerate drought, heat, poor soil, and slope.
+Distribution — Native at low elevations of southern California and northern Baja Cali­
+fornia, Mexico. Not hardy north ward. Most abundant of piñón pines. There are very 
+dense and extensive stands in the Sierra Juarez and the Sierra San Pedro Mártir, which 
+produce tremendous quantities of piñón nuts.^^^
+Ecology — Ranging from Warm Temperate Wet through Subtropical Moist Forest Life 
+Zones, Parry’s pine-nut is reported to tolerate annual precipitation of 10.3 to 21.4 dm (mean 
+of 2 cases = 15.9), annual temperature of 21.2°C, and pH of 5.0 to 5.3 (mean of 2 cases 
+= 5.2).*^ Thrives on arid mesas and low mountain slopes on well-drained soils. Tolerates 
+high temperatures and low rainfall; very drought-resistant.^^®
+Cultivation — Trees not known to be in cultivation for the nuts. Sometimes trees are 
+cultivated as ornamentals. Propagated from seed, mainly distributed naturally.First cul­
+tivated in 1885. Germination hastened and improved by cold stratification of stored seeds 
+for up to 30 days at 0° to 5°C in a moist medium.^
+Harvesting — Natives usually collect nuts from the ground after cones have opened, or 
+they beat nuts loose from cones with long poles. Present-day nut-collectors, who often collect 
+the nuts for recreation and then sell them to local groceries, break off cone-bearing branches, 
+or tear green cones loose with garden rakes, causing serious damage to trees, thus lowering 
+their productivity. Nuts have good keeping qualities and unshelled piñón nuts can be stored 
+for 3 years without becoming rancid. Piñón nuts mature in the second season during August 
+and September.There is a 1- to 5-year interval between large seed crops. Seeds are dried 
+for 2 to 8 days. Seeds may be collected by shaking the tree and collecting seeds on a cloth 
+spread on the ground.^
+Yields and economics — In California, between 820 and 1,200 (average 960) seeds per 
+pound were collected from three samples.^ Exact yield data are difficult to obtain, as fruiting 
+is uneven, and nearly all piñón nuts are harvested from wild plants, which may be scattered. 
+Nuts form a very important item of the diet for some Mexicans and Indians, especially in 
+Baja California, and are sold in markets from San Diego southward, for as much as $2.85 
+per Ib.^^®
+239
+Energy — Historically, the wood, the cones, the needles, and the pitches and resins of 
+pines have been used as energy sources. Scandinavians have even adapted automobile engines 
+to run on turpentine-like compounds. Although the seeds may run more than 50% oil, they 
+seem better adapted to edible than to energy ends.
+Biotic factors — This piñón nut tree is attacked by a fungus, Hypoderma sp. and may 
+be parasitized by the mistletoe, Arceiithobium campylopodum.^^^
+240 Handbook of Nuts
+PISTACIA VERA L. (PISTACIACEAE) — Pistachio
+Uses — Pistachio is cultivated for the nut, rich in oil, eaten roasted, salted, or used to 
+flavor confections and ice cream. Arabs call the nut “ Fustuk” . The outer husk of the fruit, 
+used in India for dyeing and tanning, is imported from Iran. The fruit is the source of a 
+non-drying oil. In Iran, Bokhara Galls of Gul-i-pista, are used for tanning.The nuts are 
+much liked by squirrels and some birds, including bluejays and red-headed woodpeckers. 
+The wood is excellent for carving and cabinet work.*^^ In Iran, fruit husks are made into 
+marmalade; they are also used as fertilizer.
+Folk medicine — According to Hartwell,the nuts are said to be a folk remedy for 
+scirrhus of the liver. Reported to be anodyne and decoagulant, pistachio is a folk remedy 
+for abdominal ailments, abscess, amenorrhea, bruises, chest ailments, circulation problems, 
+dysentery, dysmenorrhea, gynecopathy, pruritus, sclerosis of the liver, sores, and trauma. 
+Algerians used the powdered root in oil for children’s cough. Iranians infused the fruits’ 
+outer husk for dysentery. Lebanese used the leaves as compresses, believing the nuts en­
+hanced fertility and virility.Arabs consider the nuts to be digestive, aphrodisiac, and tonic. 
+They are used medicinally in East India.
+Chemistry — Per 100 g, the seed (ZMB) is reported to contain 624 to 627 calories, 19.7 
+to 20.4 g protein, 56.4 to 56.7 g fat, 20.1 to 20.6 g total carbohydrate, 2.0 g fiber, 2.9 to 
+3.3 g ash, 138 mg Ca, 528 mg P, 7.7 mg Fe, 1026 mg K, 146 jjig beta-carotene equivalent, 
+0.71 mg thiamine, 1.48 mg niacin, and 0.0 mg ascorbic acid.®^ Galls produced on leaves 
+contain 45% tannin. Tannin contains gallotanic acid, gallic acid, and an oleo-resin, to which 
+the odor is due.^^® Low in sugar (ca. 8%), high in protein (ca. 20%) and oil (>50%). The 
+oil is nearly 90% unsaturated fatty acid (70% oleic and 20% linoleic fatty acid).^^^ The
+241
+edible portion of the nuts contains 9.0 ppm Al, 0.02 As, 0.002 Au, 11 B, 0.1 Ba, 16 Br, 
+1066 Ca, 0.04 Cd, 408 Cl, 0.2 Co, 0.6 Cr, 0.1 Cs, 33 Cu, 0.1 Eu, 3.8 F, 46 Fe, 0.1 Hg, 
+51 I, 8639 K, 0.02 La, 0.01 Lu, 949 Mg, 3.4 Mn, 538 Na, 1.1 Ni, 0.8 Pb, 10 Rb, 960 S, 
+0.05 Sb, 0.004 Sc, 0.1 Se, 0.03 Sm, 0.4 Sn, 10 Sr, 0.4 Th, 3.1 Ti, 0.01 V, 0.1 W, 0.1 
+Yb, and 30 ppm Zn dry weight. The normal concentration of some of these elements in 
+land plants are 50 ppm B, 14 Ba, 15 Br, 2000 Cl, 0.5 Co, 0.2 Cs, 14 Cu, 3.200 Mg, 630 
+Mn, 3 Ni, 20 Rb, 3,400 S, 26 Sr, and 0.2 ppm Se dry weight. They were higher in copper, 
+fluorine, iodine, and potassium, and they were equal or higher in europium and thorium 
+than any of the 12 nut species studied by Furr et al. Moyer^^^ reports pistachios to contain, 
+per 100 g edible portion, 594 calories, 19.3 g protein, 53.7 g fat, 19.0 g carbohydrates, 
+5.3% water, 131 mg Ca, 500 mg P, 7.3 mg Fe, 972 mg K, and 158 mg Mn. An analysis 
+of pistachio kernels in the Wealth of India gave the following values per 100 g: 5.6% 
+moisture, 19.8% protein, 53.5% fat, 16.2% carbohydrates, 2.1% fiber, 2.8% mineral matter, 
+0.14% Ca, 0.43% P, 13.7 mg Fe, 240 I.U. carotene (as vitamin A), 0.67 mg thiamine, 
+0.03 mg riboflavin, 1.4 mg nicotinic acid, no vitamin C, and 626 calories. The fatty acid 
+composition of the oil is 0.6% myristic, 8.2% palmitic, 1.6% stearic, 69.6% oleic, and 
+19.8% linoleic acids. Galls contain 50% tannins. Both young and mature leaves contain 
+shikimic acid.^®
+D escrip tion — Slow-growing, long-lived (700 to 15(X) years), small, dioecious bushy 
+tree, to 10 m tall, developing a large trunk with age; branches pendant. Leaves odd-pinnate, 
+the 3 to 11 leaflets ovate, slightly tapering at the base. Flowers dioecious, without petals, 
+brownish-green, small, in axillary racemes or panicles; pedicels bracted at base; staminate 
+flowers with 5-cleft calyx and 5 very short stamens with large anthers; pistillate flowers 
+with 3 to 4 cleft calyx, 1-celled sessile ovary and short 3-cleft style. Fruit a dry, ovoid to 
+oblong, pedicelled drupe, up to 2.5 cm long, reddish and wrinkled, enclosing 2 yellow- 
+green oily cotyledons (kernel). Flowers early summer; fruits August to September.
+G erm p lasm — Reported from the Central Asia Center of Diversity, pistachio, or cvs 
+thereof, is reported to tolerate drought, frost, and heat.®^ Many varieties of pistachio have 
+been developed, because the crop has been grown for several thousand years, most are 
+named after the area in which they were cultivated. Iranian: light-yellow kernel, larger size 
+but lacks oily nut flavor; Sicilian, Syrian, and Turkish: almost green kernel throughout, with 
+good flavor; Afghan and Italian: deep-green kernels prefered for ice cream and pastry. In 
+Syria, district cvs are ‘Alemi’, ‘Achoury’, ‘Aijimi’, ‘Aintab’, ‘Ashoori’, ‘El Bataury’, 
+‘Mirhavy’. In Sicily: ‘Trabonella’, and ‘Bronte’. In California, 13 cvs have been tested: 
+‘Ibrahmim’, ‘Owhadi’, ‘Safeed’, ‘Shasti’, ‘Wahedi’ (largest nuts of any cv). In Turkey: 
+‘Uzun’ (nuts 34 to 36 mm long) and ‘Kirmizi’ (red-hulled, thin-shelled, free-splitting, green- 
+kemeled, containing 20.3% protein and 65.47% oil).^^® Joley^^^ reports on cvs being tested 
+at Chico, California. Male cv ‘Peters’, nearest to a universal pollinator, coincides well with 
+‘Red Aleppo’ and ‘Trabonella’ (early blossoming) and with ‘Kerman’ (late blossoming). 
+Cultivar ‘Chico’ provides a supplement to ‘Peters’. The first nut-bearing cvs tested at Chico 
+were ‘Bronte’, ‘Buenzle’, ‘Minassian’, ‘Red Aleppo’, ‘Sfax’, and ‘Trabonella’. The most 
+promising in quality and greeness of kernels are ‘Bronte’, ‘Red Aleppo’, and ‘Trabonella’. 
+‘Kerman’ is liked by importers and processors for its size, crispness, and snap when bitten 
+into and chewed. A sister seedling of ‘Kerman’, ‘Lassen’, also produces good quality large­
+sized nuts.^^^ (2n = 30.)
+D istrib u tion — Native to Near East and Western Asia from Syria to Caucasus, and 
+Afghanistan, forming pure stands at altitudes up to 1(XK) m; pistachio has been introduced 
+and is now cultivated in many subtropical areas of the world, such as China, India, the 
+Mediterranean, and U.S. (Arizona, California, and Florida).
+E cology — Ranging from Warm Temperate Dry through Subtropical Thom to Dry Forest 
+Life Zones, pistachio is reported to tolerate annual precipitation of 4.7 to 11.2 dm (mean
+242 Handbook of Nuts
+of 7 cases = 6.2 dm), annual temperature of 14.3°C to 26.2°C (mean of 7 = 18.8°C), and 
+pH of 7.1 to 7.8 (mean of 4 cases = 7.6).^^ Hardy to Zone Pistachio requires cold 
+winters (to - 18°C) and long hot dry summers (to 38°C) to mature. Philippe^^^ assumes it 
+requires 600 to 1500 hours below TC to meet its chilling requirements. In Iran, it grows 
+at 1200 m elevation on desert plateau. In Turkey and California it grows in the same areas 
+as olives and almonds, but flowers later in the spring than almonds, and is less susceptible 
+to fruit injury. Requires from 30 to 45 cm annual rainfall, any less may need irrigation, but 
+requires less than most other culitvated fruit and nut trees. Soils should be deep, friable, 
+and well-drained but moisture-retaining; the root is deep-penetrating.^^® It can, however, 
+survive in poor, stony, calcareous highly alkaline or slightly acid, or even saline soils.
+C u ltivation — Trees are difficult to transplant; green seed (nuts) are planted in their 
+permanent place. Other species of Pistacia are used as stock upon which to bud pistachio. 
+Care should be taken to select areas for the pistachio orchard which are protected from wind, 
+as in a valley, with less exposure to cold, and with soil relatively free of sand but possessing 
+the ability to retain moisture. After planting, soil should be cultivated periodically for 5 to 
+7 years, by which time the trees are 2 to 3 m tall. Branches of selected cvs are then bud- 
+grafted (2 buds per tree to insure at least one taking) on new trees. Male varieties shedding 
+pollen during the first half of female blooming period should be selected. In California, 
+male varieties ‘Peters’ and ‘Chico 23’ correspond well to female ‘Red Aleppo’, ‘Trabonella’, 
+and ‘Bronte’. One male tree should be planted to 7 or 8 females. Plantings should be about 
+9 m apart under irrigation, farther apart without irrigation. Pistachio responds favorably to 
+applications of nitrogen. After grafting, 4 to 6 years are required before trees begin to bear. 
+The trees do not bear fully until they are 20 to 25 years old, and continue to bear for 40 to 
+60 years or more. Pistachio trees are delicate, and production of nuts is influenced by excess 
+of rain, drought, excessive heat or cold, and high winds.
+H arvestin g — Harvest period is August to September in most areas. It is best to harvest 
+the whole tree when most of the crop is ripe. Nuts can be knocked from trees. Clusters of 
+nuts are removed, allowed to dry 3 days on the ground, and beaten or stamped on to separate 
+the nuts from the clusters. They are then put in a tank of water to soak for 12 hr, and then 
+stamped on or beaten to remove the outer green husk. Finally, they are washed and dried 
+in the sun.'^^’^^®
+Y ield s and econ om ics — Adult trees yield an average of 11.25 kg annually. Three kg 
+unshelled nuts yield 1 kg shelled.^^® Joley’^^ reports on the average yield of four pistachio 
+CVS per tree per year since start of production: ‘Kerman’ 22.45 kg dry weight, 15 years in 
+production; ‘Bronte’ 11.25 kg dry weight, 14 years in production; ‘Trabonella’ 6.35 kg dry 
+weight, 12 years in production; and ‘Red Aleppo’ 4.50 kg dry weight, 12 years in production. 
+For 8- to 15-year old trees in Jordan, Philippe^^^ estimates yields at 2 to 8 kg in shell per 
+tree, 200 to 800 kg/ha, for 16- to 30-year-old trees, 8 to 30 kg per tree, 800 to 2,400 kg/ha. 
+In 1976, the yield of American pistachios was 150,000 lbs; in 1979, more than 17 million 
+lbs. Yields of 50 to 150 lbs per tree are reported in California.Duke®^ reports 7 kg fruit 
+per plant. Nuts are marketed mostly unshelled and salted. Soaked in a brine solution, they 
+are quickly dried in the sun or in artificial driers to prevent development of surface mold. 
+Before marketing the shell is cracked for consumer convenience. “ Red” pistachios are 
+roasted, salted, and shell is colored with a vegetable dye; “ White” pistachios are roasted 
+and shell coated with a mixture of salt and cornstarch; “ Naturals” have only salt added 
+after roasting.^^® In 1979, the revolution in Iran caused the world’s main pistachio supply 
+to disappear, which in turn caused prices to rise from $1.25/lb in 1978 to $2.05/lb in 1980. 
+In 1982, the American crop of 43 million pounds of pistachios was valued at more than $60 
+million. Indications are that the U.S. crop will be 70 to 80 million pounds by the 1990s, 
+eventually topping 120 million pounds.
+E n ergy — The wood has a specific gravity of 0.9179 to 0.92(X),^^'* and is said to make
+243
+an excellent fireplace wood.*^^ Analyzing 62 kinds of biomass for heating value, Jenkins 
+and Ebeling’"^^ reported a spread of 19.26 to 18.06 MJ/kg, compared to 13.76 for weathered 
+rice straw to 23.28 MJ/kg for prune pits. On a percent DM basis, the shells contained 82.03% 
+volatiles, 1.13% ash, 16.85% fixed carbon, 48.79% C, 5.91% H, 43.41% O, 0.56% N, 
+0.01% S, 0.04% Cl, and undetermined residue.
+B iotic facto rs — Pollination is by wind or air drift. Many insects are serious crop- 
+destroying pests and should be controlled; an aphid (Anapleura lentisci) is one such pest. 
+Numerous fungi, causing serious damage, attack pistachio: A lternaría tenuissim a, A stero- 
+m ella pistaciaru m , C ladosporiu m herbarum , C ylindrosporium garbow skii, C. p ista cia e, 
+C ytospora teretinthi, F am es rim osus, Fusarium roseum , F. solani, M onilia p ista cia , O zon- 
+ium auriconium , P apu lospora sp., P hellinus rim osus, P hleospora p ista cia e, P hyllactin ia 
+suffulta, P h yllosticta lentisci, P. terebinthi, Phym atotrichum om nivorum , P hytophthora p a r ­
+asitica, P ileola ria terebinthi, P leurotus ostreatus, R hizoctonia bataticola, R osellina n eca­
+trix, Septogloeum p ista cia e, S eptoria p ista cia e, S. pistaciaru m , S. pistacin a, Stem phylium 
+botryosum , T etracoccosporium sp., and U rom yces terebinthi. The P hytophthora causes 
+footrot via damage to cambium; S eptoria spp. cause defoliation and CuS spray should be 
+used; P hom opsis and Fusarium attack the female flowers; a virus causing rosettes is serious 
+in Asia; mistletoe attacks the trees; and the following nematodes have been isolated from 
+pistachio: H eterodera m arioni, M eloidogyne sp., and X iphinem a index.The roots are 
+very susceptible to root-knot nematodes.Verticillium wilt is the primary threat, according 
+to Vietmeyer.^^^ Rice et al.^^^ report epicarp lesion symptoms being reproduced on apparently 
+L eptoglossu s 
+healthy pistachio fruit clusters exposed to field-collected adult leaf-footed bugs, 
+clypealis. Two species of leaf-footed bugs, L eptoglossu s clypealis and L. o ccid en ta lis, and 
+at least four species of stink-bugs in the genera Thyanta, C hlorochroa, and A crosternum 
+produced similar external and internal damage to pistachio fruits. Other fruit symptoms, not 
+associated with insects, were panicle and shoot blight, endocarp necrosis, and stylar-end 
+lesion. Several species of smaller plant bugs in the family Miridae, including L ygus hesperus 
+and C alocoris norvegicus, caused epicarp lesion symptoms.
+244 Handbook of Nuts
+PITTOSPORUM RESINIFERUM Hemsl. (PITTOSPORACEAE) — Petroleum Nut (Eng­
+lish), “ Hanga” (Philippine)
+U ses — Called petroleum nuts because of the fancied resemblance of the odor of the 
+fruit’s oil to that of petroleum, the fruits, even green ones, bum brilliantly when ignited. 
+Hence, they are used like torch nuts or candlenuts for illumination in the bush. Dihydroterpene 
+(CioHig) is used in perfumes and medicines. Heptane (CyH^^) is a component of gasoline, 
+and has been suggested as a possible component of paint and varnish.
+F olk m ed icin e — The fmit is used as a panacea by Philippine traditionalists — especially, 
+however, for abdominal pain. The oleoresin is used to treat muscular pains and skin dis­
+eases. The nut decoction is used for colds. Cmshed nuts are mixed with coconut oil as 
+a relief for myalgia. AltshuP® quotes from a 1947 Sulit herbarium specimen, “ Petroleum 
+gas extracted from the fruit is medicinal for stomach-ache and cicitrizant.’’ Hurov^"^^ says 
+the fruit is used to treat rheumatism, muscle pains, and wounds.
+C h em istry — The volatile oil of the fmit is reported to contain “ dihydroterpene and 
+heptane, which is a cardiac glycosideThe Horticultural and Special Crops Laboratory 
+at Peoria analyzed an accession of fmit, and identified, from its “ squeezings” , constituents 
+passing through a gas chromatographic column, heptane (about 45% of the elutents) nonane, 
+alpha-pinene or beta-ocimene, beta-pinene, myrcene, and unidentified materials. The es­
+sential oil (8 to 10% of fmit weight) contains myrcene (40%) and alpha-pinene (38%) in
+245
+± equal quantities (oil of P. undulatum contains mostly limonene). The two components 
+n-heptane (5%) and n-nonane (7%) are minor components.
+D escrip tion — Aromatic tree to 30 m tall, but probably smaller in its elfin forest habitat 
+(perhaps even epiphytic); fruiting when only 6 to 12 m tall. Leaves aromatic, coriaceous, 
+entire (possibly evergreen), thickest above the middle, pinnately nerved, with a short acumen 
+at the tip. Flowers fragrant, white, clustered on the stems. Fruits average 25 mm in diameter 
+(12 to 43). Each fruit has 5 to 72 seeds (average 31), the seeds ranging from 1 to 4 mm, 
+averaging 3 mm. The seeds are about as close to hexahedral and prismatic as any I have 
+seen, being quite angular, black to blackish-gold, often still surrounded by a gummy or 
+resinous endocarp.
+G erm p lasm — The FORI Director in the Philippines is actively collecting superior 
+germplasm in the high mountains of Bontoc and Benguet where they abound, especially in 
+elfin forests.
+D istrib u tion — In the Philippines, petroleum nut is locally known in Benguet as apisang, 
+abkol, abkel, and langis; in the Mountain Province, dael and dingo, and in Abra, sagaga. 
+It abounds in Mt. Pulis, Ifugao, and is reported from the head-waters of the Agno and Chico 
+River Basins. Also in the Bicol Provinces, Palawan, Mindoro, Nueva Ecija, and Laguna 
+Provinces. It is being cultivated at FORFs Conifer Research Center, Baguio City.*^’^^^
+E cology — Petroleum nut is reported to range from 600 to 2,400 m elevation, usually 
+in elfin or Benguet Pine Forest. Average of 7 climatic data sites where the Pittosporum 
+grows was close to 1,000 m, the range from ca. 550 to 2,000 m. Whether or not it can 
+stand frost, dry heat, and drought is questionable. Frequently, species of elfin forests have 
+very narrow ecological amplitudes and do not thrive in other vegetation types. Results of 
+transplants and trials are unavailable to me now. Reportedly, seed were introduced once, 
+at least to Hawaii. Thanks to Professors Ludivina S. de Padua, S. C. Hales, and Juan V. 
+Pancho of the Philippines, we now have a fairly good idea of the ecosystematic amplitudes 
+of the Pittosporum, an energy plant that has captured the imagination of many. Professor 
+de Padua checked off all the climatic data points (from our climatic data base) at which 
+Pittosporum resiniferum was growing, prior to its widespread introduction for potential 
+energy studies elsewhere in the Philippines. Ranging from Tropical Dry to Moist through 
+Subtropical Forest Life Zones, the petroleum nut grows where the annual precipitation ranges 
+from 15 to more than 50 dm (mean of 36 cases = 27 dm), annual temperature from 18 to 
+28°C (mean of 17 cases = 26°C). Of 17 cases where both temperature and rainfall data 
+were available to us, 13 would suggest Tropical Moist Forest Life Zone, three would suggest 
+Tropical Dry, and one would suggest Subtropical Rain Forest Life Zones.
+C ultivation — Seeds and cutting can be used to propagate the tree. Seeds may lose their 
+vitality rather rapidly. According to Juan V. Pancho (personal communication, 1982), “ from 
+my experience, the seed lost its viability after one month storage.”
+H arvestin g — Currently, seeds are harvested from the wild.
+Y ields and econ om ics — A single fruit yields 0.1 to 3.3 m€, averaging about 1.3 m€
+oil. In general, the bigger the fruit, the larger the seed, and the greater the oil content.
+It is reported^^ that a single tree from Mount Mariveles, Bataan, yielded 15 kg green fruits, 
+which yielded 800 cm^ of oil. The residue, ground up and distilled with steam, yielded 73 
+cm^ more. Another report gave 68 g per kg fresh nuts, suggesting about 1 kg oil per tree 
+yielding 15 kg.‘^ Currently, seeds are being sold at $2.00 per gram in 5-gram lots (ca. 40 
+seeds per g) by the FORI Seed Officer, Forest Research Institute College, Laguna, Phil­
+ippines.
+E n ergy — The plant was discovered as a hydrocarbon source just after 1900. Based on 
+the previous paragraph, it seems it would take 1,000 trees per ha to get one MT oil per 
+hectare from the fruits. Perhaps the resin in the leaves, twigs, etc. would equal or exceed 
+this; figures are not yet available. The oil derived from the fruits is quite sticky and rapidly
+246 Handbook of Nuts
+turns resinous when laid thin. In an open dish, it bums strongly, although with a sooty 
+flame.C. A. Arroyo‘S notes that for home use as fuel, “ the husk of African oil palm nuts 
+could be much better than the petroleum nut that emits sooty smoke and strong smell.” 
+President Marcos was said to encourage each Philippine farmer to plant five trees in the 
+hopes that they could obtain 300 € of oil therefrom, per year. I saw nothing about this at 
+the Philippine exhibit at the World’s Fair in June 1982. However, if yields of 60 € of oil 
+per tree are possible, the tree should certainly be examined! In the January 1981 issue of 
+Canopy International, Generalao^®® lists petroleum nut at the top of a long list of potential 
+oil seeds including Pongamia pinnata, Sterculia foetida, Terminalia catappa, Sindora supa, 
+Calophyllum inophyllum, Canarium luzonicum, Aleurites moluccana, Aleurites trisperma, 
+Mallotus philippensis, Barringtonia asiatica, Sindora inermis, Pithecellobium dulce, Ta- 
+marindus indica, Chisocheton cumingianus, Jatropha curcas, and Euphorbia philippensis 
+to help the Philippines solve their energy problem (importing 85%). Presidential Decree 
+1068 declares the imperative acceleration of research on energy alternatives. Editorial notes 
+in Canopy International suggest that the flammable element in petroleum nut is volatile, 
+evaporating quickly like acetone. Some chemists believe admixing another element will 
+stabilize the compound. One Hurov seed cataloghas very optimistic notes about the plant: 
+“ The Gasoline Tree produces masses of apricot-sized orange fruits which when cut and 
+touched with a match leap into flame and bum steadily. The fmits contain 46% of gasoline 
+type components (heptane, dihydroterpene, etc.), which are found in extensive networks of 
+large resin canals. If planted, the estimated yield would be about 45 tons of fmit or 2500 
+gallons of ‘gasoline’ per acre per 
+B iotic factors — No data available.
+247
+PLATONIA ESCULENTA (Arr. Cam.) Rickett & Stafl. (CLUSIACEAE) — Bacury, Bacuri, 
+Pakuri, Parcouril, Piauhy, Wild Mammee (Guyana)
+S yn .: Anstoclesia esculenta (A rr. C a m .) Stuntz; Platonia insignis M art.
+Uses — Seeds are the source of Bacury Kernel Oil, a nondrying oil used in the manufacture 
+of candles and soaps. Fruits are used for pastry and preserves, and are highly esteemed in 
+the Amazon region for the delicious pulp from the large fruit, used in sweets and ice cream. 
+Extracts of the fruit are toxic to black carpet beetles, but not to the larvae of Aedes and 
+Anopheles. A yellow gum resin secreted by the bark is used in veterinary medicine. Wood, 
+brownish-yellow, turning black upon exposure to air, is durable, resistant to insect attacks; 
+resilient, rather fine-grained, easy to work, taking on a lustrous finish; used for flooring, 
+planks, fancy wood-work, and construction of buildings. Presently, wood is used for making 
+rum barrels, and cases or crates for shipping bananas; it is also excellent for cabinet work 
+and carpentry. Bark is white, exfoliating, fibrous, used for cordage, and yielding a black 
+viscous resin used for caulking boats.
+F olk m ed icin e — No data available.
+C h em istry — This is one of the few outstanding exceptions to the generally evenly 
+distributed glyceride structure of solid seed fats. In 1945, it was reported to have the unusually 
+high melting point of 51 to 52°C and contain 24% fully saturated glycerides, although its 
+component acids were approximately 56% saturated (palmitic and stearic) with 39% oleic 
+and 4% linoleic acid. Component acids reported are myristic 1.0, palmitic 55.1, stearic 6.4, 
+arachidic 0.3, hexadecenoic 3.2, oleic 31.7, and linoleic 2.3%, and the component glycer­
+ides: fully saturated 20 (tripalmitin 15), oleodipalmitin 38, oleopalmitostearin 17, palmi- 
+todiolein 19, stearodiolein 6%. Apart from the fully saturated glyceride content, the rest of
+248 Handbook of Nuts
+the fat is constituted on the usual lines, and bacury fat thus resembles laurel kernel fat in 
+that it is only the fully saturated glycerides which are abnormal. It is possible, but of course 
+not in any way proven, that such departures from the normal are caused by certain acids 
+(in this instance, palmitic) being produced in the seed at some stage of its development in 
+much greater proportions than the average content of the acid in the total seed fat at maturity; 
+if so, the departure from normality would be more apparent than real. Elsewhere, Hilditch 
+and Williams report among the saturated fatty acids 1.2% C14, 57.2% C,^, 6.0% Cjg, and 
+0.2% C20 or above. Among the glycerides, 19% were trisaturated, 55% were disaturated, 
+26% monosaturated.*^^
+D escrip tion — Large trees with yellowish sap; trunk straight, cylindrical, 50 to 55 cm 
+in diameter (up to 1.3 m), free of branches 20 to 25 m up, with indistinct, low, thick 
+butresses; cortex dark-gray, with deep vertical cracks 1 to 3 cm apart, or with large scales 
+5 to 25 mm thick; crown broad, flattened, with thick straight slightly slanting branches; 
+twigs straight and stout; entire plant glabrous except the inflorscence. Leaves remote at ends 
+of branches and in single pairs at ends of short lateral branchlets; petioles 1 to 2 cm long, 
+margined; blade elliptic, obovate or oblong to oblong-lanceolate, apex and base rounded, 
+acute or slightly acuminate, up to 15 cm long, coriaceous, glossy above, midrib flat or 
+impressed above, prominent to strongly prominent beneath; primary veins prominent on both 
+sides, connected by a submarginal vein. Inflorescence 1- to 3-flowered, terminating the leaf­
+bearing branchlets; peduncle absent; pedicels 1 to 3 cm long, their bases surrounded by a 
+series of deltoid bracts 3 to 4 mm long, leaving transverse scars; flowers minutely pulverulent; 
+sepals ovate to broad semi-orbicular, 6 to 8 mm long; petals elliptic, 3.5 to 4 cm long, pink 
+outside, white inside; bud reddish. Fruit globose, 5 to 7.5 cm long, green, turning yellow; 
+mesocarp edible, often containing only 1 seed, rarely more, of pleasant flavor. Flowers 
+September to November; fruits March to May.^^*
+G erm p lasm — Native to the South American Center of Diversity, bacury tolerates sand 
+and some waterlogging. Mors and Rizzini^^^ state “ it would be an ideal object of study for 
+plant breeders, who could increase the pulpy part at the expense of the very large seeds” . 
+Oilseed specialists might breed in the other direction.
+D istrib u tion — Native to Brazil (Para, Maranhao, Ceara, Goyaz, Amazon) and Guyana.
+E cology — Estimated to range from Subtropical Dry to Wet through Tropical Dry to Wet 
+Forest Life Zones, perhaps tolerating annual temperatures of 18 to 25°C, annual precipitation 
+of 5 to 40 dm, and pH of 4.5 to 8.0. On sandy, dry plains and in marshy regions, growing 
+scattered in tropical environment.^^®
+C u ltivation — Trees grow naturally from seeds in the forests, and the tree is not known 
+to be cultivated.
+H arvestin g — Trees are cut from the forest for timber. Fruits and seeds are collected by 
+natives and sold at trading centers. Most of the products are used locally by the natives.
+Y ield s and econ om ics — No yield data available. Seeds and fruits are sold at local 
+markets in Brazil, French Guyana, and Surinam. Also lumber, dye wood, and fiber are sold 
+in some markets.
+E n ergy — Prunings and falling leaves might provide 5 to 10 MT dry matter per ha per 
+yr, which could be diverted to energy production, for direct combustion or conversion into 
+alcohol or methane. With no yield data on the nuts, I cannot speculate as to how much 
+renewable oil, resin, and fuel wood this produces.
+B iotic factors — No serious pests or diseases have been reported for this tree.
+249
+PRUNUS DULCIS (MILL.) D.A. WEBB (ROSACEAE) — Almond
+Uses — Almonds are cultivated for the nuts, used in candies, baked products, and 
+confectioneries, and for the oils obtained from the kernels. Oil is used as a flavoring agent 
+in baked goods, perfumery and medicines. Benzaldehyde may be used for almond flavoring, 
+being cheaper ($1.54/kg) than almond oil ($5.28 to $6.60/kg).^^^ Much valued in the orient 
+because it furnishes a very pleasant oil. In Tuscany, almond branches are used as divining 
+rods to locate hidden treasure. Modem English Jews reportedly still carry branches of 
+flowering almonds into the synagogue on spring festival days. There is the legendary story 
+of Charlemagne’s troops’ spears (almond) sprouting in the ground overnight and shading 
+the tents the next day. As essential oils go, there is only bitter almond oil. Sweet almond 
+oil is used for cosmetic creams and lotions, although in a crisis, it might conceivably be 
+used as an energy source. The gum exuded from the tree has been used as a substitute for 
+tragacanth.®^
+F olk M ed icin e — According to Hartwell,the seed and/or its oil are used in folk 
+remedies for cancer (especially bladder, breast, mouth, spleen, and uterus), carcinomata, 
+condylomata, corns, indurations and tumors. Reported to be alterative, astringent, carmi­
+native, cyanogenetic, demulcent, discutient, diuretic, emollient, laxative, lithotriptic, ner­
+vine, sedative, stimulant and tonic, almond is a folk remedy for asthma, cold, corns, cough, 
+dyspnea, emptions, gingivitis, heartburn, itch, lungs, prurigo, skin, sores, spasms, sto­
+matitis, and ulcers. The kernels are valued in diet, for peptic ulcers. It is no surprise that 
+the seeds and/or oil (containing amygdalin or benzaldehyde) are widely acclaimed as folk 
+cancer remedies, for all sorts of cancers and tumors, calluses, condylomata, and corns. 
+Lebanese extract the oil for skin trouble, including white patches on skin; used throughout 
+the Middle East for an emollient; also for itch. Raw oil from the bitter variety is used for 
+acne. Almond and honey was given for cough. Thin almond paste was added to wheat 
+porridge to pass gravel or stone. It is believed by the Lebanese to restore virility. Iranians 
+make an ointment from bitter almonds for furuncles. Bitter almonds, when eaten in small 
+quantity, sometimes produce nettle-rash. When taken in large quantity, they may cause
+250 Handbook of Nuts
+poisoning. Ayurvedics consider the fruit, the seed and its oil aphrodisiac, using the oil for 
+biliousness and headache, the seed as a laxative. Unani use the seed for ascites, bronchitis, 
+colic, cough, delirium, earache, gleet, hepatitis, headache, hydrophobia, inflammation, 
+renitis, skin ailments, sore throat, and weak eyes.^'^^
+C h em istry — Per 100 g, the seed is reported to contain 547 to 605 calories, 4.7 to 4.8 
+g H2O, 16.8 to 21.0 g protein, 54.1 to 54.9 g fat, 17.3 to 21.5 g total carbohydrate, 2.6 
+to 3.0 g fiber, 2.0 to 3.0 g ash, 230 to 282 mg Ca, 475 to 504 mg P, 4.4 to 5.2 mg Fe, 4 
+to 14 mg Na, 432 to 773 mg K, 0 to 5 |xg beta-carotene equivalent, 0.24 to 0.25 mg 
+thiamine, 0.15 to 0.92 mg riboflavin, 2.5 to 6.0 mg niacin, and traces of ascorbic acid. 
+According to WOI, the seeds contain 5.8 mg/100 g Na, 856 K, 247 Ca, 257 Mg, 4.23 Fe, 
+0.14 Cu, 442 P, 145 S and 1.7 Cl. About 82% of the P is in phytic acid. Seeds contain 
+0.45 ppm folic acid, 150 mg/kg alpha-tocopherol and 5 mg/kg gamma-tocopherol. The chief 
+protein is a globulin, amandin, which contains 11.9% arginine, 1.6% histidine,, 0.7% lysine, 
+2.5% phenylalanine, 4.5% leucine, 0.2% valine, 1.4% tryptophane, 0.7% methionine, and 
+0.8% cystine. The approximate fatty acid composition of the oil is 1% myristic, 5% palmitic, 
+77% oleic, and 17% linoleic.Sweet almond oil from Kashmir showed 0.2% myristic, 8.9% 
+palmitic, 4.0% stearic, 62.5% oleic, and 24.4% linoleic. The essential oil is 81 to 93% 
+benzaldehyde, close kin to laetrile. The hulls (fleshy pericarp) contain: 7.5% moisture, 
+25.6% total sugars, 7.2% reducing sugars, 4.4% tannin, 2.6 to 4.7% protein, 1.6% starch, 
+2.4% pectin, 1.1 to 1.2% ether extract, 12.6% crude fiber, and 4.6 to 6.3% ash.^® The gum 
+which exudes from the trunk hydrolyses into 4 parts L-arabinose, 2 parts D-xylose, 3 parts 
+D-galactose, and 1 part D-glucuronic acid. The edible portion of the nuts contain 3.2 ppm 
+Al, 0.02 As, 0.001 Au, 18 B, 2.6 Ba, 20 Br, 2720 Ca, 0.02 Cd, 28 Cl, 0.2 Co, 1.7 Cr, 
+0.1 Cs, 14 Cu, 0.1 Eu, 1.3 F, 54 Fe, 0.04 Hf, 0.1 Hg, 0.1 I, 6346 K, 0.03 La, 0.01 Lu, 
+2297 Mg, 14 Mn, 0.3 Mo, 20 Na, 1.6 Ni, 0.4 Pb, 13 Rb, 3420 S, 0.1 Sb, 0.003 Sc, 0.02 
+Se, 960 Si, 0.1 Sm, 0.7 Sn, 16 Sr, 0.03 Ta, 0.2 Th, 3.5 Ti, 0.02 V, 0.1 W, 0.1 Yb, 32 
+ppm Zn dry weight. The normal concentration of some of these elements in land plants are 
+50 ppm B, 14 Ba, 15 Br, 2000 Cl, 0.5 Co, 0.2 Cs, 14 Cu, 3.200 Mg, 630 Mn, 3 Ni, 20 
+Rb, 3,400 S, 26 Sr, and 0.2 ppm Se dry weight. They were higher in calcium and chromium 
+than any of the 12 nut species studied by Furr et al.*®^
+D escrip tion — Tree to 10 m tall, the alternate leaves lanceolate to oblong lanceolate, 
+minutely serrate. Flowers solitary, white to pink, actinomorphic, 20 to 50 mm broad, 
+appearing with or before the foliage. Fruit an oblong drupe 30 to 60 mm long, pubescent, 
+the tough flesh splitting at maturity to expose the pitted stone; endocarp thin or thick; seed 
+flattened, longovoid, the seed coat brown.
+G erm p lasm — Reported from the Central Asian and Near Eastern Centers of Diversity, 
+almond or cvs thereof is reported to tolerate drought, frost, high pH, heat, mycobacteria, 
+nematodes, slope, and wilt.^^ ‘Cavaliera’ is very early, ‘Nonpareil’ early, ‘Ferragnes’ me­
+dium, ‘Marcona’ late, and ‘Texas’ very late. (2n = 16.)
+D istrib u tion — Widely distributed in cultivation now, the sweet almond is said to have 
+wild types in Greece, North Africa, and West Asia. Almond was cultivated in China in the 
+10th Century BC, in Greece in the 5th Century BC.
+E cology — Ranging from Cool Temperate Moist to Wet through Subtropical Thom to 
+Moist Forest Life Zones, almond is reported to tolerate annual precipitation of 2.0 to 14.7 
+dm (mean of 11 cases = 7.5) annual temperature of 10.5 to 19.5°C (mean of 11 cases = 
+14.8) and pH of 5.3 to 8.3 (mean of 7 cases = 7.3). Almond does well in the hot, dry 
+interior valleys of California, where the nuts mature satisfactorily. The leaves and nuts are 
+less subject to attack by disease-causing fungi in the hot, dry climate than under cooler and 
+more humid conditions. It has a low winter chilling requirement. Because of this low chilling 
+requirement (or short rest period), and the relatively low amount of heat required to bring 
+the trees into bloom, the almond is generally the earliest deciduous fruit or nut tree to flower,
+251
+hence extremely subject to frost injury where moderately late spring frosts prevail. Almonds 
+need ample rainfall or irrigation water for maximum production of well-filled almond nuts. 
+Trees have been planted in certain areas where supplies of water are inadequate for other 
+fruit or nut crops; however, yields of nuts were low. In general, conditions favoring peach 
+production will also favor almonds. The almond tree has been successfully grown on a wide 
+range of soils. It is a deep-rooted tree and draws heavily on the soil, which should be deep, 
+fertile, and well drained. Sandy loams are best. Since sandy soils are often deficient in plant 
+food elements, careful attention must be paid to proper fertilization of the trees. Almond 
+trees have high N and P requirements. Sandy soils are easy to cultivate, and cover crops 
+are comparatively easy to grow on them provided they are properly fertilized.
+C u ltivation — In India, trees are raised from seedlings, the seeds usually having a chilling 
+requirement. Seeds are sown in nurseries, the seedlings transplanted after about one year. 
+For special types, as in the U.S., scions are budded or grafted on to bitter or sweet almond, 
+apricot, myrobalan, peach, or plum seedlings. Trees are planted 6 to 8 m apart and irrigated, 
+in spite of their drought tolerance. Application of nitrogenous and/or organic fertilizers is 
+said to improve yield. Trees should be pruned to a modified leader system. All types are 
+self-sterile, so cvs or seedlings should be mixed.
+H arvestin g — Fruits occur mainly on shoot spurs, which remain productive up to five 
+years. Bearing trees may be pruned of surplus branches to about 20% of the old-bearing 
+wood. Tree exhibiting decline may be severely cut back at the top. In India, the trees bear 
+from July to September. Fruits are harvested when the flesh splits open exposing the stone. 
+The flesh is then removed from the stones manually or by machine.
+Y ield s and econ om ics — In 1971, commercial almond production in the U. S. was centered 
+in California, which produced more than 99% of the domestic marketed nuts. California’s 
+production of in-shell nuts during the 1960s nearly tripled. It reached about 140,000 in-shell 
+tons in 1970. Only sweet almonds are grown commercially. Imports, largely from Spain 
+and Italy, vary widely from year to year, ranging from about 280 to 1,700 tons on the in­
+shell basis for the past 7 years. The U.S. imported 67,252 kg of bitter almond oil worth 
+$271,600 in 1981, 354 kg from Canada worth $1,300, 48,470 kg from France worth 
+$221,300, 998 kg from Haiti worth $2,600, 17,400 kg from Spain worth $46,000, and 30 
+kg from Switzerland worth $400. On August 2, 1982,^^^ posted prices were ca. $7.70/kg 
+of natural bitter almond, and $2.64/kg of sweet almond. Dealers in bitter almond oil include:
+Berge Chemical Products, Inc. Florasynth, Inc.
+5 Lawrence Street 410 E. 62nd Street 
+Bloomfield, NJ 07003 New York, NY 10021
+Hagelin & Co., Inc. International Sourcing, Inc. 
+241 Cedar Knolls Road 555 Route 17 S. 
+Cedar Knolls, NJ 07927 Ridgewood, NJ 07450
+Dealers in sweet almond oil include:
+Berje Chemical Products, Inc. Lipo Chemicals, Inc. 
+5 Lawrence Street 207 Nineteenth Avenue 
+Bloomfield, NJ 07003 Paterson, NJ 07504
+Mutchler Chemical Co., Inc. PPF Norda Inc.
+99 Kinderkamack Road 140 Rt. 10
+Westwood, NJ 07675 East Hanover, NJ 07936
+252 Handbook of Nuts
+Energy — According to The W ealth o f I n d i a , average California yields are ca. 400 
+kg/ha, but they attain over 1,200 kg/ha. However, for Baluchistan, WOI reports 2,375 kg/ha, 
+basing this on an optimistic yield of 7.3 kg for each of 325 trees per ha. Yields of 2 to 3 
+kg per tree seem more realistic; Duke,®^ however, reports seed yields of 3000 kg/ha. With 
+an oil yield of 50 to 55%, it is easy to project oil yields of 1500 kg/ha. With recommended 
+pruning to 20% of the old-bearing wood, several MT firewood should be available from the 
+pruning. Analyzing 62 kinds of biomass for heating value, Jenkins and Ebeling*'^^ reported 
+a spread of 20.01 to 18.93 MJ/kg, compared to 13.76 for weathered rice straw to 23.28 
+MJ/kg for prune pits. On a percent DM basis, the orchard prunings of almond contained 
+76.83% volatiles, 1.63% ash, 21.54% fixed carbon, 51.30% C, 5.29% H, 40.90% O, 0.66% 
+N, 0.01% S, 0.04% Cl, and undetermined residue. The hulls, showing a spread of 17.13 
+to 18.22 MJ/kg, contained 71.33% volatiles, 5.78% ash, 22.89% fixed carbon, 45.79% C, 
+5.36% H, 40.60% O, 0.96% N, 0.01% S, 0.08% Cl, and undetermined residue. The shells, 
+with a spread of 18.17 to 19.38 MJ/kg, contained 73.45% volatiles, 4.81% ash, 21.74% 
+fixed carbon, 44.98% C, 5.97% H, 42.27% O, 1.16% N, 0.02% S, and undetermined 
+residue.
+Biotic factors — Prominent diseases in India include “ shot hole” caused by C laster- 
+osporium carpophilum (Lev.) Aderh., “ white spongy rot” due to F om es lividus Kl, “ brown 
+patchy leaf rot’ ’ due to P h yllosticta pru nicola (Spiz) Sacc., ‘ ‘brown rot’ ’ due to Sphaerotheca 
+pannosa (Walk.) Lev. and a mosaic disease due to virus; all plague the almond. The 
+chrysomelid M im astra cyanura Hope and the almond weevil M ylloceru s laetivirens Marshall 
+feed on the leaves. The San Jose scale Q uadraspidiotus pern iciosu s Comstock is a minor 
+problem. The almond moth E phestia cautella Wlk. infests shelled almonds and dried apricot, 
+currant, date, fig, peach, and plum.
+253
+QUERCUS SURER L. (FAGACEAE) Cork Oak
+Syn.: Quercus occidentalis Gay
+Uses — Bark provides the cork of commerce, used for bungs and stoppers for bottles 
+and other containers, life preservers, mats, ring buoys, floats, shoe inner-sole liners, artificial 
+limbs, sealing liners for bottle caps, novelties, switch-boxes, household appliances and 
+friction rolls, gaskets of various types for automobiles, electric motors, polishing wheels, 
+cork-board, and for insulation, acoustical, and machinery isolation purposes. It is also used 
+in the manufacture of linoleum. The hard wax extracted from the cork waste is used for 
+making shoe pastes.Acorns provide forage for hogs, and the orchards are profitably 
+grazed as well by sheep and goats.Acorns may be eaten, especially when roasted, in 
+cases of necessity.Acorns of all oaks can be converted into “ edible nuts” , but in the 
+bitter species much work is involved, compared to the “ sweet oaks” like Quercus prinos.
+Folk medicine — No data available.
+Chemistry — Age, growing conditions, and grades of the bark determine the chemical 
+composition of cork. A good specimen conforms to the following values: 3 to 7% moisture, 
+20 to 38% fatty acids, 10 to 18% other acids, 2.0 to 6.5% tannins, 1.0 to 6.5% glycerin, 
+12.6 to 18.0% lignin, 1.8 to 5.0% cellulose, 4.5 to 15.0% ceroids (waxes, stearins, etc.), 
+0.1 to 4.0% ash, 8 to 21% other substances. Suberin, the characteristic constituent of cork, 
+is composed mainly of high-molecular polymerides of hydroxy fatty acids, the major com­
+ponent being phellonic acid (22-hydroxy docosanoic). Other fatty acids present are phloionic 
+(9,10-dihydroxy octadecanediotic), phloionolic (9,10,18-trihydroxy octadecanoic) and its 
+stereoisomer (m.p. 133°), cis- and trans-9-octadecenoic, 18-hydroxy-9-octadecenoic, and 
+several unidentified acids. Crude cork wax contains cerin (chief constituent), friedelin, 
+steroids, acids, etc.^® Suberin is a mixture containing several acids, including phloionic acid 
+(C18H34O6), acid XX (C18H32O4), phloionolic acid (C18H36O5), acid XVIII (C18H34O3), acid 
+V (C18H34O4), phellonic acid (C22H44O3), and phellogenic acid (C22H42O4). The cork wax 
+is a mixture of esters and triterpenes (cerin C30H50O2; friedelin C30H50O; betulinic acid, 
+betulin, and suberindiol C28H46O2), also tannin, phlobaphen, cellulose, ligin, cyclitol, and 
+vanillin. Thus, synthetic vanilla could be a by-product of the cork industry. The bark 
+contains much silica.
+254 Handbook of Nuts
+Toxicity — Exposure to the bark is reported to produce a respiratory disorder, suberosis, 
+which starts with rhinitis, cough, and dyspnea, and then proceeds to chronic bronchitic 
+changes or extrinsic allergic alveolitis.
+Description — Large, subtropical, evergreen tree, to 20 m tall, the trunk circumference 
+to 10 m, with thick, corky bark; twigs tomentose. Leaves 3 to 7 cm long, ovate-oblong, 
+sinuate-dentate, dark-green above, gray-tomentose beneath; midrib sinuous; petiole 8 to 15 
+mm long. Male flowers in aments, female flowers in small clusters on short twigs. Fruit 
+ripening in the first year in spring-flowering trees, but some trees flower in autumn and 
+ripen their fruits late in the following summer; involucral scales long and patent, the lower 
+usually shorter and more appressed.^^®
+Germplasm — Reported from the Mediterranean Center of Diversity, cork oak, or cvs 
+thereof, is reported to tolerate drought, high pH, poor soil, and sand.®^ Highly variable, 
+with only one type differing sufficiently to be regarded as a subspecies, i.e., Q. occidentalism 
+differing principally in its slower maturing acorns, known from the Iberian Peninsula, 
+southeastern France, and Corsica. Individual clones have been selected and cultivated in 
+many areas, including the (2n = 24.) Among the American oak species, acorns
+of chestnut oak and white oak are most likely to serve as nuts.
+Distribution — Native and forming extensive forests (in the past) from northwestern 
+Yugoslavia, west to Spain and Portugal, the islands of the western Mediterranean and north 
+Africa (Morocco and Algeria). Introduced and cultivated for cork in eastern India, Japan 
+(southern islands), and in southern California. Trees also planted from New Jersey to Florida 
+and westward to California for experimental purposes in the late 1940s.^^®
+Ecology — Ranging from Cool Temperate Moist through Tropical Dry Forest Life Zones, 
+cork oak is reported to tolerate annual precipitation of 3.1 to 13.5 dm (mean of 10 cases 
+= 8.2), annual temperature of 9.7 to 26.5°C (mean of 10 cases = 16.3), and pH of 4.9 
+to 8.2 (mean of 9 cases = 6.9).®^ Hardy to Zone 7.^"^^ Subtropical climate is essential for 
+good bark formation. Trees have withstood temperatures of - 18°C in South Carolina. In 
+general, a mean annual temperature of not less than 5°C with range of not lower than 2°C 
+and maximum mean annual temperature of 21°C is best for growth. About 57% of cork is 
+grown in the 18 to 21 °C region. Trees are quite drought-resistant and do not require irrigation 
+after the first few years. Will grow well with 2.5 to 10 dm annual rainfall; optimum is 5 to 
+10 dm/year. Grows best in neutral or slightly acid, sandy, well-drained, soils. Trees grow 
+from sea-level up to 1,300 m. Though granitic, clay, or slate soils are suggested,Srnith^’® 
+says, “ the poorer the soil, the better the cork” .
+Cultivation — Best method of planting is by direct seeding. Ripe acorns are planted in 
+groups of 4 or 5 (about 625 groups per ha), each group in a shallow furrow covered to a 
+depth of 1.3 cm. The stand is later thinned so that one plant remains at each site. Seeds 
+may be germinated in seed-beds and transplanted later, but the seedlings should not be 
+disturbed after the taproot has become established. Viability of seeds is short, but can be 
+lengthened by wet cold storage at 0.5 to 1.5°C.^^® Requiring no stratification, the seeds 
+show 73 to 100% germination after 20 to 30 days at 2TC day and night temperatures.^ 
+Trees may also be grafted on both evergreen or deciduous native oaks. Techniques for clonal 
+cuttings have been worked out.^‘® Older saplings should be thinned to avoid shading. At 
+age 50, trees should be thinned to ca. 500 per ha; at 75 years to about half that number; at 
+120 years, there should be about 1(X) per ha. With such reduction, overcrowding is avoided 
+and cork production per ha is relatively stabilized.
+Harvesting — Cork of commercial value is not produced by trees less than 30 years old. 
+Since transplanting of saplings and small trees should not be attempted, and direct seeding 
+is practiced, it is impossible to bring trees into production in less than 30 years. First stripping 
+of bark may occur when the tree is about 20 years old. This virgin bark or mascalage is 
+rough and coarse and of little commercial value. Its removal stimulates the growth of cork
+255
+so that during the succeeding 2 or 3 years, much of the cork is produced. In Algeria, this 
+virgin or male bark is put back in place around the tree and held there by wires for 2 years 
+or so, thus protecting the new bark that is forming. This growth gradually decreases in rate 
+until after about 9 years scarcely any further thickening of the bark is perceptible, and at 
+the end of that period, the second stripping takes place. The second and all subsequent 
+strippings produce bark of commercial value. At around 120 years, decline sets in. Replanting 
+should follow. Harvest is rotated, with only a certain number of trees stripped each year. 
+Each tree is stripped, usually at 9-year intervals, but intervals may vary from 6 to 12 years, 
+depending on the conditions of growth. If pruning is necessary, trees should not be stripped 
+until 3 years after pruning. In North Africa, bark is stripped in winter; in other areas, in 
+spring, when the sap is rising to make bark removal easier. Cork stripping requires consid­
+erable skill. Bark must be removed without injuring the inner-most layer, which must remain 
+to continue growth.Acorns may be borne at age 12, with good crops every 2 to 4 years.
+Yields and economics — Mature trees yield good quantities of cork for 150 to 200 years 
+in the Mediterranean region. Trees yield about 1.3 kg of cork per stripping, in California. 
+In the Mediterranean, each tree yields from 20 to 240(to 300) kg at each stripping, depending 
+on age and size of tree.^^^ Trees are stripped at intervals of 9 to 12 years. About 12 € of 
+acorn will yield a kg of pork.^’® In Portugal, a cork oak forest is said to produce 34 kg/ha 
+pork compared to 
+68 for a Q uercus ilex forest. “ Lard from acom-fed hogs is said not to 
+harden; hence they are sometimes finished on com for hardening the fat.’’^^® Portugal is the 
+largest producer of cork, supplying 46.2% of the world’s tonnage from 33.8% of the total 
+hectarage. There are about 69,000 ha of Portuguese cork oak forests, mainly in the south- 
+central portion of the country.Smith^‘® reports 400,000 ha in Portugal producing annually 
+240 kg/ha. Between 1931 and 1948, cork was varying widely in price, from $30 to $600/ton. 
+Bigger and better trees can yield a ton in one stripping, following another ton 12 years 
+earlier. English owners of cork estates in Portugal estimate that acorns alone produce 1/2 
+to 2/3 of Portuguese pork. The USDA once said “ one gallon of acorns is equal to ten good 
+ears of com.” Pigs may graze the grass and acorns while sheep and goats may graze the 
+bushes and shrubs.^*®
+Energy — Felled trees and bigger pmnings make excellent charcoal. With low energy 
+input on tough terrain, this seems to be an energy-efficient land-holding scenario yielding 
+cork, firewood, pork, and land stability.
+Biotic factors — The following fungi have been reported on the cork oak: A rm illariella 
+m ellea, A scoch yta irpina, A spergillus terreus, A . w entii, A uricularia m esenterica, C halara 
+quercina, C litocybe olearia, C occom yces dentatus, C oriolus pergam enus, C. versicolor, 
+C yphella Candida, C ytospora m icrospora, D aedalea biennis, D iatrypella quercina, E ndothis 
+gyrosa, G anoderm a applanatum , H irneola auricula ju d a e, H ypoxy Ion m editerraneum , Irpex 
+deform is, Ithyphallus im perialis, /. im pudicis, L enzites quercina, L eptoporus adustus, L. 
+dichrous, L eucoporus brum alis, M erulium trem ellosus, M ucor ram annianus, M ycoleptodon 
+ochraceum , P anus conchatus, P eniphora corticalis, P hellinus igniarius, P . torulosus, Pho- 
+liota cylin dricea, P. spectabilis, Phom a quercella, P hysalospora elegans, P hytophthora 
+cinnam om i, P leurotu s lignatilis, P. ostreatus, P olyporu s giganteus, P o ria vaporaria. P ro ­
+p o lis fa g in ea , R adulum quercinum , Schizophyllum com m une, Sebacina crozalsii, S eptoria 
+ocellata, S. qu ercicola, Sphaerotheca lanestris, Stereum fuscum , S. gausapatum , S. spad- 
+iceum, Tom entella fu sca , T. rubiginosa, Tom entellina bom bycina, T ram etes cam pestris, T. 
+cinnabarina, T. serialis var. resupinata, Ungulina fom en taria, U. ochroleuca, U redo qu er­
+cus, V olvaria bom bycina, Vuillem inia com edens, X anthochrous cuticularis, X . ribis. The 
+following nematodes have been isolated from this oak: C aconem a radicicola and H eterodera
+256 Handbook of Nuts
+RICINODENDRON HEUDELOTII Pierre (EUPHORBIACEAE) Manketti Nut, Sanga
+Nut, Essang Nut, Ojuk Nut
+Syn.: Ricinodendron africanum Muell. Arg.
+Uses — Source of essang oil, seeds contain 35 to 55% oil, which has been recommended 
+in the drying oil industries. The nuts are consumed as food after boiling. Dried kernels are 
+ground and cooked with food, e,g., in the Cameroons. The kernels only account for ca. 
+30% of the fruit, the hard shell is difficult to remove. Wild animals, including elephants, 
+are fond of the fallen fruits, leading hunters to lie in wait beneath the trees. Ashes of the 
+wood are used for salt and in the preparation of soap and indigo. Williams^"^ describes the 
+use of this species as living telegraph poles. Stakes 6 to 10 m long are cut and placed in 
+holes. During the rainy season, the stake quickly strikes root. Wires are placed on the poles 
+6 or more meters above the ground as soon as they are firm. Branches tend to sprout only 
+at the summit, rarely interfering with the wires. The wood, quite light, has been suggested 
+as a substitute for balsa. Easily carved, it is used for utensils, masks, musical instruments, 
+boxes, coffins, etc. The hard seeds are used, like marbles, in games, rattles, etc. The very 
+light sawdust is suitable for life jackets and pith helmets.
+Folk medicine — Nigerians use the root-bark, with pepper and salt, for constipation. On
+257
+the Ivory Coast, the decoction is drunk for dysentery. Pounded and warmed bark is applied 
+locally for elephantiasis. The bark infusion is used in Liberia to relieve labor pains and 
+prevent miscarriage, in the belief that it prevents sterility. The pulped bark prevents abortion. 
+The bark decoction is used for gonorrhea; the leaf decoction as a beverage or bath in calming 
+fever."^^’^"^^
+Chemistry — The seed fatty acids of R. africanum include ca. 50% eleostearic acid with 
+ca. 25% linoleic-, 10% oleic-, and 10% saturated acids.The seed, seed shell, and latex, 
+containing a resin, are used for diarrhea and gonorrhea.^^^
+Description — Fast-growing, deciduous tree to 33 m or more high and up to 2.5 m girth; 
+buttresses very short, branches whorled. Leaves alternate, hairy when young, with stellate 
+hairs, digitately lobed, the 3 to 5 leaflets up to 25 x 15 cm, sessile, obovate-elliptic, 
+acuminate, narrowed to base, with 10 to 16 pairs of lateral nerves, petioles up to 20 cm 
+long, stipules persistent and leaf-like; flowers paniculate (December to April in Africa), the 
+inflorescence yellow-tomentose, white, falling readily. Fruits 3-celled, ca. 2.5 cm in di­
+ameter. Seeds ovoid, rich in oil.
+Germplasm — From the Africa Center of Diversity, the essang nut seems to tolerate 
+savanna, second growth, slopes, and weeds.
+Distribution — Widespread in tropical Africa. Fast-growing native of the secondary 
+forests of the Belgian Congo and possibly also of Nigeria.Irvinedescribes it as common 
+in fringing, deciduous, and secondary forests, from Guinea to Angola and the Belgian Congo 
+to Sudan, Uganda, and East Africa.
+Ecology — With no ecological data available to me, I speculate that this species ranges 
+from Subtropical Thom Woodland to Moist through Tropical Thom Woodland to Moist 
+Forest Life Zones, tolerating annual precipitation of 3 to 25 dm, annual temperature of 23 
+to 29°C, and pH of 6 to 8.^^ According to Williams,it requires a wet, humid climate.
+Cultivation — Coppicing and rooting readily, this tree is often planted as cuttings for 
+vine stakes, living fences, and telephone poles.
+Harvesting — Said to bear fmit in its 7th to 10th year.^^
+Yields and economics — Irvine describes the nut yields as prolific.
+Energy — The wood does not make good firewood, but “ it is much used for fuel” . 
+Seeds yield 45 to 47% oil which could be used for energy, but because of the high husk/kemel 
+ratio, the fmits yield only ca. 14% oil.
+Biotic factors — According to a forester quoted by Menninger,^^ elephants eat the fmits 
+greedily, and “ seed will not germinate until it has spent a week in the elephant” , but even 
+the elephant’s digestive system barely affects the fmit and the enclosed kernel. “ The natives 
+of Rhodesia, therefore, follow the elephant, recover the hard-shelled nuts where they have 
+been dropped, clean and dry them, then crack the extremely hard shell, and find the contents 
+perfectly delicious. This story is a bit grizzly, but it is part of the nut story. The fungus 
+Fomes lignosus is reported to attack this species.
+258 Handbook of Nuts
+RICINODENDRONRAUTANENII Schinz (EUPHORBIACEAE) — Mogongo Nut, Manketti
+Uses — A much-prized species with edible fruits that are a staple food of Africans and 
+Bushmen, who eat them raw (fresh or fried), cooked, or fermented into a beer. The thin, 
+fleshy portion, under the tough skin, may be eaten raw or cooked into a sweet porridge. 
+The kernel has a sweet, milky, nutty flavor; eaten raw, pounded and fried, or mixed with 
+lean meat. The seeds can be roasted whole, cracked, and the kernels pounded into a coarse 
+meal, which is eaten dry, with meat, with other roots, or mixed with baobab pulp. It is the 
+main food (constituting half of the vegetable diet) of the Bushmen in the Dobe area. One 
+to three hundred nuts are consumed every day for all but a few months of the year. Also a 
+staple food of elephants. The timber is yellowish, light, and soft, and is used for carving 
+bowls, cups, ashtrays, and ornamental figures of animals and birds. Also used for floats, 
+dart and drawing boards, packing-cases, boxes, toys, insulating material, and coffins. Trees 
+are often hollow and collect life-saving water. It is believed, in South West Africa and 
+Botswana, that this species controls the weather, so that it is never struck by lightning. 
+During one study of the !Kung Bushmen, mongongo nuts contributed 56.7 g protein per 
+day per bushman, compared to 34.5 g from meat, and only 1.9 from other vegetable foods. 
+To the !Kung, the mongongo nut is “ basically the staff of life“ .*^"^ The light timber is used 
+for furniture, coffins, and an inferior paper.
+Folk medicine — The fruits are astringent.
+Chemistry — The average daily per capita consumption of 300 nuts weighs ca. 212.6 g 
+but contains the caloric equivalent of 1,134 g cooked rice and the protein equivalent of 
+396.9 g lean beef. Watt and Breyer-Brandwijk^^^ say the fruits contain 7.9% protein and 
+no true starch. Fruits yield 30 to 40% oil, kernels 57 to 63%. Skins of the kernel yield 37% 
+oil. The oil cake has only 0.32 mg vitamin B^ and 0.7 mg calcium pantothenase per 100 
+g. The percentages of amino acid in the seed protein are calculated at 2.6% histidine, 4.1% 
+cystine, 7.9% isoleucine, 6.2% leucine, 5.1% lysine, 2.0% methionine, 4.6% phenylalanine, 
+7.9% threonine, 1.2% tryptophane, and 7.1% valine.The seed fatty acids of the related 
+R. africanum (“ essang oil” ) include ca. 50% eleostearic acid with ca. 25% linoleic-, 10% 
+oleic-, and 10% saturated acids. The aromatic fruit contains a gum-resin and 31% saccharose.
+Toxicity — The seed coat is nontoxic to rats when constituting 10% of diet, but it is an 
+unsuitable food because of its toughness and indigestibility.
+Description — Spreading, deciduous, dioecious tree to 10(to 24) m tall, the trunk to 1 
+m in diameter; the bark greenish or goldish; twigs and branches, stubby with glabrescent 
+robust young twigs. Leaves alternate, stipulate, digitately compound, with 3 to 7 leaflets; 
+petioles pubescent, to 15 cm long; leaflets broadly lanceolate to ovate, apically blunt or 
+rounded, basally rounded or truncately inequilateral, marginally glandular denticulate, rarely 
+lobulate, 5 to 13 cm long, 2.5 to 9 cm broad; dark-green above, pale below, with stellate 
+hairs on both surfaces, the midribs and veins rufose; petiolules biglandular. Male flowers 
+in slender loose panicles, whitish, the female panicles shorter and few-flowered. Fruits plum­
+shaped, to 4 cm long, hairy when young, the stone exceedingly hard, containing one or two 
+light-colored kernels.
+Germplasm — Reported from the African Center of Diversity, mogongo nut, or cvs 
+thereof, is reported to tolerate sands and savannas.
+Distribution — Northern southwest Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe, and Mozambique, 
+and often tropical Africa; grows in groves or forests together on wooded hills and dunes, 
+and always on Kalahari sand. Makes almost pure forest in parts.
+Ecology — With no ecological data available to me, I speculate that this species ranges 
+from Subtropical Thom Woodland to Moist through Tropical Thom Woodland to Moist 
+Forest Life Zones, tolerating annual precipitation of 3 to 25 dm, annual temperature of 23 
+to 29°C, and pH of 6 to 8.®^ Tending to flower in spring before rain.
+259
+Cultivation — Not normally cultivated.
+Harvesting — According to Harlan,'^'* women and children are primarily involved in 
+gathering plant materials among the !Kung Bushmen. But adults gather the mongongo nuts. 
+Over a 3-week study period, the Bushmen averaged 2V2 days a week (average 6 hr work 
+per day) devoted to subsistence activities. Compared to hunting, gathering is a low-risk, 
+high-return enterprise. Fruits ripen ca. February in southern Africa.
+Yields and economics — Before the war of 1914-1918, Germans granted a concession 
+to exploit the forests near Tsumeb in Southwest Africa, which were estimated to yield 50,000 
+tons of nuts per year.^"*^
+Energy — If there are forests with 50,000 tons^"^^ of edible nuts therein, the kernels 
+yielding 60% oil, one could theoretically obtain 30,(XX) tons of oil, and 20,0(X) tons defatted 
+edible nuts therefrom.
+Biotic factors — Fruits greatly relished by elephants.
+260 Handbook of Nuts
+SANTALUM ACUMINATUM A. DC. (SANTALACEAE) — Quandong Nut, Native Peach
+Uses — It’s easier for me to remember the popular name Quandong than Eucarya, 
+Fusanus, or Santalum, the three generic names among which the quandong has been ca­
+tegorized. Both the fruit or (“ peach” ) and nut (or “ quandong” ) are edible. The red flesh 
+is cooked in chutneys, jams, and pies. The nut is said to be quite tasty, slightly roasted, 
+and was a favored food of the aborigines. Pierced with a stick as a candle-nut, the seeds 
+will bum away with a clear light. Nuts are also made into bracelets, necklaces, and other 
+ornaments. The hard, durable close-grained timber is used for cabinet making and wood 
+engraving.
+Folk medicine — The seed oil is used medicinally.
+Chemistry — Per 100 g, the fmit is reported to contain 345 kJ, 76.7 g H2O, 1.7 g 
+protein, 0.2 g fat, 19.3 g carbohydrate, 2.1 g ash, 42 mg Ca, 40 mg Mg, 0.2 mg Zn, 0.2 
+mg Cu, 51 mg Na, and 659 mg Data in Menninger, no doubt reflecting dry nuts, report 
+60% oil and 25% protein. The fmits are rich in vitamin C. Fatty acids in the seed contain 
+oleic, linoleic, and stearic acids, also santalbinic acid.^®^ Some estimates put the “ santalbic”
+261
+content at 40 to 43%. Others say the seed fat is mostly oleic acid except for 3 to 4% palmitic 
+acid.*^® Wood contains 5% essential oil containing nerolidol.
+Description — A tall shrub or a tree to 10 m. Leaves opposite, lanceolate, acute, or 
+sometimes when young with a short hooked point, mostly 5 to 7.5 cm long, tapering into 
+a petiole 4 to 6 mm long, coriaceous, with the lateral veins often prominent when old. 
+Flowers rather numerous, in a terminal pyramidal panicle scarcely longer than the leaves. 
+Perianth spreading to ca. 5 mm diameter, the lobes somewhat concave even when open. 
+Free margin of the disk very prominent, broadly rounded between the stamens which curve 
+over the notches. Anthers very short. Style exceedingly short and conical or scarcely any, 
+with deeply 2- or 3-lobed stigma. Fruit globular, 10 to 20 mm in diameter, with a succulent 
+epicarp, and bony pitted endocarp, the perianth-lobes persisting on the top until the fruit is 
+nearly or quite ripe.^^
+Germplasm — Reported from the Australian Center of Diversity, Quandong, or cvs 
+thereof, is reported to tolerate arid conditions and drought.
+Distribution — Endemic to Australia, especially northern Australia, and the southwest, 
+extending into the desert areas.
+Ecology — No data available.
+Cultivation — Rosengarten comments on an experimental plantation in Quom, Australia. 
+Kikuya grass was planted to serve as root host.
+Harvesting — Some plantation trees have fruited in the third year.
+Yields and economics — Rosengarten sums it up, “ Despite its captivating tang, the 
+quandong seems destined to remain a minor Australian nut.“ ^^"^
+Energy — Serving as candle-nuts, quandongs are so abundant in part of Australia that 
+they might serve as oil-seeds in the future.
+Biotic factors — No data available.
+262 Handbook of Nuts
+SAPlUMSEBIFERUMiL.) Roxb. (EUPHORBIACEAE) — Chinese Tallow Tree, Vegetable 
+Tallow, White Wax Berry
+S yn .: Carumbium sebiferum K u rz, Croton sebiferus L ., Excoecaria sebifera M u ell.,
+Stillingia sebifera M ich x ., Triadica sebifera (L .) Sm all
+Uses — Chinese Tallow Tree is cultivated for its seeds as a source of vegetable tallow, 
+a drying oil and protein food, and as an ornamental. Fruits yield two types of fats: outer 
+covering of seeds contain a solid fat with low iodine value, known as Chinese Vegetable 
+Tallow; kernels produce a drying oil with high iodine value, called Stillingia Oil. Tallow 
+is used for manufacturing candles, a layer of wax being placed over the tallow body to 
+prevent too-rapid burning; has excellent burning quality, and gives an inodorous, clear, 
+bright flame; also used for making soap, cloth dressing, and fuel. Pure tallow fat is known 
+in commerce as Pi-yu. Oil is used in making varnishes and native paints because of its 
+quick-drying properties, in machine oils and as a crude lamp oil. Pure oil expressed from 
+the inner part of the seeds is known in commerce as Ting-yu. Oil-cakes made from crushed 
+seeds with tallow and oil together is known as Mou-yu. Residual cake, after oil is expressed, 
+is used as manure, particularly for tobacco fields. Wood is white and close-grained, suitable 
+for carving and used for making blocks in Chinese printing; also used for furniture making 
+and incense. Chinese prepare a black dye by boiling leaves in alum water. Tree grows 
+rapidly, develops an attractive crown, and, as leaves turn red in fall, it is cultivated as a 
+shade or lawn tree about houses. It is used as a soil binder along roads and canals. Chinese 
+place an insect on the tree to feed; it lays eggs in the seed, making some of the “jumping 
+beans,” because of movements of larvae inside.
+263
+Folk medicine — In Chinese medicine, oil is used as purgative and emetic, not as a 
+usual vegetable oil for humans. Overdose of native medicine probably would cause violent 
+sickness and perhaps death. Additionally, Chinese use the plant as an alexeteric, suppurative, 
+and vulnerary, especially for edema and skin ailments. Decoction of the root bark is used 
+for dyspepsia, considered tonic. Resin from root bark considered purgative. The latex is an 
+acrid and powerful vesicant.
+Chemistry — The fatty acid composition of the oil is caprylic, 1.50; capric, 1.00; myristic, 
+0.97; palmitic, 2.80; stearic, 1.00; oleic, 9.40; linoleic, 53.40; and linolenic, 30.00%. A 
+Hong Kong sample contained 26.8% oil, with: capric, traces; palmitic, 7; stearic, 3; 2,4- 
+decadienoic, 5; oleic, 7; linoleic, 24; and linolenic, 54%. Stillingia oil is considered superior 
+to linseed oil in its drying and polymerizing properties, probably due to the presence of 2,4- 
+decadienoic acid. Seed meal, left after the extraction of oil, possesses a high content of 
+protein, and is a valuable feed and fertilizer. It can be processed into a refined flour, 
+containing 75% protein, fit for human consumption. The amino acid composition of the 
+protein is as follows: arginine, 16.6; aspartic acid, 11.7; cistine, 1.3; glycine, 4.9; glutamic 
+acid, 17.3; histidine, 2.9; leucine, 7.4; lycine, 2.6; methionine, 1.6; tyrosine, 3.7; and 
+valine, 7.8%. The Vitamin B content of the flour compares favorably with that of wheat- 
+flour. The flour, supplemented with lysine and methionine, is reported to be superior to 
+wheat-flour. Ethanol extraction of powdered root bark yielded 0.1% phloracetophenone 2,4- 
+dimethylether, and methanol extraction gave xanthoxylin (C10H12O4). The bark also contains 
+moretenone, moretenol and a new triterpene, 3-epimoretenol (m.p., 223 to 24°). Leaves 
+contain gallic and ellagic acids, isoquercitrin, and tannin (5.5%).^^**^^’^^^
+Description — Small to large deciduous tree, 10 to 13 m tall (in 30 years), often with 
+a gnarled trunk, bark gray to whitish-gray with vertical cracks; stem exudes a milky poisonous 
+juice. Leaves alternate, broad rhombic to ovate, 3.5 to 8.5 cm long, 4 to 9 cm wide, cordate- 
+acuminate at apex, usually round at base, turning orange to scarlet in autumn, falling early 
+in the cold season; petioles 1.5 to 7 cm long, with 2 conspicuous glands at apex and on 
+each side of scale-like bracts. Flowers monoecious, greenish-yellow, in terminal spikes, 5 
+to 10 cm long. Fruit a capsule, subglobose, 0.95 to 1.7 cm in diameter, 3-valved, with 
+three seeds coated with a white wax. Seeds half-ovate, 0.6 to 1.0 cm long, 0.43 to 0.6 cm 
+wide, 0.5 to 0.77 cm thick, with an acrid penetrating taste. Flowers April to June; fruit 
+ripens September to October.
+Germplasm — Of the many cvs grown, more than 100 are found in Taiwan. Two main 
+types are ‘Eagle-Claw’ and ‘Grape’, varying according to form of fruit-spikes, fruit-sprigs, 
+fruit-stalks, and maturing period. Native to the China-Japan Center of Diversity, tallow tree 
+is reported to tolerate some frost, grazing, slopes, waterlogging, and weeds. (2n = 36,40.)®^*^^^
+Distribution — Native to many provinces of central China, especially north of the Yangtze 
+Valley, and Japan. Chinese tallow tree is also cultivated there and on Hainan Island, Hong 
+Kong, Taiwan,and Korea. It has been introduced into Sri Lanka (where naturalized), 
+Indochina, Bengal, India, Sudan, Martinique, southern U.S. (S. California, S. Arizona, and 
+Texas to Florida, north to South Carolina), southern France and Algeria.
+Ecology — Ranging from Warm Temperate Dry to Moist through Tropical Dry Forest 
+Life Zones, tallow tree is reported to tolerate annual precipitation of 6.6 to 15.2 dm (to 37) 
+(mean of 6 cases = 11.3), annual temperature of 14.7 to 24.3°C (mean of 6 cases = 18.1), 
+and pH of 5.5 to 7.8 (mean of 5 cases = 6.7).®^ Adapted for growing on canal banks, on 
+steep mountain slopes, granite hills, or sandy beaches, it grows in weakly alkaline soils, 
+saline or strongly acid soils. Said to thrive in alluvial forests, on low alluvial plains, and 
+on rich leaf-molds, growing best in well-drained clayey-peat soils. Favorable climatic con­
+ditions are mean air temperatures of 12.5 to 30.1°C, and an annual precipitation from 13 
+to 37 dm. It is generally a subtropical to warm temperate plant, hardy and able to withstand 
+a few degrees of frost; unripened twigs are susceptible to frost injury. It grows at elevations 
+100 to 800 m."'"’278
+264 Handbook of Nuts
+Cultivation — Propagated by seed, cuttings, layering or top-grafting on seedling stock. 
+Seed usually sown in late autumn or early spring. Seedlings in the first year may grow 0.3 
+to 0.9 m in height and should be transplanted. When seedlings are about 1 m tall (in the 
+spring of the third year), they should be planted out in permanent areas. Tree grows rapidly, 
+5 to 8.5 m tall with DBH of 13 to 17 cm in 10 years, and 10 to 13 m tall with DBH 30 to 
+40 cm in 20 to 30 years. When cultivated, trees are grown in plantations or transplanted to 
+borders of fields or canals, so as not to interfere with the cultivation of the soil. Chinese 
+also make cuttings by breaking small branches and twigs, care being taken not to tear or 
+wound the bark. These are layered and rooted.
+Harvesting — Fruits and seeds, about the size of a pea, are harvested by hand in November 
+and December when leaves have fallen. Plants require from 3 to 8 years to bear, but then 
+continue to bear for years, averaging 70 to 100 years. Trees attain full size in 10 to 12 
+years. Seed can be threshed from the tree and collected by hand (once estimated at less than 
+$.03/kg). Mechanical methods may be readily adapted to the harvest. When fruit is harvested 
+by hand in midwinter, they are cut off with their twigs with a sharp, crescent-shaped knife 
+attached to the end of a long pole, which is held in the hand and pushed upward against 
+the twigs. The capsules are pounded gently in a mortar to loosen the seeds from the shells, 
+from which they are separated by sifting.
+Yields and economics — In plantations trees should be planted one rod apart each way, 
+giving 400 trees per hectare, and if trimmed to a convenient size for hand harvesting, would 
+yield 14 MT seed per ha, containing 2.6 MT oil, 2.8 MT tallow, 1.5 MT protein concentrate, 
+1.1 MT fibrous coat, and 4.5 MT shell. Oil, tallow, and protein meal would bring about 
+$750 per hectare. This yield could increase with age. Scheld et al.^^^ report yields of 4,000 
+to 10,000 kg/ha (in excess of 11,000 kg/ha in VODF Seminar IP^^), and cite estimates of 
+25 barrels of oil per year as a sustained energy yield. Tallow is separated by placing the 
+seed in hot water, thereby melting the tallow which floats on the surface, or by melting 
+tallow with steam and collecting it when it drips off. Solvent extraction of the tallow from 
+the seed is also used; tallow still adhering to the seed is removed by an alkali treatment. 
+The fairly thick hard shell prevents extraction of the oil inside, so that the seed is crushed 
+and Stillingia Oil is obtained by pressing or solvent extraction. According to one report, 
+seed contains about 20% oil, 24% tallow, 11% extracted meat, 8% fibrous coat, and 37% 
+shell. Yields of Stillingia Oil as high as 53% of the kernel have been reported in some 
+varieties. Seed yields vary with the variety and age-gradations of the trees — a tree averaging 
+at 5 years of age 0.453 kg, at 10 years, 3.379 kg, and at 20 years, 11.989 kg, with yields 
+gradually decreasing after that. White meal, obtained by the extraction of the kernel, has a 
+pleasant nut-like flavor, and contains 76% protein. Flour and protein of Chinese tallow nut 
+contain vitamin B (thiamine). In China and other Oriental countries, as in other regions of 
+the world, large quantities of tallow and oil are extracted annually from this tree. Tallow 
+mills are erected where the tree is extensively grown. In addition to its economic value 
+(from $750/ha for the oil, tallow, and protein), the tree is extensively propagated for or­
+namental purposes alone in Houston, Texas.
+Energy — Coppicing well, the tree grows rapidly, the mean annual girth increment 2.6 
+to 5.2 cm. The wood, weighing only 513 kg/m^ is used for fuel. With some tolerance to 
+salt, the tallow trees should be investigated as energy crops for saline situations. Scheld^^^ 
+reports standing dry wood mass on 4-year plantations at >40 MT/ha, or more than 10 
+MT/ha/yr. Princen,^^^ assuming an annual oil yield of 25 barrels per hectare, estimates that 
+only 24 million hectares of oilseeds (like Sapium) would be required to produce a replacement 
+for the ca. 8% of our petroleum usage which goes into chemical production. That means 
+300 million ha could replace all our petroleum usage (ca. 35% of Brazil, 108% of Argentina, 
+32% of the U.S.). Specific gravity of the wood ranges from 0.37 to 0.48 (mean 0.44) in 
+samples from 18- to 24-year-old trees. Energy values range from 7,226 to 7,835 Btu/lb
+265
+(mean 7,586). Rapidity of coppicing, taproot production, drought and salt tolerance, and 
+rapid growth rate are attributes leading Scheld and Cowles to regard the tree as a promising 
+biomass candidate (in the warm coastal region of the U.S.) which can be established over 
+large acreages by conventional agricultural planting methods and which can provide woody 
+biomass for direct burning or conversion to charcoal, ethanol, or methanol.
+B iotic F actors — Flowers are favored by honey-bees, and fruits are readily eaten by 
+birds, including domestic fowl. It has been considered a desirable plant for bird-food. The 
+tree is remarkably free of insect pests. The root-knot nematode, M eloidogyne ja va n ica , has 
+been reported.Fungi known to attack this tree include: C ercospora stillin giae, C litocybe 
+tabescens, D endrophthoe fa lca ta , P hyllactina corylea, P hyllosticta stillin giae, and Phy- 
+m atotrichum om nivorum . ^^^ ^78
+266 Handbook of Nuts
+SCHLEICHERA OLEOSA (Lour.) Merr. (SAPINDACEAE) — Lac Tree, Kusum Tree,
+Malay Lac-Tree, Honey-Tree, Ceylon Oak
+S yn .: Schleichera trijuga W illd ., Pistacia oleosa L our.
+U ses — Seeds of the Lac tree are source of Macassar Oil, used in ointments, for candles, 
+for illumination, as a lubricant for machinery, and in Madura for Batik work. Seeds yield 
+about 40% of an edible oil or fat, sometimes used for culinary purposes and as a hair oil. 
+Seeds also are eaten raw or roasted. Unripe fruits are pickled, and fruit may be eaten when 
+other food supplies are scarce. The ripe fruits, often eaten during the summer, have whitish 
+pulp and pleasant, acidic taste. Young leaves are eaten with rice. Young shoots are eaten; 
+they are also lopped for fodder. Combined with wheat-straw and rape-cake, they make good 
+roughage. Wood is close-grained, very hard, heavy, resistant to moisture, whitish with 
+heartwood light reddish-brown, taking a fine finish, and used for making mortars, pestles, 
+axles and hubs, felloes, and stocks of cart wheels, agricultural implements, such as yokes, 
+plows, and teeth of harrows, shafts, violin bows,, screw rollers in sugar mills, in cotton 
+and oil presses, tool handles for hammers, axes, and picks. Treated lumber is used for 
+construction, cabinet work, beams, rafters, purlilns, trusses, posts, sleepers, and for wagon 
+building. In addition, it is used for road paving, block flooring in mills and warehouses, 
+pit-props, side-props in shafts and galleries in mines. Bark is employed in tanning; flowers 
+yield a dye. Trees serve as host for lac insects.
+F olk m ed icin e — Reported to be anodyne, cyanogenetic, larvicide, and refrigerant, lac 
+tree is a folk remedy for acne, backache, bums, fever, inflammation, itch, malaria, neuralgia, 
+pleurisy, pneumonia, rheumatism, skin problems, and sores.The bark is reported to cure 
+leprosy, skin diseases, inflammation, and ulcers. The unripe fmit is heating to the body, 
+heavy to digest, causes biliousness, astringent to the bowels. The ripe fmit is digestible, 
+astringent to the bowels, heating, appetite stimulant. The seeds are tonic, increase appetite, 
+cure biliousness. The oil is considered a tonic, stomachic, anthelmintic, purgative, cure for 
+skin diseases and ulcers. The astringent bark is used as a cure for the itch when mbbed on
+267
+with oil. Oil of the seeds is used as a stimulating agent for the scalp, both cleansing it and 
+promoting the growth of hair. The oil is also used as a purgative and as prophylactic against 
+cholera; used externally in massage for rheumatism, for the cure of headaches; for skin 
+disease. Powdered seeds are applied to ulcers of animals and for removing maggots. Bark 
+is applied to swollen glands and ripening boils.Bark is also used for pain in the back and 
+loins, inflammation, and ulcers.^®
+Chemistry — Seeds are reported to contain 0.3% HCN; the oil is reported to contain 
+1.6% palmitic-, 10.0% stearic-, 19.7% arachidic-, 0.9% palmitoleic-, 52.2% oleic-, 8.5% 
+gadoleic-, and 4.0% C22-acid. The oil-cake is reported to contain 5.57% moisture, 22.31% 
+protein, 48.53% fat, 14.43% soluble carbohydrates, 5.39% fiber, 3.40% soluble mineral 
+matter, 0.37% sand, 3.08% phosphoric acid (P2O5), and 1.3% potash (K2O). Green leaves 
+are reported to contain (ZMB) 10.37% crude protein, 1.93% ether extract, 32.34% crude 
+fiber, 49.21% N-free extract, 2.42% Ca, 0.71% P, 5.09% gallo-tannic acid. The bark is 
+reported to contain 9.4% tannin.^® Another source reports cotyledons to contain 65 to 70% 
+oil, with the glycerides composed of lauric-, palmitic-, arachic- (25%), oleic- (ca. 70%), 
+butyric-, and lignoceric-acid, and traces of benzaldehyde and hydrocyanic acid, and the bark 
+to contain 7% tannins.'®^
+Toxicity — Presumably due to the presence of hydrocyanic acid, the seed and seed oil 
+induce symptoms similar to irritant poisons (giddiness, dilation of pupils, and syncope, 
+sometimes death).
+Description — Trees 15 to 40 m tall, mostly gnarly and crooked, slow-growing; stems 
+furrowed; branches thin, finely short-hairy to subglabrous, leafing and flowering in early 
+spring. Leaves alternate, without stipules, 20 to 40 cm long, paripinnate; leaf-rachis sparingly 
+finely hairy, 5 to 14.5 cm long; leaflets 4 to 8, opposite, obovate-lanceolate, 2.5 to 25 cm 
+long, 1.6 to 11 cm broad, the lowest pair the smallest, obtuse or shortly acuminate, entire, 
+coriaceous, glabrescent; young leaves purple; petiolules very sparingly finely hairy to gla­
+brous, 1 to 3 mm thick. Inflorescence 1.5 to 13 cm long, on pedicels 2.5 mm long, finely 
+short-hairy, the racemes glabrous, apiculate, smooth or spinose; calyx glabrous or nearly 
+so, about 1.5 mm in diameter, the segments erect, triangular, acute; disk glabrous, ovary 
+thinly pilose, style persistent, after anthesis indurate. Fruit broadly ellipsoid, glabrous with 
+thin, hard pericarp, indéhiscent, 1.6 to 2.5 cm long, 1-seeded; seed with a large chalaza; 
+aril pulpy, subacid, edible. Flowers spring; fruits fall; January to December in Java.^^*
+Germplasm — Reported from the Hindustani Center of Diversity.®^ Lac tree is reported 
+to tolerate shade, frost, and drought. Seedlings should be protected in early stages as they 
+are frost-tender.
+Distribution — Native and distributed all over Southeast Asia, from the sub-Himalayan 
+region to Nepal, and central and south India, Sri Lanka, Malaya, Burma, Timor, and Java. 
+Cultivated in many areas, e.g., near Calcutta and in Java. Introduced in southern California.
+Ecology — Ranging from Tropical Dry to Moist Forest Life Zones, lac tree is reported 
+to tolerate annual precipitation of 9 to 15 (to 30) dm and annual temperature of 24 to 25°C.®^ 
+Lac trees occur in tropical moist to wet evergreen and semi-evergreen forests and in moist 
+deciduous teak forests in India, as well as in dry deciduous forests. Trees are not particular 
+about soil structure or content. It grows best below 1,000 m altitude, in nature growing up 
+to 600 m in teak forests. Optimum temperature should be above 24°C, with precipitation 
+varying from 9 to 10 dm to 30 dm or more per annum.Lac tree is common on well- 
+drained boulder deposits, frequently in large numbers along ravines or on the edges of 
+terraces in the sub-Himalayan tract and the outer hills. Conunon on sides of ravines on 
+sandstone or on boulder beds in Siwalik range. Scattered near banks of streams in mixed 
+forests in central India. Prefers slightly acidic soils; thrives best on light well-drained, gravelly 
+or loamy soils; occurs on sandy and laterite soils.
+Cultivation — Trees propagated by seed and root suckers, either naturally in the forest
+268 Handbook of Nuts
+or under cultivation. Seeds viable only for a short period, but can be stored for 1 year in 
+gunny sacks or 2 years in sealed tins. Seeds are started in seed-beds, and young trees planted 
+out when 0.5 to 1 m tall. Once established, no special care is required. No special fertilizers 
+or soil pH are needed. Wild trees and those grown for boundaries may also be used for lac- 
+trees. When cultivated, trees are planted about 275/ha. Stump-planting seems to give better 
+results in moist climates. Stumps, with ca. 4 cm shoot and 23 cm root, are prepared from 
+seedlings which have attained 7 to 13 mm diameter. Trees should be protected from grazing 
+and weeded regularly for the first few years. Trees will tolerate only light pruning; apical 
+pruning is better than surface pruning.
+Harvesting — Seeds are harvested in the autumn. Collectors climb trees and cut off fruit­
+bearing branches. Fruits are depulped by keeping them in a heap for 2 to 4 days and rubbing 
+the decaying pericarp off with the hands. Seeds are then washed, dried, and stored. Kusum 
+bears a good crop of lac every second or third year.^°’^^®
+Yields and economics — Average annual production of stick-lac varies from 1 to 1.5 
+kg per tree, to as much as 9 to 18 kg from well-cultivated trees.The quantity of lac 
+produced per tree varies with the size of the crown and the vigor of the shoots. Average 
+seed yields of about 28 to 37 kg in one season are reported, which translates to 7 to 13 kg 
+of easily expressed oil.^° India, Sri Lanka, and Java are the principle producers of the lac, 
+and the U.S. is the main consumer. Lac from trees from India and Sri Lanka command the 
+highest price.
+Energy — The very heavy wood, specific gravity approximately 0.91 to 1.08, makes 
+good fuel and excellent charcoal. Sapwood has a calorific value of 4,950 calories (8,910 
+Btu); heartwood, 4,928 calories (8,872 Btu). Kernels (60 to 65% of the fresh fruit; 15.3% 
+of dried fruit) contain 59 to 72% oil, although yields are only 32 to 35% oil by boiling 
+decorticated seeds, 25 to 27% with ox-driven presses. With 275 trees per hectare, there 
+could be 1,925 to 3,575 kg oil per ha. The oil is used for candles and for illumination; the 
+oil-cake is also used as fuel.^°
+Biotic factors — Monkeys and birds eat the seeds, thus interfering in their collection for 
+use for oil. The fungus M eliola capensis is known to attack trees, and D endrophthoe fa lca ta 
+sometimes parasitizes it.^’^^® Browne^^ lists the following as affecting lac tree: Fungi — 
+C orticium salm onicolor, R osellinia bunodes. Coleóptera — H olotrichia serrata, M yllocertus 
+cardoni, X yleboru s fo rn icatu s, X ylosandrus m origerus. Hemiptera — L accifer lacea. Lep- 
+idoptera — A scotis setenaria, C atach rysops strabo. C usíala raptaría, D asychira grotei, 
+E ctropis bhurm itra, H elioth is arm ígera, H yposidra successaria, H . talaca, R apala iarbus, 
+T halassodes fa lsa ria . In addition. The W ealth o f India^^ reports R osellina bunodes (stem 
+blight), P olyporu s w eberianus (yellow-cork-rot), D aedalea fla vid a (white spongy rot), H ex- 
+agonia apiaria (white spongy rot), Irpex fla vu s (white fibrous rot). Serinetha augus attacks 
+the seed. L accifer lacea, the lac insect, is considered the most important insect attacking 
+the tree.^®
+269
+SCLEROCARYA CAFFRA Sond. (ANACARDIACEAE) — Manila Nut, Caffir Marvola Nut
+Uses — Tree is important for shade and shelter as well as food to a variety of animals. 
+Fruits (or kernels, or both) edible, yet said to serve as an insecticide. Kernels of stones have 
+a delicious nut-like flavor, and are eaten raw, or dried and ground and added to soups or 
+stews. Fruits, the size of plums, have a pleasant flavor and are a source of food for parrots 
+and mammals. With a turpentine aroma, the fruit is juicy, tart, and thirst-quenching. Fruit 
+juice, boiled down, yields jelly or syrup used as sweetening agent. Fruit is also used by 
+natives to make a fermented beverage which is intoxicating. Elephants and monkeys ap­
+parently become drunk from eating fermenting fruits. Seeds, extracted with difficulty, are 
+oily, nutrituous and high in vitamin C. Kernels contain about 60% oil, extracted by boiling 
+and used to preserve and soften skin shirts by Zulu women. Oil is used to treat meat which 
+is to be kept for up to a year. Oil is also used for cooking and as a base for cosmetic red 
+ochre. Pedi use the ground up kernels for making a porridge, the embryo as a condiment, 
+and the leaf as a relish. Bark is used to make a bitter brandy tincture, and is the source of 
+a red dye. Gum from the bark is mixed with soot and used for ink. Wood, pinkish white, 
+often with a greenish tinge, changing to a brown-red on exposure, is fairly soft, fairly 
+durable, saws well, and takes nails, and is used for making fruitboxes, canoes, furniture, 
+panelling, utensils, troughs, stamping blocks, structures, spoons, bowls, dishes, and drums. 
+Leaves are browsed by many animals; elephants eat the bark and roots.
+270 Handbook of Nuts
+Folk medicine — Reported to be astringent, marula is a folk remedy for diarrhea, 
+dysentery, malaria, and proctitis. The bark decoction is used for diarrhea, dysentery, and 
+malaria, and to clean out wounds. The leaf juice is applied to gonorrhea. Europeans in South 
+Africa take the bark decoction both for the cure and prevention of malaria (but experiments 
+have not confirmed antimalarial activity). Zulu use the bark decoction to prevent gangrenous 
+rectitis. Fruits are believed to serve both as an aphrodisiac and contraceptive for females. 
+(African cattle, having partaken of too much fruit, have been observed to become both 
+aggressive and infertile.)®^ Europeans and Africans use the bark as a prophylactic and to 
+treat malaria, the steam for eye disorders. Because of their abundant fruits, the trees are 
+widespread fertility charms in Africa. The bark is thought to control the sex of unborn 
+children; bark of the male tree is administered if a son is desired, and of a female tree if a 
+daughter is desired.
+Chemistry — Per 100 g, the fruit (ZMB) is reported to contain 361 calories, 6.0 g protein, 
+1.2 g fat, 90.4 g total carbohydrate, 6.0 g fiber, 2.4 g ash, 72.3 mg Ca, 229 mg P, 1.2 mg 
+Fe, 0.36 mg thiamine, 0.60 mg riboflavin, 2.41 mg niacin, and 819 mg ascorbic acid. The 
+seed (ZMB) is reported to contain, per 100 g, 629 calories, 25.6 g protein, 59.8 g fat, 9.6 
+g total carbohydrate, 2.8 g fiber, 5.0 g ash, 149 mg Ca, 1299 mg P, 0.4 mg Fe, 0.04 mg 
+thiamine, 0.12 mg riboflavin, and 0.73 mg niacin.®^ Per 100 g, the fruit (APB) is reported 
+to contain 30 calories, 91.7 g H2O, 0.5 g protein, 0.1 g fat, 7.5 g total carbohydrate, 0.5 
+g fiber, 0.2 g ash, 6 mg Ca, 19 mg P, 0.1 mg Fe, 0.03 mg thiamine, 0.05 mg riboflavin, 
+0.2 mg niacin, and 68 mg ascorbic acid. The seed (APB) is reported to contain 604 calories, 
+3.9 g H2O, 24.6 g protein, 57.5 g fat, 9.2 g total carbohydrate, 2.7 g fiber, 4.8 g ash, 143 
+mg Ca, 1248 mg P, 0.4 mg Fe, 0.04 mg thiamine, 0.12 mg riboflavin, and 0.7 mg niacin. 
+Bark contains 3.5 to 10% tannin, leaves 20% tannin, a trace of alkaloids, and 10% gum. 
+Fruits contain citric and malic acid, sugar, and 54 mg vitamin C per 100 g. Seed oil (53 to 
+60%) contains ca. 55 to 70% oleic acid. The pattern of the amino acids (particularly rich 
+in arginine, aspartic acid, and glutamic acid) in the mean differ only slightly from that in 
+human milk and eggs.®^ The juice contains 2 mg vitamin C per gram {South Africa Digest, 
+March 5, 1982).
+Toxicity — One source lists it as a narcotic hallucinogen(?). In 1972, a flurry of newspaper 
+articles heralded the propensity of pachyderms to get pickled on the fruit. Elephants, baboons, 
+monkeys, warthogs, and humans may overindulge in Kruger Park (South Africa).®^
+Description — Small to large much-branched dioecious, deciduous tree, up to 20 m tall, 
+with rounded crown with a spread of 10 m; trunk 30 to 90 cm in diameter; bark pale, nearly 
+smooth, peeling in disk-shaped flakes,which leave circular depressions. Leaves alternate, 
+crowded toward apex of stem, up to 30 cm long, compound with 3 to 8 pairs of opposite 
+leaflets; leaflets long-petiolulate, ovate or elliptic, blue-green; serrate on margin in juvenile 
+plants but smooth in older plants, glabrous, 3.7 to 5 cm long 2.5 to 3.3 cm wide, base 
+acute, cuspidate. Rowers unisexual, male and female on different trees; male flowers in 
+terminal reddish spikes or racemes, with 12 to 15 stamens, inserted around a fleshy, de­
+pressed, entire disk; sepals 4, dark-crimson; petals 4, pinkish; female flowers long-peduncled, 
+borne singly or 2 or 3 together at ends of young shoots (rarely flowers are fully bisexual); 
+usually only female trees bear fruits, but frequently terminal flowers of male inflorescences 
+may develop fruits; ovary subglobose, 2- to 3-locular. Fruit a fleshy, obovoid, 2- to 3-celled, 
+yellow drupe, each cell containing a seed, and each cell with an “ eye” to permit the embryo 
+to grow out of the shell. Seed or stone about 2.5 cm long, 1.5 cm wide, weighing 3 to 4 
+g. Rowers August; fruits December to March in South Africa.^^®
+Germplasm — Reported from the Africa Center of Diversity, marula, or cvs thereof, is 
+reported to tolerate drought, heat, insects, and sand.®^
+Distribution — Native to South Africa, particularly to Natal and Transvaal, but wide­
+spread in hotter drier regions, Bechuanaland and tropical Africa, north to Sudan and Ethiopia, 
+established at Miami, Rorida.^^®
+271
+E cology — Ranging from Subtropical Dry through Tropical Dry to Wet Forest Life Zones, 
+marula is reported to tolerate annual precipitation of 6.7 to 43.0 dm (mean of 3 cases = 
+21.6 dm), annual temperature of 20.6 to 27.4°C (mean of 3 cases = 24. TC), and pH of 
+6.1.*^ One of the more common trees in the savannas of the Transvaal. It does not tolerate 
+frost. Thrives especially in hot dry regions, and is rarely found in higher rainfall areas. 
+Occurs mainly in woodlands from the coast up to about 700 m altitude, on sandy soils or 
+occasionally on sandy loams. Reported as growing in savanna grasslands where annual 
+elevation and rainfall are as follows: Mozambique — 200 to 900 m, 630 to 1000 mm; South 
+Africa-Mozambique — 300 to 1000 m, 250 to 500 mm; South Zimbabwe — 450 to 1000 
+m, 380 to 640 mm; Angola — 80 to 1000 m; 600 to 710 mm; South Africa — 600 to 1500 
+m, 380 to 640 mm. In Malagasy, it occurs in areas with 1,000 to 1,500 mm precipitation.^^®
+C u ltivation — Common in the wild, marulas have grown very slowly under experimental 
+conditions, but grow quickly in natural conditions. Seeds germinate readily; the hard stones 
+should be sown intact. Trees may be propagated by truncheons, 10 to 12.5 cm thick, which 
+root freely if laid in during early spring. Trees grow fairly rapidly and are drought-resistant 
+when once established.^^® A project to breed marula was scheduled to begin in 1982 by the 
+Department of Horticulture at the University of Pretoria (South A frica D igest, March 12, 
+1982).
+H arvestin g — Trees are said to bear fruit more copiously than related species. Fruits are 
+collected from the ground or by climbing the trees. Natives regard these as the greatest 
+delicacy and store them carefully. A gift of marula kernels is valued as a mark of highest 
+friendship among natives.
+Y ield s an d eco n o m ics — Trees are very plentiful in the forests where they grow spon­
+taneously, and fruits are collected as needed. One tree yields up to 2 tons of fruit (South 
+A frica D ig est, March 5, 1982); 30 g of fruit produces 1 € of marula beer (South A frica 
+D igest, March 12, 1982). From a single tree, 91,000 fruits have been reported.Kernels 
+consist of nearly 88% hard shell, 12% kernel, the kernel yielding ca. 50% oil. Within the 
+fruit, the shell contains the small oily kemeUhat bums with a steady flame.^^® Because of 
+its local economic importance, trees are usually preserved by Bantu and others, even on 
+cultivated land. In Transvaal also, the trees are protected.
+E n ergy — With two tons of fmit possible per tree, one might possibly obtain more than
+6,000 € of beer, distilling down to possibly 300 € ethanol per tree, or 3,000 liters assuming 
+100 trees per hectare. The hard nut endocarp could be converted to charcoal, the kernel 
+yielding 50% oil. Sap of the tree could also be converted to ethanol. Prunings and by­
+products could be used in pyrolysis.
+B iotic factors — Fungi known to attack marula are C ercospora caffra and G loeosporium 
+sclerocaryae. Trees are host of a small beetle (P olydada) of which the highly poisonous 
+grubs are used by Bushmen as an ingredient for arrow poisons. Mopane Caterpillars also 
+grow on the tree, and are eaten after roasting by Bantu and Bushmen.^^® Water, which mns 
+off the tmnk and crown into holes — usually where a branch has broken off — is used by 
+mosquitoes for breeding. Larvae of G onim brasia helina sometimes breed on marula. But­
+terflies and the green lunar moth breed on the foliage. Wood is very liable to blue discoloration 
+through fungi and beetle attacks.
+272 Handbook of Nuts
+SIMMONDSIA CHINENSIS (Link) C. Schneid. (BUXACEAE) — Jojoba
+Uses — Simmondsia is unique among plants in that its seeds contain an oil which is a 
+liquid wax. Oil of Simmondsia is obtained by expression or solvent extraction. It is light- 
+yellow, unsaturated, of unusual stability, remarkably pure, and need not be refined for use 
+as a transformer oil or as a lubricant for high-speed machinery or machines operating at 
+high temperatures. The oil does not become rancid and is not damaged by repeated heating 
+to temperatures over 295°C or by heating to 370°C for 4 days; the color is dispelled by 
+heating for a short time at 285°C, does not change in viscosity appreciably at high temper­
+atures, and requires little refining to obtain maximum purity. Since Simmondsia oil resembles 
+sperm whale oil both in composition and properties, it should serve as a replacement for 
+the applications of that oil. The reports that a new oil from the fish known as orange
+roughy is “ attempting to make inroads on the jojoba and sperm whale markets” . Jojoba oil
+273
+can be easily hydrogenated into a hard white wax, with a melting point of about 73 to 74°C, 
+and is second in hardness only to camauba wax. The oil is a potential source of both saturated 
+and unsaturated long-chain fatty acids and alcohols. It is also suitable for sulfurization to 
+produce lubricating oil and a rubber-like material (factice) suitable for use in printing ink 
+and linoleum. The residual meal from expression or extraction contains 30 to 35% protein 
+and is acceptable as a livestock food. Seeds were said to be palatable and were eaten raw 
+or parched by Indians. Recent studies suggest they are toxic. They may also be boiled to 
+make a well-flavored drink similar to coffee, hence the name coffeeberry. It is an important 
+browse plant in California and Arizona, the foliage and young twigs being relished by cattle, 
+goafs, and deer, hence such names as goatnut.^^
+Folk medicine — Indians of Baja California highly prized the fruit for food and the oil 
+as a medicine for cancer and kidney disorders. Indians in Mexico use the oil as a hair 
+restorer. According to H a rtw e ll,th e oil was used in folk remedies for cancer. Reported 
+to be emetic, jojoba is a folk remedy for cancer, colds, dysuria, eyes, head, obesity, 
+parturition, poison ivy, sores, sore throat, warts, and wounds. Seri Indians applied jojoba 
+to head sores and aching eyes. They drank jojoba-ade for colds and to facilitate parturition.®^’*^^
+Chemistry — I was amazed to see, in searching through my massive files on jojoba, 
+that I had no conventional proximate analysis. It was not even included in two of my most 
+treasured resources, Hager’s Handbook and The Wealth of India. Pe r haps this is due 
+to the relative novelty of interest and the unique situation that the seed contains liquid wax 
+rather than oil, sort of unusual for the conventional analyses.Verbiscar and Banigan^^^ 
+approximated a proximate analysis, some of which follows: per 100 g, the seed is reported 
+to contain 4.3 to 4.6 g H2O, 14.9 to 15.1 g protein, 50.2 to 53.8 g fat, 24.6 to 29.1 g total 
+carbohydrate, 3.5 to 4.2 g fiber, and 1.4 to 1.6 g ash. The amino acid composition of 
+deoiled jojoba seed meal is 1.05 to 1.11% lysine, 0.49% histidine, 1.6 to 1.8% arginine, 
+2.2 to 3.1% aspartic acid, 1.1 to 1.2% threonine, 1.0 to 1.1% serine, 2.4 to 2.8% glutamic 
+acid, 1.0 to 1.1% proline, 1.4 to 1.5% glycine, 0.8 to 1.0% alanine, 1.1 to 1.2% valine, 
+0.2% methionine, 0.8 to 0.9% isoleucine, 1.5 to 1.6% leucine, 1.0% tyrosine, 0.9 to 1.1% 
+phenyalanine, 0.5 to 0.8% cystine and cysteine, and 0.5 to 0.6% tryptophane. Detailed 
+analyses of the wax esters, free alcohols, and free acids, are reported in NAS.^^^ Per 100 
+g jojoba meal, there is 1.4 g lysine, 0.6 g histidine, 1.9 g arginine, 2.6 aspartic acid, 1.3 
+threonine, 1.3 serine, 3.2 glutamic acid, 1.5 proline, 2.4 glycine, 1.1 alanine, 0.6 cystine, 
+1.5 valine, 0.1 methionine, 0.9 isoleucine, 1.8 leucine, 1.1 tyrosine, and 1.2 g phenylalanine. 
+The two major flavonoid constituents of the leaves are isorhamnetin 3-rutinoside (narcissin) 
+and isorhamnetin 3,7-dirhamnoside.^^
+Toxicity — Simmondsin, a demonstrated appetite-depressant toxicant is contained in 
+seeds, 2.25 to 2.34%; seed hulls, 0.19%; core wood, 0.45; leaves, 0.19 to 0.23%; twigs, 
+0.63 to 0.75%; and inflorescence, 0.22%. Three related cyanomethylenecyclohexyl glu- 
+cosides have also been isolated from the seed meal. The acute oral LD50 for crude jojoba 
+oil to male albino rats is higher than 21.5 m€/kg body weight. Strains of Lactobacillus 
+acidophilus can ameliorate this toxicity.
+Description — Leafy, xerophytic, long-lived (100 to 200 years), evergreen dioecious 
+shrub, ca.0.5 to 1 m tall in the wild, but occasionally to 6 m tall; leaves thick, leathery, 
+bluish-green, oblong, opposite, 2.5 to 3.5 cm long, entire; flowers apetalous, the female 
+ones usually solitary in the axils, the male ones clustered with 10 to 12 stamens per flower; 
+female flowers with 5 greenish sepals, soft and hairy; the flowers on different plants, male 
+and female plants about equal in nature; fruits ovoid, usually dehiscent, with 1 to 3 peanut­
+sized, brown seeds each, the endosperm scanty or absent; seeds about 750 to 5,150/kg, 
+about 50% oil.^^®
+Germplasm — Reported from the Middle American Center of Diversity, jojoba, or cvs 
+thereof, is reported to tolerate alkali, drought, heat, high pH, and slope.Yermanos^"^®
+274 Handbook of Nuts
+describes a monoecious strain which may lead to self-pollinating cvs. (n = 52, 56, ca.lOO.)
+Distribution — Native to areas of northern Mexico, Lower California, on the Islands off 
+the coast of California, New Mexico, and Arizona. It inhabits the mountains bordering the 
+Saltón Sea basin in the Colorado Desert in California, and the southern portion of San Diego 
+County. In Arizona, it is found in the mountains around Tucson, near Phoenix, and north 
+of Yuma. In nature, it grows between 600 and 1500 m elevation in the desert, down to sea 
+level near the coast, between latitudes 25° and 31° N. There is a major effort underway in 
+the U.S., Mexico, and Israel to domesticate jojoba; e.g., there are reports that is has been 
+planted in Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Costa Rica, Egypt, Haiti, Israel, Paraguay, Rhodesia, 
+the Sahel, and South Africa. The Israeli examples are bearing fruit. We are anxious to hear 
+more success stories. There seems to be no major difficulty in growing the plant in frost- 
+free, arid, subtropical, and tropical zones, but not many success stories have materialized.
+Ecology — Ranging from Warm Temperate Desert (with little or no frost) to Thom 
+through Tropical Desert Forest Life Zones, jojoba is reported to tolerate annual precipitation 
+of 2 to 11 dm, annual temperature of 16 to 26°C, and pH of 7.3 to 8.2.®^ Jojoba is usually 
+restricted to well-drained, coarse, well-aerated desert soils that are neutral to alkaline, with 
+an abundance of phosphoms. It grows best where the annual rainfall exceeds 30 cm, but 
+does exist where less then 12.5 cm occurs. Where rainfall is ca.75 mm, the jojoba grows 
+to ca.l m tall; where rainfall is 250 to 400 mm, it may attain 5 m. It tolerates full sun and 
+temperatures ranging from 0 to 47°C. Mature shmbs tolerate temperatures as low as - 10°C, 
+but seedlings are sensitive to light frosts just below freezing.
+Cultivation — Jojoba seeds retain nearly 99% germinability after 6 months, and 38% 
+after 11 years stored in an open shed. Germination is good in alkaline sands at temperatures 
+of 27 to 38°C. Seedlings are frost sensitive. Field seeding can be done with a modified 
+cotton planter. Seedlings need two or three irrigations during the first summer and must be 
+protected from animals. Weeding is recommended after each irrigation. Adventitious roots 
+may form on 50 to 80% of the cuttings treated with growth-promoting substances. Plants 
+could start producing seeds in 5 years, but full production would not be attained for 8 to 
+10 years. Using a 2 x 4 m spacing in planting would permit the planting of about 500 
+female and 50 male pollinating plants per hectare. Apomictic plants are known, lessening 
+the need for male nonfruiting plants in the orchard. Suggested methods for planting include: 
+Close spacing, ca. 15 cm apart, resulting in hedge-rows, with the seeds planted in flat borders 
+or in a slightly depressed ditch so as to keep them moist until they germinate (ca.lO to 14 
+days). Male plants should be thinned out to about a 5-1 ratio, finally allowing about 2,500 
+plants per hectare, with possible annual yields of 2.5 MT/ha seed. Propagation by cuttings 
+from selected shrubs could increase seed and/or oil yields. Generally, flowering nodes and 
+leaf nodes alternate, but some plants flower at nearly all nodes; some plants produce more 
+than one flower per node. Transplanted seedlings survive readily, if the roots are pruned. 
+Hence, cuttings could be made in a nursery for later transplanting in the field. The more 
+efficient spacing for this method of planting is in rows 4 m apart, and the bushes in the 
+rows 2 m apart. Male bushes should be interspersed throughout the grove (about 1,500 
+female and 250 male plants per hectare), possibly yielding ca. 2.75 MT/ha seed. When 
+softwood cuttings were treated with IBA, 4 mg/g of talc, they rooted 100% in 38 days.^^*
+Harvesting — In the wild, the only method for harvesting has been hand-collecting from 
+under the plants, since mature seeds fall from the bush. Under cultivation, hedge-row, or 
+orchard-like plantations, without undergrowth, seeds could be raked from under the bushes 
+and then picked up by suction. Pruning the lower branches might be advantageous if this 
+method be used. A device could be designed to pick the seeds from the bush prior to the 
+time of falling. Cost of harvesting would depend on the method.
+Yields and economics — Buchanan and Duke^^^ accept a figure near 2,250 kg/ha for 
+yields of jojoba. Individual plants may yield 5 kg (dry weight) seeds and more, of which
+275
+50% (43 to 56%) by weight is a colorless, odorless liquid wax commonly called “jojoba 
+oil” 230 Yermanos^"*^ suggested that a 5-year-old orchard should yield about 825 kg of nuts 
+per hectare, increasing to 4,125 kg/ha in the 12th year, suggesting a renewable “ oil” yield 
+of ca.2 MT/year. Such yields may be optimistic, even for well-managed plantations. Esti­
+mates of the amount of wild nuts available each year range from 100 million to 1 billion 
+pounds, the plants growing over 100 million acres in California, Mexico, and Arizona. 
+Usually plants in cultivation yield oil in 6 to 7 years; the Israelis report their best specimens 
+yield 2 or more kg of seed in the 4th year; wild plants yield about 1 kg of nuts per year, 
+and cultivars should yield twice that amount or more. The seeds contain up to 50% “ oil” . 
+In 1958, long before the whale oil became endangered, the value of Simmondsia “ oil” as 
+a hard wax was estimated at $.55/kg. Because of the present demand for the wax and oil, 
+jojoba is being considered as a noncompetitive crop, that could replace wheat and cotton in 
+Texas and southern California, with as much as the yield from 70,000 hectares being absorbed 
+by industry. The Chemical Marketing Reporter^^' stated that jojoba prices doubled in 6 
+months to $200/gal. The cost of establishing a plantation can vary from $3,000/ha on land 
+with irrigation available to $5,600/ha on rough desert terrain .O n ce established, mainte­
+nance costs are low — only ca. $200/year. One hectare can yield 1,125 to 2,250 kg oil per 
+year. (Recent prices have approached $50/kg, suggesting to the uninitiated yields of 
+$100,000/ha, right up there with the hyperoptimistic ginseng yields. In either case, a wait 
+of at least 5 years for the first return might seem interminable. Prices have gone down 
+considerably since this was sarcastically written.)
+Energy — With 641 plants per hectare, the aerial phytomass (over 6% of total phytomass) 
+was 1,573 kg/ha and annual productivity only 327 kg/ha.Daugherty et al.^^ were optimistic, 
+but not so optimistic as Yérmanos about jojoba oil yields. They projected ca.500 kg/ha oil 
+for jojoba, ca.nearly 100 for cottonseed, ca.200 for flaxseed, ca.250 for soybean, and nearly 
+300 for safflower (based on 10-year averages for the conventional oilseeds, speculation for 
+jojoba).
+Biotic factors — One fungus {Sturnella sim m ondsiae Bonar) occurs on the leaves, calyxes, 
+and peduncles, but little damages the plant in this country. P hytophthora p a ra sitica and 
+Pythium aphaniderm atum may cause root rot in jojoba plantations. Cuttings are sensitive to 
+A lternaría tenuis, seedlings to Sclerotium bataticola and Fusarium oxysporum , A scale 
+insect that inhabits the leaves also is not detrimental. There is a harmful pest, probably a 
+microlepidopoterous insect, that destroys a large part of the wild crop by consuming the 
+very young ovules. One spraying at the proper time might eliminate this damage. The scale 
+Situlaspis yu ccae and the unique mealybug P uto sim m ondsia have been reported.
+276 Handbook of Nuts
+TELFAIRIA OCCIDENTALIS Hook.f. (CUCURBITACEAE) — Fluted Pumpkin, Oyster 
+Nut
+Uses — Young shoots and leaves are used as a pot-herb. Leaves are much sought after 
+by sheep and goats. Seeds are eaten and are said to have a pleasant almond-like flavor, but 
+the bitter seed-coat must be discarded. Seeds are boiled and eaten or put in soups, or used 
+as the source of a nondrying oil for native cookery and soap-making. Seeds are also used 
+for polishing native earthenware pots. Dry shell of the fruit is sometimes used for utensils. 
+Dried seeds are powdered and used to thicken soups. Dried fiber from macerated stems is 
+used like loofa for paper.^^’^^^^^®
+Folk medicine — No data available.
+Chemistry — Per 100 g, the seed (ZMB) is reported to contain 579 calories, 21.9 g 
+protein, 48.0 g fat, 25.1 g total carbohydrate, 2.3 g fiber, 5.6 g ash, 89.6 mg Ca, and 610 
+mg P. Per 100 g, the leaf (ZMB) is reported to contain 346 calories, 21.2 to 21.3 g protein, 
+12.9 to 13.2 g fat, 51.5 to 52.0 g total carbohydrates, 12.5 to 12.8 g fiber, and 13.9 to
+14.0 g ash.^^ BurkilP^ reports that the oil contains 37% oleic acid, 21% palmitic acid, 21% 
+stearic acid, 15% linoleic acid. Seeds contain a trace of alkaloid, while none has been 
+detected in the roots.On a wet weight basis, the pulped leaves contain 11 mg beta-carotene, 
+juice 9, fiber 1, supernatant 1, and wet LPC 8 mg beta-carotene per 100 g. Under stored 
+conditions, the LPC lost 82% beta-carotene and 58% xanthophyll over 12 months.Ca.70% 
+of the total N and 63% of the protein N was extracted; the potential protein extractability 
+is ca.90%. The oil, by weight, contains 16% palmitic-, 3% stearic-, 23% oleic-, 23% linoleic- 
+and 19% alpha-eleostearic-acids. Seeds of T. occidentalis contain fairly large amounts of 
+alpha-eleostearic and no linolenic glycerides, while the seed fat of T. pedata derives from 
+the usual mixture of saturated, oleic, linoleic, and linoleic acids.
+Description — Perennial, dioecious liana, up to 33 m long; stems herbaceous, ribbed, 
+glabrous or pubescent, becoming thickened when old. Leaves petiolate, 3- to 5-foliolate; 
+median leaflet elliptic, acuminate, acute, tapered into the petiolule, entire or shallowly 
+sinuate-toothed, glabrous or sparsely hairy or punctate, 3-veined from near base with 2 well- 
+developed ascending lateral veins, 6 to 17 cm long, 3 to 10 cm broad; lateral leaflets similar, 
+with petiolules 0.2 to 2 cm long, petiole 1.9 to 8 cm long, pubescent; probracts 5 to 8 mm 
+long. Male flowers in racemes 10 to 30 cm long, the bracts 2.5 to 8 mm long, 1.5 to 3 mm 
+broad, pedicels 8 to 35 mm long, receptacle-tube campanulate, 2.5 to 3.5 mm long, densely 
+glandular-hairy inside above; lobes triangular, glandular-dentate, 2 to 4 mm long; petals 
+about 2.5 cm long, 1.2 cm broad, white with dark-purple marks at base inside, or creamy 
+white with red-purple spot (eye); stamens 3, anthers coherent in center of flower; female 
+flowers stalked. Fruit pale glaucous green or whitish with waxy bloom when ripe, flesh 
+yellowish, ellipsoid, tapering at both ends, rather sharply 10-ribbed, up to 60 (to 90) cm 
+long. Seeds numerous, very broadly and asymmetrically ovate, 3.2 to 3.6 cm long, 3.3 to 
+3.7 cm broad, and 1.0 to 1.2 cm thick; testa smooth with endocarpic fibrous sheath poorly 
+developed or a b s e n t.F lo w e rs and fruits year-round.
+Germplasm — Reported from the African Center of Diversity, the fluted pumpkin, or 
+CVS thereof, is reported to tolerate drought, low pH, poor soil, and shade.Very similar to 
+the following species, which is the commercial source of true oyster nut oil.^^ The true 
+oyster nut has purplish-pink flowers, whereas the fluted pumpkin has white flowers with a 
+purplish eye. (2n = 24.)
+Distribution — Native to tropical Africa from Sierra Leone to Angola, the Congo Area; 
+Fernando Po, U ganda.Introduced to tropical America.
+Ecology — Ranging from Warm Temperate Moist through Tropical Dry to Wet Forest 
+Life Zones, the fluted pumpkin is reported to tolerate annual precipitation of 13.6 to 22.8 
+dm (mean of 2 cases = 18.2), annual temperature of 24.4 to 26.2°C (mean of 2 cases =
+277
+25.3°C), and pH of 5.0 to 5.0 (mean of 2 cases = 5.0).®^ Thrives best in closed-forest 
+country,ca. 1,200 m above sea level.Apparently best adapted to a hot, humid climate 
+(e.g., TMF), common in littoral hedges, and lowland rain-forests up to about 1,200 m.^^® 
+Its occurrence at the edges of forests may be the consequence of previous cultivation. It 
+thrives in plantings in Talamanca, Costa Rica.
+Cultivation — Cultivated in some places, especially S. Nigeria and by some tribes in 
+Ghana. Grown on stakes or trained up trees.Propagated by seeds either planted near trees 
+upon which to climb, or more often allowed to sprawl over the ground, as is done in Nigeria. 
+Once established, plants are perennial for several years. Grows well in any good garden 
+soil where there is plenty of heat and moisture.
+Harvesting — Leaves and shoots are picked continuously as the plant grows.Fruits 
+are collected whenever ripe and needed. No special season, as plants flower and fruit 
+yearround, and the fruits are gradually ripened throughout the year.^^®
+Yields and economics — Often cultivated for the seeds by natives in West Tropical 
+Africa, East Tropical Africa, and Southeast Asia; and probably elsewhere in the hot, humid 
+tropics. Mainly used for the seeds as a vegetable and for oil, and the stem for the fibers for 
+making paper.
+Energy — This plant climbed up trees in Talamanca like kudzu does in tropical America, 
+and fruited copiously. Its relatively high seed-oil content suggests that this is as promising 
+an energy species as China’s Hodgsonia. No doubt the foliage could provide LPC (leaf 
+protein concentrate) and the seeds oil, with the residues being used as by-products for energy 
+production.
+Biotic factors — No serious pests or diseases have been reported.
+278 Handbook of Nuts
+TELFAIRIA PEDATA (Sm. ex Sims) Hook.f. (CUCURBITACEAE) — Oyster nut, Zanzibar 
+Oilvine, Telfairia nuts, Jikungo
+Uses — Oyster nut is cultivated for its edible seeds^^"^ and oil yield (about 62%). The 
+fruits are used in soups, and the nuts are used in confectionery and chocolates, either alone 
+or as a partial substitute for Brazil nuts or almonds, and are quite palatable fresh or roasted, 
+as well as pickled. The seeds are the source of Castanha Oil, used in manufacture of soaps, 
+cosmetics, salad dressings, paints, and candles. One quote from an unpublished W. E. Bailey 
+typescript, “ Possibly the oil can be converted into explosives, just as the Germans have 
+done with Romanian soy beans. The oil is almost indistinguishable from olive oil. The nuts 
+may be pounded, cooked in water, and eaten as a cereal (porridge). The kernel has a high 
+vitamin content, and residue from the kernel after the oil has been extracted can be used 
+for livestock feed.^^® However, Watt and Breyer-Brandwijk^^^ describe the seed-cake as 
+“ useless for stock feeding on account of its bitterness” .
+Folk medicine — Medicinally, oyster nuts have laxative properties, and women in Usa- 
+mabar eat the nut immediately after childbirth to cause early contraction of the pelvis, 
+increase the flow of milk, and insure an early return of their strength so they can return to 
+normal duties in a day or two.^^* East Africans use the seed oil for stomach ailments and 
+rheumatism, the leaf as a bitter tonic. Chagga use the seed as a puerperal tonic and lactagogue. 
+The plant reportedly has taenifuge properties, especially the seed.
+Chemistry — Per 100 g, the seed (ZMB) is reported to contain 31.1 g protein, 66.2 g 
+fat, 2.7 g ash, 10.5 mg Ca, 596 mg P, and 4.3 mg Fe.*^ Per 100 g, the kernel (51 to 60% 
+of seed) is reported to contain 4.4 g H2O, 29.7 g protein, 63.3 g fat, 2.6 g ash, 10 mg Ca,
+279
+570 mg P, and 4.1 mg Fe.^® An unpublished London Fruit Exchange report on file in the 
+Germplasm Introduction and Evaluation Laboratory, gives 6.56% moisture, 19.63% protein, 
+36.02% fat, 28.45% N-free extract, 7.3% fiber, and 2.04% ash. The oil is yellowish with 
+a brownish fluorescence, practically odorless, with a low acid value, and possesses a pleasant, 
+slightly sweet taste. Somewhat viscous, it is liquid at room temperature, deposits stearine 
+on standing, saponifies readily, and contains stearic, palmitic, and telfairic acids, as well 
+as about 27% protein (as compared to 40% in soy beans). The shell, especially the bast, 
+contains abundant tannin and a bitter crystalline substance. Seed husks contain three antitumor 
+compounds, Cucurbitacin B, D, and E, as well as tannin.
+Toxicity — Watt and Breyer-Brandwijk attribute headaches to eating the fruits.
+Description — Perennial dioecious, herbaceous vine, to 30 m long; the stem herbaceous, 
+ribbed, glabrous. Leaves alternate, digitate, 5- to 7-foliolate, the leaflets lanceolate, elliptic 
+or narrowly ovate or obovate, penninerved, obscurely sinuate-toothed, to 13 x 6 cm. Male 
+flowers pinkish purple, in racemes on long stems, opening in sequence, female flower single 
+on shorter stem. Fruit a green gourd-like ellipsoid pepo, 32 to 45 cm long, 16 to 25 cm in 
+diameter, bluntly 10-ribbed, weighing up to 30 kg, filled with a dense fleshy pulp in which 
+seeds are embedded (difficult to separate seed from pulp). Seeds 60 to 200, to 35 mm in 
+diameter, kidney-bean shaped, rich in oil, tasting like almond; kernel protected by two shells, 
+the outer tough, fibrous, the inner hard and brittle; outer shell removed by peeling or burning, 
+the inner one splits with a blow, sometimes a machine known as a belt sander is used to 
+open the nuts.^^^-^^'^
+Germplasm — Reported from the African Center of Diversity, oyster nut, or cvs thereof, 
+is reported to tolerate drought, high pH, laterite, poor soil, and shade.
+Distribution — Native to East Tropical Africa, especially in Mauritius, Zanzibar, Tan­
+zania, Pemba, and Mozambique. Cultivated throughout the area; especially in Kenya, Masai 
+District, Ngong, and formerly in the Mascarene Islands.
+Ecology — Ranging from Subtropical Dry to Moist through Tropical Dry Forest and 
+wetter Life Zones, oyster nut is reported to tolerate annual precipitation of 5.2 to 15.3 dm 
+(mean of 4 cases = 11.1), annual temperature of 8.4 to 24.2°C (mean of 4 cases = 17.4°C), 
+and pH of 5.5 to 7.0 (mean of 3 cases = 6.3).®^ Oyster nut grows at the edges of forests, 
+enveloping the trees with its branches, while its trunk frequently attains a diameter of 45 
+cm. In Africa, it ranges from 0 to 11(X) m altitude in lowland rain forest and riverine forest.
+It grows well in a sheltered position with an eastern exposure, but without strong winds or 
+cold temperatures. It requires medium loams with good drainage, is deep-rooted and drought 
+resistant. It grows well up to 2000 m elevation in Kenya and Tanzania.^^^
+Cultivation — Oyster nut is propagated by seeds, which should be planted within 3 
+months, as the oil dries out of the kernel, causing deterioration of the germ. Seeds, after 
+being soaked in water for 5 days, are planted in a nursery. They germinate in about 21 days. 
+When the seedlings are about 5 cm tall (2 to 3 months old), they are transplanted to the 
+base of trees which they will climb over and often kill — a fast grower, exceeding 20 m 
+in 15 months, if not pruned. The nursery offers protection to the seeds and small plants 
+which are eaten by insects and wild animals; also, the plants are easier to water in dry 
+seasons. Female plants are readily rooted from cuttings. If seed is sown directly in the field, 
+880 seeds per hectare, at 2 m apart, in double rows, spaced 4 m apart, is recommended. 
+Seed should be planted at half their eventual spacing, since there is no way of distinguishing 
+between the male and female plants until flowering takes place; 10 to 15 male vines needed 
+per hectare. Sometimes trellises are used, these 2 m high, erected 4 to 5 m apart, and 
+connected for the double rows of plants which are trained in opposite directions. This method 
+is expensive, mainly due to the cost of the trellises, and is suitable only to mountainous 
+regions where the posts would not be attacked by white ants. Green manures, compost, or 
+barnyard manure should be used freely from the time of planting. Also bone and fish manures
+280 Handbook of Nuts
+are used, these promoting good growth and fruiting. Lime is used to help control nematodes. 
+Vines should be kept weed free for the first year or so after planting on trellises. After that, 
+the plants will take care of themselves.^^^
+Harvesting — The crop begins to bear in 2 years, and continues for 20 to 25 years. 
+However, the plants will die out the third year in a poor soil. About 4 months are required 
+from flower to mature fruit. Plants produce 1 to 2 crops yearly, and may bear almost mature 
+fruits while they are flowering. The fruits are picked by hand as they are needed.Nuts 
+are soaked in water for about 8 hr in 3 changes of water to remove bitterness.
+Yields and economics — Assuming 160 vines per ha, a conservative 10 fruits per vine, 
+each fruit with 140 nuts, each weighing ca.l2 g, the hectare could yield 2685 kg per seed. 
+Average yields of the nuts are 1000 to 2000 kg/ha. The oil content of the seed is about 62% 
+of its weight, or approximately 35% of the entire weight of the whole nut. This would 
+suggest an oil yield up to 700 kg/ha. Dr. T. W. Whitaker (personal communication, June 
+1982) suggests that this should be a promising species, but not so exciting as the Asian 
+H odgsonia of the cucurbit family. USDA germplasm teams to China should negotiate for 
+some of this subtropical species.
+Energy — From the descriptions, the oyster nut would appear to have aerial biomass 
+attributes similar to or higher than our American weed, kudzu, often over 10 MT DM/ha. 
+One vine reached 12 m tall and 5 cm in diameter in 15 months.
+Biotic factors — The major fungi attacking oyster nut are A rm illaria m ellea, C olleto­
+trichum sp., D id y m ella ly copers i d , and O idiopsis taurica. Virgin forests should be thor­
+oughly burned before planting to prevent disease. The main nematode, H eterodera m arioni, 
+is controlled by the natives using a lime dressing, as the seeding stage is most often attacked. 
+In Kenya, the major pests are ground squirrels and porcupines, which dig up recently planted 
+seed, and bucks and grasshoppers, which eat the sprouting seed. Mealy bugs, taken from 
+coffee trees and put on oyster nut vines, died.^^^
+281
+TERMINALIA CATAPPA L. (COMBRETACEAE) — Indian Almond, Myrobalan, Badam, 
+Almendro, Bengal almond, Kotamba, Tropical Almond
+Uses — Indian almond is widely planted in the tropics and subtropics for ornamental, 
+shade, timber purposes, and for the edible nuts. It is cultivated mainly for the edible kernels, 
+used as substitute for almonds (e.g., in Chinese “ chicken and almonds” in Trinidad). Kernels 
+contain 50 to 55% colorless oil of excellent flavor, like almond oil in flavor, odor, and 
+specific gravity, highly esteemed in the Orient. Seeds may be eaten raw. Leaves are the 
+food of Tasar Silkworms, and are used as wrapping paper for small shop articles. Roots, 
+bark, and fruits are used in tanning. Fruits are a source of a black dye used in some parts 
+of eastern India to color teeth black. Wood chips in water give a yellow dye. Trees contain 
+a gum, which is the source of a black dye, a source of ink, and a cosmetic. Oil is used as 
+a substitute for groundnut- (Arachis), cottonseed- (Gossypium), and silk-cottonseed- (Bom- 
+bax) oils. Flowers yield a nectar.
+Folk medicine — Reported to be anodyne, astringent, cardiotonic, collyrium, diuretic, 
+emetic, lactagogue, pectoral, purgative, sedative, stimulant, sudorific, tonic, and vermifuge, 
+Indian almond is a folk remedy for arthritis, bugbites, colic, condylomata, cough, diarrhea, 
+dysentery, ear ailments, eruptions, fever, gastritis, glossitis, headache, hemoptysis, insom­
+nia, leprosy, lumbago, neuroses, pyorrhea, rheumatism, scabies, skin ailments, sore throat.
+282 Handbook of Nuts
+stomach-ache, stomatitis, swellings, thrush, ulcers, wounds, and yaws.^*’^"^^ Ayurvedics 
+consider the fruits antibilious, antibronchitic, aphrodisiac, and astringent. In southern India, 
+the juice of the young leaves is put in an ointment for leprosy, scabies, and other skin 
+diseases; also used for colic and headache. Indochinese use the leaves with Dacrydium chips 
+and nutgrass rhizomes for dysentery; the fruit, with beeswax, for foul ulcers and hemato- 
+chezia. Indonesians apply the leaves to swollen rheumatic joints, using the kernel for a 
+laxative and lactagogue. Philippines use the leaf juice, cooked with the kernel oil, for leprosy; 
+and rubbed onto the breast for pain and numbness; or applied to rheumatic joints. Red leaves 
+are believed vermifuge. In the Solomon Islands, leaves, bark, and fruit are used for yaws.^"^^ 
+Nigerians apply the leaves, macerated in palm oil, for tonsilitis. Cubans take the leaf or 
+fruit decoction for hemoptysis, adding crushed leaves to the bath for skin rash. Haitians take 
+the bark decoction for bilious fevers. Costa Ricans used the bark decoction for crushed 
+nipples and uterorrhagia. Brazilians take the bark decoction for asthma, diarrhea, dysentery, 
+and fever. Colombians take the seed emulsion as pectoral.The root bark is given for 
+diarrhea and dysentery in French Guiana, the stem bark for bilious fevers. Mexicans make 
+a powder from the stems for condylomata.*^^
+Chemistry — Per 100 g, the seeds are reported to contain 574 to 607 calories, 2.7 to
+6.0 g H2O, 19.1 to 25.4 g protein, 52 to 56 g fat, 14.9 to 17.2 g total carbohydrate, 1.8 
+to 14.6 g fiber, 2.4 to 4.0 g ash, 32 to 497 mg Ca, 789 to 957 mg P, 2.4 to 9.2 mg Fe, 
+70 mg Na, 784 mg K, 0.32 to 0.71 mg thiamine, 0.08 to 0.28 mg riboflavin, 0.6 to 0.7 
+mg niacin, and 0 mg ascorbic acid. According to Leung, Butrum, and C h a n g , 94% of 
+the as-purchased nut is refuse, the husk only containing 35 calories, 0.4% moisture, 1.2 g 
+protein, 3.2 g fat, 1.0 g total carbohydrate, 0.1 g fiber, 0.2 g ash, 2 mg Ca, 47 mg P, 0.6 
+mg Fe, 4 mg Na, 47 mg K, 0.02 mg thiamine, traces of riboflavin, and niacin, and no 
+ascorbic acid. Amino acid values are given as 14.7 arginine, — cystine, 1.7 histidine, 3.4 
+isoleucine, 7.4 leucine, 2.3 lysine, 7.2 aspartic acid, 24.3 glutamic acid, 4.0 alanine, 6.3 
+glycine, 4.2 proline, 4.1 serine, 0.9 methionine, 4.2 phenylalanine, 2.9 threonine, — 
+tryptophane, 3.2 tyrosine, and 4.8 valine.Unfortunately, the refuse figures do not add 
+up to 100. Air-dried kernels contain 3.51% moisture, 52.02% fat, 25.4% protein, 14.6% 
+fiber, 5.98% sugars (as glucose). The seed oil contains 1.62% myristic-, 55.49% palmitic, 
+6.34% stearic-, 23.26% oleic-, and 7.55% linoleic-acids. The oil-cake (7.88% N) contains 
+8% albumin, 15% globulin, negligible prolamine, and 7.5% gluten. The shell contains 
+ca. 25% pentosans, and hence, is a good source for making furfural. The leaves and fruits 
+contain corilagin, gallic acid, ellagic acid, and brevifolin carboxylic acid, whereas the bark 
+and wood contain ellagic acid, gallic acid, ( + )catechin, (-)epicatechin, and ( + )leuco- 
+cyanidin.^^
+Description — Handsome, spreading, pagodiform, deciduous tree, medium- to large­
+sized, 13 to 27 m tall, 1 to 1.5 m diameter, with horizontal whorls of branches about 1 to 
+2 m apart; bark smooth, brownish-gray; leaves opposite, simple, leathery, green, turning 
+red before falling, shining, shedding leaves twice a year (February and September), 12 to 
+30 cm long, 7.5 to 15 cm wide, obovate, tip rounded or somewhat acute, base narrowed, 
+slightly auriculate, petioles about 2.5 cm long; flowers small, greenish-white, arranged 
+crowded in short spikes 15 to 20 cm long, arising in axils of leaves, malodorous; stamens 
+10 to 12, in staminal flowers towards the apex; fruits yellow-green or reddish, hard, an 
+angular drupe, size of a plum, slightly compressed on 2 sides, broadly oval in outline, 
+elliptical and 2-winged in transverse section, 3.5 to 7 cm long, with thin fleshy pericarp, 
+edible, but with a hard corky interior; seeds slender, pointed, oblong elliptical, 3 to 4 cm 
+long, 3 to 5 mm thick. Germination phanerocotylar, the cotyledons convolute. Flowers June 
+to August, fruits June to November, bearing two crops of fruit annually before dropping 
+leaves.
+Germplasm — Reported from the Indochina-Indonesia Center of Diversity, Indian al­
+283
+mond, or cvs thereof, is reported to tolerate full sunlight, high pH, laterite, lime, low pH, 
+mine-spoil, poor soil, salt spray, sand, shade, slope, waterlogging, and wind.^^*^^^’^^^
+Distribution — Indigenous to Andaman Islands and islands of Malay Peninsula, now 
+widely cultivated in the tropics of the Old and New Worlds. Extensively planted in tropical 
+India and Sri Lanka, in West Africa from Senegal to Cameroons, Madagascar, Malaysia, 
+and East Indies. Now pantropical.^^^
+Ecology — Ranging from Subtropical Dry to Moist through Tropical Very Dry to Wet 
+Forest Life Zones, Indian almond is reported to tolerate annual precipitation of 4.8 to 42.9 
+dm (mean of 92 cases = 17.7), annual temperature of 20.4 to 29.9 (mean of 66 cases = 
+25.2), and pH of 4.5 to 8.78 (mean of 13 cases = 6.1).®^ Though it grows well in sand or 
+shingle, it also thrives in marl and permeable siliceous limestone. It volunteers only in loose 
+sand, muck, or marl.^^^ Tolerant of sand and salt, it has been used to stabilize beaches. 
+Indian almond thrives in coastal forests in most tropical areas, from sea level to 1,000 m 
+altitude, preferring coastal soils or light loamy soils. It has been recommended for tropical 
+land soils. According to 
+M orton,it grows equally well in medium shade or full sun, and 
+is highly wind resistant.
+Cultivation — Propagated exclusively from seeds, which remain viable for at least one 
+year. In India, whole fruits, exhibiting 25% germination, are planted. Seeds germinate in 
+2 to 4 weeks. The tree is extensively planted for the red foliage, as few other trees in the 
+tropics develop colored foliage. The tree competes well with weeds.
+Harvesting — Rotations of 10 to 15 years are average. Fruits are harvested as they ripen. 
+They have a very hard shell, which is easier to crack after the nuts are dry, often cracked 
+between stones. In India, there are two crops a year, spring (April to May) and fall (October 
+to November). There is more-or less constant fruiting in the Caribbean. Perhaps the crop 
+would be desirable to harvest if mechanical means of cracking and cleaning the nuts were 
+devised. Kernels yield nearly 55% oil by extraction and 35% by expression.
+Yields and economics — Trees may attain 6 m height in 3 years. A lO-year-old plantation 
+is expected to yield 2.25 to 3.6 MT/ha/year.^^^ Grown as a shade tree for cardamon, Indian 
+almond contributed annually 9,300 kg/ha leaf m ulch.In Jamaica, nuts run $0.02 to $0.10 
+each, normally selling for $0.05 each in 1976.^^^
+Energy — The wood (sp. gr. 0.59) is often employed as fuel. Erroneously equating 
+Term inalia catappa a synonym of B ucida bu ceras, Cannell^^ suggests that the annual litterfall 
+is only 1.7 MT/ha in the Guanica Forest of Puerto Rico, the current annual increment only 
+2 MT for a forest with 2,160 trees >5 cm DBH, averaging 7.8 m, basal area of 10.7 m%a 
+and standing aerial biomass of 39.1 MT/ha, 36.9 in wood, bark, and branches, 1.7 in fruits 
+and foliage.
+Biotic factors — Browne^^ lists the following fungi as affecting this species: C ercospora 
+catappae, D ip lo d ia catappae, F om es durissim us, F. fa stu o sa s, M yxorm ia term inaliae, P hel- 
+linus gilvas, P h yllosticta catappae, P olyrhizon term inaliae, S clerotiam rolfsii, and Spha- 
+celom a term inaliae. Also listed are D endrophthoe fa lca ta (Angiospermae); A m blyrhinus 
+p o rico llis. A po d era s tranquebaricus, A racceru s fa scic a la tu s, O ncideres cingulata (Coleóp­
+tera); C occu s hesperidum , S aissetia coffeae, S. nigra (Hemiptera); A crocercops erioplaca, 
+A . ordin atella, A . supplex, A . term inaliae, A n th eraeapaph ia, D asych ira m endosa, E u proctis 
+scintillans, L ym antria am pia, M etanastria hyrtaca, P a ra sa lepida, S clepa celtis, T rabala 
+vishnoa, Trypanophora semihyalina (Lepidoptera); and Rhipiphorothrips cruentatus, R. karna 
+(Thysanoptera). In India, parakeets steal much of the crop. According to Reed^^® the flowers 
+yield a nectar for honey, which is difficult to collect by bees. In addition, he lists the fungi 
+C ercospora catappae, G nom ia sp., H arknessia term inaliae, P h om opsis term inaliae, P oly- 
+p o ru s calcutensis, and S clerotiam rolfsii. It is also attacked by the nematode, R otylenchas 
+reniformis.^^'^^^ For Puerto Rico, Stevenson^®® lists F usiococcum m icrosperm um , R hyti- 
+dhysterium rafalam , and T ram etes corragata.
+284 Handbook of Nuts
+TRAP A NATANS L. and other species (TRAPACEAE) — Water-Chestnut, Jesuit Nut, Water 
+Caltrops
+Uses — Water-chestnuts are used as a nut, fresh or roasted, made into a flour, served as 
+a cooked vegetable, or made into a confection, candied much as true chestnuts in Europe. 
+According to Rosengarten,^®^ they have been consumed in central Europe since neolithic 
+time. Fresh or boiled nuts are good in salads, having a floury texture and an agreeable nutty 
+flavor. Nuts are often made into rosaries. Roast seed are sometimes used as a coffee substitute. 
+Since water-chestnuts resemble water hyacinths, it has been suggested that they might be 
+used to supplant the water hyacinth, an economic approach to biological control.
+Folk medicine — Reported to be alterative, astringent, refrigerant, and tonic, various 
+species of Trapa are used in folk remedies for anasarca, bronchitis, cancer, cough, diarrhea, 
+dropsy, fever, flux, rinderpest, and sunstroke.^’ In Japan, the fruits are used in folk remedies 
+for esophageal, gastric, gastrointestinal, lung, stomach, and uterine cancers. Ayurvedics 
+use fruits of T. bispinosa (figured) for biliousness, blood disorders, erysipelas, fractures, 
+fatigue, inflammations, leprosy, strangury, and urinary disorders. Yunani, who consider the 
+fruit aperitif, aphrodisiac, and febrifuge, use the fruit for bad teeth, biliousness, bronchitis, 
+fever, lumbago pain, sore throat, and thirst. Cambodians use the infusion of the rind of the 
+fruit for asthenia due to malaria or some other type of fever.
+285
+Chemistry — Per 100 g, the fruit of T. bispinosa is reported to contain 348 calories, 
+12.2 g protein, 1.2 g fat, 82.7 g total carbohydrate, 2.4 g fiber, 3.9 g ash, 160 mg Ca, 339 
+mg P, 3.6 mg Fe, 62.5 mg Na, 1345 mg K, 0.0 ¡ig beta-carotene equivalent, 0.39 mg 
+thiamine, 0.18 mg riboflavin, 5.95 mg niacin, and 20.8 mg ascorbic acid. The seed of 7. 
+bispinosa, per 100 g, is reported to contain 15.7 g protein, 1.0 g fat, 79.7 g total carbohydrate,
+2.0 g fiber, 3.7 g ash, 66.7 mg Ca, 500 mg P, 2.7 mg Fe, 163 mg Na, 2166 mg K, 0.17 
+mg thiamine, 0.23 mg riboflavin, 2.00 mg niacin, and 30.0 mg ascorbic acid. Per 100 g, 
+the fruit of 7. natans is reported to contain 11.9 g protein and 1.0 g f a t . The W ealth o f 
+India^^ reports that the kernels contain: moisture, 70.0; protein, 4.7; fat, 0.3; fiber, 0.6; 
+other carbohydrates, 23.3; and mineral matter, 1.1%; calcium 20; phosphorus, 150; and 
+iron, 0.8 mg/100 g. Other minerals reported are copper, 1.27; manganese, 5.7; magnesium, 
+38; sodium, 49; and potassium, 650 mg/100 g. Iodine (50.6 |x/l(X) g) is also present. The 
+vitamin contents are thiamine, 0.05; riboflavin, 0.07; nicotinic acid, 0.6; and vitamin C, 9 
+mg/100 g; vitamin A, 20 IU/100 g. Kernels contain 15.8 mg/100 g oxalates (dry wt). Beta- 
+amylase and much phosphorylase have been reported in the kernels. The nutritive value of 
+flour, prepared from dried kernels, is as follows: moisture, 10.6; protein, 8.0; fat, 0.6; and 
+minerals, 2.6%, calcium, 69; phosphorus, 343; iron, 2.8; and thiamine, 0.44 mg/100 g. 
+The starch, isolated from the flour, consists of 15% amylose, 85% amylopectin.^® According 
+to Hager’s Handbook, the nut (7. natans) contains 37% water, 8 to 10% crude protein, 
+0.7% fat, 1.3% crude fiber, 49% N-free extract (52% starch, 3.2% dextrose). The fruit husk 
+contains 10% tannin.
+Description — Hardy aquatic annual or perennial herbs, rooted in the mud, with un­
+branched stems 0.5 to 2 m long. Plants usually floating with submerged sessile leaves, the 
+lowest opposite, the others alternate, pinnatifid, often functioning as roots; floating leaves 
+in a large rosette, often beautifully variegated, rhombic to nearly orbicular, glabrous above, 
+pubescent at least along the veins beneath, about 7.5 cm in diameter, petioles to 17 cm 
+long, pubescent, often with a fusiform swelling. Flowers solitary, tetramerous, in axils of 
+floating leaves, borne centrally on short stalks above the surface of the water, small incon­
+spicuous, 1 to 2 cm across, white; sepals narrowly triangular, keeled accrescent and indurated 
+in fruit, persistent and forming 2, 3, or 4 horns; petals white, about 8 mm long, caducous. 
+Nut solitary, indéhiscent, 2 to 3.5 cm long, 2 to 5.5 cm wide; roots abundant, much- 
+branched. Flowers June to July; fruits autumn.
+Germplasm — Reported from the China-Japan Center of Diversity, water-chestnut, or 
+CVS thereof, is reported to tolerate weeds and waterlogging.®^ Although many species and 
+varieties have been described, I am inclined to accept the opinion of The W ealth o f India, 
+“ the more prevalent view seems to be that T rapa is a monotypic genus represented by 7. 
+natans Linn, a polymorphic species’’. Great variation is found in size of fruit and in number 
+and development of the horns. Some variations seem to be due to edaphic factors, as 
+abnormally high calcium or low potassium and nitrogen concentrations of the water in which 
+they grow.^^® The related 7. bicornis, the Chinese Ling, is locally important as a food crop. 
+7. bispinosa is widely cultivated in India and Kashmir, as the “ Singhara Nut’’. (2n = 36, 
+40, 48).®^*^'^*^®^
+Distribution — Native to central and eastern Europe and Asia, water-chestnuts have been 
+used for food since Neolithic times. They were introduced in 19th century America. The 
+plants spread and became established in the eastern U.S., often choking waterways or 
+crowding out other plants.^^®
+Ecology — Ranging from Cool Temperate Moist to Wet through Subtropical Moist Forest 
+Life Zones, water-chestnut is reported to tolerate annual precipitation of 4.3 to 13.2 dm 
+(mean of 5 cases = 8.1), annual temperature of 8.3 to 21.0°C (mean of 5 cases = 11.4°C), 
+and pH of 5.9 to 7.2 (mean of 3 cases = 6.7).®^ Hardy to Zone 5; average annual minimum 
+temperature of -23.3 to -20.6°C ( - 10 to -5^).^"^^ T rapa natans is more hardy than the
+286 Handbook of Nuts
+Ling (r. bicornis). The former thrives in ponds and lakes, along slow streams and in stagnant 
+waters, growing best in nutrient-rich but not strongly calcareous waters. It is mainly temperate 
+in climatic requirements.
+Cultivation — Water-chestnut is propagated by seed, which must be kept in water before 
+they are sown. They lose their power to germinate quickly if out of water. Seeds are sown 
+in mud. Plants grown in pools or tubs in eastern North America with 5 to 10 cm of loamy 
+soil and filled with water. Plants may also be simply laid on the surface of the water, and 
+they adapt themselves to the situation.
+Harvesting — Harvesting the fruits (nuts or seeds) is by hand-picking, sometimes by 
+boat, depending on the size of the field or pond.^^^ In India, fruits are ready for harvest 
+about 3 weeks after flowering, i.e., from September to December (to February). At first 
+nuts are harvested once every 2 weeks, then every week, and then nearly every day from 
+November onward.
+Yields and economics — Biomass yields of 10 MT/ha seem reasonable. Yields of singhara 
+nut run 4.8 to 6.2 MT/ha. The W ealth o f India reports yields of 1,760 to 4,440 (to 13,200) 
+kg nut per ha.^°
+Energy — In Japan, the maximum biomass in a floating water-chestnut community was 
+3 MT/ha at two seasonal peaks, dipping below 1 MT/ha between peaks. But the total dead 
+material may add up to nearly 8 MT/ha, indicating annual biomass potential (life expectancy 
+of the leaves averaged less than 1 month).
+Biotic factors — The following fungi are known to attack water-chestnut: S eptoria tra- 
+paen atan tis and T richoderm a flavum.^'^^ A leafspot, caused by B ipolar is tetram era, seriously 
+affects India’s crop. Captan is reported to control the spread. The Singhara beetle, G alerucella 
+birm anica is an important widespread pest, controlled in India with 5% BHC.^® Dusting 
+tobacco or Pyrodust 40(X) at 44 kg/ha kills adults and grubs. Chironomid larvae, feeding on 
+petioles and pedicels, may induce malformation of the fruits. H altica cyanea, the blue beetle, 
+feeds and breeds on the leaves. B agous trapae damages soft submerged stems. The aphid 
+R hopalosiphum nym pheae occurs on upper leaves, sometimes in large numbers, and often 
+in company with the coccinellid beetles P ullus nobilus and P. piescen s. Larvae of N ym phula 
+gan geticalis excavate shelters in the swollen petioles. B agous vicinus and N anophyes rufipes 
+also bore into the petiole.^®’
+287
+TRECULIA AFRICANA  Decne. (MORACEAE) — African Breadfruit, African Boxwood, 
+Okwa, Muzinda, Ukwa
+Uses — Seeds are removed from the pulp of African breadfruit by macerating with water, 
+and then eaten cooked, or ground into a meal or flour, or used in soups. Conversely, the 
+seeds can be roasted until the testa becomes brittle for easy removal, the cotyledons then 
+consumed. According to Makinde et al.,*^® the seeds are widely consumed only among the 
+Igbo of Nigeria. “ Almond Milk” is a beverage made from this meal. Seeds may be roasted 
+or boiled, peeled and eaten as a dessert nut, or fried in oil. Seeds, with a groundnut flavor, 
+also yield an edible oil. Seeds or oil are put in soaps. Seeds are also used to flavor alcoholic 
+beverages. Heartwood is golden-yellow or yellow-brown (though the very narrow sapwood 
+is yellow-white), very dense and heavy, faintly elastic and flexible, of fine even structure; 
+usable for furniture, wood carving, inlay work and turnery; timber usually marketed as 
+African Boxwood.
+Folk medicine — Reported to be laxative, tonic, and vermifuge, African breadfruit is a 
+folk remedy for cough, fever, leprosy, neck ailments, tooth extraction, roundworms, and 
+swelling.Nigerians use the bark decoction for constipation and coughs. Medicinally, a 
+root decoction is used as febrifuge and vermifuge, or drunk as a tonic after illness. It is 
+used for roundworms in children. Bark is used for coughs and as a laxative, and for leprosy
+Chemistry — Per 1(X) g, the seed (ZMB) is reported to contain 415 calories, 13.9 g 
+protein, 6.2 g fat, 77.5 g total carbohydrate, 1.8 g fiber, 2.4 g ash, 140 mg Ca, and 349 
+mg Seeds contain ca.4 to 7% total lipids, Makinde et al.^^® reporting 5% oil, 13% crude 
+protein. Of the protein extracted, glutelins constituted 53.3%, 23.8% albumins, and 33.8% 
+globulins. Makinde et al.^^® give the amino acid composition shown in Table 1. Table 2*^® 
+compares defatted ukwa protein with other foods. Remember that defatted seeds are not 
+directly comparable to the usual seed analysis (defatted ukwa seeds contain 19%, cf. 13%
+288 Handbook of Nuts
+Table 1
+AMINO ACID COMPOSITION OF T. 
+AFRICAN A (UKWA) PROTEIN*’»
+m&16 g mg46 g 
+Amino acids of N Amino acids of N
+Aspartic acid 105 Isoleucine 56
+Threonine 52 Leucine 74
+Serine 67 Tyrosine 56
+Glutamic acid 137 Phenylalanine 76
+Proline 47 Lysine 62
+Glycine 72 Histidine 38
+Alanine 40 Ammonia 18
+Half-cystine 8 Arginine 79
+Valine 61 Tryptophan 2
+Methionine 9
+Table 2
+ESSENTIAL AMINO ACID CONTENT OF DEFATTED UKWA SEED PROTEIN 
+COMPARED TO SOME OTHER SEED PROTEINS, MAIZE, AND EGG*’»
+mg of amino acid per 16 g of nitrogen
+Defatted
+Ukwa FACVWHO NAS^RC Harosoy Whole Kidney
+Amino acids seed (1973) (1980) soybean Cowpeas maize beans
+Egg
+Histidine 38 17 26 29 23 24 26
+Isoleucine 56 40 42 42 40 40 63 42
+Leucine 74 70 70 80 76 196 88 81
+Lysine 62 55 51 65 68 25 67 67
+Total SAA 17 35 26 10 10 19 60 9
+Total arom. A A 132 60 73 49 53 44 99 53
+Threonine 52 40 35 37 37 47 51
+42
+Valine 61 50 48 46 48 54 68
+51
+Tryptophan 2 10 11 18 14 6 34
+15
+CP for whole seed). The seed fat contains 24.1% palmitic-, 11.7% stearic-, 46% oleic-, 
+and 18% linoleic-acids. Edet et al.^’^ report the seeds to contain 7.8% moisture in terms of 
+wet weight; and in terms of dry weight, 13.4% protein, 18.9% fat, 1.4% fiber, 2.1% ash, 
+58.1% carbohydrate, 3.0% oxalate, and per 100 g, 7 mg Na, 184 mg Mg, 18 mg Ca, 585 
+mg K, 382 mg P, 3.9 mg Cu, 1.6 mg Fe, 0.20 mg Cr, 7.5 mg Zn, 6.0 mg beta-carotene, 
+0.5 mg thiamin, 0.3 mg riboflavin, 45 mg ascorbic acid.
+Toxicity — Sap of the male tree is caustic and toxic, and if applied on cotton to a carious 
+tooth, will cause it to fall out. No evidence supports the idea that leaves falling into water- 
+holes are poisonous to horses.
+Description — Unbuttressed medium-to-large tree, up to 27 m tall and 3 m in girth, bole 
+cylindrical or squarish, fluted at base up to 7 m, bark pale-gray, smooth, latex white; 
+branchlets purple-gray, pithy. Leaves alternate, simple, glabrous, glossy above, elliptic to 
+ovate-elliptic, 20 to 25 cm long, 7.5 to 12 cm wide, sometimes larger, apex shortly pointed, 
+base unequally rounded, petiole very short. Flowers dioecious, male and female flowers in 
+separate inflorescences; male flower-heads globular, 5 cm in diameter, brownish-yellow, 
+very shortly pedunculate, stamens 3. Fruits spherical, up to 45 cm in diameter, and 16 kg 
+in weight, subsessile on the trunk and main limbs, covered with coarse, spine-like tubercles, 
+becoming yellow-brown and soft when ripe. Seeds very numerous, over 1,500 per fruit.
+289
+smooth, ellipsoid, buried in spongy pulp, ca.1.25 cm long. Flowers January to February 
+fruits February to March (Africa).
+Germplasm — Reported from the African Center of Diversity, African breadfruit, or cvs 
+thereof, is reported to tolerate drought, low pH, and waterlogging.^^
+Distribution — Native of West Africa (Guinea, Ivory Coast, Gold Coast, Nigeria, Ca- 
+meroons. Sierra Leone, Ghana), from Senegal to Angola, Uganda and Nile Land.^^®
+Ecology — Ranging from Subtropical Moist through Tropical Dry to Moist Forest Life 
+Zones, African breadfruit is reported to tolerate annual precipitation of 13.6 to 24.1 dm 
+(mean of 3 cases = 18.3), annual temperature of 23.5 to 26.6°C (mean of 3 cases = 
+25.4°C), and pH of 5.0 to 5.3 (mean of 2 cases = 5.2).®^ Evergreen and deciduous forests. 
+Tree of tropical forests in comparatively dry zones and in villages where planted. Soil under 
+the tree is moist throughout the dry season from condensation. It is usually found near 
+streams or in swampy forests.
+Cultivation — Frequently planted in villages and about homesteads.
+Harvesting — No data available.
+Yields and economics — Uses for the fruit and lumber are mainly local but widespread 
+in Tropical Africa.
+Energy — The wood is used for firewood.
+Biotic factors — Fruits are eaten by antelopes and large forest snails.
+290 Handbook of Nuts
+VIROLA SEBIFERA Aubl. (MYRISTICACEAE) — Virola Nut, Red Ucuuba
+Uses — The seeds are the source of Virola fat, a nutmeg-scented fat which soon becomes 
+rancid. It is used for making aromatic candles and soaps. Seeds are pierced onto sharp sticks 
+as candle-nuts. The light, soft, pale-brown wood is easy to work but sap stains badly. It is 
+considered suitable for boxes, crates, concrete forms, plywood, and cheap interior construc­
+tion. Duke^® notes that some of the economic uses (including narcotic uses) ascribed to this 
+species may be due to confusion with other species in the taxonomically perplexing genus. 
+The jungle names ucachuba, ucahuba, ucauba, uchuhuba, ucuiba, and ucuuba are some of 
+many possible orthographic variants.
+Fold medicine — The liniments made from V. sebifera are used in folk remedies for 
+tumors. Reported to be a fumitory, the virola is a folk remedy for fever.^* Brazilians use 
+the fat as a poultice and for rheumatism. The kino-like resin is used for aphtha, angina, 
+caries, and erysipelas. Homeopathically, it is used for abscesses, furuncles, lymphadenitis, 
+and pyodermy. As a tea, the leaves are used for colic and dyspepsia.
+Chemistry — Fatty acids of the nuts contain 5 to 13.3% lauric acid, 66.6 to 73% myristic 
+acid, 8.9 to 11% palmitic acid, 6.6 to 11% oleic acid, and up to 3.0% linoleic acid.^^^ 
+Hager’s Handbook*®^ lists N,N-dimethyltryptamine and beta-sitosterol for the husk. Lopes, 
+Yoshida, and Gottlieb‘S report lignans from this species, (2R, 3S)-3-(3,4-dimethyoxyben- 
+zyl)-2-(3, 4-methylenedioxybenzyl)-butyrolactone was isolated from the seeds and (2R, 3R)- 
+3-(3,4-dimethyoxybenzyl)-2-(3, 4-methylenedioxybenzyl)-butyrolactone, (2R, 3R)-2,3-di- 
+(3,4-dimethoxybenzyl)-butyrolactone, and (2R, 3R)-2,3-di-(3,4-methylenedioxybenzyl)-bu- 
+tyrolactone were isolated from the pericarp.
+Description — Dioecious, often buttressed trees to 40 m, the younger branchlets per­
+sistently tomentose or glabrescent. Leaf blades glabrous above, with persistent, ochraceous 
+stalked-stellate hairs below, coriaceous, oblong to elliptic-ovate or obovate, acute to acu­
+minate, cordate, truncate or acute, 10 to 47 cm long, 4 to 15 cm broad; secondary veins 10 
+to 28 per side, averaging less than 1/cm along the midrib, the tertiary veins rather prominent
+291
+below; petioles canaliculate, 8 to 25 mm long, 2 to 5 mm broad. Staminate flowers in much- 
+branched panicles; pedicels 0 to 3 mm long; bracts inconspicuous or absent; perianth tardily 
+3- (to 5-) lobed, 1.3 to 3.0 mm long; anthers 3 (to 5), 0.7 to 1.5 mm long, usually connate 
+to the apex, the infra-antheral portion of the androecium 0.2 to 1.0 mm long. Pistillate 
+flowers solitary or clustered in racemes 3 to 7 cm long, 2 to 7 cm broad; pedicels 1 to 4 
+mm long; tepals partially connate, with subpinnate ochraceous pubescence; ovary 1-carpel- 
+late, with a sessile, obscurely 2-lobed stigma. Fruits 10 to 30 per inflorescence, the velutinous 
+ligneous pericarp ultimately dehiscing longitudinally into 2 valves, subglobose, the aril 
+laciniate.^® Germination cryptocotylar but epigeal, the eophylls supracotyledonary.^^
+Germplasm — Reported from the South and Central American Centers of Diversity, 
+virola nut, or cvs thereof, is reported to tolerate waterlogging, but not to the extent that 
+Virola surinamensis tolerates flooding.
+Distribution — Nicaragua to Bolivia, Brazil, and Peru.^^
+Ecology — Ranging from Subtropical (Premontane) Wet to Rain through Tropical Moist 
+to Rain Forest Life Zones, virola nut is estimated to tolerate annual precipitation of 20 to 
+45 dm, annual temperature of 23 to 27°C, and pH of 6.0 to 8.0.
+Cultivation — Rarely, if ever, cultivated. The cryptocotylar seedlings may be moved 
+from beneath the parent tree.
+Harvesting — In Panama, Croat^^ speculates that species flowers twice a year, though 
+mature fruits are seen nearly all year. The length of fruit maturation period is unknown. 
+Gordon**^ describes an unusual collecting method in Brazil. The small subspheroid seeds 
+fall to the forest floor in alluvial forest. When the floods come, the seeds float and go 
+downstream, with the flood, to be scooped up with hand-nets by women and children.
+Yields and economics — In 1942, Gordon,referring to both V. sebifera and V. 
+surinamensis, notes that 4,0(X) to 5,0(X) tons are harvested per year in Brazil. According to 
+Markley,^^ in Brazil, “ Production of oil has varied between 650 and 1,600 MT/year, and, 
+like other soap oils derived from wild plants, production remains static or is declining, 
+maximum production having occurred in 1941.“
+Energy — Virola candle-nuts are a poor man’s source of energy in many tropical de­
+veloping countries. The trees offer both fire-wood, leaf litter at the rate of ca. 5 MT/ha, 
+and candle-nuts for energy purposes.
+Biotic factors — The wood is subject to pinhole borer injury, if cut logs are allowed to 
+lie after cutting in the forest.^ Merulius lacrymans is reported on V. merendonis.^^^
+292
+Handbook of Nuts
+VIROLA SURINAMENSIS (Rol.) Warb. (MYRISTICACEAE) — Ucahuba Nut, White Ucu- 
+uba
+Uses — Seeds are the source of Ucahuba or Ucuiba Butter, a solid resembling Cacao 
+butter. The seeds are threaded onto wooden spikes and used as candle-nuts by various 
+Amerindian groups. The wood, moderately hard, is easily worked.
+Folk medicine — Ucahuba is a folk remedy for rheumatism.
+Chemistry — The fatty acids of the nut are 0.7% decanoic, 13.0% lauric, 69.7% myristic, 
+3.0% palmitic, 7.7% oleic, and 5.1% linoleic. Of the saturated fatty acids, 17.6% are C12 
+or below, 72.9% are C14, and 4.4% are Cj^, for a total of 94.9%. Of the glycerides, 85% 
+are trisaturated, 15% are disaturated, and none are monosaturated. Another breakdown shows 
+0.7% capric-, 16.9% lauric-, 72.9% myristic, 4.4% palmitic, and 5.1% linoleic-acids.*^*
+Description — Dioecious tree, to 30 m or more tall and ca. 60 cm dbh, often moderately 
+buttressed; outer bark coarse, hard, shallowly fissured, reddish-brown; inner bark tan, reddish 
+on its outer surface; branches often spiraled or clustered, extending nearly horizontally; parts 
+when young bearing ferruginous, sessile, stellate, pubescence, glabrate in age; sap red, 
+lacking distinctive odor. Petioles canaliculate, 5 to 10 mm long; leaf blades oblong, acu­
+minate, rounded to acute at base, 9 to 16 cm long, 1.5 to 4.5 cm wide, coriaceous; major 
+lateral veins in 20 to 30 pairs. All parts of inflorescences densely short-pubescent, the 
+trichomes mostly stellate; pedicels ca. 1.5 mm long; perianth ca. 2 mm long, 3- or 4-lobed 
+usually to middle or beyond, the lobes thick, acute to rounded at apex, spreading at anthesis; 
+staminate flowers in fascicles on panicles to 4 cm long; anthers mostly (2)3(6), connate to 
+apex. Pistillate flowers in clusters of 3 to many, in racemes to 5 cm long; ovary 1-carpellate, 
+± ovate; stigma sessile, 2-cleft. Capsules ovoid-ellipsoid, thick-walled, light-orange, 3 to 
+3.5 cm long, bearing dense, short, stellate pubescence; valves 2, woody, ca. 5 mm thick, 
+splitting widely at maturity. Seed 1, ellipsoid, ca. 2 cm long, the aril deeply laciniate, red 
+at maturity (white until just before maturity), fleshy, tasty but becoming bitter after being 
+chewed.^^
+Germplasm — Reported from the South and Central American Centers of Diversity, 
+ucahuba nut, or cvs thereof, is reported to tolerate waterlogging. Natives of the Hyalea 
+distinguish V. surinamensis as “ ucuuba branca” from V. sebifera as “ ucuuba vermelha” .^^^ 
+But in the market, both are sold as ucuhuba fat.
+Distribution — Costa Rica and Panama to the Guianas and Brazil and the lesser Antilles. 
+Duke^* did not include V. surinamensis in the Flora of Panama. In the Brazilian Hyalea, 
+the trees grow along river banks.
+Ecology — Ranging from Subtropical (Premontane) Moist to Wet through Tropical Moist 
+to Wet Forest Life Zones, ucahuba nut is estimated to tolerate annual precipitation of 20 to 
+40 dm, annual temperature of 23 to 27°C, and pH of 6.0 to 8.0.®^
+Cultivation — Not usually cultivated.
+Harvesting — In Panama, flowers from June to March (peaking November to February), 
+maturing fruits from February to August.^^ In the Hyalea of Brazil, the fruits, falling into 
+the water (February to July), float and are gathered with nets made out of bark.^^^
+Yields and economics — According to information in Mors and Rizzini,^^^ a single tree 
+yields ca. 25 kg ucuuba fat per year. According to Markley,^°® in Brazil, “ Production of 
+oil has varied between 650 and 1,600 m tons a year, and, like other soap oils derived from 
+wild plants, production remains static or is declining, maximum production having occurred 
+in 1941.“
+Energy — Candlenuts are a poor man’s source of energy in many tropical developing 
+countries. The trees offer fire-wood, leaf litter at the rate of ca. 5 MT/ha, and candle-nuts 
+for energy purposes.
+Biotic factors — No data available.
+293
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+321. Tuley, P., Studies of the production of wine from the Oil Palm, J. Nigerian Inst. Oil Palm Res., 4, 282,
+1965.
+322. Tsuchiya, T. and Iwaki, H., Biomass and Net Primary Production of a Floating Leaved Plant Trapa natans 
+Community in Lake Kasumigaura, Japan, Jpn. J. EcoL, 33(1), 47, 1983.
+323. Tyler, V. E ., The Honest Herbal, Georgia F. Stickley Co., Philadelphia, Pa., 1982, 263.
+324. Uphof, T h., J. C ., Dictionary of Economic Plants, Verlag von J. Cramer, Lehrte, West Germany, 1968, 
+591.
+325. Vaughn, J. G., The Structure and Utilization of Oil Seeds, Chapman and Hall, London, 1970, 279.
+326. Veracion, V. P. and Costales, E. F ., The Bigger, the More, Canopy Int., 7(6), 1981.
+327. Verbiscar, A. J. and Banigan, T. F., Composition of Jojoba Seeds and Foliage, J. Agrie. Food Chem.,
+26(6), 1456, 1978.
+328. Verma, S. C ., Banerji, R., Misra, G ., and Nigam, S. K., Nutritional Value of Moringa, Curr. Sci., 
+45(21), 769, 1976.
+329. Vietmeyer, N ., American Pistachios, Horticulture, September, 32, 1984.
+330. Vogel, V. J., American Indian Medicine, University of Oklahoma Press, Norman, 1970, 583.
+331. von Reis, S. and Lipp, Jr., F. J., New Plant Sources for Drugs and Foods from the New York Botanical 
+Garden Herbarium, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Mass., 1982, 363.
+332. Watt, J. M. and Breyer-Brandwijk, M. G., The Medicinal and Poisonous Plants of Southern and Eastern 
+Africa, 2nd ed., E. & S. Livingstone, Edinburgh, 1962, 1457.
+333. Wei-Chi Lin, An-Chi Chen, and Sang-Gen Hwang, An investigation and study of Chinese Tallow Tree 
+in Taiwan (Sapium sebiferum Roxb.), Bull. Taiwan Forestry Res. Inst., No. 57, 32, 1958.
+334. Westlake, D. F., Comparisons of Plant Productivity, Biol. Rev., 38, 385, 1963.
+335. Whitehouse, W. E., The Pistachio Nut — a new crop for the Western United States, Econ. Bot., 11, 281, 
+1957.
+336. Whitehouse, W. E. and Joley, L. E., Notes on the growth of Persian Walnut propagated on rootstocks 
+of Chinese wingnut, Petrocarya stenoptera, Proc. Am. Soc. Hort. Sci., 52, 103, 1948.
+337. Whitehouse, W. E. and Joley, L. E., Notes on culture, growth, and training of pistachio nut trees. Western 
+Fruit Grower, October, 3, 1951.
+338. Whiting, M. G., Toxicity of the Cycads, Econ. Bot., 17(4), 271, 1963.
+339. Wiggins, I. L., Flora of Baja California, Stanford University Press, Stanford, Calif., 1980, 1025.
+340. W illiams, L. O ., Living Telegraph Poles, Econ. Bot., 13, 150, 1959.
+341. Woodroof, J. G ., Tree Nuts: Production, Processing, Products, AVI, Westport, Conn., 1967, 356.
+342. WuLeung, Woot-Tseun, Butrum, R. R., and Chang, F. H., Part 1, Proximate composition mineral 
+and vitamin contents of East Asian food, in Food Composition Table for Use in East Asia, Food and 
+Agriculture Organization and U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare, 1972, 334.
+343. Wyman, D., Wyman’s Gardening Encyclopedia, MacMillan, New York, 1974, 1222.
+344. Yamazaki, Z. and Tagaya, I., Antiviral Effects of Atropine and Caffeine, J. Gen. Virol., 50(2), 429,
+1980.
+345. Yanovsky, E. and Kingsbury, R. M., J. Assoc. Off. Agrie. Chem., 21, 648, 1938.
+346. Yen, D. E., Arboriculture in the Subsistence of Santa Cruz, Solomon Islands, Econ. Bot., 28, 247, 1974.
+347. Yérmanos, D. M., Jojoba — a Brief Survey of the Agronomic Potential, Calif. Agrie., September, 1973.
+348. Yérmanos, D. M., Monoecious Jojoba, in New Sources of Fats and Oils, Pryde, E. H ., Princen, L. H., 
+and Mukherjee, K. D ., Eds., AOCS Monograph No. 9, American Oil Chemists’ Society, Champaign, 111.,
+1981, 247.
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+26(3), 274, 1972.
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+Centre for Agricultural Publishing and Documentation, Wageningen, Netherlands, 1975, 219.
+351. Chemical Marketing Reporter, Schnell Publishing Company, New York (often cited herein with date only, 
+single articles are almost always anonymous in this tabloid).
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+1976, 620.
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+Conn., 1976, 128.
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+ed.. Harper & Bros., New York, 1958, 452.
+355. Roth, W. B., Cull, I. M., Buchanan, R. A., and Bagby, M. O., Whole Plants as Renewable Energy 
+Resources: Checklist of 508 Species Analyzed for Hydrocarbon, Oil, Polyphenol, and Protein, Trans. 
+Illinois Acad. Sci., 75(3,4), 217, 1982.
+356. Kalin Arroyo, M. T., Breeding Systems and Pollination Biology in Leguminosae, in Advances in Legume 
+Systematics, Polhill, R. M. and Raven, P. H ., Eds., 1981, 723.
+303
+357. Sadashivaiah, K. N ., Hasheeb, A ., and Parameswar, N. S., Role of different shade tree foliage as 
+organism manure in cardamom plantation, Res. Bull. Marathwada Agric. Univ., 4(1), 11, 1980.
+358. Agrawal, P. K., Rate of Dry Matter Production in Forest Tree Seedlings with Contrasting Patterns of 
+Growth, Acacia catechu, Butea monosperma, and Buchanania lanzan, Biol. Land Plants Symposium, 
+Meerut University, 391, 1974.
+359. Telek, L. and Martin, F. W., Okra Seed: A Potential Source for Oil and Protein in the Humid Lowland 
+Tropics, in New Sources of Fats and Oils, Pryde, E. H ., Princen, L. H., and Mukherjee, K. D ., Eds., 
+AOCS Monograph No. 9, American Oil Chemists’ Society, Champaign, 111., 1981, 37.
+360. Duke, J. A., Atchley, A. A., Ackerson, K. T., and Duke, P. K., CRC Handbook of Agricultural Energy 
+Potential of Developing Countries, 2 vols., CRC Press, Boca Raton, Fla., 1987.
+361. Anon., Agnc. Res., December, 1978.
+362. da Vinha, S. G. and Pereira, R. C ., Producao de Folhedo e sua Sazonalidade em 10 Especies Arborea 
+Nativas no Sul da Bahia, Revista Theobroma, 13(4), 327, 1983.
+363. Pereira, H., Small Contributions for a Dictionary of Useful Plants of the State of Sao Paulo, Rothschild 
+& Co., Sao Paulo, 1929, 799.
+364. Castaneda, R. R., Flora del Centro de Bolivar, Talleres Univ. Nac. de Colombia, Bogata, 1965, 437.
+365. Mori, S. A., The Ecology and Uses of the Species of Lecythis in Central America, Turrialba, 20(3), 344, 
+1970.
+366. Eckey, E. W. Vegetable Fats and Oils, Reinhold Publishing, New York, 1954.
+367. Buchanan, R. A. and Duke, J. A., Botanochemical Crops, in Handbook of Biosolar Resources, McClure, 
+T. A. and Lipinsky, E. S., Eds., CRC Press, Boca Raton, Fla., 1981, 157.
+368. Oke, O. L., Leaf Protein Research in Nigeria, in Leaf Protein Concentrates, Telek, L. and Graham, H. 
+D ., Eds., AVI, Westport, Conn., 1983, 739.
+369. Sadashivaiah, K. N., Haseeb, A., Parameswar, N. S., Role of different shade tree foliage as organic 
+manure in Cardamom plantation. Res. Bull. Marathwada Agric. Univ., 4(1), 11, 1980.
+370. Tsuchiya, T. and Iwaki, H., Biomass and Net Primary Production of a Floating Leaved Plant Trapa natans 
+Community in Lake Kasumigaura Japan, Jpn. J. Ecol., 33(1), 47, 1983.
+371. Duke, J. A ., Herbalbum, An LP album of Herbal Folk Music, Produced by Vip Vipperman and Buddy 
+Blackmon, Grand Central Studios, Nashville, Tenn., 1986.
+372. Devlin, R. M. and Demoranville, 1. E ., Wild Bean Control on Cranberry Bogs with Maleic Hydrazide, 
+Proc. Northeastern Weed Science Soc., 35, 349, 1981.
+373. Sanchez, F. and Duke, J. A., La Papa de Nadi, El Campesino, 115(4), 15, 1984.
+374. Walter, W. M., Croom, Jr., E. M., Catignani, G. L., and Thresher, W. C., Compositional Study of 
+Apios priceana Tubers, J. Ag. Food Chem., January/February, 39, 1986.
+375. Reynolds, B., Research Highlights, Apios Tribune, 1(1), 7, 1986.
+376. Keyser, H., Personal communication, 1984.
+377. Anon., Desert Plant May Replace Sperm Oil, BioScience, 25(7), 467, 1974.
+378. Joseph, C. J., Systematic Revision of the Genus Pilocarpus, 1° Lugar — Premio Esso de Ciencia, ca. 
+1970.
+379. Roecklein, J. C. and Leung, P. S ., A Profile of Economic Plants, typescript. College of Tropical 
+Agriculture and Human Resources, University of Hawaii, 1986.
+380. Stevenson, J. A., The Fungi of Puerto Rico and the American Virgin Islands, Contribution of Reed 
+Herbarium, Baltimore, No. 23, 743, 1975.
+381. Duke, J. A ., Herbalbum: An Anthology of Varicose Verse, J. Medrow, Laurel, Md., 1985.
+382. Golden, A. M., USDA, Personal communication, 1984.
+383. Price, M., Vegetables from a Tree, ECHO, 8(4), 1, 1985.
+384. Ramachandran, C., Peter, K. V., and Gopalakrishnan, P. K., Drumstick (Moringa oleifera) : A 
+Multipurpose Indian Vegetable, Econ. Bot., 34(3), 276, 1980.
+385. Mahajan, S. and Sharma, Y. K., Production of Rayon Grade Pulp from Moringa oleifera, Indian Forester,
+386. Grabow, W. O. K., Slabbert, J.L., Morgan, W. S. G., and Jahn, S. A. A., Toxicity and Mutagenicity 
+Evaluation of Water Coagulated with Moringa oleifera Seed Preparations Using Fish, Protozoan, Bacterial, 
+Coliphage, Enzyme, and Ames Salmonella Assays, Water S.A., 11(2), 9, 1985.
+387. Price, M., The Benzolive Tree, ECHO, 1 1 ,7 , 1986.
+388. Iyer, R. I., Nagar, P. K., and Sircar, P. K., Auxins in Moringa pterygosperma Gaertn. Fruits, Indian 
+J. Exp. Biol., 19(5), 487, 1981.
+389. Girija, V., Sharada, D., and Pushpamma, P., Bioavailability of Thiamine, Riboflavin, and Niacin from 
+Commonly Consumed Green Leafy Vegetables in the Rural Areas of Andhra Pradesh in India, Int. J. Vitam. 
+Nutr. Res., 52(1), 9, 1982.
+390. Dahot, M. U. and Memon, A. R., Nutritive Significance of Oil Extracted from Moringa oleifera Seeds, 
+J. Pharm. Univ. Karachi 3(2), 75, 1985.
+391. Bhattacharya, S. B., Das, A. K., and Banerji, N., Chemical Investigations on the Gum Exudate from 
+Sanja Mormga oleifera, Carbohydr. Res., 102(0), 253, 1982.
+304 Handbook of Nuts
+392. Kareem, A. A., Sadakathulla, S., and Subramaniam, T. R., Note on the Severe Damage of Moringa 
+Fruits by the Fly Gitona sp., South Indian Hort., 22(1/2), 71, 1974.
+393. UHasa, B. A. and Rawal, R. D., Papaver rhoeas and Moringa oleifera, Two New Hosts of Papaya 
+Powdery Mildew, Curr. Sci., India, 53(14), 754, 1984.
+394. Milne-Redhead, E. and Polhill, R. M., Eds., Flora of Tropical East Africa, Crown Agents for Overseas 
+Governments and Administrations, London (Cucurbitaceae, by C. Jeffrey, 1967), 1968, 156.
+395. Edet, E. E., Eka, O. U ., and Ifon, E. T ., Chemical Evaluation of the Nutritive Value of Seeds of African 
+Breadfruit Treculia africana. Food Chem., 17(1), 41, 1985.
+396. Blackmon, W. J. and Reynolds, B. D., The Crop Potential of Apios americana — Preliminary Evaluations, 
+HortSci., 21(6), in press.
+397. Kovoor, A., The Palmyrah Palm; Potential and Perspectives, FAO Plant Production and Protection Paper 
+52, 77, 1983.
+398. Hemsiey, J. H., Sapotaceae, in Flora of Tropical East Africa, Milne-Redhead, E. and Polhill, R. M ., 
+Eds., 1968, 78.
+399. Eggeling, W . J., The Indigenous Trees of the Uganda Protectorate, rev. by I. R. Dale, The Government 
+Printer, Entebbe, 1951, 491.
+400. Duke, J. A., Handbook of Northeastern Indian Medicinal Plants, Quarterman Publications, Lincoln, Mass., 
+1986, 212.
+401. Frey, D., The Hog Peanut, TIPSY, 86, 74, 1986.
+402. Marshall, H.H., (Research Station, Morden Manitoba, Canada), correspondence with Noel Vietmeyer, 
+1977.
+403. Duke, J. A., The Case of the Annual “ Perennial” , Org. Card., submitted.
+404. Polhill, R. M. and Raven, P. H., Eds., Advances in Legume Systematics, in 2 parts, Vol. 2 of the 
+Proceedings of the International Legume Conference, Kew, July 24-29, 1978, 1981.
+405. Gallaher, R. N. and Buhr, K. L., Plant Nutrient and Forage Quality Analysis of a Wild Legume Collected 
+from the Highland Rim Area of Middle Tennessee, Crop Sci., 24(6), 1200, 1984.
+406. Turner, B. L. and Fearing, O. S., A Taxonomic Study of the Genus Amphicarpaea (Leguminosae), 
+Southwest. Nat., 9(4), 207, 1964.
+407. Dore, W. G., (Ottawa, Ontario, Canada), typescript and correspondence with Noel Vietmeyer, 1978.
+408. Foote, B. A., Biology of Rivella pallida Diptera Platystomatidae — a Consumer of the Nitrogen-fixing 
+Root Nodules of Amphicarpa bracteata Leguminosae, J. Kans. Entomol. Soc., 58(1), 27, 1985.
+409. Schnee, B. K. and Waller, D. M., Reproductive Behavior of Amphicarpaea bracteata (Leguminosae), an 
+Amphicarpic Annual, Am. J. Bot., 73(3), 376, 1986.
+410. Serrano, R. G., Current Developments on the Propagation and Utilization of Philippine Rattan, NSTA 
+Technol. J., 9, 76, 1984.
+411. Lapis, A. B., Some Identifying Characters of 12 Rattan Species in the Philippines, Canopy Int., April, 3, 
+1983.
+412. Anon., Big Break for Rattan, Canopy Int., September, 2, 1979.
+413. Borja, B., MNR-FORI Rattan Research, Canopy Int., 5(9), 1, 1979.
+414. Conelly, W. T., Copal and Rattan Collecting in the Philippines, Econ. Bot., 3(1), 39, 1985.
+415. Wong, K. M. and Manokaran, N ., Eds., Proceedings of the Rattan Seminar, Oct. 2-4, 1984, Kuala 
+Lumpur, Malaysia, The Rattan Information Centre, Forest Research Institute, Kepong, Malaysia, 1985.
+416. Garcia, P. R. and Pasig, S. D., Domesticating Rattan Right at Your Backyard, Canopy Int., April, 10, 
+1983.
+417. Monachino, J., Chinese Herbal Medicine — Recent Studies, Econ. Bot., 10, 42, 1956.
+418. Dallimore, W. and Jackson, A. B., A Handbook of Coniferae and Ginkgoaceae, 4th ed., rev. by S. G. 
+Harrison, Edward Arnold, Ltd., London, 1966, 728.
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+420. Wilbur, R. L., The Leguminous Plants of North Carolina, The North Carolina Experiment Station, Agric. 
+Exp. Station, 1963, 294.
+421. D egener, O ., Flora Hawaiiensis or The New Illustrated Flora of the Hawaiian Islands, 1957-1963 (published 
+by the author).
+422. Weber, F. R., Reforestation in Arid Lands, VITA Manual Series Number 37E, 1977, 224.
+423. Descourtilz, M. E ., Flore Pittoresque et Medicate des Antilles, 8th ed., Paris, 1829.
+424. Sargent, C. S., The Silva of North America, Riverside Press, Cambridge, Mass., 1895.
+425. Bedell, H. G., Laboratory Manual — Botany 212 — Vascular Plant Taxonomy, 1st ed.. Ulus, by Peggy 
+Duke, Department of Botany, University of Maryland, College Park, 1984, 159.
+426. Little, E. L., Jr. and Wadsworth, F. H., Common Trees of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, Agriculture 
+Handbook No. 249, Forest Service, U .S. Department of Agriculture, Washington, D .C ., 1964, 548.
+427. Louis, J. and Leonard, J., Olacaceae, in Flore du Congo Beige et du Ruanda-Urundi, Robyns, W ., Ed., 
+Inst. Nat. I’Etude Agron. Congo (INEAC), Brussels, 1948, 249.
+Handbook of Nuts 305
+428. Reed, C. R., Selected Weeds of the United States, Agriculture Handbook No. 366, Forest Service, U.S. 
+Department of Agriculture, Washington, D .C ., 1970, 463.
+429. Agan, J. E., Guaraña, Bull. Pan Am. Union, September 268, 1920.
+430. Little, E. L., Jr., Important Forest Trees of the United States, Agriculture Handbook No. 519, Forest 
+Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Washington, D .C ., 1978.
+431. Bakker, K. and van Steenis, C. G. G. J., Pittosporaceae, in Flora Malesiana, Vol. 5, Rijksherbarium, 
+Leiden, 1955-1958, 345.
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+433. Maiden, J. H., The Forest Flora of New South Wales, 2 vols., William Applegate Gullick, Government 
+Printer, Sydney, 1904.
+434. Li, H. L. and Huang, T. C ., Eds., Flora of Taiwan, 6 vols.. Epoch Publishing, Taipei, 1979.
+435. Fernandes, R. and Fernandes, A., Anacardiaceae, in Flora Zambesiaca, Vol. 2(2), Exell, A. W ., 
+Fernandes, A ., and Wild, H., Eds., University Press, Glasgow, 1966, 550.
+436. Cribb, A. B. and Cribb, J. W., Useful Wild Plants in Australia, William Collins, Ltd., Sydney, 1981, 
+269.
+437. Petrie, R. W., personal communication, August 6 , 1987.
+438. Saul, R., Ghidoni, J. J., Molyneux, R. J., and Elbein, A. D., Castanospermine inhibits alpha-glucosidase 
+activities and alters glycogen distribution in animals, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sei. U.S.A., 82, 93, 1985.
+439. Snader, K. M., National Cancer Institute, personal communication, July 22, 1987.
+440. Threatened Plants Newsletter, No. 17, November 1986.
+441. Walker, B. D., Kowalski, M., Gob, W. C., Kozarsky, K., Krieger, M., Rosen, C., Rohrschneider, 
+L. R., Haseltine, W. A., and Sodrowski, J., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sei. U.S.A., 84, 8121, 1987.
+442. Walker, B. D., Kozarsky, K., Gob, W. C., Rohrschneider, L. R., and Haseltine, W. A., Inti. Conf. 
+on AIDS, Washington, D .C ., June 15, 1987.
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+Keay, R. M. J., 1958, 392.
+
+307
+FIGURE CREDITS
+With a master’s degree in botany from the University of North Carolina (1956), comple­
+mented by 30 years of experience as an illustrator, Peggy K. Duke is excellently qualified 
+to prepare the figures for this handbook. Peggy and I were pleased and amazed at how 
+generous authors and administrators have been with us, at granting permission to use their 
+published illustrations. Thanks to these fine people, as well as several U.S. Department of 
+Agriculture (USDA) public domain publications, and the curators of the collections at the 
+U.S. National Seed Collection, the National Agricultural Library, and the Smithsonian 
+Institution Botany Department, we have been able to piece together illustrations for the 
+majority of genera treated in this book. Our special thanks go to:
+P. Kumar P. H. Raven 
+M. J. Balick 
+H. L. Li C. F. Reed 
+H. G. Bedell 
+E. L. Little 
+E. A. Bell J. L. Reveal 
+M. L. Brown P. M. Mazzeo A. Robyns
+R. G. Brown S. A. Mori C. G. G. J. Van Steenis 
+O. Degener W. Mors R. L. Wilbur 
+E. Forrero G. W. Patterson J. J. Wurdack
+H. Garcia-Barriga G. T. Prance
+C. R. Gunn T. Plowman
+Photographs from the USDA and New York Botanical Gardens collections were consulted 
+in concert with published photographs and illustrations, especially Menninger’s and Rosen- 
+garten’s, in the publications cited at the end of this book. Mrs. Duke confirmed and/or 
+altered details based on seed specimens of the U.S. National Seed Collection, courtesy C. 
+R. Gunn; and herbarium specimens at the University of Maryland, courtesy J. L. Reveal; 
+the Botany Department of the Smithsonian Institution, courtesy J. J. Wurdack; and the U.S. 
+National Arboretum, courtesy P. M. Mazzeo.
+F IG U R E C R E D IT L IS T
+Credit (with permission)
+Scientífíc name
+Acrocomia sclerocarpa Peggy Duke 
+Adhatoda vasica After Little***
+After Ochse^^* (courtesy A. Asher & C o., Amsterdam)
+Aleurites moluccana 
+Amphicarpaea bracteata After Wilbur^^«
+After Ochse^^* (courtesy A. Asher & C o., Amsterdam)
+Anacardium occidentale 
+Apios americana Peggy Duke 
+Areca catechu Peggy Duke 
+Arenga pianata Peggy Duke 
+After Degener*^*
+Artocarpus altilis 
+Peggy Duke 
+Balanites aegyptiaca 
+Peggy Duke 
+Barringtonia procera 
+Peggy Duke
+Bertholletia excelsa 
+After Weber^^^ (courtesy F. R. Weber and Volunteers in Technical As­
+Borassus flabellifer
+sistance (VITA), Rosslyn, Virginia)
+Brosimum alicastrum After Descourtilz'*^^
+Bruguiera gymnorrhiza After Little***
+Buchanania lanzan After Kirtikar and Basu*®^
+After Hemsley^’* (reproduced with permission of the Director, Royal Bo­
+Butyrospermum paradoxum
+tanic Garden, Kew)
+Peggy Duke, after Lapis'***
+Calamus ornatus
+308 Handbook of Nuts
+FIGURE CREDIT LIST (continued)
+Scientific name Credit (with permission)
+Canarium indicum After Kirtikar and Basu‘^^
+Carya illinoensis Peggy Duke, after Sargenf*^"^
+Caryocar villosum After Prance and da Silva^^ (courtesy New York Botanical Garden)
+Caryodendron orinocense After PIRB^^^ and Garcia-Barriga‘°^ (courtesy Universidad Nacional, Bo­
+gota)
+Castanea mollissima Peggy Duke in BedelP^^
+Castanospermum australe Peggy Duke, after Masefield et al.,^^ courtesy Oxford University Press 
+Ceiba pentandra Ochse^^* (courtesy A. Asher & Co., Amsterdam)
+Cocos nucifera After Little and Wadsworth'^^^ and Masefield et al.,^^ courtesy Oxford 
+University Press 
+Cola acuminata Peggy Duke 
+Cordeauxia eduli s Peggy Duke
+Corylus americana Peggy Duke in BedelP^^
+Coula edulis After Louis and Leonard'*^^ (redrawn from “ Flore du Congo Belgique et 
+du Ruanda-Urundi” , Bruxelles, LN.E.A.C.
+Cycas rumphii After Ochse^^* (courtesy A. Asher & C o., Amsterdam)
+After Reed"^^*
+Cyperus esculentus 
+Detarium senegalensis After Weber^^^ (courtesy F. R. Weber and Volunteers in Technical As­
+sistance (VITA), Rosslyn, Virginia)
+Elaeis guineensis Peggy Duke, after Masefield et al.,^^ courtesy Oxford University Press 
+Eleocharis dulcis Peggy Duke
+Fagus grandifolia Peggy Duke in BedelP^^
+Ginkgo biloba Peggy Duke in BedelP^^
+Gnetum gnemon After Ochse^^* (courtesy A. Asher & Co., Amsterdam)
+Helianthus annuus Peggy Duke
+Hyphaene thebaica After Webef*^^ (courtesy F. R. Weber and Volunteers in Technical As­
+sistance (VITA), Rosslyn, Virginia)
+Inocarpus edulis Peggy Duke
+Jatropha curcas After Ochse^^® (courtesy A. Asher & Co., Amsterdam)
+Jessenia bataua After PIRB^^^ (courtesy Universidad Nacional, Bogota)
+Juglans nigra Peggy Duke in BedelP^^
+Lecythis ollaria After Prance and Mori^^^ (courtesy New York Botanical Gardens 
+Licania rigida Peggy Duke
+Macadamia spp. Peggy Duke, after Degener^^*
+Madhuca longifolia Peggy Duke
+After Little and Wadsworth'^^^
+Moringa oleifera 
+Nelumbo nucifera Peggy Duke, after Reed'^^®
+Nypa fruticans Peggy Duke 
+Orbignya martiana Peggy Duke
+Pachira aquatica 
+After Garcia-Barriga*^^ (courtesy Universidad Nacional, Bogota)
+Paullinia cupana 
+Peggy Duke 
+Phytelephas macrocarpa 
+Peggy Duke 
+Pinus edulis 
+After Little''^®
+Pistacia vera Peggy Duke
+Pittosporum resiniferum 
+After Bakker and van Steenis"^^* (courtesy Flora Malesiana)
+Platonia esculenta Peggy Duke
+Prunus dulcis After Kirtikar and Basu‘^^
+Quercus súber Peggy Duke
+Ricinodendron heudelotii After Eggerling,^^ and Flora of West Tropical Africa!^^ (reproduced with 
+permission of the Director, Royal Botanic Garden, Kew) (seed of R. 
+rautaneninii)
+Santalum acuminatum Peggy Duke
+Sapium se bife rum After Li and Huang'^^'^ (Flora of Taiwan, with permission)
+Schleichera oleosa After Ochse^^* (courtesy A. Asher & Co., Amsterdam)
+Sclerocarya caffra After Fernandes and Femandes'^^^ (reproduced with permission of the Di­
+rector, Royal Botanic Garden, Kew)
+309
+FIGURE CREDIT LIST (continued)
+Credit (with permission)
+Scientific name
+Simmondsia chinensis Peggy Duke
+After Jeffrey^^'^ (reproduced with permission of the Director, Royal Botanic 
+Telfairia pedata
+Garden, Kew)
+Peggy Duke
+Terminalia calappa 
+After Kirtikar and Basu*^^
+Trapa bispinosa 
+Peggy Duke
+Treculia africana 
+Peggy Duke (after Duke^*)
+Virola sebifera
+
+311
+INDEX
+Cyperus rotundus, 142 
+Fagus sylvatica, 160 
+Moringa oleifera, 216 
+Acacetin, 164
+Acanthaceae, 5— 7, see also specific species Paullinia cupana, 232 
+Acetic acid, 97, 158, 222 Phytelephas macrocarpa, 235 
+Achotillo, see Caryocar amygdaliferum Sclerocarya caffra, 270 
+Acids, see spiecific types Alko, 276 
+Acid V, 253 Allantoic acid, 23 
+Acid XVIII, 253 Allantoin, 23, 60
+Allegany chinkapin, see Castanea pumila 
+Acid XX, 253
+Acrocomia aculeata, see Acrocomia sclerocarpa Almendro, see Terminalia calappa 
+Almond, see Prunus dulcis 
+Acrocomia sclerocarpa, 1— 2
+Acrocomia totai, 3— 4 Bengal, see Terminalia calappa 
+Adenine, 232 cuddapah, see Buchanania lanzan 
+Adhatoda vasica, 5— 7 Indian, see Terminalia calappa 
+Adhatodine, 6 java-, see Canarium indicum 
+Adji, see Cycas rumphii tropical, see Terminalia calappa 
+Adotodai, see Adhatoda vasica Almondette, see Buchanania lanzan 
+African boxwood, see Treculia africana Almond wood, see Coula edulis 
+African breadfruit, see Treculia africana Aluminum, 44 
+Amandin, 250
+African oil palm, see Elaeis guineensis
+American beech, see Fagus grandifolia 
+African walnut, see Coula edulis
+Akor, see Cycas rumphii American chestnut, see Castanea dentata 
+Alanine American filber, see Corylus americana 
+Artocarpus altilis, 35 American hazelnut, see Corylus americana 
+Bosimum alicastrum, 51 American oil palm, see Elaeis oleifera 
+Cordeauxia edulis, 114 Amino acids, see also specific types 
+Fagus sylvatica, 160 Apios americana, 23 
+Simmondsia chinensis, 273 Buchanania lanzan, 58 
+Cordeauxia edulis, 114 
+Terminalia calappa, 282 
+Jessenia bataua, 181 
+Albumens, 53, 175, see also specific types 
+Albuminoids, 140, 154, see also specific types Moringa oleifera, 215 
+Albumins, see also specific types Ricinodendron rautanenii, 258 
+Artocarpus altilis, 35 Sapium sebiferum, 263 
+Cordeauxia edulis, 114 Simmondsia chinensis, 273 
+Terminalia calappa, 282 Terminalia calappa, 282 
+Treculia africana, 287 Aminobutyric acid, 16— 18, 160 
+Alcohols, see also specific types Amylase, 285 
+Amylopectin, 285 
+Anacardium occidentale, 20 
+Apios americana, 23 Amylose, 285 
+Borassus flabellifer, 47 Amyrin, 60, 178
+Corylus avellana, 119 Anacardiaceae, 14— 15, 19— 21, 57— 58, 269— 271, 
+Fagus grandifolia, 158 see also specific species 
+Ginkgo biloba, 164 Anacardic acid, 19— 21 
+Madhuca longifolia, 2 1 1 Andropogon dulce, see Eleocharis dulcis 
+Paullinia cupana, 232 Anethole, 65
+Simmondsia chinensis, 273 Anhydrides, 97, see also specific types 
+Aleurites f ordii, 8 — 11 Animals, see also specific types 
+Aleurites moluccana, 12— 13 Acrocomia totai, 3 
+Aleurites montana, 14— 15 Adhatoda vasica, 1 
+Aleurites triloba, see Aleurites moluccana Butyrospermum paradoxum, 61 
+Alfonsia oleifera, see Elaeis oleifera Carya illinoensis, 72 
+Alkaloids, see also specific types Castanospermum australe, 93 
+Adhatoda vasica, 5 ,6 Corylus avellana, 121 
+Areca catechu, 26 Elaeis guineensis, 151 
+Cola acuminata, 108 Fagus sylvatica, 162 
+Cordeauxia edulis, 114 JTelianthus annuus, 171
+312 Handbook of Nuts
+Lecythis minor, 199 Artocarpetin, 37 
+Lecythis pisonis, 203 
+Artocarpin, 35, 37 
+Nypa fruticans, 223 
+Artocarpus altilis, 34— 36 
+Pinus edulis, 237 Artocarpus communis, see Artocarpus altilis 
+Ricinodendron heudelotii, 257 Artocarpus heterophyllus, 37— 39 
+Ricinodendron rautanenii, 259 Artocarpus integra, see Artocarpus heterophyllus 
+Schleichera oleosa, 268 Artostenone, 37 
+Telfairia pedata, 280 Ascorbic acid 
+Treculia africana, 289 Aleurites moluccana, 13 
+Anisotinine, 6
+Anacardium occidentale, 20 
+Anthocyanin, see also specific types Areca catechu, 27 
+Anthocyanins, 211 
+Artocarpus altilis, 35 
+Apigenin, 164 
+Artocarpus heterophyllus, 37 
+Apios americana, 22— 25 Balanites aegyptiaca, 41 
+Araban, 119
+Bertho llé tia excelsa, 44 
+Arabinose, 20, 160, 215, 250 Borassus flabellifer, 47 
+Arachic acid, 267 Bosimum alicastrum, 50, 51 
+Arachidic acid Calamus rotang, 62 
+Carya illinoensis, 69 Cañarium ovatum, 67 
+Ceiba pentandra, 97 Carya illinoensis, 69 
+Cocos nucifera, 102 
+Castanea crenata, 80 
+Cyperus esculentus, 140 Castanea mollissima, 85 
+Elaeis oleiferi, 152 
+Cocos nucifera, 102 
+Helianthus annuus, 169 Cola acuminata, 107, 108 
+Jatropha curcas, 178 Corylus avellana, 119 
+Macadamia integrifolia, 207 Cyperus esculentus, 140 
+Platonia esculenta, 247 Cyperus rotundus, 142 
+Schleichera oleosa, 267 De tar ium senegalense, 145, 146 
+Arachidonic acid, 41 Elaeis guineensis, 148 
+Arachidylalcohol, 160 Eleocharis dulcis, 154 
+Arachinalcohol, 160 Ginkgo biloba, 164 
+Araginose, 211 Helianthus annuus, 169 
+Arbol de Nuez, see Caryodendron orinocense Inocarpus edulis, 175 
+Arceaceae, 1— 2, see also specific species Jug Ians regia, 194 
+Areaceae, 224, see also specific species Macadamia integrifolia, 207 
+Areca, see Areca catechu Madhuca Ion gifo lia, 2 1 1 
+Arecaaine, 26 Moringa oleifera, 215 
+Areca catechu, 26— 29 Nelumbo nucifera, 219 
+Arecaceae, 3—4, 26— 33, 4 7 ^ 9 , 62— 64, 100— Pachira aquatica, 229 
+106, 147— 153, 173— 174, 180— 183, 222— 
+Pistacia vera, 240 
+223, 225— 228, 234— 235, see also specific 
+Prunus dulcis, 250 
+species Sclerocarya caffra, 270 
+Areca-nut, see Areca catechu Terminalia catappa, 282 
+Arecolidine, 26 Trapa natans, 285 
+Arecoline, 26 Treculia africana, 288 
+Arenga pinnata, 30— 33 Ash
+Arenga saccharifera, see Arenga pinnata Acrocomia totai, 3, 4 
+Arginine Aleurites moluccana, 13 
+Artocarpus altilis, 35 Anacardium occidentale, 20 
+Bosimum alicastrum, 51 Apios americana, 23 
+Butyrospermum paradoxum, 60 Areca catechu, 21 
+Cordeauxia edulis, 114 Arenga pinnata, 31 
+Fagus sylvatica, 160 Artocarpus altilis, 35 
+Moringa oleifera, 215 Artocarpus heterophyllus, 37 
+Prunus dulcis, 250 Balanites aegyptiaca, 41 
+Sapium sebiferum, 263 Bertholletia excelsa, 44 
+Sclerocarya caffra, 270 Borassus flabellifer, 47, 48 
+Simmondsia chinensis, 273 Bosimum alicastrum, 50, 51 
+Terminalia catappa, 282 Butyrospermum paradoxum, 59 
+Aristoclesia esculenta, see Platonia esculenta Calamus rotang, 62 
+Antacarpanone, 37 Cañar ium indicum, 65
+313
+Cañarium ovatum, 67 Anacardium occidentale, 21 
+Carya illinoensis, 69 Areca catechu, 29 
+Castanea crenata, 80 Cocos nucífera, 105— 106 
+Castanea dentata, 82 Corylus avellana, 122 
+Castanea mollissima, 85 Corylus colurna, 125 
+Corylus maxima, 130 
+Castanea sativa, 90 
+Ceiba pentandra, 97 Fagus sylvatica, 162 
+Helianthus annuus, 172 
+Cocos nucífera, 101, 102 
+Cola acuminata, 107, 108 Juglans ailanthifoda, 185 
+Cordeauxia edulis, 114 Juglans hindsii, 189 
+Corylus americana, 116 Juglans regia, 19 
+Corylus avellana, 119 Nelumbo nucífera, 221 
+Coula edulis, 131 Bacuri, see Platonia esculenta 
+Cyperus esculentus, 140 Bacury, see Platonia esculenta 
+Cy perU S rotundus, 142 Badam, see Terminada catappa 
+Detarium senegalense, 145 Balanites aegyptiaca, 40— 42 
+Eleocharis dulcís, 154 Balanitestin, 41
+Fagus grandifolia, 158 Balsam, see Balanites aegyptiaca 
+Barcelona nut, see Corylus avellana 
+Ginkgo biloba, 164 
+G ne turn gnemon, 166 Barium, 44
+Helianthus annuus, 169 Barringtonia procera, 43 
+Hyphaene thebaica, 174 Basak, see Adhatoda vasica 
+Inocarpus edulis, 175 Basseol, 60, see also Madhuca longifoda 
+Jatropha curcas, 178 Bats
+Juglans cinerea, 186 Cañar ium indicum, 6 6 
+Juglans nigra, 191 Caryocar amygdadferum, 73 
+Juglans regia, 194 Caryocar villosum, 11 
+Macadamia integrifolia, 207 Ceiba pentandra, 99 
+Nelumbo nucífera, 219 Lecythis minor, 199 
+Orbignya martiana, 226 Lecythis pisonis, 203 
+Pachira aquatica, 229 Bayin, 93 
+Phytelephas macrocarpa, 234 Bayogenin, 93
+Pinus edulis, 236 Beaked filbert, see Corylus cornuta
+Pistacia vera, 240 Beech, see Fagus grandifolia; Fagus sylvatica
+Prunus dulcis, 250 Bees
+Quercus súber, 253 Aleurites f ordii, 10 
+Apios americana, 25 
+Santalum acuminatum, 260 
+Sclerocarya caffra, 270 Ceiba pentandra, 99 
+Simmondsia chinensis, 273 Cyperus esculentus, 141 
+Telfairia occidentalis, 276 Elaeis oleifera, 153 
+Telfairia pedata, 278, 279 Helianthus annuus, 171 
+Terminada catappa, 282 Lecythis minor, 199 
+Trapa natans, 285 Lecythis pisonis, 203 
+Treculia africana, 287, 288 Pauldnia cupana, 233 
+Asparagine, 23, 114, 160, 164 Sapium sebiferum, 265 
+Aspartic acid Terminada catappa, 283 
+Bosimum alicastrum, 51 
+Beetles, see Insects 
+Sap ium sebiferum, 263 Behenic acid, 135, 169, 207, 215 
+Sclerocarya caffra, 270 Belgium walnut, see Aleurites moluccana 
+Simmondsia chinensis, 273 
+Bengal almond, see Terminada catappa 
+Terminada catappa, 282 Benzaldehyde, 250, 267 
+Benzolive tree, see Moringa oleifera 
+Asteraceae, 168— 172, see also specific species 
+Attalea cohune, see Orbignya cohune Bergapten, 41
+Bertholletia excelsa, 44— 46 
+Australian nut, see Macadamia integrifoda 
+Azaleatin, 69 Betaine
+Adhatoda vasica, 6 
+Cola acuminata, 108 
+B
+Cola nitida, 110 
+Babassu, see Orbignya martiana Fagus sylvatica, 160 
+Bacteria Madhuca longifoda, 211 
+Aleurites f ordii, 10— 11 Betel-nut palm, see Areca catechu
+314 Handbook of Nuts
+Betulaceae, 116— 130, see also specific species
+Cyperus rotundus, 143— 144 
+Betulin, 119, 160, 253
+Detarium senegalense, 146 
+Betulinic acid, 253
+Elaeis guineensis, 151 
+Betulinol, 119 Elaeis oleifera, 153 
+Bilobol, 164 Eleocharis dulcis, 156 
+Biotic factors, see also specific types Fagus grandifolia, 159 
+Acrocomia sclerocarpa, 2 Fa g US Sylva tica, 161— 162 
+Acrocomia totai, 3 Ginkgo biloba, 165 
+Adhatoda vasica, 1 Gnetum gnemon, 167 
+Aleurites fordii, 10— 11 
+Helianthus annuus, 171— 172 
+Aleurites moluccana, 13 Hyphaene thebaica, 174 
+Aleurites montana, 15 
+Inocarpus edulis, 176 
+Amphicarpaea hracteata, 18 
+Jatropha curcas, 179 
+Anacardium occidentale, 21 
+Jessenia bataua, 182 
+Apios americana, 25 
+Juglans ailanthifolia, 185 
+Areca catechu, 29 
+Juglans cinerea, 187— 188 
+Arenga pianata, 33 Juglans hindsii, 189 
+Artocarpus altilis, 36 Juglans nigra, 193 
+Artocarpus heterophyllus, 38— 39 Juglans regia, 196— 197 
+Balanites aegyptiaca, 42 Lecythis minor, 199 
+Barringtonia procera, 43 Lecythis ollaria, 201 
+Bertholletia excelsa, 46 Lecythis pi soni s, 203 
+Borassus flahellifer, 49 Licania rigida, 206 
+Bosimum alicastrum, 52 Mac adamia inte gr ifo lia, 209 
+Brosimum utile, 54 Madhuca longifolia, 213 
+Bruguiera gymnorhiza, 56 Moringa oleifera, 217 
+Buchanania lanzan, 58 Nelumbo nucifera, 221 
+Butyrospermum paradoxum, 61 Nypa fruticans, 223 
+Calamus rotang, 64 
+Orbignya cohune, 224 
+Canarium indicum, 6 6 Orbignya martiana, 228 
+Canarium ovatum, 6 8 Fachiro aquatica, 230 
+Carya illinoensis, 12 Paullinia cupana, 233 
+Caryocar amygdaliferum, 73 Phytelephas macrocarpa, 235 
+Caryocar nuciferum, 74 Pinus edulis, 237 
+Caryocar villosum, 11 P inus quadrifolia, 239 
+Caryodendron orinocense, 79 Pistacia vera, 243 
+Castanea crenata, 81 Pittosporum resinferum, 246 
+Castanea dentata, 84 Platonia esculenta, 248 
+Castanea mollissima, 87 Prunus dulcis, 252 
+Castanea pumila, 89 Quercus súber, 255 
+Castanea sativa, 92 Ricinodendron heudelotii, 251 
+Castanospermum australe, 95 Ricinodendron rautanenii, 259 
+Ceiba pentandra, 99 Santalum acuminatum, 261 
+Cocos nucifera, 105— 106 Sapium sebiferum, 265 
+Cola acuminata, 109 Schleichera oleosa, 268 
+Cola nitida, 111— 112 Sclerocarya coffra, 211 
+Cola verticillata, 113 Simmondsia chinensis, 215 
+Cordeauxia edulis, 115 Telfairia occidentalis, 211 
+Corylus americana, 118 Telfairia pedata, 280 
+Corylus avellana, 121— 122 Terminano catappa, 283 
+Corylus chinensis, 123 Trapa notons, 286 
+Corylus colurna, 125 Treculia africana, 289 
+Corylus cornuta, 127 Virola sebifera, 291 
+Corylus ferox, 128 Virola surinamensis, 292 
+Biotin, 211 
+Corylus heterophylla, 129 
+Birds
+Corylus maxima, 130 
+Acrocomia totai, 3 
+Coula edulis, 132 
+Corylus avellana, 121 
+Cycas circinalis, 134 
+Elaeis guineensis, 151 
+Cycas revoluta, 136 
+Cycas rumphii, 138 Helianthus annuum, 172 
+Cyperus esculentus, 141 Sapium sebiferum, 265
+315
+Schleichera oleosa, 268 Butyrospermum paradoxum, 59 
+Terminalia catappa, 283 Calamus rotang, 62 
+Black bean tree, see Castanospermum australe Canarium ovatum, 67 
+Black sugar palm, see Arenga pinnata Carya illinoensis, 69 
+Black walnut, see Juglans hindsii; Juglans nigra Castanea crenata, 80 
+Bombacaceae, 96— 99, 229— 230, see also specific Castanea mollissima, 85 
+species Castanea sativa, 90 
+Bomhax pentandrum, see Ceiba pentandra Ceiba pentandra, 97 
+Borassus aethiopum, see Borassus /labellifer Cocos nucífera, 101, 102 
+Borassus flabellifer, 47— 49 Cola acuminata, 107, 108 
+Borassus flabelliformis, see Borassus flabellifer Cordeauxia edulis, 114 
+Bosimum alicastrum, 50— 52 Cory lus avellana, 119 
+Boxwood, African, see Treculia africana Coula edulis, 131 
+Brab tree, see Borassus flabellifer Cyperus esculentus, 140 
+Cyperus rotundus, 142 
+Brazilian cocoa, see Paullinia cupana
+Brazil nut, see Bertholletia excelsa Detarium senegalense, 145 
+Breadfruit, see Artocarpus altilis; Treculia africana Elaeis guineensis, 148 
+Breadnut, see Bosimum alicastrum Eleocharis dulcis, 154 
+Brevifolin carboxylic acid, 282 Ginkgo biloba, 164 
+Bromine, 44 Helianthus annuus, 169 
+Brosimum galactodendron, see Brosimum utile Hyphaene thebaica, 174 
+Brosimum utile, 53— 54 Juglans nigra, 191 
+Bruguiera conjugata, see Bruguiera gymnorhiza Juglans regia, 194 
+Bruguiera gymnorhiza, 55— 56 Macadamia integrifolia, 207 
+Buchanania lanzan, 57— 58 Madhuca longifolia, 2 1 1 
+Buchanania latifolia, see Buchanania lanzan Moringa oleifera, 215 
+Burma mangrove, see Bruguiera gymnorhiza Nelumbo nucífera, 219 
+Burseraceae, 65— 68, see also specific species Pistacia vera, 240, 241 
+Butternut, see Caryocar nuciferum; Juglans cinerea Prunus dulcis, 250 
+Butterseed, see Butyrospermum paradoxum Santalum acuminatum, 260 
+Butyric acid, 47, 267 Sclerocarya caffra, 270 
+Butyrospermum paradoxum, 59— 61 Telfairia occidentalis, 276 
+Butyrospermum parkii, see Butyrospermum Telfairia pedata, 21S 
+paradoxum Terminalia catappa, 282 
+Buxaceae, 272— 275, see also specific species Treculia africana, 287, 288 
+Calcium pantothenase, 258 
+California walnut, see Juglans hindsii 
+Calories
+Cacay, see Caryodendron orinocense Aleurites moluccana, 13 
+Cadmium, 44 Areca catechu, 27 
+Caesalpiniaceae, 114— 115, 145— 146, see also Arenga pinnata, 31 
+specific species Artocarpus altilis, 34 
+Caffeic acid, 97, 160, 194 Artocarpus heterophyllus, 37 
+Caffeine, 108, 110, 113, 232 Balanites aegyptiaca, 41 
+Caffir marvola nut, see Sclerocarya caffra Bertholletia excelsa, 44 
+Borassus flabellifer, 47 
+Cagui, see Caryocar amygdaliferum 
+Calamus rotang, 62— 64 Bosimum alicastrum, 50, 51 
+Calcium Butyrospermum paradoxum, 59 
+Acrocomia total, 3, 4 Calamus rotang, 62 
+Aleurites moluccana, 13 Canarium ovatum, 67 
+Amphicarpaea bracteata, 17 Carya illinoensis, 69 
+Anacardium occidentale, 20 Castanea crenata, 80 
+Areca catechu, 27 Castanea mollissima, 85 
+Arenga pinnata, 31 Castanea sativa, 90 
+Artocarpus altilis, 35 Ceiba pentandra, 97 
+Artocarpus heterophyllus, 37 Cocos nucífera, 101 
+Balanites aegyptiaca, 41 Cola acuminata, 107, 108 
+Bertholletia excelsa, 44 Cordeauxia edulis, 114 
+Borassus flabellifer, 47 Corylus americana, 116 
+Bosimum alicastrum, 50, 51 Corylus avellana, 119 
+Buchanania lanzan, 58 Coula edulis, 131
+316 Handbook of Nuts
+Cyperus esculentus, 140 Canarium ovatum, 67 
+Cyperus rotundus, 142 Carya illinoensis, 69 
+Detarium senegalense, 145 Castanea crenata, 80 
+Elaeis guineensis, 148 
+Castanea dentata, 82 
+Eleocharis dulcís, 154 
+Castanea mollissima, 85 
+Fagus grandifolia, 158 
+Castanea sativa, 90 
+Ginkgo biloba, 164 
+Ceiba pentandra, 97 
+Helianthus annuus, 169 
+Cocos nucífera, 101, 102 
+Hyphaene thebaica, 174 Cola acuminata, 107, 108 
+Inocarpus edulis, 175 Cordeauxia edulis, 114 
+Juglans cinerea, 186 Corylus americana, 116 
+Jug Ians nigra, 191 Corylus avellana, 119 
+Juglans regia, 194 Coula edulis, 131 
+Macadamia integrifolia, 207 Cyperus esculentus, 140 
+Nelumbo nucífera, 219 Cyperus rotundus, 142 
+Pachira aquatica, 229 Detarium senegalense, 145 
+Pinus edulis, 236 
+Elaeis guineensis, 148 
+Pistacia vera, 240, 241 
+Eleocharis dulcís, 154 
+Prunus dulcís, 250 
+Fagus grandifolia, 158 
+Ricinodendron rautanenii, 258 
+Ginkgo biloba, 164 
+Sclerocarya caffra, 270 Gnetum gnemon, 166 
+Telfairia occidentalis, 276 Helianthus annuus, 169 
+Terminaba catappa, 282 Hyphaene thebaica, 174 
+Trapa natans, 285 Inocarpus edulis, 175 
+Treculia africana, 287 Jatropha curcas, 178 
+Caltrops, see Trapa natans Juglans cinerea, 186 
+Campesterol, 178 Juglans nigra, 191 
+Camphorol, 35, 97 Juglans regia, 194 
+Canarium amboinense, see Canarium indicum 
+Macadamia integrifolia, 207 
+Canarium commune, see Canarium indicum Madhuca longifolia, 211 
+Canarium grandistipulatum, see Canarium indicum 
+Moringa oleifera, 215 
+Canarium indicum, 65— 66 
+Nelumbo nucífera, 219 
+Canarium mehenbethene, see Canarium indicum 
+Nypa fruticans, 222 
+Canarium moluccanum, see Canarium indicum Orbignya martiana, 226 
+Canarium nungi, see Canarium indicum Pachira aquatica, 229 
+Canarium ovatum, 67— 68 Phytelephas macrocarpa, 234 
+Canarium polyphyllum, see Canarium indicum Pinus edulis, 236 
+Canarium shortlandicum, see Canarium indicum Pistacia vera, 240, 241 
+Canarium subtruncatum, see Canarium indicum Prunus dulcís, 250 
+Candleberry, see Aleurites moluccana Santalum acuminatum, 260 
+Candlenut oil tree, see Aleurites moluccana Schleichera oleosa, 267 
+Canes, see Calamus rotang Sclerocarya caffra, 270 
+Caoutchouc, 37, 212 Simmondsia chinensis, 273 
+Capomo, see Bosimum alicastrum Telfairia occidentalis, 276 
+Capric acid, 69, 102, 263, 292 Terminaba catappa, 282 
+Caproic acid, 102 Trapa natans, 285 
+Caprylic acid, 102, 164, 263 Trecuba africana, 287, 288 
+Carbohydrates, see also specific types Cardol, 20 
+Aleurites moluccana, 13 Carotene
+Anacardium occidentale, 20 Acr acomia scier ocarpa, 1 
+Apios americana, 23 Aleurites moluccana, 13 
+Areca catechu, 26, 27 
+Anacardium occidentale, 20 
+Arenga pinnata, 31 Artocarpus altilis, 35 
+Artocarpus altilis, 35 
+Artocarpus heterophyllus, 37 
+Artocarpus heterophyllus, 37 Balanites aegyptiaca, 41 
+Balanites aegyptiaca, 41 
+Bertholletia excelsa, 44 
+Bertholletia excelsa, 44 
+Bosimum alicastrum, 50, 51 
+Borassus flabellifer, 47, 48 
+Canarium ovatum, 67 
+Bosimum alicastrum, 50, 51 
+Carya illinoensis, 69 
+Butyrospermum paradoxum, 59 
+Castanea mollissima, 85 
+Calamus rotang, 62 Cocos nucífera, 101, 102
+317
+Corylus avellana, 119 
+Cola acuminata, 107, 108 
+Corylus avellana, 119 Orbignya martiana, 225 
+Elaeis guineensis, 148 Quercus súber, 253 
+Eleocharis dulcís, 154 Cerin, 253 
+Helianthus annuus, 169 Cerium, 44
+Juglans regia, 194 Ceroids, 253, see also specific types 
+Macadamia inte gr if olia, 207 Cerotic acid, 35, 37 
+Madhuca longifolia, 2 1 1 Cerotonic acid, 160 
+Moringa oleifera, 215 Ceryl alcohol, 164 
+Cesium, 44
+Nelumbo nucífera, 219 
+Ceylon oak, see Schleichera oleosa 
+Pachila aquatica, 229 
+Pistacia vera, 240 Chalmagra, see Caryocar amygdaliferum 
+Prunus dulcís, 250 Charcoal, 97
+Treculia africana, 288 Chemicals, see specific types 
+Carpathian walnut, see Juglans regia Cheronjee, see Buchanania lanzan 
+Carumhium sehiferum, see Sapium sehiferum Chestnut
+Carya illinoensis, 69— 71 American, see Castanea dentata 
+Carya oliviformis, see Carya illinoensis Chinese hairy, see Castanea mollissima 
+Carya pecan, see Carya illinoensis Chinese water, see Eleocharis dulcís 
+European, see Castanea sativa 
+Caryatin, 69
+Italian, see Castanea sativa 
+Caryocaraceae, 73— 77, see also specific species 
+Cary ocar amygdaliferum, 73 Japanese, see Castanea crenata 
+Caryocar brasiliense, see Caryocar villosum Malabar, see Pachira aquatica 
+Caryocar coriaceum, see Caryocar villosum Moretón Bay, see Castanospermum australe 
+Caryocar nuciferum, 74 Otaheite, see I nocarpus edulis 
+Caryocar villosum, 75— 77 Polynesia, see Inocarpus edulis 
+Caryodendron orinocense, 78— 79 Spanish, see Castanea sativa 
+Caryopitys edulis, see Pinus edulis sweet, see Castanea dentata; Castanea sativa 
+Cashew, see Anacardium occidentale Tahiti, see Inocarpus edulis 
+water, see Eleocharis dulcís; Trapa natans 
+Castañas, see Bertholletia excelsa 
+Castanea americana, see Castanea dentata Chinese filbert, see Corylus chinensis 
+Castanea bungeana, see Castanea mollissima Chinese hairy chestnut, see Castanea mollissima 
+Castanea castanea, see Castanea sativa Chinese tallow tree, see Sapium sebiferum 
+Castanea crenata, 80— 81 Chinese water chestnut, see Eleocharis dulcís 
+Castanea dentata, 82— 84 Chinkapin, Allegany, see Castanea pumila 
+Castanea formosana, see Castanea mollissima Chinquapin, see Castanea pumila 
+Chirauli nut, see Buchanania lanzan 
+Castanea japónica, see Castanea crenata 
+Castanea mollissima, 85— 87 Chironjii, see Buchanania lanzan 
+Castanea pubinervis, see Castanea crenata Chlorine, 194 
+Castanea pumila, 88— 89 Chloroform, 191 
+Castanea sativa, 90— 92, see also Castanea Chlorogenic acid, 160 
+mollissima Choline, 102, 160, 232 
+Castanea stricta, see Castanea crenata Chromium, 250, 288 
+Castanea vesca, see Castanea sativa Chufa, see Cyperus esculentus 
+Castanea vulgaris, see Castanea sativa Cica, see Cycas circinalis 
+Castanhado para, see Bertholletia excelsa Cineole, 142 
+Castanospermum australe, 93— 95 Cistine, 263 
+Catechin Citric acid, 160, 270
+Anacardium occidentale, 20 Clusiaceae, 247— 248, see also specific species
+Carya illinoensis, 69 Cnarotee, 164
+Cola acuminata, 108 Cobalt, 44, 194
+Cola nitida, 110 Cobnut, see Corylus avellana
+Cocoa, Brazilian, see Paullinia cupana
+Nelumbo nucífera, 219 
+Coco de Catarro, see Acrocomia sclerocarpa
+Paullinia cupana, 232 
+Terminaba catappa, 282 Coco de mono, see Lecythis minor
+Coconut, see Borassus flabellifer; Cocos nucífera
+Catechutannic acid, 232 
+Coco-palm, see Acrocomia total
+Ceiba pentandra, 96— 99 
+Cocos nucífera, 100— 106
+Cellulose
+Cohune palm, see Orbignya cohune
+Ceiba pentandra, 97 
+Cola, see Cola acuminata; Cola verticillata
+Cola acuminata, 108 
+Cola nitida, 110 Cola acuminata, 107— 109
+318 Handbook of Nuts
+Cola johnsonii, see Cola verticillata Bertholletia excelsa, 45 
+Colalipase, 110 Borassus flabellifer, 48 
+Cola nitida, 110— 112 Bosimum alicastrum, 51 
+Colaoxydase, 110 Brosimum utile, 53 
+Cola verticillata, 113 Bruguiera gymnorhiza, 56 
+Combretaceae, 281— 283, see also specific species Buchanania lanzan, 58 
+Concavalin A, 37
+Butyrospermum paradoxum, 60 
+Constantinople nut, see Corylus colurna 
+Calamus rotang, 63 
+Copper
+Canarium indicum, 6 6 
+Amphicarpaea hracteata, 17 Canarium ovatum, 67 
+Bertholletia excelsa, 44 Carya illinoensis, 70— 71 
+Madhuca longifolia, 2 1 1 Caryocar amygdaliferum, 73 
+Moringa oleifera, 215 Caryocar nuciferum, 74 
+Pistacia vera, 241 Caryocar villosum, 11 
+Santalum acuminatum, 260 Caryodendron orinocense, 78 
+Trapa natans, 285 Castanea crenata, 80— 81 
+Treculia africana, 288 
+Castanea dentata, 83 
+Cordeauxia edulis, 114— 115 
+Castanea mollissima, 8 6 , 87 
+Cordeauxione, 114 Castanea pumila, 89 
+Corilagin, 282 Castanea sativa, 91— 92 
+Cork oak, see Quercus súber Castanospermum australe, 94 
+Corozo, see Elaeis oleifera Ceiba pentandra, 98 
+Corozo oleifera, see Elaeis oleifera Cocos nucífera, 103— 104 
+Corylin, 119 Cola acuminata, 109 
+Corylus americana, 116— 118 
+Cola nitida, 111 
+Corylus avellana, 119— 122 Cola verticillata, 113 
+Corylus chinensis, 123 
+Cordeauxia edulis, 115 
+Corylus colurna, 124— 125, see also Corylus Corylus americana, 117 
+chinensis Corylus avellana, 120— 121 
+Corylus cornuta, 126— 127 Corylus chinensis, 123 
+Corylus ferox, 128, see also Corylus ferox Corylus colurna, 124— 125 
+Corylus heterophylla, 129 Corylus cornuta, 126— 127 
+Corylus maxima, 130 Corylus ferox, 128 
+Corylus rostrata, see Corylus cornuta Corylus heterophylla, 129 
+Corylus tihetica, see Corylus ferox
+Corylus maxima, 130 
+Corylus tubulosa, see Corylus maxima
+Coula edulis, 132 
+Coula edulis, 131— 132 Cycas circinalis, 134 
+/7-Coumaric acid, 160, 194 Cycas revoluta, 135 
+Cow tree, see Brosimum utile Cycas rumphii, 138 
+Creme nut, see Bertholletia excelsa Cyperus esculentus, 141 
+Croton moluccanus, see Aleurites moluccana Cyperus rotundas, 143 
+Croton sebiferus, see Sapium sebiferum Detarium senegalense, 146 
+Crozier cycas, see Cycas circinalis Elaeis guineensis, 149— 150 
+Cucurbitaceae, 276— 280, see also specific species Elaeis oleifera, 153 
+Cuddapah almond, see Buchanania lanzan Eleocharis dulcis, 155 
+Cultivation Fagus grandifolia, 159 
+Acrocomia sclerocarpa, 2 Fagus sylvatica, 161 
+Acrocomia total, 3 Ginkgo biloba, 165 
+Adhatoda vasica, 6 — 7 Gnetum gnemon, 167 
+Aleurites f ordii, 9— 10 
+Helianthus annuus, 170 
+Aleurites moluccana, 13 Hyphaene thebaica, 174 
+Aleurites montana, 14— 15 I nocarpus edulis, 176 
+Amphicarpaea bracteata, 18 Jatropha curcas, 179 
+Anacardium occidentale, 20— 21 Jessenia bataua, 182 
+Apios americana, 24 
+Juglans ailantbifolia, 185 
+Areca catechu, 28 Juglans cinerea, 187 
+Arenga pinnata, 31— 32 
+Juglans hindsii, 189 
+Artocarpus altilis, 36 
+Juglans nigra, 192 
+Artocarpus heterophyllus, 38 
+Juglans regia, 195— 196 
+Balanites aegyptiaca, 42 
+Lecythis minor, 199 
+Barringtonia procera, 43
+Lecythis ollaria, 2 0 1
+319
+Lecythis pisonis, 203 Bosimum alicastrum, 51 
+Butyrospermum paradoxum, 60 
+Licania rigida, 205 
+Fagus sylvatica, 160 
+Macadamia integrifolia, 208— 209 
+Prunus dulcis, 250 
+Madhuca longifolia, 212 
+Moringa oleifera, 216 Ricinodendron rautanenii, 258 
+Nelumbo nucífera, 220 Simmondsia chinensis, 273 
+Nypa fruticans, 223 Terminaba catappa, 282 
+Orhignya cohune, 224 Cytotoxic acid, 219
+Orhignya martiana, 221 
+Pachira aquatica, 230 
+D
+Paullinia cupana, 233 
+Phytelephas macrocarpa, 235 Date, desert, see Balanites aegyptiaca 
+Decadienoic acid, 263 
+Pinus edulis, 237 
+Decanoic acid, 292 
+Pinus quadrifolia, 238 
+Pistacia vera, 242 Deoxyribonucleic acid, 164 
+Pittosporum resinferum, 245 Deoxyvasicine, 6
+Platonia esculenta, 248 Desert date, see Balanites aegyptiaca 
+Prunus dulcís, 251 Detaric acid, 145
+Quercus súber, 254 Detarium heudelotianum, see Detarium senegalense 
+Ricinodendron heudelotii, 257 Detarium senegalense, 145— 146 
+Ricinodendron rautanenii, 259 Dextrin, 51 
+Dextrose, 285 
+Santalum acuminatum, 261 
+Sapium sebiferum, 264 Diapalmitostearin, 148 
+Dihydroterpene, 244 
+Schleichera oleosa, 267— 268 
+Sclerocarya cajfra, 271 3,4-Dihydroxy benzoic acid, 69 
+Dimethyltryptamine, 290 
+Simmondsia chinensis, 274 
+Telfairia occidentalis, 211 Dioleopalmitin, 58 
+Telfairia pedata, 279— 280 Diosgenin, 41 
+Terminaba catappa, 283 Dipalmitolein, 58 
+Trapa natans, 286 Dipalmitostearins, 2 11 
+Treculia africana, 289 Diseases, see also specific types 
+Virola sebifera, 291 Acrocomia total, 3 
+Virola surinamensis, 292 Aleurites f ordii, 10— 11 
+Curcasin, 178 Amphicarpaea bracteata, 18 
+Anacardium occidentale, 21 
+Curcin, 178 
+Cyanadin, 194 Apios americana, 25 
+Cyanomachurin, 37 Areca catechu, 29 
+Cyanomaclurin, 37 Arenga pinnata, 33 
+Cyasin, 135 Borassus flabelbfer, 49 
+Cycadaceae, 133— 138, see also specific species Brosimum utile, 54 
+Cycad nut, see Cycas circinalis; Cycas revoluta Cañarium ovatum, 6 8 
+Cycas, see Cycas circinalis Carya ilbnoensis, 12 
+Caryocar amygdaliferum, 73 
+Cycas circinalis, 133— 134 
+Castanea dentata, 84 
+Cycasin, 135
+Cycas revoluta, 135— 136 Castanea mollissima, 87 
+Cycas rumphii, 137— 138 Castanea pumila, 89 
+Cyclitol, 253 Castanea sativa, 92 
+Cycloartocarpin 37 Cocos nucífera, 106 
+Cyclopropenoid acids, 229 Corylus americana, 118 
+Cyperaceae, 139— 144, 154— 156, see also specific Corylus avellana, 122 
+aspects; specific species Corylus chinensis, 123 
+Cyperene-1, 142 Cyperus rotundus, 143— 144 
+Cyperene-2, 142 Elaeis guineensis, 151 
+Cyperenone, 142 Elaeis oleifera, 153 
+Cyperone, 142 Fagus grandifoba, 159 
+Cyperus esculentus, 139— 141 Fagus sylvatica, 161— 162 
+Cyperus rotundus, 142— 144 Ginkgo biloba, 165 
+Cystathionine, 200 Helianthus annuus, 172 
+Cysteine, 114, 273 Jatropha curcas, 179 
+Cystine Juglans ailanthifolia, 185 
+Artocarpus altilis, 35 Juglans cinerea, 187— 188
+320 Handbook of Nuts
+Juglans hindsii, 189 
+Castanea mollissima, 8 6 
+Juglans nigra, 193 Castanea pumi la, 89 
+Lecythis ollaria, 201 
+Castanea sativa, 91 
+Macadamia integrifolia, 209 
+Castanospermum australe, 94 
+Madhuca longifolia, 213 
+Ceiba pentandra, 98 
+Moringa oleifera, 217 
+Cocos nucífera, 102— 103 
+Nelumbo nucífera, 221 
+Cola acuminata, 109 
+Orhignya cohune, 224 
+Cola nitida, 1 10 
+Paullinia cupana, 233 Cola verticillata, 113 
+Pinus edulis, 237 Cordeauxia edulis, 115 
+Pistacia vera, 243 Corylus americana, 117 
+Platonia esculenta, 248 
+Corylus avellana, 120 
+Prunus du le is, 252 
+Corylus chinensis, 123 
+Quercus suher, 255 
+Corylus colurna, 124 
+Ricinodendron heudelotii, 257 
+Corylus cornuta, 126 
+Schleicher a oleosa, 268 
+Corylus ferox, 128 
+Sclerocarya caffra, 271 
+Corylus heterophylla, 129 
+Simmondsia chinensis, 275 Corylus maxima, 130 
+Telfairia occidentalis, 211 
+Coula edulis, 132 
+Telfairia pedata, 280 
+Cycas circinalis, 134 
+Trapa natans, 286 Cycas revoluta, 135 
+Distribution, see Geographical distribution Cycas rumphii, 138 
+Docosanol, 160 Cyp e rus esculentus, 140— 141 
+Doum palm, see Hyphaene thebaica Cyperus rotundus, 143 
+Drumstick tree, see Moringa oleifera Detarium senegalense, 146 
+Elaeis guineensis, 149 
+Elaeis oleifera, 152— 153 
+Eleocharis dulcís, 155 
+Eastern black walnut, see Juglans nigra 
+Fagus grandifolia, 158— 159 
+Ecology
+Fagus sylvatica, 161 
+Acrocomia scleracarpa, 1— 2 
+Ginkgo biloba, 164— 165 
+Acrocomia total, 3 
+Gnetum gnemon, 167 
+Adhatoda vasica, 6 
+Helianthus annuus, 170 
+Ale uri tes fardi i, 8 — 9 
+Hyphaene thebaica, 174 
+Aleurites moluccana, 13 I nocarpus edulis, 176 
+Aleurites montana, 14 
+Jatropha curcas, 178— 179 
+Amphicarpaea bracteata, 17— 18 Jesse nia bataua, 181 
+Apios americana, 24 Juglans allant bifolia, 184, 185 
+Areca catechu, 21 Juglans cinerea, 187 
+Arenga pinnata, 31 Juglans hindsii, 189 
+Artocarpus altilis, 35— 36 Juglans nigra, 191 
+Artocarpus heterophyllus, 38 Juglans regia, 195 
+Balanites aegyptiaca, 41 Lecythis minor, 199 
+Barringtonia procera, 43 Lecythis ollaria, 201 
+Bertholletia excelsa, 45 Lecythis pisonis, 203 
+Borassus flabellifer, 48 Licania rigida, 205 
+Bosimum alicastrum, 51 Macadamia integrifolia, 208 
+Brosimum utile, 53 Madhuca longifolia, 212 
+Bruguiera gymnorhiza, 56 Moringa oleifera, 216 
+Buchanania lanzan, 58 Nelumbo nucífera, 220 
+Butyrospermum paradoxum, 60 Nypa fruticans, 223 
+Calamus rotang, 63 
+Orbignya cohune, 224 
+Canarium indicum, 6 6 
+Orbignya martiana, 227 
+Cañarium ovatum, 67 
+Pachira aquatica, 230 
+Carya illinoensis, 70 
+Paullinia cupana, 232— 233 
+Caryocar amygdaliferum, 73 
+Phytelephas macrocarpa, 235 
+Caryocar nuciferum, 74 
+Pinus edulis, 237 
+Caryocar villosum, 11 
+Pinus quadrifolia, 238 
+Caryodendron orinocense, 78 
+Pistacia vera, 241— 242 
+Castanea crenata, 80 
+Pittosporum resinferum, 245 
+Castanea dentata, 83
+Platonia esculenta, 248
+321
+Prunas dulcís, 250— 251 
+Corylus colurna, 125 
+Quercus súber, 254 
+Corylus cornuta, 127 
+Ricinodendron heudelotii, 257 Corylus ferox, 128 
+Ricinodendron rautanenii, 258 Corylus heterophylia, 129 
+Santalum acuminatum, 261 Corylus maxima, 130 
+Sapium sebiferum, 263 Coula edulis, 132 
+Sclerocarya caffra, 271 Cycas circinalis, 134 
+Simmondsia chinensis, 21A Cycas revoluta, 136 
+Telfairia occidentalis, 276— 277 Cycas rumphii, 138 
+Telfairia pedata, 279 
+Cyperus esculentus, 141 
+Terminaba catappa, 283 
+Cyperus rotundas, 143 
+Trapa natans, 285— 286 
+Detarium senegalense, 146 
+Treculia africana, 289 
+Elaeis guineensis, 150 
+Virola sebifera, 291 
+Elaeis oleifera, 153 
+Virola surinamensis, 292 
+Eleocharis dulcís, 155 
+Economics Fagus grandifolia, 159 
+Acrocomia sclerocarpa, 2 Fagus sylvatica, 161 
+Acrocomia totai, 3 Ginkgo biloba, 165 
+Adhatoda vasica, 1 Gnetum gnemon, 167 
+Aleurites fordii, 10 Helianthus annuus, 170— 171 
+Aleurites moluccana, 13 Hyphaene thebaica, 174 
+Aleurites montana, 15 1 nocarpus edulis, 176 
+Amphicarpaea bracteata, 18 Jatropha curcas, 179 
+Anacardium occidentale, 21 Jessenia bataua, 182 
+Apios americana, 25 Juglans ailanthifolia, 185 
+Areca catechu, 28— 29 Juglans cinerea, 187 
+Arenga pinnata, 32 
+Juglans hindsii, 189 
+Artocarpus altilis, 36 
+Juglans nigra, 192— 193 
+Artocarpus heterophyllus, 38 Juglans regia, 196 
+Balanites aegyptiaca, 42 Lecythis minor, 199 
+Barringtonia procera, 43 Lecythis ollaria, 201 
+Bertholletia excelsa, 45 Lecythis pisonis, 203 
+Borassus flabellifer, 49 Licania rigida, 206 
+Bosimum alicastrum, 52 Macadamia integrifolia, 209 
+Brosimum utile, 54 Madhuca longifolia, 213 
+Bruguiera gymnorhiza, 56 Moringa oleifera, 216 
+Buchanania lanzan, 58 Nelumbo nucífera, 221 
+Butyrospermum paradoxum, 61 Nypa fruticans, 223 
+Calamus rotang, 63— 64 Orbignya cohune, 224 
+Canarium indicum, 6 6 Orbignya martiana, 227 
+Canarium ovatum, 6 8 P achira aquatica, 230 
+Carya illinoensis, 1 1 
+Paullinia cupana, 233 
+Caryocar amygdaliferum, 73 
+Phytelephas macrocarpa, 235 
+Caryocar nuciferum, 74 Pinus edulis, 237 
+Caryocar villosum, 77 
+Pinus quadrifolia, 238 
+Caryodendron orinocense, 79 Pistacia vera, 242 
+Castanea crenata, 81 
+Pittosporum resinferum, 245 
+Castanea dentata, 84 Platonia esculenta, 248 
+Castanea mollissima, 87 Prunus dulcís, 251 
+Castanea pumila, 89 Quercus súber, 255 
+Castanea sativa, 92 Ricinodendron heudelotii, 257 
+Castanospermum australe, 94— 95 Ricinodendron rautanenii, 259 
+Ceiba pentandra, 99 Santalum acuminatum, 261 
+Cocos nucífera, 105 Sapium sebiferum, 264 
+Cola acuminata, 109 Schleichera oleosa, 268 
+Cola nitida, 111 Sclerocarya cajfra, 271 
+Cola verticillata, 113 Simmondsia chinensis, 21A— 275 
+Cordeauxia edulis, 115 Telfairia occidentalis, 211 
+Corylus americana, 118 Telfairia pedata, 280 
+Corylus avellana, 121 Terminaba catappa, 283 
+Corylus chinensis, 123 Trapa natans, 286
+322 Handbook of Nuts
+Treculia africana, 289 Cola verticillata, 113 
+Virola schiferà, 291 Cordeauxia edulis, \\5 
+Virola surinamensis, 292 Corylus americana, 118 
+Eicosenoic acid, 169 207 Corylus avellana, 121 
+/z-Eicosylalcohol, 160 Corylus chinensis, 123 
+Elaeis guineensis, 147— 151 Corylus colurna, 125 
+Elaeis melanococca, see Elaeis guineensis; Elaeis Corylus cornuta, 127 
+oleifera Corylus ferox, 128 
+Elaeis oleifera, 152— 153 Corylus heterophylla, 129 
+Eleocharis dulcís, 154— 156 Corylus maxima, 130 
+Eleocharis plantaginea, see Eleocharis dulcis 
+Coula edulis, 132 
+Eleocharis tuberosa, see Eleocharis dulcis 
+Cycas circinalis, 134 
+Eleostearic acid 
+Cycas revoluta, 136 
+Aleurites fordii, 8 Cycas rumphii, 138 
+Aleurites montana, 14 Cyperus esculentus, 141 
+Licania rigida, 204 Cyperus rotundus, 143 
+Ricinodendron heudelotii, 257 Detarium senegalense, 146 
+Ricinodendron rautanenii, 258 Elaeis guineensis, 150— 151 
+Telfairia occidentalis, 276 Elaeis oleifera, 153 
+Ellagic acid, 263, 282 Eleocharis dulcis, 155— 156 
+Energy Fagus grandifolia, 159 
+Acrocomia sclerocarpa, 2 Fagus sylvatica, 161 
+Acrocomia totai, 3 Ginkgo biloba, 165 
+Adhatoda vasica, 1 Gnetum gnemon, 167 
+Aleurites fordii, 10 Helianthus annuus, 171 
+Aleurites moluccana, 13 Hyphaene thebaica, 174 
+Aleurites montana, 15 
+Inocarpus edulis, 176 
+Amphicarpaea hracteata, 18 Jatropha curcas, 179 
+Anacardium occidentale, 21 Jessenia hataua, 182 
+Apios americana, 25 Juglans ailantbifolia, 185 
+Areca catechu, 29 Juglans cinerea, 187 
+Arenga pinnata, 33 Juglans hindsii, 189 
+Artocarpus altilis, 36 Juglans nigra, 193 
+Artocarpus heterophyllus, 38 Juglans regia, 196 
+Balanites aegyptiaca, 42 Lecythis minor, 199 
+Barringtonia procera, 43 Lecythis ollaria, 201 
+Bertholletia excelsa, 46 Lecythis pisonis, 203 
+Borassus flabellifer, 49 Licania rigida, 206 
+Bosimum alicastrum, 52 Macadamia integrifolia, 209 
+Brosimum utile, 54 Madhuca longifolia, 213 
+Bruguiera gymnorhiza, 56 Moringa oleifera, 216— 217 
+Buchanania lanzan, 58 Nelumbo nucifera, 221 
+Butyrospermum paradoxum, 61 Nypa fruticans, 223 
+Calamus rotang, 64 Orbignya cohune, 224 
+Cañarium indicum, 6 6 Orbignya martiana, 221— 228 
+Canarium ovatum, 6 8 Pachira aquatica, 230 
+Carya illinoensis, 71— 72 Paullinia cupana, 233 
+Caryocar amygdaliferum, 73 Phytelephas macrocarpa, 235 
+Caryocar nuciferum, 74 Pinus edulis, 237 
+Caryocar villo sum, 11 Pinus quadrifolia, 239 
+Caryodendron orinocense, 79 Pistacia vera, 242— 243 
+Castanea crenata, 81 Pittosporum resinferum, 245— 246 
+Castanea dentata, 84 Platonia esculenta, 248 
+Castanea mollissima, 87 Prunus dulcis, 252 
+Castanea pumila, 89 Quercus súber, 255 
+Castanea sativa, 92 
+Ricinodendron heudelotii, 257 
+Castanospermum australe, 95 
+Ricinodendron rautanenii, 259 
+Ceiba pentandra, 99 Santalum acuminatum, 261 
+Cocos nucifera, 105 Sapium sebiferum, 264— 265 
+Cola acuminata, 109 
+Schleichera oleosa, 268 
+Cola nitida, 111
+Sclerocarya coffra, 21 ì
+323
+Simmondsia chinensis, 275 Cordeauxia edulis, 114 
+Telfairia occidentalis, 211 Corylus americana, 116 
+Telfairia pedata, 280 Corylus avellana, 119 
+Terminalia catappa, 283 Coula edulis, 131 
+Trapa natans, 286 Cycas revoluta, 135 
+Treculia africana, 289 Cyperus esculentus, 140 
+Virola schiferà, 291 
+Cyperus rotundas, 142 
+Virola surinamensis, 292
+Detarium senegalense, 145 
+English petroleum nut, see Pittosporum resinferum Elaeis guineensis, 148 
+English walnut, see Juglans regia Eleocharis dulcis, 154 
+Enzymes, see specific types Fagus grandifolia, 158 
+Epicatechin, 20, 108, 110, 282 Ginkgo biloba, 164 
+Epimoretenol, 263 Gnetum gnemon, 166 
+Eriodendron anfractuosum, see Ceiba pentandra Helianthus annuus, 169 
+Essang nut, see Ricinodendron heudelotii Hyphaene thebaica, 174 
+Estrogens, 215, see also specific types Inocarpus edulis, 175 
+Ethyl cinamate, 211 Jatropha curcas, 178 
+Euorpean beech, see Fagus sylvatica 
+Juglans cinerea, 186 
+Euphorbiaceae, 8— 13, 78— 79, 177— 179, 256— Juglans nigra, 191 
+259, 262— 265, see also specific species Juglans regia, 194 
+European chestnut, see Castanea sat iva Lecythis pisonis, 202 
+European filbert, see Corylus avellana Li cania rigida, 204 
+Excoecaria schiferà, see Sapium sehiferum Madhuca longifolia, 2 1 1 
+Moringa oleifera, 215 
+Nelumbo nucífera, 219 
+Orhignya cohune, 224 
+Fabaceae, 16— 17, 21— 25, 93— 95, 175— 176, see Orhignya martiana, 225 
+also specific species P achira aquatica, 229 
+Fagaceae, 80— 92, 157— 162, 253— 255, see also Phytelephas macrocarpa, 234 
+specific species Pinus edulis, 236 
+Fagine, 160 Pistacia vera, 240, 241 
+Fagus americana, see Fagus grandifolia Platonia esculenta, 248 
+Fagus atropurpuea, see Fagus grandifolia Prunus dulcis, 250 
+Fagus ferruginea, see Fagus graruiifolia Santalum acuminatum, 260 
+Fagus grandifolia, 157— 159 Schleichera oleosa, 267 
+Fagus sylvatica, 160— 162 Sclerocarya coffra, 270 
+Fats, see also specific types Simmondsia chinensis, 273 
+Acrocomia totai, 3 Telfairia occidentalis, 276 
+Aleurites moluccana, 13 Telfairia pedata, 278, 279 
+Anacardium occidentale, 20 Terminalia catappa, 282 
+Apios americana, 23 Trapa natans, 285 
+Areca catechu, 26, 27 Treculia africana, 287, 288 
+Arenga pinnata, 31 Fatty acids, see also specific types 
+Artocarpus altilis, 35 Acrocomia sclerocarpa, 1 
+Artocarpus heterophyllus, 37 
+Acrocomia totai, 4 
+Balanites aegyptiaca, 41 
+Buchanania lanzan, 58 
+Bertholletia excelsa, 44 Caryocar villosum, 76 
+Borassus fiabeIlifer, 47, 48 
+Ceiba pentandra, 91 
+Bosimum alicastrum, 50, 51 
+Corylus avellana, 119 
+Butyrospermum paradoxum, 59 Cycas revoluta, 135 
+Calamus rotang, 62 
+Cyperus esculentus, 140 
+Canarium indicum, 65 Elaeis oleifera, 152 
+Canarium ovatum, 67 Ginkgo biloba, 164 
+Carya illinoensis, 69, 70 Lecythis pisonis, 202 
+Castanea crenata, 80 Madhuca longifolia, 2 1 1 
+Castanea dentata, 82 Moringa oleifera, 215 
+Castanea sativa, 90 Pistacia vera, 240 
+Ceiba pentandra, 91 Platonia esculenta, 248 
+Cocos nucífera, 101, 102 Prunus dulcis, 250 
+Cola acuminata, 107, 108 Quercus súber, 253 
+Cola nitida, 110 Ricinodendron heudelotii, 257
+324 Handbook of Nuts
+Ricinodendron rautanenii, 258 
+Trapa natans, 285 
+Santalum acuminatum, 260 
+Treculia africana, 287, 288 
+Sapium se bife rum, 263 
+Fibrin, 53 
+Virola sebifera, 290 
+Filbert
+Virola surinamensis, 292 American, see Corylus americana 
+Fatty oils, 110, 194, 211, 215, see also specific types beaked, see Corylus cornuta 
+Ferulic acid, 160 Chinese, see Corylus chinensis 
+Fiber European, see Corylus avellana 
+Acrocomia total, 3, 4 giant, see Corylus maxima 
+Anacardium occidentale, 20 Himalayan, see Corylus ferox 
+Apios americana, 23 
+Lambert’s, see Corylus maxima 
+Areca catechu, 21 
+Siberian, see Corylus heterophylla 
+Arenga pinnata, 31 
+Tibetan, see Corylus ferox 
+Artocarpus altilis, 35 
+Turkish, see Corylus colurna 
+Artocarpus heterophyllus, 37 Flavonoids, 142, see also specific types 
+Balanites aegyptiaca, 41 Fluted pumpkin, see Telfairia occidentalis 
+Bertholletia excelsa, 44 Folic acid, 191, 211, 250, see also Vitamin B 
+Borassus flabellifer, 47 Folk medicine 
+Bosimum alicastrum, 50, 51 Acrocomia sclerocarpa, 1 
+Butyrospermum paradoxum, 59 Acrocomia total, 3 
+Calamus rotang, 62 
+Adhatoda vasica, 5 
+Canarium ovatum, 67 
+Aleurites f ordii, 8 
+Carya illinoensis, 69 
+Aleurites moluccana, 12 
+Castanea crenata, 80 Aleurites montana, 14 
+Castanea dentata, 82 Amphicarpaea bracteata, 16 
+Castanea sativa, 90 Anacardium occidentale, 19 
+Ceiba pentandra, 97 Apios americana, 22 
+Cocos nucífera, 1 0 1 , 1 0 2 Areca catechu, 26 
+Cola acuminata, 107, 108 
+Arenga pinnata, 30— 31 
+Cordeauxia edulis, 114 Artocarpus altilis, 34 
+Corylus avellana, 119 
+Artocarpus heterophyllus, 37 
+Coula edulis, 131 
+Balanites aegyptiaca, 41 
+Cyperus esculentus, 140 
+Barringtonia procera, 43 
+Cyperus rotundus, 142 
+Bertholletia excelsa, 44 
+Detarium senegalense, 145 Borassus flabellifer, 47 
+Elaeis guineensis, 148 Bosimum alicastrum, 50 
+Eleocharis dulcís, 154 Brosimum utile, 53 
+Fagus grandifolia, 158 Bruguiera gymnorhiza, 55 
+Ginkgo biloba, 164 
+Buchanania lanzan, 57— 58 
+Gnetum gnemon, 166 
+Calamus rotang, 62 
+Helianthus annuus, 169 
+Canarium indicum, 65 
+Hyphaene thebaica, 174 
+Canarium ovatum, 67 
+Inocarpus edulis, 175 Carya illinoensis, 69 
+Jatropha curcas, 178 
+Caryocar amygdaliferum, 73 
+Juglans regia, 194 
+Caryocar nuciferum, 74 
+Macadamia integrifolia, 207 
+Caryocar villosum, 75 
+Madhuca longifolia, 2 1 1 
+Caryodendron orinocense, 78 
+Moringa oleifera, 215 
+Castanea crenata, 80 
+Nelumbo nucífera, 219 Castanea dentata, 82 
+Orbignya martiana, 226 Castanea mollissima, 85 
+Pachira aquatica, 229 Castanea pumila, 8 8 
+Phytelephas macrocarpa, 234 Castanea sativa, 90 
+Pinus edulis, 236 Castanospermum australe, 93 
+Pistacia vera, 240, 241 Ceiba pentandra, 97 
+Prunus dulcís, 250 Cocos nucífera, 101 
+Schleicher a oleosa, 267 Cola acuminata, 107 
+Sclerocarya cajfra, 270 Cola nitida, 110 
+Simmondsia chinensis, 273 Cola verticillata, 113 
+Telfairia occidentalis, 276 Cordeauxia edulis, 114 
+Telfairia pedata, 279 Corylus americana, 116 
+Terminalia calappa, 282 Corylus avellana, 119
+325
+Cory lus chinensis, 123 Trapa natans, 284 
+Corylus colurna, 124 Treculia africana, 287 
+Corylus cornuta, 126 Virola sebifera, 290 
+Corylus ferox, 128 Virola surinamensis, 292 
+Corylus heterophyIla, 129 Formaldehyde, 135 
+Formic acid, 164 
+Corylus maxima, 130
+Friedelin, 253 
+Coula edulis, 131
+Cycas circinalis, 133 Fructose, 142, 178,211 
+Fungi
+Cycas revoluta, 135
+Cycas rumphii, 137 Acrocomia total, 3 
+Cyperus esculentus, 139— 140 Adhatoda vasica, 1 
+Cyperus rotundas, 142 Aleurites moluccana, 13 
+Detarium senegalense, 145 Aleurites montana, 15 
+Elaeis guineensis, 148 Anacardium occidentale, 21 
+Elaeis oleifera, 152 Areca catechu, 29 
+Eleocharis dulcis, 154 Arenga pinnata, 33 
+Artocarpus altilis, 36 
+Fagus grandifolia, 157— 158
+Artocarpus heterophyllus, 38— 39 
+Fagus sylvatica, 160
+Ginkgo biloba, 163— 164 Balanites aegyptiaca, 42 
+Gnetum gnemon, 166 Borassus flabellifer, 49 
+Helianthus annuus, 168— 169 Bosimum alicastrum, 52 
+Hyphaene thebaica, 173— 174 Buchanania lanzan, 58 
+I nocarpus edulis, 175 Butyrospermum paradoxum, 61 
+Jatropha curcas, 177— 178 Calamus rotang, 64 
+Jessenia bataua, 181 Canarium indicum, 66 
+Juglans ailanthifolia, 184 Carya illinoensis, 12 
+Castanea crenata, 81 
+Juglans cinerea, 186
+Castanea dentata, 84 
+Juglans hindsii, 189
+Juglans nigra, 190 Castanea sativa, 92 
+Juglans regia, 194 Castanospermum australe, 95 
+Lecythis minor, 198 Ceiba pentandra, 99 
+Lecythis ollaria, 200 Cocos nucífera, 105— 106 
+Lecythis pisonis, 202 Cola acuminata, 109 
+Licania rigida, 204 Cola nitida, 112 
+Macadamia integrifolia, 207 Cola verticillata, 113 
+Madhuca longifolia, 2 1 1 Corylus americana, 118 
+Moringa oleifera, 215 Corylus avellana, 122 
+Nelumbo nucífera, 218— 219 Corylus colurna, 125 
+Nypa fruticans, 222 Corylus cornuta, 127 
+Orbignya cohune, 224 Corylus maxima, 130 
+Orbignya mart lana, 225 Cyperus esculentus, 141 
+Pachira aquatica, 229 Cyperus rotundus, 143 
+Paullinia cupana, 231— 232 Elaeis guineensis, 151 
+Phytelephas macrocarpa, 234 Eleocharis dulcis, 156 
+Pinus edulis, 236 Fagus grandifolia, 159 
+Pinus quadrifolia, 238 Fagus sylvatica, 162 
+Pistacia vera, 240 Helianthus annuus, 172 
+Pittosporum resinferum, 244 Juglans ailanthifolia, 185 
+Platonia esculenta, 247 Juglans cinerea, 187— 188 
+Prunus dulcis, 249— 250 Juglans hindsii, 189 
+Quercus súber, 253 Juglans regia, 196— 197 
+Ricinodendron heudelotii, 256— 257 Madhuca longifolia, 213 
+Ricinodendron rautanenii, 258 Moringa oleifera, 217 
+Santalum acuminatum, 260 Nelumbo nucífera, 221 
+Sapium sebiferum, 263 Orbignya cohune, 224 
+Schleichera oleosa, 266— 267 Paullinia cupana, 233 
+Sclerocarya coffra, 270 Pinus quadrifolia, 239 
+Simmondsia chinensis, 273 Pistacia vera, 243 
+Telfairia occidentalis, 216 Quercus súber, 255 
+Telfairia pedata, 278 Ricinodendron heudelotii, 257 
+Terminaba catappa, 281— 282 Sapium sebiferum, 265
+326 Handbook of Nuts
+Schleichera oleosa, 268 Cordeauxia edulis, 115 
+Sclerocarya cajfra, 271 Corylus americana, 116 
+Simmondsia chinensis, 275 Corylus avellana, 120 
+Telfairia pedata, 280 Corylus chinensis, 123 
+Terminalia catappa, 283 Corylus colurna, 124 
+Trapa natans, 286 Corylus cornuta, 126 
+Furfural, 191
+Corylus ferox, 128 
+Corylus heterophylla, 129 
+Corylus maxima, 130 
+Coula edulis, 132 
+Gabon nut, see Coula edulis 
+Cycas circinalis, 134 
+Gadoleic acid, 267 Cycas revoluta, 135 
+Galactan, 119 Cycas rumphii, 138 
+Galactodendron utile, see Brosimum utile Cyperus esculentus, 140 
+Galactose, 20, 135, 160, 178, 215, 235, 250 Cyperus rotundas, 143 
+Gallic acid, 1, 240, 263, 282 Detarium senegalense, 146 
+Gallocatechin, 219 Elaeis guineensis, 149 
+Gallotanic acid, 240, 267 Elaeis oleifera, 152 
+Gbanja kola, see Cola nitida 
+Eleocharis dulcis, 155 
+Geographical distribution 
+Fagus grandifolia, 158 
+Acrocomia scleracarpa, 1 
+Fagus sylvatica, 161 
+Acrocomia totai, 3 
+Ginkgo biloba, 164 
+Adhatoda vasica, 6 
+Gnetum gnemon, 167 
+Aleurites fordii, 8 Helianthus annuus, 169 
+Aleurites moluccana, 13 Hyphaene thebaica, 174 
+Aleurites montana, 14 I nocarpus edulis, 176 
+Amphicarpaea hracteata, 17 Jatropha curcas, 178 
+Anacardium occidentale, 20 Jessenia bataua, 181 
+Apios americana, 24 Juglans ailanthifolia, 184 
+Areca catechu, 27 Juglans cinerea, 187 
+Arenga pianata, 31 Juglans hindsii, 189 
+Artocarpus altilis, 35 Juglans nigra, 191 
+Artocarpus heterophyllus, 38 
+Juglans regia, 195 
+Balanites aegyptiaca, 41 
+Lecythis minor, 198— 199 
+Barringtonia procera, 43 
+Lecythis ollaria, 201 
+Bertholletia excelsa, 45 
+Lecythis pisonis, 203 
+Borassus flabellifer, 48 
+Licania rigida, 205 
+Bosimum alicastrum, 51 Macadamia integrifolia, 208 
+Brosimum utile, 53 Madhuca longifolia, 2 1 2 
+Bruguiera gymnorhiza, 56 Moringa oleifera, 216 
+Buchanania lanzan, 58 Nelumbo nucifera, 220 
+Butyrospermum paradoxum, 60 Nypa fruticans, 223 
+Calamus rotang, 63 Orbignya cohune, 224 
+Canarium indicum, 6 6 Orbignya martiana, 227 
+Canarium ovatum, 67 Pachira aquatica, 230 
+Carya illinoensis, 70 Paullinia cupana, 232 
+Caryocar amygdaliferum, 73 Phytelephas macrocarpa, 235 
+Caryocar nuciferum, 74 
+Pinus edulis, 237 
+Caryocar villosum, 77 
+Pinus quadrifolia, 238 
+Caryodendron orinocense, 78 
+Pistacia vera, 241 
+Castanea crenata, 80 
+Pittosporum resinferum, 245 
+Castanea dentata, 82— 83 
+Platonia esculenta, 248 
+Castanea mollissima, 8 6 
+Prunus dulcis, 250 
+Castanea pumila, 88— 89 
+Quercus súber, 254 
+Castanea sativa, 91 
+Ricinodendron heudelotii, 257 
+Castanospermum australe, 94 
+Ricinodendron rautanenii, 258 
+Ceiba pentandra, 98 Santalum acuminatum, 261 
+Cocos nucifera, 102 Sapium sebiferum, 263 
+Cola acuminata, 109 Schleichera oleosa, 267 
+Cola nitida, 110 Sclerocarya cajfra, 270 
+Cola verticillata, 113
+Simmondsia chinensis, 274
+327
+Telfairia occidentalis, 276 Cyperus rotundas, 143 
+Te If airia pedata, 279 
+Detarium senegalense, 146 
+Terminalia calappa, 283 Elaeis guineensis, 148— 149 
+Trapa natans, 285 Elaeis oleifera, 152 
+Treculia africana, 289 Eleocharis dulcis, 155 
+Virola schiferà, 291 Fagus grandifolia, 158 
+Germplasm Fagus sylvatica, 160— 161 
+Acrocomia sclerocarpa, 1 Ginkgo biloba, 164 
+Acrocomia totai, 3 G ne turn gnemon, 167 
+Adhatoda vasica, 6 
+Helianthus annuus, 169 
+Aleurites fordii, 8 
+Hyphaene thebaica, 174 
+Aleurites moluccana, 13 
+Inocarpus edulis, 176 
+Aleurites montana, 14 
+Jatropha curcas, 178 
+Amphicarpaea bracteata, 17 Jessenia bataua, 181 
+Anacardium occidentale, 20 Juglans ailanthifolia, 184 
+Apios americana, 24 Juglans cinerea, 186— 187 
+Areca catechu, 27 Juglans hindsii, 189 
+Arenga pinnata, 31 Juglans nigra, 191 
+Artocarpus altilis, 35 Juglans regia, 195 
+Artocarpus heterophyllus, 38 Lecythis minor, 198 
+Balanites aegyptiaca, 41 Lecythis ollaria, 2 0 1 
+Barringtonia procera, 43 Lecythis pisonis, 202— 203 
+Bertholletia excelsa, 45 
+Licania rigida, 205 
+Borassus flabellifer, 48 
+Macadamia integrifolia, 208 
+Bosimum alicastrum, 5 1 
+Madhuca longifolia, 2 1 2 
+Brosimum utile, 53 Moringa oleifera, 216 
+Bruguiera gymnorhiza, 56 Nelumbo nucifera, 220 
+Buchanania lanzan, 58 Nypa fruticans, 223 
+Butyrospermum paradoxum, 60 Orbignya cohune, 224 
+Calamus rotang, 63 Orbignya martiana, 227 
+Canarium indicum, 6 6 Pachira aquatica, 230 
+Canarium ovatum, 67 Paullinia cupana, 232 
+Carya illinoensis, 70 Phytelephas macrocarpa, 235 
+Caryocar amygdaliferum, 73 Pinus edulis, 236— 237 
+Caryocar nuciferum, 74 Pinus quadrifolia, 238 
+Caryocar villosum, 77 Pistacia vera, 241 
+Caryodendron orinocense, 78 Pittosporum resinferum, 245 
+Castanea crenata, 80 
+Platonia esculenta, 248 
+Castanea dentata, 82 
+Prunus dulcis, 250 
+Castanea mollissima, 8 6 Quercus súber, 254 
+Castanea pumila, 8 8 Ricinodendron heudelotii, 257 
+Castanea sativa, 90— 91 Ricinodendron rautanenii, 258 
+Castanospermum australe, 94 Santalum acuminatum, 261 
+Ceiba pentandra, 98 Sapium sebiferum, 263 
+Cocos nucifera, 102 Schleicher a oleosa, 267 
+Cola acuminata, 109 Sclerocarya caffra, 270 
+Cola nitida, 110 Simmondsia chinensis, 273— 274 
+Cola verticillata, 113 Telfairia occidentalis, 276 
+Cordeauxia edulis, 115 Telfairia pedata, 279 
+Corylus americana, 116 Terminalia catappa, 282— 283 
+Corylus avellana, 119— 120 Trapa natans, 285 
+Corylus colurna, 124 Treculia africana, 289 
+Corylus cornuta, 126 Virola sebifera, 291 
+Corylus ferox, 128 
+Giant filbert, see Corylus maxima 
+Gìnkgetin, 164 
+Corylus heterophylla, 129 
+Corylus maxima, 130 Ginkgic acid, 164 
+Coula edulis, 132 Ginkgo, see Ginkgo biloba 
+Cycas circinalis, 134 Ginkgoaceae, 163— 165, see also specific species 
+Cycas revoluta, 135 Ginkgo biloba, 163— 165 
+Cycas rumphii, 137 Ginkgol, 164 
+Cyperus esculentus, 140 Ginkgolic acid, 164
+328 Handbook of Nuts
+Ginnol, 164 Hanga, see Pittosporum resinferum 
+Globulins, 35, 114, 250, 282, 287, see also specific Harvesting
+types Acrocomia sclerocarpa, 2 
+Glucoluteolin, 219 Acrocomia totai, 3 
+Glucose Adhatoda vasica, 1 
+Balanites aegyptiaca, 41 Aleurites fordii, 10 
+Borassus flabellifer, 48 Aleurites moluccana, 13 
+Bosimum alicastrum, 51 Aleurites montana, 15 
+Cola nitida, 110 Amphicarpaea hracteata, 18 
+Anacardium occidentale, 21 
+Cycas revoluta, 135 
+Apios americana, 25 
+Cyperus rotundas, 142 
+Jatropha curcas, 178 Areca catechu, 28 
+Madhuca longifolia, 211 Arenga pinnata, 32 
+Phytelephas macrocarpa, 235 Artocarpus alti lis, 36 
+Glucosidases, 94, see also specific types Artocarpus heterophyllus, 38 
+Glucosides, 114, see also specific types Balanites aegyptiaca, 42 
+Glucuronic acid, 215, 250 Barringtonia procera, 43 
+Glutamic acid, 35, 263, 270, 273, 282 Bertholletia excelsa, 45 
+Glutamine, 23, 114, 160 Borassus flabellifer, 48— 49 
+Glutathione, 219 Bosimum alicastrum, 52 
+Glutelins, 35, see also specific types Brosimum utile, 53— 54 
+Gluten, 282 Bruguiera gymnorhiza, 56 
+Glyceim, 253 Buchanania lanzan, 58 
+Glycerides, see also specific types Butyrospermum paradoxum, 60— 61 
+Aleurites moluccana, 13 Calamus rotang, 63 
+Aleurites montana, 14 Canarium indicum, 6 6 
+Canarium ovatum, 67— 68 
+Anacardium occidentale, 20 
+Bertholletia excelsa, 44 Carya illinoensis, 1 1 
+Caryocar amygdaliferum, 73 
+Buchanania lanzan, 58 
+Caryocar nuciferum, 74 
+Caryocar villosum, 75, 76 
+Caryocar villosum, 77 
+Elaeis guineensis, 148 
+Madhuca longifolia, 211 Caryodendron orinocense, 79 
+Platonia esculenta, 247, 248 Castanea crenata, 81 
+Schleichera oleosa, 267 Castanea dentata, 83— 84 
+Telfairia occidentalis, 276 Castanea mollissima, 87 
+Virola surinamensis, 292 Castanea pumila, 89 
+Glycine, 35, 51, 114, 160, 263, 273, 282 Castanea sativa, 92 
+Glycoproteins, 94, see also specific types Castanospermum australe, 94 
+Glycosides, 110, 133, 142, see also specific types Ceiba pentandra, 98— 99 
+Gnetaceae, 166— 167, see also specific species Cocos nucifera, 104— 105 
+Gnetum gnemon, 166— 167 Cola acuminata, 109 
+Gossypol, 97 Cola nitida, 111 
+Groundnut, see Apios americana Cola verticillata, 113 
+Gru-gru nut, see Acrocomia sclerocarpa; Acrocomia Cordeauxia edulis, 115 
+totai Corylus americana, 117— 118 
+Guaiacol, 158 Corylus avellana, 121 
+Guanine, 232 Corylus chinensis, 123 
+Guanosine, 119 Corylus colurna, 125 
+Guaraña, see Paullinia cupana Corylus cornuta, 127 
+Guaranine, 232 Corylus ferox, 128 
+Guilandina moringa, see Moringa oleifera Corylus heterophylla, 129 
+Gums, 20, 53, 108, 110, 160, 215, 258, 270, see also 
+Corylus maxima, 130 
+Coula edulis, 132 
+specific types 
+Cycas circinalis, 134 
+Guru, see Cola acuminata 
+Gutta, 211 Cycas revoluta, 135— 136 
+Guvacine, 26 Cycas rumphii, 138 
+Guvacoline, 26 Cyperus esculentus, 141 
+Cyperus rotundas, 143 
+Detarium senegalense, 146 
+H
+Elaeis guineensis, 150 
+Hadji, see Cycas rumphii Elaeis oleifera, 153
+329
+Eleocharis dulcís, 155 Histamine, 114 
+Fagus grandifolia, 159 Histidine
+Fagus sylvatica, 161 Artocarpus altilis, 35 
+Ginkgo biloba, 165 Bosimum alicastrum, 51 
+Gnetum gnemon, 167 Fagus sylvatica, 160 
+Helianthus annuus, 170 Moringa oleifera, 215 
+Hyphaene thebaica, 174 Prunus dulcis, 250 
+I nocarpus edulis, 176 Ricinodendron rautanenii, 258 
+Jatropha curcas, 179 Sapium sebiferum, 263 
+Jessenia bataua, 182 Simmondsia chinensis, 273 
+Juglans ailanthifolia, 185 Terminalia catappa, 282 
+Hog peanut, see Amphicarpaea brat teata 
+Juglans cinerea, 187 
+Juglans hindsii, 189 Honey tree, see Schleichera oleosa 
+Juglans nigra, 192 Horseradish tree, see Moringa oleifera 
+Juglans regia, 196 Hydrocyanic acid, 267 
+Lecythis minor, 199 Hydroxybenzoic acid, 160 
+Lecythis ollaria, 201 Hydroxyglutamic acid, 160 
+Lecythis pisonis, 203 Hydroxy-9-octadecenoic acid, 253 
+Licania rigida, 205— 206 Hydroxyproline, 160 
+Macadamia integrifolia, 209 Hyperin, 194 
+Madhuca longifolia, 212— 213 Hyperoside, 219 
+Moringa oleifera, 216 Hyphaene thebaica, 173— 174 
+Nelumbo nucífera, 220 Hypoxanthine, 232
+Nypa fruticans, 223 
+Orbignya cohune, 224 
+I
+Orbignya martiana, 227 
+Pachira aquatica, 230 Idalin, 160
+Paullinia cupana, 233 Illupei tree, see Madhuca longifolia 
+Inche, see Caryodendron orinocense 
+Phytelephas macrocarpa, 235 
+Pinus edulis, 237 Indian almond, see Terminalia catappa 
+Pinus quadrifolia, 238 Indian lotus, see Nelumbo nucífera 
+Pistacia vera, 242 Indian walnut, see Aleurites moluccana 
+Pittosporum resinferum, 245 Indoleacetic acid, 215 
+Platonia esculenta, 248 Indole acetonitrile, 215 
+Prunus dulcís, 251 Inocarpus edulis, 175— 176 
+Quercus súber, 254— 255 I nocarpus fagifer us, see Inocarpus edulis 
+Ricinodendron heudelotii, 257 Inositol, 69, 160, 191,211 
+Ricinodendron rautanenii, 259 Insects, see also specific types 
+Santalum acuminatum, 261 Acrocomia totai, 3 
+Sapium sebiferum, 264 Adhatoda vasica, 1 
+Schleichera oleosa, 268 Aleurites f ordii, 10, 11 
+Sclerocarya cajfra, 271 Amphicarpaea bracteata, 18 
+Simmondsia chinensis, 21A Anacardium occidentale, 21 
+Telfairia occidentalis, 277 Apios americana, 25 
+Telfairia pedata, 280 Areca catechu, 29 
+Terminaba catappa, 283 Arenga pinnata, 33 
+Trapa natans, 286 Butyrospermum paradoxum, 61 
+Treculia africana, 289 Carya illinoensis, 12 
+Castanea mollissima, 87 
+Virola sebifera, 291 
+Castanospermum australe, 95 
+Virola surinamensis, 292 
+Hasu, see Nelumbo nucífera Ceiba pentandra, 99 
+Hazelnut, see Corylus americana, Corylus avellana, Cocos nucífera, 106 
+Corylus colurna Cola nitida, 112 
+Heartnut, see Juglans ailanthifolia Cordeauxia edulis, 115 
+Helianthus annuus, 168— 172 Corylus americana, 118 
+Heptane, 244, 245 Corylus avellana, 122 
+Hexacosanol, 160 Corylus cornuta, 127 
+Hexadecenoic acid; 152, 247 Cyperus esculentus, 141 
+Hicoria pecan, see Carya illinoensis Cyperus rotundas, 143— 144 
+Himalayan filbert, see Corylus ferox Detarium senegalense, 146 
+Hind’s black walnut, see Juglans hindsii Elaeis guineensis, 151
+330 Handbook of Nuts
+Elaeis oleifera, 153 Moringa oleifera, 215 
+Fagus sylvatica, 162 Nelumbo nucífera, 219 
+Ginkgo biloba, 165 Pachira aquatica, 229 
+Helianthus annuus, 171— 172 Pistacia vera, 240, 241 
+Hyphaene thebaica, 174 Prunas dulcis, 250 
+Juglans nigra, 193 Sclerocarya caffra, 270 
+Juglans regia, 197 Telfairia pedata, 278, 279 
+Lecythis minor, 199 Terminaba catappa, 282 
+Lecythis pisonis, 203 Trapa natans, 285 
+Licania rigida, 206 Trecuba africana, 288 
+Macadamia integrifolia, 209 Isoguvacine, 26
+Madhuca longifolia, 213 Isoleucine, 35, 51, 114, 215, 258, 273, 282 
+Moringa oleifera, 217 Isolicanic acid, 204 
+Orbignya cohune, 224 
+Isoquercitrin, 160, 219, 263 
+Orbignya martiana, 228 
+Isorhamnetin 3,7-dirhamnoside, 273 
+Pachira aquatica, 230 Isorhamnetin 3-rutinoside, 273 
+Paullinia cupana, 233 Isovitexin, 178
+Phytelephas macrocarpa, 235 Italian chestnut, see Castanea sativa 
+Pistacia vera, 243 Ivory nut palm, see Phytelephas macrocarpa
+Prunas dulcis, 252 
+Sapium sebiferum, 265 
+Schleicher a oleosa, 268 
+Sclerocarya caffra, 271 Jackfruit, see Artocarpus heterophyllus 
+Simmondsia chinensis, 275 Jagua, see Jessenia bataua 
+Telfairia pedata, 280 Japanese chestnut, see Castanea crenata 
+Terminaba catappa, 283 Japanese walnut, see Juglans ailanthifoba 
+Trapa natans, 286 Jatropha curcas, 177— 179 
+Virola sebifera, 291 Java-almond, see Canarium indicum 
+Iodine, 1,4, 241, 285 Jericho balsam, see Balanites aegyptiaca 
+Ipuranol, 164 Jessenia bataua, 180— 183 
+Iron Jessenia poly car pa, see Jessenia bataua 
+Aleurites moluccana, 13 
+Jesuit nut, see Trapa natans 
+Amphicarpaea bracteata, 17 Jikungo, see Telfairia pedata 
+Anacardium occidentale, 20 
+Jojoba, see Simmondsia chinensis 
+Areca catechu, 27 Juglandaceae, 69— 71, 184— 197, see also specific 
+Artocarpus altilis, 35 species
+Artocarpus heterophyllus, 37 Juglandic acid, 186 
+Bert hollé tia excelsa, 44 Juglandin, 186
+Borassus flabellifer, 47 Juglans ailanthifoba, 184— 185
+Bosimum alicastrum, 50, 51 Juglans allardiana, see Juglans ailanthifoba
+Butyrospermum paradoxum, 60 
+Juglans cabfornica, see Juglans hindsii
+Calamus rotang, 62 Juglans cinerea, 186— 188
+Canarium ovatum, 67 Juglans coarctata, see Juglans ailanthifoba
+Carya illinoensis, 69 Juglans hindsii, 189
+Castanea crenata, 80 Juglans lavallei, see Juglans ailanthifoba
+Castanea mollissima, 85 Juglans mirabunda, see Juglans ailanthifoba
+Castanea sativa, 90 Juglans nigra, 190— 193
+Cocos nucifera, 101, 102 Juglans regia, 194— 197
+Cola acuminata, 107 Juglans sachalinensis, see Juglans ailanthifoba
+Cordeauxia edulis, 114 Juglans sieboldiana, see Juglans ailanthifoba
+Corylus avellana, 119 Juglone, 186, 191
+Cyperus esculentus, 140 Juri, see Castanea crenata
+Cyperus rotundas, 142 
+Elaeis guineensis, 148 
+Eleocharis dulcis, 154 
+Ginkgo biloba, 164 Kaempferol, 160, 194, 219
+Helianthus annuus, 169 Kaempferol-3-arabinoside, 194
+Juglans cinerea, 186 Kakari taccy nut, see Caryodendron orinocense
+Juglans nigra, 191 Kanari, see Canarium indicum
+Juglans regia, 194 Kaong, see Arenga pinnata
+Madhuca longifolia, 211 Kapok, see Ceiba pentandra
+331
+Kenari, see Canarium indicum Bertholletia excelsa, 44 
+Kola, Gbanja, see Cola nitida Buchanania lanzan, 58 
+Kola nut, see Cola acuminata Butyrospermum paradoxum, 60 
+Kotamba, see Terminalia catappa Canarium indicum, 65 
+Kusum tree, see Schleichera oleosa
+Carya illinoensis, 69, 70 
+Caryocar villosum, 76 
+Castanea sativa, 90 
+Ceiba pentandra, 97 
+Lactic acid, 160 Cocos nucifera, 102 
+Lac tree, see Schleichera oleosa Corylus avellana, 119 
+Lambert’s filbert, see Corylus maxima Cyperus esculentus, 140 
+Lapachol, 211 Cyperus rotundus, 142 
+Lapachones, 211, see also specific types Elaeis guineensis, 148 
+Laurie acid Elaeis oleifera, 152 
+Cary a illinoensis, 69 Fagus sylvatica, 160 
+Cocos nucifera, 102 Helianthus annuus, 169 
+Fagus sylvatica, 160 Jatropha curcas, 178 
+Helianthus annuus, 169 Jug Ians regia, 194 
+Macadamia integrifolia, 207 Lecythis pisonis, 202 
+Schleichera oleosa, 267 Licania rigida, 204 
+Virola sehifera, 290 Macadamia inte grif olia, 207 
+Virola surinamensis, 292 Madhuca longifolia, 211 
+Lectins, 17, see also specific types Pachira aquatica, 229 
+Pistacia vera, 240, 241 
+Lecythidaceae, 198— 203, see also specific species 
+Lecythis elliptica, see Lecythis minor Platonia esculenta, 247 
+Lecythis minor, 198— 199 Prunus dulcis, 250 
+Lecythis ollaria, 200— 201 Ricinodendron heudelotii, 257 
+Lecythis pisonis, 202— 203 Ricinodendron rautanenii, 258 
+Leucine Santalum acuminatum, 260 
+Artocarpus altilis, 35 Sapium sebiferum, 263 
+Bosimum alicastrum, 51 Telfairia occidentalis, 276 
+Butyrospermum paradoxum, 60 Terminalia catappa, 282 
+Cordeauxia edulis, 114 
+Treculia africana, 288 
+Fagus sylvatica, 160 
+Virola sebifera, 290 
+Prunus dulcis, 250 Virola surinamensis, 292 
+Ricinodendron rautanenii, 258 Linolenic acid 
+Sapium sebiferum, 263 Aleurites moluccana, 13 
+Simmondsia chinensis, 273 Amphicarpaea bracteata, 17 
+Terminalia catappa, 282 Canarium indicum, 65 
+Leucocyanadine, 20 
+Carya illinoensis, 69, 70 
+Leucocyanidin, 160, 219, 282 Elaeis oleifera, 152 
+Leucodelphinidin, 160, 219 Ginkgo biloba, 164 
+Licania rigida, 204— 206 Helianthus annuus, 169 
+Licanic acid, 204 Juglans regia, 194 
+Ligin, 253 Madhuca longifolia, 211 
+Lignans, 290, see also specific types Sapium sebiferum, 263 
+Lignin, 253 Lipids, 4, 287, see also specific types 
+Lignoceric acid, 20, 97, 169, 215, 267 Liriodenine, 219 
+Lignoceryl alcohol, 119 Lotus, see Nelumbo nucifera 
+Lignocerylalcohol, 119 Lotus root, see Nelumbo nucifera 
+Lignone, 97 Lucine, 215
+Limonene, 142, 245 Lumbang oil, see Aleurites moluccana 
+Linoceric acid, 140 Lupeol, 60
+Linoleic acid Lutelins, 287, see also specific types 
+Acrocomia scleracarpa, 1 Luteolin, 219 
+Acrocomia totai, 4 Luteolin-7-glucoside, 219 
+Aleurites moluccana, 13 Lycine, 263 
+Aleurites montana, 14 Lysine
+Amphicarpaea bracteata, 17 Bosimum alicastrum, 51 
+Anacardium occidentale, 20 Buchanania lanzan, 58 
+Balanites aegyptiaca, 41 Cordeauxia edulis, 114
+332 Handbook of Nuts
+Moringa oleifera, 215 
+Fagus syhatica, 160 
+Jessenia hataua, 181 Prunus dulcis, 250 
+Moringa oleifera, 215 Ricinodendron rautanenii, 258 
+Prunas dale is, 250 Sapium sebiferum, 263 
+Ricinodendron rautanenii, 258 Simmondsia chinensis, 273 
+Sapium sehiferum, 263 Terminada catappa, 282 
+Simmondsia chinensis, 273 Methylaminopropionic acid, 133 
+Terminada catappa, 282 Methylcorypalline, 219 
+Methylpentosane, 160
+Microorganisms, 3, 10— 11, 18 see also specific 
+M
+types
+Macadamia integrifolia, 207— 209 Mil pesos, see Jessenia bataua 
+Macadamia nut, see Macadamia integrifolia Minerals, see specific types 
+Macadamia tetraphylla, 207— 209 Mites, 25,29, 118, 162 
+Macauba, see Acrocomia sclerocarpa Mogongo nut, see Ricinodendron rautanenii 
+Macrozaniin, 135 Monkey pod, see Lecythis ollaria 
+Madhuca indica, see Madhuca longifolia Monkey pot, see Lecythis ollaria 
+Madhuca longifolia, 2 10— 213 Monoglycerides, 60, see also specific types 
+Magnesium Moraceae, 34— 39, 50— 54, 287— 289, see also 
+Amphicarpaea hracteata, 17 specific species 
+Moretenol, 263 
+Bertholletia excelsa, 44 
+Cocos nucífera, 102 Moretenone, 263
+Jug Ians regia, 194 Moreton bay chestnut, see Castanospermum australe 
+Madhuca longifolia, 211 Morin, 37
+Prunas dulcís, 250 Moringa, see Moringa oleifera
+Santalum acuminatum, 260 Moringaceae, 214— 217, see also specific species
+Trapa natans, 285 Moringa nux-ben, see Moringa oleifera
+Treculia africana, 288 Moringa oleifera, 214— 217
+Mahua, see Madhuca longifolia Moringa pterygosperma, see Moringa oleifera
+Maidenhair tree, see Ginkgo biloba Mucaja, see Acrocomia sclerocarpa
+Malabar chestnut, see Pachira aquatica Mucilage cola, see Cola verticillata
+Malabar nut, see Adhatoda vasica Mu-oil tree, see Aleurites montana
+Malay lac-tree, see Schleichera oleosa Murunga-Kai, see Moringa oleifera
+Muscilage, 51
+Malic acid, 160,211,270 
+Malindjo, see Gnetum gnemon Mutacone, 142
+Maltose, 211 Muzinda, see Treculia africana 
+Mammee, wild, see Platonia esculenta Myrcene, 244 
+Manganese, 17, 44, 194, 241, 285 Myricetin, 160, 204, 211 
+Mani, see Caryocar amygdaliferum Myricetin-3-O-L-rhamnoside, 211 
+Manindjo, see Gnetum gnemon Myricitrin, 119 
+Manketti, see Ricinodendron rautanenii; Ricinoden­ Myricitroside, 119
+dron heudelotii Myristicaceae, 290— 292, see also specific species 
+Mannan, 119, 234, 235 Myristic acid 
+Manninotriose, 119, 124 Bertholletia excelsa, 44 
+Mannitol, 174 Buchanania lanzan, 58 
+Mannose, 48, 174, 235 Carya illinoensis, 69 
+Maranhau nut, see Pachira aquatica Caryocar villosum, 76 
+Marmesin, 41 Cocos nucífera, 102 
+Manila nut, see Sclerocarya caffra Corylus avellana, 119 
+Marvola nut, see Sclerocarya caffra Cyperus esculentus, 140 
+Masico, see Bosimum alicastrum Cyperus rotundas, 142 
+Mawra butter tree, see Madhuca longifolia Elaeis guineensis, 148 
+Mbocaya, see Acrocomia total Fagus sylvatica, 160 
+Melibiose, 119, 124 
+Jatropha curcas, 178 
+Methanol, 263 
+Macadamia integrifolia, 207 
+Methionine 
+Moringa oleifera, 215 
+Artocarpus altilis, 35 Pistacia vera, 241 
+Bosimum alicastrum, 51 Platonia esculenta, 247 
+Buchanania lanzan, 58 Prunus dulcis, 250 
+Cordeauxia edulis, 114 Sapium sebiferum, 263 
+Fagus sylvatica, 160 Terminada catappa, 282
+333
+Virola sebifera, 290 Cocos nucífera, 102 
+Virola surinamensis, 292 Cola acuminata, 107, 108 
+Myrobalan, see Terminalia calappa Corylus avellana, 119 
+Myrtaceae, 43— 46, see also specific species Cyperus esculentus, 140 
+Cyperus rotundus, 142 
+Detarium senegalense, 145 
+N
+Elaeis guineensis, 148 
+Nambi, see Caryodendron orinocense Eleocharis dulcis, 154 
+Naphthaquinone, 211 Ginkgo biloba, 164 
+Narcissin, 273 Helianthus annuus, 169 
+Native peach, see Santalum acuminatum Juglans nigra, 191 
+Nelumbium nelumbo, see Nelumbo nucífera Juglans regia, 194 
+Nelumbium speciosum, see Nelumbo nucífera Macadamia integrifolia, 207 
+Nelumbonaceae, 218— 221, see also specific species Madhuca longifolia, 211 
+Nelumbo nelumbo, see Nelumbo nucífera Moringa oleifera, 215 
+Nelumbo nucífera, 218— 221 Nelumbo nucífera, 219 
+Nematodes Pachira aquatica, 229 
+Aleurites fordii, 11 Pistacia vera, 240 
+Prunus dulcis, 250 
+Apios americana, 25 
+Areca catechu, 29 Sclerocarya caffra, 270 
+Artocarpus altilis, 36 Terminalia catappa, 282 
+Artocarpus heterophyllus, 39 Trapa natans, 285 
+Bertholletia excelsa, 46 Nickel, 44 
+Ceiba pentandra, 99 Nicotine, 191
+Cocos nucífera, 106 Nicotinic acid, 215, 241, 285
+Cola nitida, 112 Ñipa palm, see Nypa fruticans
+Corylus avellana, 122 Nitrates, 23, see also specific types
+Cyperus esculentus, 141 Nitrogen, 4, 17, 23, 97, 164, 276
+Cyperus rotundas, 143 n-Nonacosan, 119, 160
+Elaeis guineensis, 151 Nonane, 245
+Eleocharis dulcis, 156 Nomuciferine, 219
+Nua nut, see Barringtonia procera
+Helianthus annuus, 172 
+Juglans ailanthifolia, 185 Nuciferine, 219
+Nut pine, see Pinus edulis
+Juglans cinerea, 188 
+Juglans nigra, 193 Nutrients, see spiecific types
+Juglans regia, 197 Nutsedge, see Cyperus esculentus; Cyperus rotundus 
+Macadamia integrifolia, 209 Nymphaea nelumbo, see Nelumbo nucífera 
+Pistacia vera, 243 Nypa fruticans, 222— 223
+Quercus súber, 255 
+Sapium sebiferum, 265 
+o
+Telfairia pedata, 280 
+Terminalia calappa, 283 Oak, see Quercus súber; Schleichera oleosa 
+Neochlorogenic acid, 219 Ocimene, 244 
+Neocycasin A, 135 Octadecatrienic acid, 204 
+Neocycasin B, 135 Octadeconoic acid, 253 
+Nerolidol, 261 Oil nut, see Juglans cinerea 
+Neurine, 160 Oil palm, see Elaeis guineensis; Elaeis oleifera 
+Niacin Oils, see also specific types 
+Anacardium occidentale, 20 Aleurites fordii, 8 
+Areca catechu, 27 Aleurites montana, 14 
+Arenga pinnata, 31 Amphicarpaea bracteata, 17 
+Artocarpus heterophyllus, 2n Bosimum alicastrum, 51 
+Bertholletia excelsa, 44 Buchanania lanzan, 58 
+Borassus flabellifer, 47 Canarium indicum, 65 
+Bosimum alicastrum, 50, 51 Caryocar nuciferum, 74 
+Calamus rotang, 62 Caryocar villosum, 75 
+Canarium ovatum, 67 Caryodendron orinocense, 78 
+Carya illinoensis, 69 Castanea dentata, 82 
+Castanea crenata, 80 Ceiba pentandra, 91 
+Castanea mollissima, 85 Cola acuminata, 107 
+Castanea sativa, 90 Cola nitida, 110
+334 Handbook of Nuts
+Cory lus avellana, 119 Juglans regia, 194 
+Coula edulis, 131 Lecythis pisonis, 202 
+Cycas revoluta, 135 Licania rigida, 204 
+Cyperus eseulentus, 140 Macadamia integrifolia, 207 
+Cyperus rotundus, 142 Madhuca longifolia, 211 
+Elaeis guineensis, 148 Maringa oleifera, 215 
+Elaeis oleifera, 152 Pachira aquatica, 229 
+Ginkgo biloba, 164 Pistacia vera, 240, 241 
+Helianthus annuus, 169 Platonia esculenta, 247 
+Jatropha curcas, 178 
+Prunus dulcis, 250 
+Jessenia bataua, 181 
+Ricinodendron heudelotii, 257 
+Juglans cinerea, 186 Santalum acuminatum, 260, 261 
+Juglans regia, 194 Sapium sebiferum, 263 
+Lecythis pisonis, 202 Schleichera oleosa, 267 
+Macadamia integrifolia, 207 Sclerocarya caffra, 270 
+Madhuca longifolia, 211 Telfairia occidentalis, 276 
+Moringa oleifera, 215 Terminalia catappa, 282 
+Orbignya martiana, 225, 226 Treculia africana, 288 
+Pistacia vera, 240 Virola sebifera, 290 
+Pittosporum resinferum, 244 Virola surinamensis, 292
+Prunus dulcis, 250 
+Oleodipalmitins, 76, 148, 211, 247, see also specific 
+Ricinodendron rautanenii, 258 
+types
+Santalum acuminatum, 260, 261 
+Oleodisaturated glycerides, 76, see also specific 
+Sapium se bife rum, 263 
+types
+Schleichera oleosa, 267 Oleopalmitostearins, 211, 247, see also specific types 
+Simmondsia chinensis, 273 Oleo-resin, 240
+Telfairia occidentalis, 276 Olla de mona, see Lecythis ollaria
+Treculia africana, 287 Orbignya cohune, 224
+Olivine, see Telfairia pedata Orbignya martiana, 225— 228
+Oiticica, see Licania rigida Orbignya oleifera, see Orbignya martiana
+Ojuk nut, see Ricinodendron heudelotii Orbignya speciosa, see Orbignya martiana
+Okwa, see Treculia africana Otaheite chestnut, see I nocarpus edulis
+Olacaceae, 131— 132, see also specific species Owe cola, see Cola verticillata
+Oleic acid Oxalic acid, 160
+Acrocomia sclerocarpa, 1 
+Oxlate, 288
+Acrocomia totai, 4 
+Oxoushinsunine, 219
+Aleurites f ordii, 8 Oyster nut, see Telfairia occidentalis; Telfairia 
+Aleurites moluccana, 13 pedata
+Aleurites montana, 14 
+Amphicarpaea bracteata, 17 
+Balanites aegyptiaca, 41 
+Bertholletia excelsa 44 Pachira aquatica, 229— 230 
+Buchanania lanzan, 58 Pahoo hadji, see Cycas rumphii 
+Butyrospermum paradoxum, 60 Pakis adji, see Cycas rumphii 
+Canarium indicum, 65 Pakoeine, 133
+Carya illinoensis, 69, 70 Pakoo adji, see Cycas rumphii 
+Caryocar villosum, 76 Pakuri, see Platonia escalenta 
+Castanea sativa, 90 Palm
+Ceiba pentandra, 97 
+betel-nut, see Areca catechu 
+Cocos nucifera, 102 
+black sugar, see Arenga pinnata 
+Cory lus avellana, 119 
+coco-, see Acrocomia totai 
+Coula edulis, 131 
+cohune, see Orbignya cohune 
+Cycas revoluta, 135 
+doum, see Hyphaene thebaica 
+Cyperus esculentus, 140 ivory nut, see Phytelephas macrocarpa 
+Cyperus rotundus, 142 nipa, see Nypa fruticans 
+Elaeis guineensis, 148 palmyra, see Borassus flabellifer 
+Elaeis oleifera, 152 sugar, see Arenga pinnata 
+Fagus sylvatica, 160 Palmae, 147— 151, see also specific species 
+Helianthus annuus, 169 Palmitic acid
+Jatropha curcas, 178 Amphicarpaea bracteata, 17 
+Jessenia bataua, 181 Anacardium occidentales, 20
+335
+Balanites aegyptiaca, 41 Pecan, see Carya illinoensis 
+Bertholletia excelsa, 44 Pectin, 142, 250 
+Buchanania lanzan, 58 Pentosane, 160
+Butyrospermum paradoxum, 60 Pentosans, 97, 164, 282, see also specific types 
+Canarium indicum, 65 Pequi, see Caryocar villosum 
+Carya illinoensis, 69, 70 Persian walnut, see Juglans regia 
+Caryocar villosum, 76 Pests, see specific types 
+Castanea saliva, 90 Petroleum nut, see Pittosporum resinferum 
+Ceiba pentandra, 97 Phellogenic acid, 253 
+Cocos nucifera, 102 Phellonic acid, 253 
+Corylus avellana, 119 Phenylalanine 
+Coula edulis, 131 Artocarpus altilis, 35 
+Cycas revoluta, 135 Bosimum alicastrum, 51 
+Cyperus esculentus, 140 Butyrospermum paradoxum, 60 
+Elaeis guineensis, 148 Cordeauxia edulis, 114 
+Elaeis oleifera, 152 Fagus sylvatica, 160 
+Fagus sylvatica, 160 Moringa oleifera, 2 15 
+Helianthus annuus, 169 Prunus dulcis, 250 
+Jatropha cureas, 178 Ricinodendron rautanenii, 258 
+Jug Ians regia, 194 Simmondsia chinensis, 273 
+Lecythis pisonis, 202 Terminalia calappa, 282 
+Licania rigida, 204 Philippine hanga, see Pittosporum resinferum 
+Macadamia integrifolia, 207 Philippine nut, see Canarium ovatum 
+Madhuca longifolia, 2 1 1 Phlobaphen, 253 
+Moringa oleifera, 215 Phloionic acid, 253 
+Pistacia vera, 241 Phloionolic acid, 253
+Platonia esculenta, 247, 248 Phloracetophenone 2,4-dimethylether, 263 
+Prunus dulcis, 250 Phloroglucin, 69
+Santalum acuminatum, 261 Phosphoric acid, 97, 164, 212, 267 
+Sapium sebiferum, 263 Phosphorus 
+Schleichera oleosa, 267 Acrocomia total, 3, 4 
+Telfairia occidentalis, 276 Aleurites moluccana, 12, 13 
+Telfairia pedata, 279 Anacardium occidentale, 20 
+Terminalia calappa, 282 Areca catechu, 27 
+Treculia africana, 288 Arenga pinnata, 31 
+Virola sebifera, 290 Artocarpus altilis, 35 
+Virola surinamensis, 292
+Artocarpus heterophyllus, 37 
+Palmitodioleins, 76, 148, 211, 247, see also specific Balanites aegyptiaca, 41 
+types Bertholletia excelsa, 44 
+Palmitoleic acid, 207, 267 Borassus flabellifer, 47 
+Palm oil, 74, 76 Bosimum alicastrum, 50, 51 
+Palmyra palm, see Borassus flabellifer Buchanania lanzan, 58 
+Palo de vaca, see Brosimum utile Butyrospermum paradoxum, 59 
+Pamitic acid, 8 Calamus rotang, 62 
+Pana, see Artocarpus altilis Canarium ovatum, 67 
+Pantothenic acid, 211 Carya illinoensis, 69 
+Papayotin, 35
+Castanea crenata, 80 
+Paraguay coco-palm, see Acrocomia total 
+Castanea mollissima, 85 
+Para nut, see Bertholletia excelsa Castanea sativa, 90 
+Ceiba pentandra, 97 
+Parasites, 99, 172, 213, 217, 239, see also specific 
+types Cocos nucifera, 101, 102 
+Parcouril, see Platonia esculenta Cola acuminata, 107 
+Parkeol, 60 Cordeauxia edulis, 114 
+Parry’s pine nut, see Pinus quadrifolia Corylus avellana, 119 
+Pataba, see Jessenia bataua Coula edulis, 131 
+Pataua, see Jessenia bataua Cyperus esculentus, 140 
+Paullinia cupana, 231— 232 Cyperus rotundas, 142 
+Paullinia sorbilis, see Paullinia cupana Detarium senegalense, 145 
+Pavettia, see Adhatoda vasica Elaeis guineensis, 148 
+Peach, native, see Santalum acuminatum Eleocharis dulcis, 154 
+Peanut, see Amphicarpaea bracteata Ginkgo biloba, 164
+336 Handbook of Nuts
+Helianthus annuus, 169 Castanea sativa, 90 
+Hyphaene thebaica, 174 Cocos nucífera, 102 
+Jug Ians nigra, 191 Corylus avellana, 119 
+Jug Ians regia, 194 Eleocharis dulcis, 154 
+Macadamia integrifolia, 207 Ginkgo biloba, 164 
+Madhuca longifolia, 2 1 1 
+Helianthus annuus, 169 
+Moringa oleifera, 215 
+Jug Ians nigra, 191 
+Nelumbo nucífera, 219 
+Juglans regia, 194 
+Pachira aquatica, 229 Macadamia integrifolia, 207 
+Pistacia vera, 240, 241 Nelumbo nucífera, 219 
+Prunus dulcís, 250 Pistacia vera, 240, 241 
+Sclerocarya cajfra, 270 Prunus dulcis, 250 
+Telfairia occidentalis, 276 Santalum acuminatum, 260 
+Telfairia pedata, 278, 279 Terminaba catappa, 282 
+Terminaba catappa, 282 
+Trapa natans, 285 
+Trapa natans, 285 
+Treculia africana, 288 
+Treculia africana, 287 Proanthocyanadine leucocyanadine, 20 
+Phosphorylase, 285 Procyanidin, 110 
+Physic nut, see Jatropha curcas Prolamine, 114, 282 
+Phytelephas macrocarpa, 234— 235 Prolamins, 35, see also specific types 
+Phytic acid, 194, 250 Proline, 35, 51, 160, 273, 282 
+Phytohemagglutinins, 114, see also specific types Pronuciferine, 219
+Phytosterin, 133 Proteaceae, 207— 209, see also specific species 
+Phytosterols, 8, 69, 119, see also specific types
+Proteins, see also specific types 
+Piauhy, see Platonia esculenta
+Acrocomia total, 3, 4 
+Pigments, 37, see also specific types Aleurites moluccana, 12, 13 
+Pili nut, see Canarium ovatum Amphicarpaea bracteata, 17 
+Pinaceae, 236— 239, see also specific species Anacardium occidentale, 20 
+Pine, see Pinus edulis Apios americana, 23 
+Pinene, 244 Areca catechu, 26, 27 
+Pine nut, see Pinus edulis, Pinus quadrifolia Arenga pinnata, 31 
+Pinon, see Pinus edulis; Pinus quadrifolia Artocarpus altibs, 35 
+Pinus cembroides, see Pinus edulis Artocarpus heterophyllus, 37 
+Pinus edulis, 236— 237
+Balanites aegyptiaca, 41 
+Pinus par rayana, see Pinus quadrifolia
+Bertholletia excelsa, 44 
+Pinus quadrifolia, 238— 239 Borassus flabellifer, 47, 48 
+Pistachio, see Pistacia vera Bosimum abcastrum, 50, 51 
+Pistaciaceae, 240— 243, see also specific species Buchanania lanzan, 58 
+Pistacia oleosa, see Schleichera oleosa Butyrospermum paradoxum, 59, 60 
+Pistacia vera, 240— 243 Calamus rotang, 62 
+Pittosporaceae, 244— 246, see also specific species Canarium indicum, 65 
+Pittosporum resinferum, 244— 246 
+Canarium ovatum, 67 
+Platonia esculenta, 247— 248 
+Carya illinoensis, 69 
+Platonia insignis, see Platonia esculenta Castanea crenata, 80 
+Pleragina umbresissima, see Licania rigida Castanea dentata, 82 
+Polymerides, 253, see also specific types Castanea mollissima, 85 
+Polynesia chestnut, see ¡nocarpus edulis Castanea sativa, 90 
+Polyphenols, 142, see also specific types Castanospermum australe, 94 
+Potash, 97, 169, 212, 267 
+Ceiba pentandra, 97 
+Potassium
+Cocos nucífera, 101, 102 
+Acrocomia total, 3, 4 Cola acuminata, 107, 108 
+Aleurites moluccana, 12 Cola nitida, 110 
+Amphicarpaea bracteata, 17 Cordeauxia edulis, 114 
+Anacardium occidentale, 20 Corylus americana, 116 
+Areca catechu, 27 Corylus avellana, 119 
+Arenga pinnata, 31 Coula edulis, 131 
+Artocarpus altilis, 35 Cycas revoluta, 135 
+Artocarpus heterophyllus, 37 Cyperus esculentus, 140 
+Bertholletia excelsa, 44 Cyperus rotundas, 142 
+Canarium ovatum, 67 Detarium senegalense, 145 
+Carya illinoensis, 69 Elaeis guineensis, 148
+337
+Eleocharis dulcís, 154 Resin
+Fagas grandifolia, 158 
+Artocarpus heterophyllus, 37 
+Ginkgo biloba, 164 Bosimum alicastrum, 51 
+G ne turn gnemon, 166 Brosimum utile, 53 
+Helianthus annuus, 169 Ceiba pentandra, 97 
+Hyphaene thebaica, 174 Cyperus rotundas, 142 
+Inocarpus edulis, 175 Madhuca longifolia, 211, 212 
+Jatropha curcas, 178 Paullinia cupana, 232 
+Jessenia bataua, 181 Pistacia vera, 240 
+Juglans cinerea, 186 
+Ricinodendron heudelotii, 257 
+Juglans nigra, 191 
+Ricinodendron rautanenii, 258 
+Juglans regia, 194 
+Rhamnose, 20, 41, 160, 215 
+Lecythis pisonis, 202 Rhizome, 219
+Licania rigida, 204 Rhizophoraceae, 55— 56, see also specific species 
+Macadamia integrifolia, 207 Riboflavin, see also Vitamin B 
+Madhuca longifolia, 211 Anacardium occidentale, 20 
+Moringa oleifera, 215 Areca catechu, 27 
+Nelumbo nucífera, 219 Arenga pianata, 31 
+Orbignya cohune, 224 
+Artocarpus altilis, 35 
+Orbignya martiana, 225, 226 Artocarpus heterophyllus, 37 
+Pachira aquatica, 229 Bertholletia excelsa, 44 
+Phytelephas macrocarpa, 234 Borassus flabellifer, 47 
+Pinus edulis, 236 Bosimum alicastrum, 50, 51 
+Pistacia vera, 240, 241 Calamus rotang, 62 
+Prunas dulcís, 250 Cañarium ovatum, 67 
+Ricinodendron rautanenii, 258 Carya illinoensis, 69 
+Santalum acuminatum, 260 Castanea crenata, 80 
+Sapium sebiferum, 263 Castanea mollissima, 85 
+Schleichera oleosa, 267 
+Castanea sativa, 90 
+Sclerocarya caffra, 270 Cocos nucífera, 102 
+Simmondsia chinensis, 273 Cola acuminata, 107, 108 
+Telfairia occidentalis, 276 Corylus avellana, 119 
+Telfairia pedata, 278, 279 Cyperus esculentus, 140 
+Terminaba catappa, 282 Cyperus rotundus, 142 
+Trapa natans, 285 Detarium senegalense, 145 
+Treculia africana, 287, 288 Elaeis guineensis, 148 
+Provision tree, see Pachira aquatica Eleocharis dulcís, 154 
+Prunas dulcís, 249— 252 
+Ginkgo biloba, 164 
+Pterygospermin, 215
+Helianthus annuus, 169 
+Pumpkin, fluted, see Telfairia occidentalis Juglans nigra, 191 
+Purging nut, see Jatropha curcas Juglans regia, 194 
+Purple nutsedge, see Cyperus rotundas Macadamia inte grifo lia, 207 
+Pyroligenous acid, 97 Nelumbo nucífera, 219 
+Pachira aquatica, 229 
+Pistacia vera, 241 
+Prunus dulcís, 250 
+Quandong nut, see Santalum acuminatum 
+Sclerocarya caffra, 270 
+Quercetin, 35, 97, 160, 194, 219 Terminaba catappa, 282 
+Trecuba africana, 288 
+Quercetin-3-arabinoside, 194 
+Quercitrin, 194 Ribose, 41
+Quercus occidentalis, see Quercus saber Ricinodendron africanum, see Ricinodendron 
+Quercus saber, 253— 255
+heudelotii
+Ricinodendron heudelotii, 256— 257 
+Ricinodendron rautanenii, 258— 259 
+R
+Robinin, 219 
+Raffinose, 119, 124, 164, 178, 219 Roemerine, 219
+Ramon, see Bosimum alicastrum Rosaceae, 204— 206, 249— 252, see also specific 
+Rattan cane, see Calamus rotang species
+Red ucuuba, see Virola sebifera Rotang cane, see Calamus rotang
+338 Handbook of Nuts
+Rubidium, 44 Sitosterol glucoside, 41 
+Rutin, 219 Slippery cola, see Cola verticillata 
+Snakes, 49, 136
+Soapberry tree, see Balanites aegyptiaca 
+Sodium
+Saba nut, see Pachira aquatica Anacardium occidentale, 20 
+Saccharides, 142, see also specific types Areca catechu, 27 
+Saccharose, 178, 258 Arenga pianata, 31 
+Sacred lotus, see Nelumho nucífera Artocarpus altilis, 35 
+Salicylic acid, 142 Artocarpus heterophyllus, 37 
+Sanga nut, see Ricinodendron heudelotii Bertho llé tia excelsa, 44 
+Santalaceae, 260— 261, see also specific species Canarium ovatum, 67 
+Santalbic acid, 260 Carya illinoensis, 69 
+Santalbinic acid, 260 Castanea crenata, 80 
+Santalum acuminatum, 260— 261 
+Cocos nucífera, 102 
+Sapindaceae, 231— 232, 266— 268, see also specific Eleocharis dulcís, 154 
+species Ginkgo biloba, 164 
+Sapium sebiferum, 262— 265 Helianthus annuus, 169 
+Sapogenins, 41, see also specific types Juglans nigra, 191 
+Saponins, 8, 23, 160, 232, see also specific types Juglans regia, 194 
+Sapotaceae, 59— 61, 210— 213, see also specific Pachira aquatica, 229 
+species Prunus dulcís, 250 
+Sapucaia, see Lecythis pisonis Santalum acuminatum, 260 
+Saturated acids, 140, 169, see also specific types Trapa natans, 285 
+Schleichera oleosa, 266— 268 Treculia africana, 288 
+Schleichera trijuga, see Schleichera oleosa Sodium selenite, 45 
+Scirpus plantagineus, see Eleocharis dulcís
+Sohnja, see Moringa oleifera 
+Scirpus plantaginoides, see Eleocharis dulcís
+Sotesu nut, see Cycas revoluta 
+Scirpus tuberosus, see Eleocharis dulcís Spanish chestnut, see Castanea sativa 
+Sclerocarya caffra, 269— 271 Squalene, 69 
+Scorpions, 49 Stachyose, 124, 178, 219 
+Seje, see Jessenia bataua Starches, see also specific types 
+Selenium, 44, 200, 202 Anacardium occidentales, 20 
+Selenomethionine, 45 Apios americana, 23 
+Seliene, 142 Buchanania lanzan, 58 
+Sequoyitol, 133 Castanea dentata, 82 
+Serine, 35, 51, 114, 160, 273, 282 Cola acuminata, 108 
+Sesquiterpene, 211 Cola nitida, 110 
+Sesquiterpene alcohol, 211 Cordeauxia edulis, 114 
+Shea nut, see Butyrospermum paradoxum
+Cycas circinalis, 133 
+Shikimic acid, 164, 241
+Cycas revoluta, 135 
+Shikimin, 164
+Cyperus esculentus, 140 
+Siberian filbert, see Corylus heterophylla Cyperus rotundus, 142 
+Siebold walnut, see Juglans ailanthifolia 
+Eleocharis dulcís, 154 
+Silica, 212, 253 Ginkgo biloba, 164 
+Silk cotton tree, see Ceiba pentandra Inocarpus edulis, 175 
+Silver pine, see Pinus edulis
+Nypa fruticans, 222 
+Simarubaceae, 40— 42, see also specific species Orbignya martiana, 225 
+Simmondsia chinensis, 272— 275 Prunus dulcís, 250 
+Sinapic acid, 160
+Ricinodendron rautanenii, 258 
+Sitosterol Trapa natans, 285 
+Anacardium accidéntale, 20 Stearic acid 
+Anacardium occidentales, 20 Aleurites fordii, 8 
+Balanites aegyptiaca, 41 Amphicarpaea bracteata, 17 
+Corylus avellana, 119 Anacardium occidentales, 20 
+Fagus sylvatica, 160 Balanites aegyptiaca, 41 
+Ginkgo biloba, 164 Bertholletia excelsa, 44 
+Jatropha curcas, 178 Buchanania lanzan, 58 
+Moringa oleífera, 215 Butyrospermum paradoxum, 60 
+Nelumbo nucífera, 219 Canarium indicum, 65 
+Virola sebifera, 290 Carya illinoensis, 69, 70
+339
+Caryocar villosum, 76 Hyphaene thebaica, 174 
+Ceiba pentandra, 97 Madhuca longifolia, 211 
+Cocos nucífera, 102 Nypa fruticans, 222 
+Orbignya martiana, 225 
+Corylus avellana, 119 
+Coula edulis, 131 Phytelephas macrocarpa, 235 
+Cyperus esculentus, 140 Pistacia vera, 240 
+Cyperus rotundas, 142 Prunus dulcis, 250 
+Elaeis guineensis, 148 Sclerocarya caffra, 270 
+Fagus sylvatica, 160 Terminalia catappa, 282 
+Helianthus annuus, 169 Sulfur, 194
+Jatropha curcas, 178 Sunflower, see Helianthus annuus 
+Sweet chestnut, see Castanea dentata; Castanea 
+Lecythis pisonis, 202 
+sat iva
+Licania rigida, 204 
+Macadamia integrifolia, 207 
+Madhuca longifolia, 211 
+Moringa oleifera, 215 
+Tagua, see Phytelephas macrocarpa 
+Pachira aquatica, 229 
+Pistacia vera, 241 Tahit chestnut, see I nocarpus edulis 
+Platonia esculenta, 247 Tallow tree, see Detarium senegalense; Sapium 
+Ricinodendron heudelotii, 257 sebiferum
+Santalum acuminatum, 260 Tangkil, see Gnetum gnemon 
+Sapium sebiferum, 263 Tannic acid, 82, 108, 119, 160, 267 
+Schleichera oleosa, 267 Tannic glycosides, 110, see also specific types 
+Telfairia occidentalis, 276 Tannins, see also specific types 
+Telfairia pedata, 279 Acrocomia sclerocarpa, 1 
+Terminaba catappa, 282 Aleurites fordii, 8 
+Aleurites moluccana, 13 
+Treculia africana, 288 
+Apios americana, 23 
+Stearins, 253, see also specific types 
+Areca catechu, 26 
+Stearodioleins, 211, 247, see also specific types 
+Artocarpus heterophyllus, 37 
+Stearodipalmitin, 76
+Sterculia acuminata, see Cola acuminata Bruguiera gymnorhiza, 55 
+Sterculiaceae, 107— 113, see also specific species Buchanania lanzan, 58 
+Sterculia verticilata, see Cola verticillata Carya illinoensis, 69 
+Steroids, 41, 253, see also specific types Castanea dentata, 82 
+Steroketone artosternone, 37 Ceiba pentandra, 97 
+Sterols, 164, see also specific types Fagus sylvatica, 160 
+Stigmasterol, 178 Licania rigida, 204 
+Stillingia sebifera, see Sapium sebiferum Madhuca longifolia, 211 
+Strontium, 44 Nypa fruticans, 222 
+Suari nut, see Caryocar nuciferum Pachira aquatica, 229 
+Paullinia cupana, 232 
+Suberin, 253 
+Pistacia vera, 240, 241 
+Suberindiol, 253 
+Prunus dulcis, 250 
+Succinic acid, 211 
+Quercus súber, 253 
+Sucrose, 119, 164,211,222 
+Sapium sebiferum, 263 
+Sugar palm, see Arenga pinnata 
+Sugars, see also specific types Schleichera oleosa, 267 
+Acrocomia totai, 3, 4 Sclerocarya caffra, 270 
+Anacardium occidentale, 20 Telfairia pedata, 279 
+Trapa natans, 285 
+Anacardium occidentales, 20 
+Tar, 97 
+Borassus flabellifer, 47, 48 
+Tarxerol, 119
+Bosimum alicastrum, 51 
+Telfairia nuts, see Telfairia pedata 
+Brosimum utile, 53 
+Telfairia occidentalis, 276— 277 
+Buchanania lanzan, 58 
+Telfairia pedata, 278— 280 
+Cola acuminata, 108 
+Terminalia catappa, 281— 283 
+Cola nitida, 110 
+Termites, 95, 132, 146 
+Cordeauxia edulis, 114 
+Cycas circinalis, 133 Terpenes, 65, see also specific types 
+Cyperus rotundus, 142 Terpineol, 211 
+Eleocharis dulcís, 154 Tetracosanol, 160 
+Fagus sylvatica, 160 Theobromine, 108, 110, 232 
+Ginkgo biloba, 164 Theophylline, 6, 232
+340 Handbook of Nuts
+Thiamine, see also Vitamin B Bertholletia excelsa, 45 
+Aleurites moluccana, 13 Borassus flabellifer, 48 
+Anacardium occidentale, 20 Bruguiera gymnorhiza, 55 
+Areca catechu, 27 Calamus rotang, 62 
+Artocarpus altilis, 35 Carya illinoensis, 70 
+Artocarpus heterophyllus, 37 Castanospermum australe, 94 
+Bertholletia excelsa, 44 Ceiba pentandra, 97 
+Borassus flabellifer, 47 Cola acuminata, 108 
+Bosimum alicastrum, 50, 51 Coula edulis, 131 
+Butyrospermum paradoxum, 60 
+Cycas circinabs, 133 
+Calamus rotang, 62 
+Cyperus esculentus, 140 
+Canarium ovatum, 67 Detarium senegalense, 146 
+Carya illinoensis, 69 Fagus grandifolia, 158 
+Castanea crenata, 80 Fagus sylvatica, 160 
+Castanea mollissima, 85 Ginkgo biloba, 164 
+Castanea sativa, 90 Gnetum gnemon, 166 
+Cocos nucifera, 102 Jatropha curcas, 178 
+Cola acuminata, 107, 108 Juglans cinerea, 186 
+Corylus avellana, 119 Jug Ians nigra, 191 
+Cyperus esculentus, 140 Lecythis minor, 198 
+Cyperus rotundus, 142 Lecythis ollaria, 200 
+Detarium senegalense, 145 Madhuca longifoba, 212 
+Elaeis guineensis, 148 Orbignya cohune, 224 
+Eleocharis dulcis, 154 Paulbnia cupana, 232 
+Ginkgo biloba, 164 Quercus súber, 254 
+Helianthus annuus, 169 Ricinodendron rautanenii, 258 
+Inocarpus edulis, 175 Schleichera oleosa, 267 
+Jug Ians nigra, 191 Sclerocarya caffra, 270 
+Jug Ians regia, 194 Simmondsia chinensis, 273 
+Macadamia integrifolia, 207 Trecuba africana, 288
+Nelumbo nucifera, 219 Trapaceae, 284— 286, see also specific species 
+Pachira aquatica, 229 Trapa natans, 284— 286 
+Pistacia vera, 240, 241 Trecuba africana, 287— 289 
+Prunus dulcis, 250 Triacosan, 119
+Sclerocarya caffra, 270 Triadica sebifera, see Sapium sebiferum 
+Terminaba catappa, 282 Tribydroxystigmasterol, 119 
+Trapa natans, 285 Trimethy lamine, 160 
+Treculia africana, 288 Triolein, 58
+Threonine Tripalmitin, 76, 148, 247 
+Tristearin, 76 
+Artocarpus altilis, 35 
+Bosimum alicastrum, 51 Triterpene, 263
+Cordeauxia edulis, 114 Tropical almond, see Terminaba catappa 
+Fagus sylvatica, 160 Tryptophane 
+Moringa oleifera, 215 Bosimum alicastrum, 51 
+Ricinodendron rautanenii, 258 Butyrospermum paradoxum, 60 
+Simmondsia chinensis, 273 Ginkgo biloba, 164 
+Terminaba catappa, 282 Jessenia bataua, 181 
+Tibetan filbert, see Corylus ferox Juglans nigra, 191 
+Tigemut, see Cyperus esculentus Moringa oleifera, 215 
+Timbonine, 232 Prunus dulcis, 250 
+Tin, 44 Ricinodendron rautanenii, 258 
+Titanium, 45 Simmondsia chinensis, 273 
+Tocophenol, 169, 250 Terminaba catappa, 282 
+Tocopherol, see Vitamin E Tung-oil tree, see Aleurites f ordii 
+Toxicity Turkish filbert, see Corylus colurna 
+Adhatoda vasica, 6 Turkish hazelnut, see Corylus colurna 
+Aleurites ford H, 8 Tyrosine, 35, 51, 114, 160, 263, 273, 282
+Aleurites moluccana, 13 
+Aleurites montana, 14 
+u
+Anacardium occidentale, 20 
+Areca catechu, 27 Uabano, see Paulbnia cupana
+341
+Ucahuba nut, see Virola surinamensis
+Cycas rumphii, 137 
+Ucuuba, see Virola schiferà; Virola surinamensis Cyp er US esculentus, 139 
+Ukwa, see Treculia africana Cyperus rotundus, 142 
+Unsaturated acids, 140, see also specific types Detarium senegalense, 145 
+Ureides, 23, see also specific types Elaeis guineensis, 147— 148 
+Uric acid, 23 Elaeis oleifera, 152 
+Uronic anhydrides, 97 Eleocharis dulcís, 154 
+Uses Fagus grandifolia, 157 
+Acrocomia sclerocarpa, 1 
+Fagus sylvatica, 160 
+Acrocomia totai, 3 Ginkgo biloba, 163 
+Adhatoda vasica, 5 Gnetum gnemon, 166 
+Aleurites fordii, 8 Helianthus annuus, 168 
+Aleurites moluccana, 12 Hyphaene thehaica, 173 
+Aleurites montana, 14 I nocarpus edulis, 175 
+Amphicarpaea hracteata, 16 Jatropha curcas, 177 
+Anacardium occidentale, 19 Jessenia hataua, 180 
+Apios americana, 22 Juglans ailanthifolia, 184 
+Areca catechu, 26 Juglans cinerea, 186 
+Arenga pinnata, 30 Juglans hindsii, 189 
+Artocarpus altilis, 34 Juglans nigra, 190 
+Artocarpus heterophyllus, 37 Juglans regia, 194 
+Balanites aegyptiaca, 40— 41 Lecythis minor, 198 
+Barringtonia procera, 43 Lecythis ollaria, 200 
+Bertholletia excelsa, 44 Lecythis pisonis, 202 
+Borassus flabellifer, 47 Licania rigida, 204 
+Bosimum alicastrum, 50 Macadamia integrifolia, 207 
+Brosimum utile, 53 Madhuca longifolia, 210 
+Bruguiera gymnorhiza, 55 Moringa oleifera, 2 1A— 215 
+Buchanania lanzan, 57 Nelumbo nucífera, 218 
+Butyrospermum paradoxum, 59 Nypa fruticans, 222 
+Calamus rotang, 62 Orbignya cohune, 224 
+Cañarium indicum, 65 Orbignya martiana, 225 
+Canarium ovatum, 67 Pachira aquatica, 229 
+Carya illinoensis, 69 Paullinia cupana, 231 
+Caryocar amygdaliferum, 73 Phytelephas macrocarpa, 234 
+Caryocar nuciferum, 74 Pinus edulis, 236 
+Caryocar villosum, 75 Pinus quadrifolia, 238 
+Caryodendron orinocense, 78 Pistacia vera, 240 
+Castanea crenata, 80 Pittosporum resinferum, 244 
+Castanea dentata, 82 Platonia esculenta, 241 
+Castanea mollissima, 85 Prunus dulcís, 249 
+Castanea pumila, 88 Quercus súber, 253 
+Castanea sativa, 90 Ricinodendron heudelotii, 256 
+Castanospermum australe, 93 Ricinodendron rautanenii, 258 
+Ceiba pentandra, 96 Santalum acuminatum, 260 
+Cocos nucífera, 100— 101 Sapium sebiferum, 262 
+Cola acuminata, 107 Schleichera oleosa, 266 
+Cola nitida, 110 Sclerocarya coffra, 269 
+Cola verticillata, 113 Simmondsia chinensis, 272— 273 
+Cordeauxia edulis, 114 Telfairia occidentalis, 276 
+Corylus americana, 116 Telfairia pedata, 278 
+Corylus avellana, 119 Terminano catappa, 281 
+Corylus chinensis, 123 Trapa notons, 284 
+Corylus colurna, 124 Treculia africana, 287 
+Corylus cornuta, 126 Virola sebifera, 290 
+Corylus ferox, 128 Virola surinamensis, 292
+Corylus heterophylla, 129 
+Corylus maxima, 130 
+Coula edulis, 131 
+Valine
+Cycas circinalis, 133 
+Bosimum alicastrum, 51
+Cycas revoluta, 135
+342 Handbook of Nuts
+Butyrospermum paradoxum, 60 Wood-oil tree, see Aleurites montana
+Cordeauxia edulis, 114 
+Fagus sylvatica, 160 
+Moringa oleifera, 215 
+Xanthine, 232 
+Prunus dulcis, 250 
+Ricinodendron rautanenii, 258 Xanthophyll, 276 
+Xanthoxylin, 263 
+Sapium sebiferum, 263 
+Xylan, 119, 164
+Simmondsia chinensis, 273 
+Terminalia catappa, 282 Xylose, 20, 41, 135, 160, 215, 250 
+Vanillic acid, 160 Xylosidase, 94
+Vanillin, 253 
+Vanilloside, 160
+Varnish tree, see Aleurites moluccana
+Vasakin, 6 Yamogenin, 41
+Vasicine, 6 Yeheb nut, see Cordeauxia edulis
+Yellow nutsedge, see Cyperus esculentus
+Vasicinine, 6
+Vasicinol, 6 Yields
+Vasicinone, 6 Acrocomia sclerocarpa, 2 
+Vasicoline, 6 Acrocomia totai, 3 
+Vasicolinone, 6 Adhatoda vasica, 1 
+Vegetable tallow, see Sapium sebiferum Aleurites f ordii, 10 
+Virola nut, see Virola sebifera Aleurites moluccana, 13 
+Virola sebifera, 290— 291 Aleurites montana, 15 
+Amphicarpaea bracteata, 18 
+Virola surinamensis, 292
+Anacardium occidentale, 21 
+Viruses, 25, 99, 106, 141, 143, 172, 185, 252
+Vitamin A, 26, 148, 215, 241, 285 Apios americana, 25 
+Vitamin B, 215, 263, see also Folic acid; Riboflavin; Areca catechu, 28— 29 
+Thiamine Arenga pinnata, 32 
+Vitamin C, see Ascorbic acid Artocarpus altilis, 36 
+Vitamin E, 148, 169, 215 Artocarpus heterophyllus, 38 
+Vitamins, see specific types Balanites aegyptiaca, 42 
+Vitexin, 178 Barringtonia procera, 43 
+Bertholletia excelsa, 45 
+Borassus flabellifer, 49 
+w
+Bosimum alicastrum, 52 
+Walnut, see Aleurites moluccana Brosimum utile, 54 
+African, see Coula edulis Bruguiera gymnorhiza, 56 
+California, see Juglans hindsii Buchanania lanzan, 58 
+Carpathian, see Juglans regia Butyrospermum paradoxum, 61 
+eastern black, see Juglans nigra Calamus rotang, 63— 64 
+English, see Juglans regia Cañarium indicum, 66 
+Canarium ovatum, 68 
+Hind’s black, see Juglans hindsii 
+Carya illinoensis, 71 
+Japanese, see Juglans ailanthifolia 
+Caryocar amygdaliferum, 73 
+Persian, see Juglans regia 
+Caryocar nuciferum, 74 
+Siebold, see Juglans ailanthifolia 
+Caryocar villosum, 11 
+white, see Juglans cinerea 
+Wanepala, see Adhatoda vasica 
+Caryodendron orinocense, 79 
+Water caltrops, see Trapa natans Castanea crenata, 81 
+Castanea dentata, 84 
+Water chestnut, see Eleocharis dulcis; Trapa natans 
+Watemut, see Eleocharis dulcis Castanea mollissima, 87 
+Wax berry, white, see Sapium sebiferum Castanea pumila, 89 
+Waxes, 51, 53, 97, 135, 160, 253, 273, see also Castanea sativa, 92 
+specific types Castanospermum australe, 94— ^95 
+Weevils, 87, 115, 118, 127, 151 Ceiba pentandra, 99 
+White ucuuba, see Virola surinamensis Cocos nucifera, 105 
+White walnut, see Juglans cinerea Cola acuminata, 109 
+White wax berry, see Sapium sebiferum Cola nitida, 111 
+Wild mammee, see Platonia esculenta Cola verticillata, 113 
+Wild peanut, see Amphicarpaea bracteata Cordeauxia edulis, 115 
+Woman’s coconut, see Borassus flabellifer Corylus americana, 118
+343
+Cory lus avellana, 121 Madhuca longifolia, 213 
+Corylus chinensis, 123 Moringa oleifera, 216 
+Corylus caluma, 125 Nelumbo nucífera, 221 
+Nypa fruticans, 223 
+Corylus cornuta, 127 
+Corylus ferox, 128 Orbignya cohune, 224 
+Corylus heterophylla, 129 Orbignya martiana, 227 
+Corylus maxima, 130 Pachira aquatica, 230 
+Coula edulis, 132 Paullinia cupana, 233 
+Cycas circinalis, 134 Phytelephas macrocarpa, 235 
+Cycas revoluta, 136 Pinus edulis, 237 
+Cycas rumphii, 138 Pinus quadrifolia, 238 
+Cyperus esculentus, 141 Pistacia vera, 242 
+Pittosporum resinferum, 245 
+Cyperus rotundus, 143 
+Platonia esculenta, 248 
+Detarium senegalense, 146 
+Elaeis guineensis, 150 Prunus dulcis, 251 
+Elaeis oleifera, 153 Quercus súber, 255 
+Eleocharis dulcis, 155 Ricinodendron heudelotii, 257 
+Fagus grandifolia, 159 Ricinodendron rautanenii, 259 
+Fagus sylvatica, 161 Santalum acuminatum, 261 
+Ginkgo biloba, 165 Sapium sebiferum, 264 
+Gnetum gnemon, 167 Schleichera oleosa, 268 
+Helianthus annuus, 170— 171 Sclerocarya caffra, 271 
+Hyphaene thebaica, 174 Simmondsia chinensis, 274— 275 
+Telfairia occidentalis, 277 
+Inocarpus edulis, i l 6 
+Jatropha tur cas, 179 Telfairia pedata, 280 
+Jessenia bataua, 182 Terminaba catappa, 283 
+Juglans ailanthifolia, 185 Trapa natans, 286 
+Juglans cinerea, 187 Treculia africana, 289 
+Juglans hindsii, 189 Virola sebifera, 291 
+Juglans nigra, 192— 193 Virola surinamensis, 292 
+Juglans regia, 196 Ytterbium, 45
+Lecythis minor, 199 
+Lecythis ollaria, 201 
+Lecythis pisonis, 203 
+Licania rigida, 206 Zanzibar oilvine, see Telfairia pedata 
+Macadamia integrifolia, 209 Zinc, 17, 44, 194, 260, 288