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| CUPUACU |
Family: Sterculiaceae
Genus: Theobroma
Species: grandiflorum
Ethnic names: Cupuasu, Copoasu, Cupuacu
Part Used: Fruit |
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| Cupuacu is a small to medium tree in the Rainforest canopy which belongs to
the Chocolate family and can reach up to 20 meters in height. Cupuacu fruit has
been a primary food source in the Rainforest for both indigenous tribes and
animals alike. The Cupuacu fruit is about the size of a cantaloupe and is highly
prized for its creamy exotic tasting pulp. The pulp occupies approximately
one-third of the fruit and is used throughout Brazil and Peru to make fresh
juice, ice cream, jam and tarts. The fruit ripens in the rainy months from
January to April and is considered a culinary delicacy in South American cities
where demand outstrips supply. Like chocolate, the fruit has a large center seed
pod filled with "beans", which the Tikuna tribe utilize for abdominal pains.
Cupuacu is found throughout the Rainforest regions with it seeds being
dispersed by birds and monkeys which feast on the tasty fruit pulp. Indigenous
tribes as well as local communities along the Amazon have cultivated Cupuacu as
a primary food source for generations. In remote times, Cupuacu seeds were
traded along the Rio Negro and Upper Orinoco rivers where river tribes drink
Cupuacu juice after it has been blessed by a shaman to facilitate difficult
births. |
| ETHNOBOTANY:
WORLDWIDE USES |
Amazonia |
Food, Pain(Abdominal), Difficult Birth |
Brazil |
Food |
Venezuela |
Food |
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| References/Footnotes: |
- Balee, William. 1994. Footprints of the Forest. Columbia
University Press, New York.
- Schultes, R.E, and Raffauf, R.F. 1990 The Healing Forest. Dioscorides Press
- Balee, W., and D. Moore. 1991. Similarity and variation in plant names in
five Tupi-Guarani languages (eastern Amazonia). Biological Sciences 55(4):209-262
- Smith, Nigel, et.al., 1992, Tropical Forests and their Crops,
Comstock Publishing, New York
The above text has been quoted from the book, Herbal Secrets of the
Rainforest
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