Bertholletia excelsa (PROSEA)

Plant Resources of South-East Asia Introduction

List of species

Bertholletia excelsa Humb. & Bonpl. (published as exelsa)

Family: Lecythidaceae

Synonyms

• Bertholletia nobilis Miers.

Vernacular names

• Brazil nut, para nut (En)
• Noyer du Brésil (Fr).

Distribution

Grows wild in the Amazon forest. Occasionally planted in South-East Asia.

Uses

Seeds are valued as nuts. An edible oil is prepared from the seed-kernels.

Observations

• Very large tree, height to 50 m, trunk diameter 1-2 m, branched only in the upper parts generally.
• Fruit capsule-like, globose, with thick-walled woody shell, brown, 12-15 cm in diameter, containing 12-25 seeds.
• Seeds angular, with brown, woody shell, 3-5 cm long.

Occurs in dense lowland rain forests. Widely distributed above the flood level, sometimes in nearly pure stands. Nearly all the world's supply of over 50 000 t/year is collected from the wild. Trees start bearing 10-20 years after planting.

Selected sources

• Burkill, I.H., 1966. A dictionary of the economic products of the Malay Peninsula. 2nd ed. 2 Volumes. Ministry of Agriculture and Co operatives, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. 2444 pp.

• Heyne, K., 1927. De nuttige planten van Nederlandsch Indië [The useful plants of the Dutch East Indies]. 2nd ed. 3 Volumes. Departement van Landbouw, Nijverheid en Handel in Nederlandsch Indië. 1953 pp.

• Howes, F.N., 1948. Nuts. Their production and everyday use. Faber & Faber, London. 264 pp.

• Purseglove, J.W., 1975. Tropical Crops. Dicotyledons 1 & 2. Longmans Green & Co., London. 719 pp.

Authors

P.C.M. Jansen, J. Jukema, L.P.A. Oyen, T.G. van Lingen