Bacaba

Where does Bacaba grow?

Found in: Amazon, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, French Guiana, Guianas, Guyana, Peru, South America, Suriname, Venezuela

Notes: There are 9 Oenocarpus species. It has antioxidant properties.

Status: It is a regular drink in the Amazon. Fruit are sold in local markets.

Growing Bacaba

Cultivation: Plants are grown from seed. The ripe fruit are harvested and can be used as seed. Their viability is short. The seedlings can be transplanted into the field 7-9 months after they germinate,

Edible Uses: The fruit are used to make drinks. The fruit are eaten raw or boiled and eaten. The fruit/nut yield a colourless sweet oil used for cooking. Eating the shoots kills the palm.

Production: It is fast growing. It produces large amounts of fruit.

Nutrition Info

References

Altschul, S.V.R., 1973, Drugs and Foods from Little-known Plants. Notes in Harvard University Herbaria. Harvard Univ. Press. Massachusetts. no. 86

Balick, M.J. and Beck, H.T., (Ed.), 1990, Useful palms of the World. A Synoptic Bibliography. Colombia p 68, 82, 135, 161, 208, 223, 557,

Brazil: Biodiversity for Food and Nutrition. http://www.b4fn.org/countries/brazil/

Etkin, N. L. (Ed.), 1994, Eating on the Wild Side, Univ. of Arizona. p 139

Facciola, S., 1998, Cornucopia 2: a Source Book of Edible Plants. Kampong Publications, p 30

Grandtner, M. M. & Chevrette, J., 2013, Dictionary of Trees, Volume 2: South America: Nomenclature, Taxonomy and Ecology. Academic Press p 460

Haynes, J., & McLaughlin, J., 2000, Edible palms and Their Uses. University of Florida Fact sheet MCDE-00-50-1 p 17

Henderson, A., Galeano, G and Bernal, R., 1995, Field Guide to the Palms of the Americas. Princeton. p 130

Hist. nat. palm. 2:24. 1823

Hunter, D., et al, 2019, The potential of neglected and underutilized species for improving diets and nutrition. Planta (2019) 250:709-729

INFOODSUpdatedFGU-list.xls

Johnson, D.V., 1998, Tropical palms. Non-wood Forest products 10. FAO Rome. p 93

Johnson, M. and Colquhoun, A., 1996, Preliminary Ethnobotanical Survey of Kurupukari: An Amerindian Settlement of Central Guyana. Economic Botany, Vol. 50, No. 2, pp. 182-194

Jones, D.L., 1994, Palms throughout the World. Smithtonian Institution, Washington. p 57, 277

Kermath, B. M., et al, 2014, Food Plants in the Americas: A survey of the domesticated, cultivated and wild plants used for Human food in North, Central and South America and the Caribbean. On line draft. p 577

Lorenzi, H., 2002, Brazilian Trees. A Guide to the Identification and Cultivation of Brazilian Native Trees. Vol. 01 Nova Odessa, SP, Instituto Plantarum p 299

Lorenzi, H., Bacher, L., Lacerda, M. & Sartori, S., 2006, Brazilian Fruits & Cultivated Exotics. Sao Paulo, Instituto Plantarum de Estuados da Flora Ltda. p 84

Melnyk, M., Indigenous enterprise for the domestication of trees and the commercialization of their fruits. FAO

Martin, F.W. & Ruberte, R.M., 1979, Edible Leaves of the Tropics. Antillian College Press, Mayaguez, Puerto Rico. p 210

Oliviera V. B., et al, 2012, Native foods from Brazilian biodiversity as a source of bioactive compounds. Food Research International 48 (2012) 170-179

Paz, F. S., et al, 2021, Edible Fruit Plant Species in the Amazon Forest Rely Mostly on Bees and Beetles as Pollinators. Journal of Economic Entomology, XX(XX), 2021, 1–13

Riffle, R.L. & Craft, P., 2003, An Encyclopedia of Cultivated Palms. Timber Press. p 394

van Roosmalen, M.G.M., 1985, Fruits of the Guianan Flora. Utrecht Univ. & Wageningen Univ. p 352

www.proyanomami.org