Nance, Golden spoon

Where does Nance grow?

Found in: Africa, Amazon, Argentina, Asia, Australia, Barbados, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Caribbean, Central America, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, French Guiana, Gambia, Guadeloupe, Guatemala, Guianas, Guyana, Haiti, Hawaii, Honduras, India, Indonesia, Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, North America, Pacific, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Puerto Rico, SE Asia, Sierra Leone, South America, Suriname, Trinidad-Tobago, United States, Venezuela, West Africa, West Indies

Notes: There are 127 Byrsonima species. They grow in tropical America. The roots and stems have anti-bacterial activity.

Status: It is a cultivated fruit tree. The fruit are sold in Central American markets. They are commonly used in Costa Rica.

Growing Nance, Golden spoon

Cultivation: Plants are grown from seed. The seeds are collected from ripe fruit are the flesh removed by allowing them to partly decompose in a plastic bag. The pulp is removed under running water. Seeds need to be planted fresh. They are best in light shade. Seedlings emerge in 25-35 days.

Edible Uses: The fruit are eaten fresh. They are also used in desserts, jams, soups, and stuffings for meat. They are also used in drinks. In Panama they are fermented to make a drink called Chica. An edible fat is extracted from the fruit with boiling water. Caution: There has been some concern about the fruit causing gastrointestinal disorders.

Production: It is a slow growing tree.

Nutrition Info

Nance, Golden spoon Photos

References

Abadio Finco, F. D. B. et al, 2012, Physicochemical characteristics and Antioxidant activity of three native fruit from Brazilian savannah (Cerrado). Alim. Nutr. Araraquara, v 23, n. 2 pp 179-185

Arellanes, Y., et al, 2013, Influence of traditional markets on plant management in the Tehuacan Valley. Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine 9:38

Barwick, M., 2004, Tropical and Subtropical Trees. A Worldwide Encyclopedic Guide. Thames and Hudson p 74

Bircher, A. G. & Bircher, W. H., 2000, Encyclopedia of Fruit Trees and Edible Flowering Plants in Egypt and the Subtropics. AUC Press. p 71 (Also as Byrsonima pulchra)

Blake, S. F., Native Names and Uses of some Plants of Eastern Guatemala and Honduras. Contributions from the National Herbarium. p 87

Bortolotto, I. M., et al, 2018, Lista preliminar das plantas alimenticias nativas de Mato Grosso do Sul, Brasil. Iheringia, Serie Botanica, Porto Alegre, 73 (supl.):101-116

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

Burkill, H. M., 1985, The useful plants of west tropical Africa, Vol. 4. Kew.

Casas, A., et al, 1996, Plant Management Among the Nahua and the Mixtec in the Balsas River Basin, Mexico: An Ethnobotanical Approach to the Study of Plant Domestication. Human Ecology, Vol. 24, No. 4 pp. 455-478

Castaneda, H., & Stepp, J. R., 2007, Ecosystems as Sources of Useful Plants for the Guaymi People of Costa Rica. Ethnobotany Journal. 5:249-257

Chizmar Fernandez, C., et al, 2009, Plantas comestibles de Centroamerica. Instituto de Biodiversidad, Costa Rica. p 224

Coe, F. G., and Anderson, G. J., 1996, Ethnobotany of the Garifuna of Eastern Nicaragua. Economic Botany 50(1) pp 71-107

Coe, F. G. and Anderson, G. J., 1999, Ethnobotany of the Sumu (Ulwa) of Southeastern Nicaragua and Comparisons with Miskitu Plant Lore. Economic Botany Vol. 53. No. 4. pp. 363-386

Condit, R., et al, 2011, Trees of Panama and Costa Rica. Princeton Field Guides. p 270

Cruz, I. M., et al, 2015, Edible fruits and seeds in the State of Mexico. Revista Mexicana de Ciencias Agricolas. Vol. 6. Num. 2 pp 331-346

Facciola, S., 1998, Cornucopia 2: a Source Book of Edible Plants. Kampong Publications, p 146

Grandtner, M. M., 2008, World Dictionary of Trees. Wood and Forest Science Department. Laval University, Quebec, Qc Canada. (Internet database http://www.WDT.QC.ca)

Grandtner, M. M. & Chevrette, J., 2013, Dictionary of Trees, Volume 2: South America: Nomenclature, Taxonomy and Ecology. Academic Press p 83

Hedrick, U.P., 1919, (Ed.), Sturtevant's edible plants of the world. p 140

Hermandez Bermejo, J.E., and Leon, J. (Eds.), 1994, Neglected Crops. 1492 from a different perspective. FAO Plant Production and Protection Series No 26. FAO, Rome. p15, 30

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

Kiple, K.F. & Ornelas, K.C., (eds), 2000, The Cambridge World History of Food. CUP p 1821

Langlois, H. C., 2004, Ethnobotanical analysis of different successional stages as sources of wild edible plants for the Guaymi people in Costa Rica. M. Sc. thesis University of Florida.

Llamas, K.A., 2003, Tropical Flowering Plants. Timber Press. p 251

Lorenzi, H., Bacher, L., Lacerda, M. & Sartori, S., 2006, Brazilian Fruits & Cultivated Exotics. Sao Paulo, Instituto Plantarum de Estuados da Flora Ltda. p 157

Lorenzi, H., 2009, Brazilian Trees. A Guide to the Identification and Cultivation of Brazilian Native Trees. Instituto Plantarum de Estuados da Flora Ltda. Vol. 3 p 190

Martin, F. W., et al, 1987, Perennial Edible Fruits of the Tropics. USDA Handbook 642 p 36

McLaughlin, J., Woody and Herbaceus Plants Native to Haiti. University of Florida. p 11

Meerman, J. C., 1993, Provisional Annonated Checklist of the Flora of the Shipstern Nature Reserve. Occasional Papers of The Belizean Natural History. Vol.2, Nos. 1-11 p 27

Miguel, E., et al, 1989, A checklist of the cultivated plants of Cuba. Kulturpflanze 37. 1989, 211-357

Morton, J. F., 1987, Fruits of Warm Climates. Wipf & Stock Publishers p 206

Mutchnick, P. A. and McCarthy, B. C., 1997, An Ethnobotanical Analysis of the Tree Species Common to the Subtropical Moist Forests of the Peten, Guatemala. Economic Botany, Vol. 51, No. 2, pp. 158-183

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

Plants of Haiti Smithsonian Institute http://botany.si.edu/antilles/West Indies

Recher, P, 2001, Fruit Spirit Botanical Gardens Plant Index. www.nrg.com.au/~recher/ seedlist.html p 1

Reis, S. V. and Lipp, F. L., 1982, New Plant Sources for Drugs and Foods from the New York Botanical Garden herbarium. Harvard. p 150 (As Byrsonima karwinskiana)

Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (1999). Survey of Economic Plants for Arid and Semi-Arid Lands (SEPASAL) database. Published on the Internet; http://www.rbgkew.org.uk/ceb/sepasal/internet [Accessed 3rd May 2011]

Rufina, M. S. M., et al, 2009, Free radical-scavenging behaviour of some north-east Brazilian fruits in a DPPH system. Food Chemistry 114:693-695

Smith, N., Mori, S.A., et al, 2004, Flowering Plants of the Neotropics. Princeton. p 232

Standley, P. C. & Record, S. J., 1936, The Forests and Flora of British Honduras. (Belize). p 206

Staples, G.W. and Herbst, D.R., 2005, A tropical Garden Flora. Bishop Museum Press, Honolulu, Hawaii. p 382

Sukarya, D. G., (Ed.) 2013, 3,500 Plant Species of the Botanic Gardens of Indonesia. LIPI p 168

Turreira-Garcia, N., et al, 2015, Wild edible plant knowledge, distribution and transmission: a case study of the Achi Mayans of Guatemala. Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine. 11:52

USDA, ARS, National Genetic Resources Program. Germplasm Resources Information Network - (GRIN). [Online Database] National Germplasm Resources Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland. Available: www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/html/econ.pl (10 April 2000)

van Roosmalen, M.G.M., 1985, Fruits of the Guianan Flora. Utrecht Univ. & Wageningen Univ. p 263

Vazquez-Garcia. V., 2008, Gender, ethnicity, and economic status in plant management: Uncultivated edible plants among the Nahuas and Popolucas of veracruz, Mexico. Agriculture and Human Values 25: 65-77

Villachica, H., (Ed.), 1996, Frutales Y hortalizas promisorios de la Amazonia. FAO, Lima. p 165

F. W. H. A. von Humboldt et al., Nov. gen. sp. 5:115[folio]; 5:149[quarto]. 1822

World Checklist of Useful Plant Species 2020. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew

www.colecionandofrutas.org

www.worldagroforestrycentre.org/treedb/

Yuncker, T.G., 1940, Flora of the Aguan Valley and the coastal regions near La Ceiba, Honduras. Botany Series, Field Museum of Natural History 9(4) p 300

Zuchowski W., 2007, Tropical Plants of Costa Rica. A Zona Tropical Publication, Comstock Publishing. p 53