Brazil nut explained

The Brazil nut (Bertholletia excelsa) is a South American tree in the family Lecythidaceae, and it is also the name of the tree's commercially harvested edible seeds.[1] It is one of the largest and longest-lived trees in the Amazon rainforest. The fruit and its nutshell – containing the edible Brazil nut – are relatively large and weigh as much as in total. As food, Brazil nuts are notable for diverse content of micronutrients, especially a high amount of selenium. The wood of the Brazil nut tree is prized for its quality in carpentry, flooring, and heavy construction.

Common names

In Portuguese-speaking countries, like Brazil, they are variously called "Portuguese: castanha-do-brasil|italic=yes"[2] [3] (meaning "chestnuts from Brazil" in Portuguese), "Portuguese: castanha-do-pará|italic=yes" (meaning "chestnuts from Pará" in Portuguese), with other names: castanha-da-amazônia,[4] castanha-do-acre,[5] "Portuguese: noz amazônica|italic=yes" (meaning "Amazonian nut" in Portuguese), noz boliviana, tocari ("probably of Carib origin"[6]), and tururi (from Tupi turu'ri[7]) also used.[1]

In various Spanish-speaking countries of South America, Brazil nuts are called Spanish; Castilian: castañas de Brasil|italic=yes, Spanish; Castilian: nuez de Brasil|italic=yes, or Spanish; Castilian: castañas de Pará (or Para)|italic=yes.[1] [8]

In North America, as early as 1896, Brazil nuts were sometimes known by the slang term "nigger toes",[9] [10] [11] a vulgarity that fell out of use after the racial slur became more socially unacceptable.[12] [13]

Description

The Brazil nut is a large tree, reaching 50m (160feet) tall,[14] and with a trunk in diameter, making it among the largest of trees in the Amazon rainforest. It may live for 500 years or more, and can often reach a thousand years of age.[15] The stem is straight and commonly without branches for well over half the tree's height, with a large, emergent crown of long branches above the surrounding canopy of other trees.

The bark is grayish and smooth. The leaves are dry-season deciduous, alternate, simple, entire or crenate, oblong, NaNcm (-2,147,483,648inches) long, and broad. The flowers are small, greenish-white, in panicles long; each flower has a two-parted, deciduous calyx, six unequal cream-colored petals, and numerous stamens united into a broad, hood-shaped mass.

Reproduction

Brazil nut trees produce fruit almost exclusively in pristine forests, as disturbed forests lack the large-bodied bees of the genera Bombus, Centris, Epicharis, Eulaema, and Xylocopa, which are the only ones capable of pollinating the tree's flowers, with different bee genera being the primary pollinators in different areas, and different times of year.[16] [17] [18] Brazil nuts have been harvested from plantations, but production is low and is currently not economically viable.[1] [14] [19]

The fruit takes 14 months to mature after pollination of the flowers. The fruit itself is a large capsule in diameter, resembling a coconut endocarp in size and weighing up to . It has a hard, woody shell thick, which contains eight to 24 wedge-shaped seeds long (the "Brazil nuts") packed like the segments of an orange, but not limited to one whorl of segments. Up to three whorls can be stacked onto each other, with the polar ends of the segments of the middle whorl nestling into the upper and lower whorls (see illustration above).

The capsule contains a small hole at one end, which enables large rodents like the agouti to gnaw it open.[20] They then eat some of the seeds inside while burying others for later use; some of these are able to germinate into new Brazil nut trees.[20] Most of the seeds are "planted" by the agoutis in caches during wet season,[20] and the young saplings may have to wait years, in a state of dormancy, for a tree to fall and sunlight to reach it, when it starts growing again. Capuchin monkeys have been reported to open Brazil nuts using a stone as an anvil.

Taxonomy

The Brazil nut family, the Lecythidaceae, is in the order Ericales, as are other well-known plants such as blueberries, cranberries, sapote, gutta-percha, tea, phlox, and persimmons. The tree is the only species in the monotypic genus Bertholletia, named after French chemist Claude Louis Berthollet.[21]

Distribution and habitat

The Brazil nut is native to the Guianas, Venezuela, Brazil, eastern Colombia, eastern Peru, and eastern Bolivia. It occurs as scattered trees in large forests on the banks of the Amazon River, Rio Negro, Tapajós, and the Orinoco. The fruit is heavy and rigid; when the fruits fall, they pose a serious threat to vehicles and potential for traumatic brain injury of people passing under the tree.[22]

Production

Brazil nut production – 2020
Country(tonnes)
33,118
30,843
5,697
World 69,658
Source: FAOSTAT of the United Nations[23]
In 2020, global production of Brazil nuts (in shells) was 69,658 tonnes, most of which derive from wild harvests in tropical forests, especially the Amazon regions of Brazil and Bolivia which produced 92% of the world total (table).

Environmental effects of harvesting

Since most of the production for international trade is harvested in the wild,[24] [25] the business arrangement has been advanced as a model for generating income from a tropical forest without destroying it.[24] The nuts are most often gathered by migrant workers known as castañeros (in Spanish) or castanheiros (in Portuguese).[24] Logging is a significant threat to the sustainability of the Brazil nut-harvesting industry.[24] [25]

Analysis of tree ages in areas that are harvested shows that moderate and intense gathering takes so many seeds that not enough are left to replace older trees as they die.[25] Sites with light gathering activities had many young trees, while sites with intense gathering practices had nearly none.[26]

European Union import regulation

In 2003, the European Union imposed strict regulations on the import of Brazilian-harvested Brazil nuts in their shells, as the shells are considered to contain unsafe levels of aflatoxins, a potential cause of liver cancer.[27]

Toxicity

Brazil nuts are susceptible to contamination by aflatoxins, produced by fungi, once they fall to the ground.[28] Aflatoxins can cause liver damage, including possible cancer, if consumed. Aflatoxin levels have been found in Brazil nuts during inspections that were far higher than the limits set by the EU.[29] However, mechanical sorting and drying was found to eliminate 98% of aflatoxins; a 2003 EU ban on importation was rescinded after new tolerance levels were set.

The nuts often contain radium, a radioactive element, with a kilogram of nuts containing an activity between 1and. This level of radium is small, although it can be about 1,000 times higher than in other common foods. According to Oak Ridge Associated Universities, elevated levels of radium in the soil does not directly cause the concentration of radium, but "the very extensive root system of the tree" can concentrate naturally occurring radioactive material, when present in the soil.[30] Radium can be concentrated in nuts only if it is present in the soil.[31]

Brazil nuts also contain barium, a metal with a chemical behavior quite similar to radium.[32] While barium, if ingested, can have toxic effects, such as weakness, vomiting, or diarrhea,[33] the amount present in Brazil nuts is orders of magnitude too small to have noticeable health effects.

Uses

Nutrition

Brazil nuts are 3% water, 14% protein, 12% carbohydrates, and 66% fats (table). The fat components are 16% saturated, 24% monounsaturated, and 24% polyunsaturated (see table for USDA source).

In a 100g reference amount, Brazil nuts supply 659 calories, and are a rich source (20% or more of the Daily Value, DV) of dietary fiber (30% DV), thiamin (54% DV), vitamin E (38% DV), magnesium (106% DV), phosphorus (104% DV), manganese (57% DV), and zinc (43% DV). Calcium, iron, and potassium are present in moderate amounts (10-19% DV, table).

Selenium

Brazil nuts are a particularly rich source of selenium, with just supplying 544 micrograms of selenium or 10 times the DV of 55 micrograms (see table for USDA source).[34] However, the amount of selenium within batches of nuts may vary considerably.[35]

The high selenium content is used as a biomarker in studies of selenium intake and deficiency.[36] [37] Consumption of just one Brazil nut per day over 8 weeks was sufficient to restore selenium blood levels and increase HDL cholesterol in obese women.[37]

Oil

Brazil nut oil contains 48% unsaturated fatty acids composed mainly of oleic and linoleic acids, the phytosterol, beta-sitosterol,[38] and fat-soluble vitamin E.[39]

The following table presents the composition of fatty acids in Brazil nut oil (see USDA source in nutrition table):

10%
0.2%
6%
24%
24%
0.04%
16%
48%

Wood

The lumber from Brazil nut trees (not to be confused with Brazilwood) is of excellent quality, having diverse uses from flooring to heavy construction.[40] Logging the trees is prohibited by law in all three producing countries (Brazil, Bolivia, and Peru). Illegal extraction of timber and land clearances present continuing threats.[41] In Brazil, cutting down a Brazil nut tree requires previous authorization from the Brazilian Institute of Environment and Renewable Natural Resources.[42] [43]

Other uses

Brazil nut oil is used as a lubricant in clocks[44] and in the manufacturing of paint and cosmetics, such as soap and perfume.[40] Because of its hardness, the Brazil nutshell is often pulverized and used as an abrasive to polish materials, such as metals and ceramics, in the same way as jeweler's rouge. The charcoal from the nut shells may be used to purify water.[40]

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Mori, Scott A. . The Brazil Nut Industry – Past, Present, and Future . The New York Botanical Garden . July 17, 2012.
  2. Web site: Nomes comuns: castanha-do-brasil, castanha-do-pará ou castanha-da-amazônia . - Folder Embrapa
  3. COSTA, J. R. (et al.).Uma das espécies nativas mais valiosas da floresta amazônica de terra firme é a castanha-do-brasil ou castanha-da-amazônia (Bertholletia excelsa), - Acta Amazônica vol. 39(4) 2009: 843 - 850
  4. Book: Filho . João Carlos Meireles . O livro de ouro da Amazônia: mitos e verdades sobre a região mais cobiçada do planeta . 2004 . Ediouro . 978-85-00-01357-7 . 8 July 2023 . pt-BR.
  5. Web site: Negócios para Amazônia sustentável . July 8, 2023 . October 19, 2016 . https://web.archive.org/web/20161019081742/http://www.ambiente.sp.gov.br/wp-content/uploads/cea/wwf_1.pdf . dead . - Ministério do Meio Ambiente. Rio de Janeiro, 2003. p. 50.
  6. Shepard . Glenn H. . Ramirez . Henri . "Made in Brazil": Human Dispersal of the Brazil Nut (Bertholletia excelsa, Lecythidaceae) in Ancient Amazonia1 . Economic Botany . March 2011 . 65 . 1 . 44–65 . 10.1007/s12231-011-9151-6. 43465637 .
  7. Ferreira, A. B. H. (1986). Novo Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa (2nd edition). Rio de Janeiro: Nova Fronteira. p. 1729
  8. PROYECTO PARA DECLARACIÓN DE ALÉRGENOS y SUSTANCIAS QUE PRODUCEN REACCIONES ADVERSAS EN LOS RÓTULOS DE LOS ALIMENTOS, CUALQUIERA SEA SU ORIGEN, ENVASADOS EN AUSENCIA DEL CLIENTE, LISTOS PARA SER OFRECIDOS AL CONSUMIDOR (DEC. 117/006 DEL RBN) . Project for Declaration of Allergens and Substances that produce adverse reactions in food labels, whatever their origin, packaged in the absence of the client, ready to be offered to the consumer. Argentine government. n.d.. 3.
  9. Book: Lyons, A. B. . 2015 . Plant Names, Scientific and Popular . 2nd . Arkose Press . 71 . 978-1345211849.
  10. Young . W. J. . 1911 . The Brazil Nut . Botanical Gazette . 52 . 3 . 226–231 . 10.1086/330613 . free.
  11. "Nigger", noun and adjective . Oxford English Dictionary . 29 November 2019 . 2019.
  12. Essig, Laurie . 12 July 2016 . White Like Me, Nice Like Me . Psychology Today . 29 November 2019.
  13. Brunvand. J. H. . 1972 . The Study of Contemporary Folklore: Jokes . . 13 . 1 . 1–19 . 10.1515/fabl.1972.13.1.1 . 162318582 .
  14. Web site: The Brazil Nut (Bertholletia excelsa) . Hennessey . Tim . March 2, 2001 . July 17, 2012 . https://web.archive.org/web/20090111010933/http://www.siu.edu/~ebl/leaflets/brazil.htm. January 11, 2009.
  15. Web site: Harvesting nuts, improving lives in Brazil. World Wildlife Fund . Taitson, Bruno . January 18, 2007 . July 17, 2012 . May 23, 2008 . https://web.archive.org/web/20080523200535/http://www.assets.wwf.no/news_facts/newsroom/features/index.cfm?uNewsID=92320.
  16. Nelson, B. W. . Absy, M. L. . Barbosa, E. M. . Prance, G. T. . January 1985 . Observations on flower visitors to Bertholletia excelsa H. B. K. and Couratari tenuicarpa A. C. Sm. (Lecythidaceae) . Acta Amazonica . 15 . 1 . 225–234 . 2023-06-06 . 10.1590/1809-43921985155234 . free . 87265447 .
  17. Book: Moritz, A. . 1984 . Estudos biológicos da floração e da frutificação da castanha-do-Brasil (Bertholletia excelsa HBK) . Biological studies of flowering and fruiting of Brazil nuts (Bertholleira excelsa HKB) . pt . 29 . 2008-04-08 . August 17, 2009 . https://web.archive.org/web/20090817104252/http://orton.catie.ac.cr/cgi-bin/wxis.exe/?IsisScript=ACERVO.xis&method=post&formato=2&cantidad=1&expresion=mfn=029738 . dead .
  18. Pollination Requirements and the Foraging Behavior of Potential Pollinators of Cultivated Brazil Nut (Bertholletia excelsa Bonpl.) Trees in Central Amazon Rainforest . M. C. . Cavalcante . F. F. . Oliveira . M. M. . Maués . B. M. . Freitas . October 27, 2017 . Psyche: A Journal of Entomology . 2012 . 1–9 . 10.1155/2012/978019 . free.
  19. Web site: The Brazil Nut Tree: More than just nuts . Ortiz . Enrique G. . July 17, 2012 . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20080216221836/http://www.bertholletia.org/bertholletia/benefits/benefits.html . February 16, 2008.
  20. Haugaasen . Joanne M. Tuck . Haugaasen . Torbjørn . Peres . Carlos A. . Gribel . Rogerio . Wegge . Per . Seed dispersal of the Brazil nut tree (Bertholletia excelsa) by scatter-hoarding rodents in a central Amazonian forest . Journal of Tropical Ecology. 26 . 3 . 2010-03-30 . 10.1017/s0266467410000027 . 251–262 . 84855812.
  21. Book: Burkhardt, Lotte . Eine Enzyklopädie zu eponymischen Pflanzennamen . Botanic Garden and Botanical Museum, Freie Universität Berlin . 2022 . 978-3-946292-41-8 . Berlin . German . Encyclopedia of eponymic plant names . pdf . 10.3372/epolist2022 . January 27, 2022 . 246307410.
  22. Ideta MM, Oliveira LM, de Castro GL, Santos MA, Simões EL, Gonçalves DB, de Amorim RL . 2021 . Traumatic brain injury caused by Brazil-nut fruit in the Amazon: A case series . Surgical Neurology International . 12 . 399 . 10.25259/SNI_279_2021 . 8422441 . 34513165.
  23. Web site: Brazil nut production in 2020; Crops/Regions/World list/Production Quantity (pick lists). 2020. UN Food and Agriculture Organization, Corporate Statistical Database (FAOSTAT). 17 May 2022.
  24. Web site: Evans. Kate . Harvesting both timber and Brazil nuts in Peru's Amazon forests: Can they coexist? . Forests News . Center for International Forestry Research. CIFOR.org . 2 May 2019 . 7 November 2013.
  25. News: Kivner. Mark . Intensive harvests 'threaten Brazil nut tree future' . 2 May 2019 . BBC News: Science and Environment . 11 May 2010.
  26. Silvertown . J. . Sustainability in a nutshell . 10.1016/j.tree.2004.03.022 . Trends in Ecology & Evolution . 19 . 6 . 276–278. 2004 . 16701269.
  27. Commission Decision of 4 July 2003 imposing special conditions on the import of Brazil nuts in shell originating in or consigned from Brazil . 33–38. 2003/493/EC. Official Journal of the European Union. 5 July 2003.
  28. Web site: 1 March 2007 . Aflatoxins in food . European Food Safety Authority . en.
  29. Web site: 2 August 2017 . Research improves the control of Brazil nut contamination by mycotoxins . AGÊNCIA FAPESP . en.
  30. Web site: January 20, 2009 . Brazil Nuts . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20211006194754/https://www.orau.org/health-physics-museum/collection/consumer/food/brazil-nuts.html . October 6, 2021 . December 17, 2018 . Oak Ridge Associated Universities.
  31. Web site: Adams . Rod . January 4, 2014 . BBC Bang Goes the Theory demonstrates that NOT all Brazil nuts are radioactive . May 18, 2021 . Atomic Insights.
  32. Web site: Brazil Nuts . 2021-10-06 . Museum of Radiation and Radioactivity . en.
  33. Web site: 2021-09-03 . Biomonitoring Summary . 2021-10-06 . www.cdc.gov . en-us.
  34. Web site: Selenium . Office of Dietary Supplements, US National Institutes of Health . 25 July 2022 . 26 March 2021.
  35. Chang . Jacqueline C. . Walter H.. Gutenmann . Charlotte M. . Reid . Donald J.. Lisk . 1995 . Selenium content of Brazil nuts from two geographic locations in Brazil . Chemosphere . 30 . 4 . 801–802 . 10.1016/0045-6535(94)00409-N . 7889353 . 1995Chmsp..30..801C. free .
  36. Garcia-Aloy . Mar . Hulshof . Paul J. M. . Estruel-Amades . Sheila . Osté . Maryse C. J. . Lankinen . Maria . Geleijnse . Johanna M. . de Goede . Janette . Ulaszewska . Marynka . Mattivi . Fulvio . Bakker . Stephan J. L. . Schwab . Ursula . Andres-Lacueva . Cristina . Biomarkers of food intake for nuts and vegetable oils: an extensive literature search . Genes and Nutrition . 14 . 1 . 7 . 2019-03-19 . 10.1186/s12263-019-0628-8 . 30923582 . 6423890 . free .
  37. Souza . R. G. M. . Gomes . A. C. . Naves . M. M. V. . Mota . J. F. . Nuts and legume seeds for cardiovascular risk reduction: scientific evidence and mechanisms of action . Nutrition Reviews . 73 . 6 . 2015-04-16 . 10.1093/nutrit/nuu008 . 335–347. 26011909. free .
  38. International Journal for Vitamin and Nutrition Research . 2013. 83. 5. 263–270. 10.1024/0300-9831/a000168. Phytosterol content and fatty acid pattern of ten different nut types. 25305221. Kornsteiner-Krenn. Margit. Wagner. Karl-Heinz. Elmadfa. Ibrahim.
  39. International Journal of Food Sciences and Nutrition . 2006 . 57. 3–4. 219–228. Fatty acid profile, tocopherol, squalene and phytosterol content of brazil, pecan, pine, pistachio and cashew nuts. 17127473. 10.1080/09637480600768077. Ryan . E. . Galvin . K. . O'Connor . T. P. . Maguire . A. R. . O'Brien . N. M. . 22030871 .
  40. Web site: Bertholletia excelsa - Bonpl. . 28 January 2023 . Plants for a Future.
  41. News: Greenpeace Activists Trapped by Loggers in Amazon . Greenpeace . October 18, 2007. July 17, 2012 . dead . 2010-12-22 . https://web.archive.org/web/20101222112635/http://www.greenpeace.org/international/en/news/features/activists-trapped-by-loggers071018/.
  42. Web site: Moncrieff . Virginia M. . 2015-09-21 . A little logging may go a long way . 2020-07-08 . Forest News . . CIFOR.org.
  43. Web site: de Oliveira Wadt . Lucia Helena . de Souza . Joana Maria Leite . Árvore do Conhecimento – Castanha-do-Brasil . Tree of Knowledge – Brazil nut . . pt-br.
  44. Book: Lim, T. K. . Edible Medicinal And Non Medicinal Plants: Volume 3, Fruits . 2012 . Springer Science & Business Media . 978-94-007-2534-8.

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