Brazil nut

Brazil nut tree
Conservation status
Vulnerable (IUCN 2.3)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Eudicots
Clade:	Asterids
Order:	Ericales
Family:	Lecythidaceae
Subfamily:
Genus:	Bertholletia Bonpl.
Species:	B. excelsa
Binomial name
Bertholletia excelsa Humb. & Bonpl.

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. 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, possibly weighing as much as 2 kg (4 lb 7 oz) in total weight. 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.^[1]

Common names[]

In various countries of South America, Brazil nuts are called castañas de Brasil or nuez de Brasil.^[1] In central Brazil, they are usually simply called "castanha," though they may also be called castanhas-do-pará (meaning "chestnuts from Pará").^[1]

In North America, as early as 1896, Brazil nuts were sometimes known by the slang term "nigger toes",^[2][3][4] a vulgarity that gradually fell out of use as the racial slur became socially unacceptable.^[5][6]

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,^[1] named after French chemist Claude Louis Berthollet.

Description[]

The Brazil nut is a large tree, reaching 50 m (160 ft) tall and with a trunk 1 to 2 m (3 ft 3 in to 6 ft 7 in) 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.^[7] 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, 20–35 cm (8–14 in) long, and 10–15 cm (4–6 in) broad. The flowers are small, greenish-white, in panicles 5–10 cm (2–4 in) long; each flower has a two-parted, deciduous calyx, six unequal cream-colored petals, and numerous stamens united into a broad, hood-shaped mass.^{[citation needed]}

Range[]

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.

As a result, they can be found outside production areas, in the backyards of homes and near roads and streets in the Northern and Northeastern Brazil.^{[citation needed]} The fruit is heavy and rigid; when the fruits fall, they pose a serious threat to vehicles and people passing under the tree.

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.^[8][9][10] Brazil nuts have been harvested from plantations, but production is low and is currently not economically viable.^[11][12][13]

The fruit takes 14 months to mature after pollination of the flowers. The fruit itself is a large capsule 10–15 cm (4–6 in) in diameter, resembling a coconut endocarp in size and weighing up to 2 kg (4 lb 7 oz). It has a hard, woody shell 8–12 mm (3⁄8–1⁄2 in) thick, which contains eight to 24 wedge-shaped seeds 4–5 cm (1+5⁄8–2 in) 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.^[14] 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.^[14] Most of the seeds are "planted" by the agoutis in caches during wet season,^[14] 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.

Society and culture[]

In Brazil, cutting down a Brazil nut tree (typically with the intent of harvesting lumber and Brazil nuts) is illegal, unless with previous authorization from Brazilian Institute of Environment and Renewable Natural Resources.^[15][16]

Production[]

Brazil nut production – 2019
Country	(tonnes)
Brazil	32,905
Bolivia	31,146
Peru	6,205
World	70,256
Source: FAOSTAT of the United Nations[17]

In 2019, global production of Brazil nuts (in shells) was 78,256 tonnes, most of which derive from wild harvests in tropical forests, especially the Amazon regions of Brazil and Bolivia which produced 91% of the world total (table).

Environmental effects of harvesting[]

Since most of the production for international trade is harvested in the wild,^[18][19] the business arrangement has been advanced as a model for generating income from a tropical forest without destroying it.^[18] The nuts are most often gathered by migrant workers known as castañeros (in Spanish) or castanheiros (in Portuguese).^[18] Logging is a significant threat to the sustainability of the Brazil nut-harvesting industry.^[18][19]

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.^[19] Sites with light gathering activities had many young trees, while sites with intense gathering practices had nearly none.^[20]

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.^[21]

Nutrition and human consumption[]

Brazil nuts, dried, unblanched, shelled

Nutritional value per 100 g (3.5 oz)
Energy	2,743 kJ (656 kcal)
Carbohydrates	12.27 g
Starch	0.25 g
Sugars	2.33 g
Dietary fiber	7.5 g
Fat	66.43 g
Saturated	15.137 g
Monounsaturated	24.548 g
Polyunsaturated	20.577 g
Protein	14.32 g
Tryptophan	0.141 g
Threonine	0.362 g
Isoleucine	0.516 g
Leucine	1.155 g
Lysine	0.492 g
Methionine	1.008 g
Cystine	0.367 g
Phenylalanine	0.630 g
Tyrosine	0.420 g
Valine	0.756 g
Arginine	2.148 g
Histidine	0.386 g
Alanine	0.577 g
Aspartic acid	1.346 g
Glutamic acid	3.147 g
Glycine	0.718 g
Proline	0.657 g
Serine	0.683 g
Vitamins	Quantity %DV†
Thiamine (B1)	54% 0.617 mg
Riboflavin (B2)	3% 0.035 mg
Niacin (B3)	2% 0.295 mg
Vitamin B6	8% 0.101 mg
Folate (B9)	6% 22 μg
Vitamin C	1% 0.7 mg
Vitamin E	38% 5.73 mg
Minerals	Quantity %DV†
Calcium	16% 160 mg
Iron	19% 2.43 mg
Magnesium	106% 376 mg
Manganese	57% 1.2 mg
Phosphorus	104% 725 mg
Potassium	14% 659 mg
Sodium	0% 3 mg
Zinc	43% 4.06 mg
Other constituents	Quantity
Water	3.48 g
Selenium	1917 μg
Beta-Sitosterol	64 mg
Link to USDA Database entry
Units μg = micrograms • mg = milligrams IU = International units
†Percentages are roughly approximated using US recommendations for adults. Source: USDA FoodData Central

Brazil nuts contain 14% protein, 12% carbohydrate, and 66% fat by weight; 85% of their calories come from fat, and a 100-gram (3+1⁄2-ounce) amount provides 2,740 kilojoules (656 kilocalories) of food energy.^[22] The fat components are 23% saturated, 38% monounsaturated, and 32% polyunsaturated.^[22][23] Due to their high polyunsaturated fat content, primarily omega-6 fatty acids, shelled Brazil nuts may quickly become rancid.

Nutritionally, Brazil nuts are a rich source (20% or more of the Daily Value, DV) of dietary fiber (30% DV) and various vitamins and dietary minerals. A 100 g (3+1⁄2 oz) amount (75% of one cup) of Brazil nuts contains rich content of thiamin (54% DV), vitamin E (38% DV), magnesium (106% DV), phosphorus (104% DV), manganese (57% DV), and zinc (43% DV). Brazil nuts are perhaps the richest dietary source of selenium, with a 28 g (1 oz) serving of six nuts supplying 774% DV.^[22] This is 10 times the adult U.S. Recommended Dietary Allowance, more even than the Tolerable Upper Intake Level, although the amount of selenium within batches of nuts varies greatly.^[24]

The high selenium content is used as a biomarker in studies of selenium intake and deficiency.^[25][26] Consumption of just one Brazil nut per day over 8 weeks was sufficient to restore selenium blood levels and increase HDL (good) cholesterol in obese women.^[26]

Phytochemicals[]

The shells of Brazil nuts contain high levels of aflatoxins, which can cause liver damage, including possible cancer, if consumed.^[21]

The nuts contain small amounts of radium, a radioactive element, with a kilogram of nuts containing an activity between 40 and 260 becquerels (1 and 7 nanocuries). This is about 1000 times higher than in several 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.^[27] The material must still be present in the soil in order to concentrate in the trees.^[28]

Uses[]

Oil[]

Brazil nut oil contains 75% unsaturated fatty acids composed mainly of oleic and linoleic acids, as well as the phytosterol, beta-sitosterol,^[29] and fat-soluble vitamin E.^[30]

The following table presents the composition of fatty acids in Brazil nut essential oil:^[22]

Palmitic acid	16–20%
Palmitoleic acid	0.5–1.2%
Stearic acid	9–13%
Oleic acid	36–45%
Linoleic acid	33–38%
Saturated fats	25%
Unsaturated fats	75%

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.^[1] 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.^[31]

Other uses[]

Brazil nut oil is used as a lubricant in clocks, in the manufacturing of paint, and in the cosmetics industry.^[32] Engravings in Brazil nut shells are supposed to have been used as decorative jewelry by unnamed indigenous tribes in Bolivia, although no examples exist. 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 jeweler's rouge is used.

See also[]

• Brazil nut cake
• List of culinary nuts
• Official list of endangered flora of Brazil
• Granular convection

References[]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Bertholletia excelsa.

Wikispecies has information related to Bertholletia excelsa.

Wikisource has the text of the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica article "Brazil Nuts".