SOUARI NUT

Souari Nut Caryocar brasiliense
by Steve stamos


This is an evergreen medium sized tree up to 20 meters tall. It is a member of the Caryocaraceae family and native to hot, scrub-land regions of Northern and Western Brazil. The Leaves are hairy that can cause itching and formed in leaflets of three (trifoliate). The Flowers are hermaphrodite produced in small clusters and they have a non pleasant smell. They are pollinated by bats.

The tree produces coconut-sized grey-green colored fruit (drupes) that can weight up to 3kg and contain one to four nut like stones. The yellow pulp is eaten fresh out of hand, used as flavoring for various dishes (suari nut rice), sweets and meat condiment or made into a liqueur. It is a rich source of the vitamins A, C and to al lower extent B1 and B3 and excellent tonic.

The kidney-shaped nuts are red, hard-shelled with rich flavor that can be eaten raw or roasted and taste good. They contain fatty oil that is used as source of cooking oil (suari fat). The nuts resemble Brazil nuts but are larger and richer in taste.

The Souari nut tree is propagated from seeds. It needs high humidity, full sun and does well on clay and poor soils. The tree has been used for timber with wood qualities suitable for shipbuilding.

souari nut

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