Oenocarpus mapora
H. Karst
Bacaba
(c) Reinaldo Aguilar, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA)
(c) Reinaldo Aguilar, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA)
(c) Reinaldo Aguilar, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA)
What to Eat
Edible parts: Fruit, Cabbage, Palm heart, Nuts, Fruit - oil, Seeds
The fruit are slightly cooked before eating and are used to make drinks. The seeds and terminal bud (palm heart/cabbage) are edible. The fruit also yield an oil. Fruit are sold in local markets.
Where to Find It
A tropical plant. It suits the tropics and the subtropics. In South America it grows in rainforests at low altitude. It occasionally grows to 1,000 m altitude. It is often found in swamps.
Amazon, Asia, Australia, Bolivia, Brazil, Central America*, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Honduras, Indonesia, Panama, Peru, SE Asia, South America, Venezuela,
How to Identify
A clumping palm. It can have 12 slender trunks in one clump. These can be 10-20 m tall. The trunks are 15 cm across. The trunks are spiny. There is a false crown-shaft which is like a narrow upside-down pyramid. It is 1 m long. The fronds are dark green above and silvery underneath and arching. They can be 1.3-5 m long on leafstalks 30-100 cm long. The leaflets droop. They are 60-100 cm long and regularly spaced. The new shoots are red. The flowering stalk is like a horse's tail. The flowers are creamy white. The fruit are mauve to purple. They are the size and shape or olives. They are 2.5 cm long.
Nutrition Score: 32/100
| Part | Moisture | kJ | kcal | Protein | Vit A | Vit C | Iron | Zinc |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fruit | 85.4 | 299 | 73 | 0.9 | — | 10.1 | 1.2 | 0.4 |
How to Grow
Plants are grown from seed. It can be grown from suckers. It is useful for producing edible shoots or cabbage as the harvested shoots are replaced by new suckers.
Medicinal Uses
The terminal bud is used as cabbage.
Other Uses
The midveins of the leaflets are used in basketry.
Other Information
Fruit are sold in local markets.
Notes
There are 9 Oenocarpus species.
Names & Synonyms
Bacabai, Bacabilla, Bacabinha, Bi bosa ni, Ciame, Cimba, Cinamillo, Dompedrito, Jejhue isa, Jora, Majillo, Manqueque, Mapora, Maquenque, Milpesillo, Pusuy, Quebo itsama, Shimpi, Shinpi, Sinamillo, Turu palm, Uyaachi
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