Dacryodes belemensis
Cuatrec.
Ibapichuna, Trinidad dacryodes
MBG
MBG
The New York Botanical Garden
What to Eat
Edible parts: Fruit
Fruit - cooked. A sharp, tangy taste. The fruits are put into a large vessel, covered with water, and placed over a fire to heat slowly to near the boiling point. The fruits can now be eaten by crushing them between the tongue and the roof of the mouth - the creamy-smooth, slightly fibrous pulp is extracted by the tongue from between the crisp exocarp and the bony endocarp. These latter parts are then expelled from the mouth. Much practice is necessary to accomplish this manoeuvre with ease. More commonly, the heated fruits are crushed and extracted to prepare an after-dinner beverage. To make this drink, the warm fruits are placed upon a loosely woven sieve basket, with an appropriate container below to catch the extracted pulp. The fruits are then crushed by hand, and warm water is repeatedly added to the mass of pericarp, pulp, and bony endocarp to extract the green pulp. The kneading process continues until most of the pulp has passed through the sieve. The resulting liquid is a resinous, bright green beverage with an appearance similar to thin spinach purée. It is not universally enjoyed. The mature fruits are oblong-ellipsoid, about 20-25 mm. Long and 13 mm. In diameter.
Where to Find It
A tropical plant. It grows as an understorey tree in the rainforest. It grows on sandy soils.
Amazon, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guianas, Peru, South America, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, Venezuela
How to Identify
A small tree. It keeps its leaves throughout the year. Male and female flowers are on separate plants. The fruit are resinous. They are green. The fruit are narrowly oval and 2-2.5 cm long by 13 mm wide.
How to Grow
Plants are grown by seeds.
Other Uses
A resin obtained from the tree burns well and so is used for torches. The wood contains 2.96% of silica, perhaps the second highest known silica content for any known American wood. The wood is used for fuel.
Other Information
There are about 40 Dacryodes species. They grow in the tropics.
Notes
There are 87 Dacryodes species. There are 22 Dacryodes species in tropical Africa and 15 from SE Asia and 2 from tropical America. Most Dacryodes have edible fruit. Some fruit are eaten raw and others are cooked.
Names & Synonyms
Inaewijae hicunte, Mwiaekaeju hicunte, Naewo hicante, Tencanencahue
References (5)
- Etkin, N.L. (Ed.), 1994, Eating on the Wild Side, Univ. of Arizona. p 123, 137
- Grandtner, M. M. & Chevrette, J., 2013, Dictionary of Trees, Volume 2: South America: Nomenclature, Taxonomy and Ecology. Academic Press p 192 (As Dacryodes trinitensis)
- Kermath, B. M., et al, 2014, Food Plants in the Americas: A survey of the domesticated, cultivated and wild plants used for Human food in North, Central and South America and the Caribbean. On line draft. p 295
- Onana, J. M., 2008, A synoptic revision of Dacryodes (Burseraceae) in Africa, witha new species from Central Africa. Kew Bulletin 63(3): 385-400
- Roa, J. A. G. & Boada, D. S. G., 2018, Fundación para el Fortalecimiento de la Fruticultura y Plantas Alimenticias no Convencionales en Colombia.
