Astrocaryum aculeatum

Astrocaryum aculeatum (Tucumã, acaiúra, acuiuru, coco-tucumã, tucum, tucumã-açu, tucumã-macaw, tucum-açu,tucumaí-da-terra-firme, tucumãí-uaçu, tucumã-Piririca,tucumã-Purupuru or Tucumã- do-mato) is a palm native to tropical South America and Trinidad. It grows up to 15 m (49 ft) tall and is usually solitary. It has ascending leaves, erect inflorescence, and yellow fruit. 'Tucuman' derives from tuku'mã Tupi. Astrocaryum aculeatum was first described by German botanist Georg Friedrich Wilhelm Meyer in 1818 based on a specimen from the Essequibo River in Guyana. Astrocaryum aculeatum is found in and around the Amazon Basin, from Trinidad and Tobago in the north, through Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname, the Brazilian states of Acre, Amazonas, Pará, Rondônia, Roraima and south through the Bolivian departments of Beni, Pando, Santa Cruz. This plant has edible fruit which may be used for making a kind of wine and for the production of biodiesel. It is also used to make a symbolic ring called a tucum ring. From the leaves are extracted tucum fiber for making hammocks and ropes that resist salt water. The fruit of tucumã is composed of a woody core almost black color, containing a white almond paste, an oilseed, and covered with a yellow-orange pulp. Two types of oils are produced from this fruit: the oil of the external pulp and almond oil. The oil extracted from the pulp contains 25.6% saturated fatty acids and 74.4% unsaturated fatty acids composed of palmitic, stearic, oleic, and linoleic acids. It is also used as an emollient. The value of beta-carotene (which is 180 to 330 milligrams/100g oil) is more concentrated in the oil than in the pulp.