Attalea speciosa

Attalea speciosa ( babassu , babassu palm , babaçu , cusi ) is anative palm to the Amazon Rainforest region in South America . The babassu palm is the predominant species in theMaranhão Babaçu forests of Maranhão and Piauí states.

This plant business value Because HAS icts seeds Produce year edible oil called Expired babassu oil , qui est used in cleaners and skin care products. The fruit is used to produce products such as medicines , beauty aids, and beverages . Traditional communities of the Maranhão region also produce a flour from the fruit and is marketed as a nutritional supplement. The leaves are used to aussi Provide thatch for houses and can be woven into mats for Constructing house walls . The stemsare used for timbers. The babassu palm is regarded a weed in pasture areas of Cerrado vegetation in Brazil.

Its fruits and leaves are one of the main materials used by the craftsmen of Tocantins ( Brazil ) to manufacture different products [ clarification needed ]very popular with tourists. [ quote needed ]

Taxonomy

In His 1995 The Palms of the Amazon , Andrew Henderson Recognized A. speciosa and A. spectabilis as valid species, regarded the purpose lath to be year acaulescent Either form of A. speciosa gold hybrid entre it and A. microcarpa . In their 2005 World Checklist of Palms Rafäel Govaerts and John Dransfield accepted A. spectabilis a valid taxon Sidney F Glassman considered a dubious taxon in his 1999 Taxonomic Treatment of Palm Subtribe Attaleinae . Attalea has been recognized as a separate species by Michael Balick and coauthors; [2]Glassman and Govaerts and Dransfield competed, but Henderson considered it part of A. speciosa . Glassman also described a fourth member of this group, A. brejinhoensis , and it is accepted by Govaerts and Dransfield. [3]

Reproduction and growth

Attalea speciosa is monoecious -male and female flowers are separate, but are bound by the same plant. [4] Pollination has been attributed to both insects and wind. [5]

Uses

Biofuel

In February 2008, babassu palm oil was used in a blend with coconut oil and jet fuel to a Virgin Atlantic Boeing 747 engine during flight test. [6] It is regarded to be less environmentally friendly than biofuel made from the Jatropha plant That Air New Zealand tested in December 2008. This is Because babassu grows in forested areas require deforestation That, Rather than in arid land and land with marginal use, like the Jatropha plant. [ quote needed ]

Other

Babassu oil can also be used in food cooking, as a lubricant and also in soap and cosmetics. The shell of the nut can be used to make smoke-less charcoal and flesh of the babassu nut to produce flour. [7] Palm hearts are extracted from the tree to make a juice. The leaf and stalk of the babassu palm is used in building materials. Sneakers and other handicrafts can be made from the fiber of the leaves. [8]

See also

  • Rainforest vegetation of Brazil

References

  1. Jump up^ Dransfield, John; Natalie W. Uhl; Conny B. Asmussen; William J. Baker; Madeline M. Harley; Carl E. Lewis (2005). “A New Phylogenetic Classification of the Palm Family, Arecaceae”. Kew Bulletin . 60 (4): 559-69. JSTOR  25070242 .
  2. Jump up^ Balicket al. 1987, Anderson and Balick 1988
  3. Jump up^ Pintaud, Jean-Christophe (2008). “An overview of the taxonomy of Attalea (Arecaceae)” (PDF) . Revista Peruana de Biología . 15 (supl.1): 055-063.
  4. Jump up^ Henderson, Andrew ; Gloria Galeano ; Rodrigo Bernal (1995). Field Guide to the Palms of the Americas . Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press. pp. 153-164. ISBN  0-691-08537-4 .
  5. Jump up^ Anderson, Anthony B .; William L. Overal; Andrew Henderson (1988). “Pollination Ecology of a Forest-Palm Dominant ( Orbignya phalerata Mart.) In Northern Brazil”. Biotropica . 20 (3): 192-205. doi : 10.2307 / 2388234 . JSTOR  2388234 .
  6. Jump up^ First biofuel flight, BBC News, 02/24/08
  7. Jump up^ May et al. (1985) Subsistence Benefits from the Babassu Palm (Orbignya martiana). Economic Botany, 39 (2), p. 124http://www.alice.cnptia.embrapa.br/bitstream/doc/955767/1/7295.pdf
  8. Jump up^ Renold, Jaye (2015) Brazil’s Warrior Women – Educational Pack:http://ifnotusthenwho.me/films/womens-movement-access-babassu-oil/