What is Brazil Nut?


	Brazil nuts are one of the finest sources of energy, healthy fats, vitamin E, and selenium. Selenium is an important cofactor for anti-oxidant enzyme, glutathione-peroxidase. Just 1-2 nuts a day provides enough RDA (Recommended Dietary Allowances) of this trace element.

Native Amazonians cherished these delicious nuts since ages

			The Brazil nut (Bertholletia excelsa) is a South American tree in the family Lecythidaceae, and also the name of the tree's commercially harvested edible seed. It can be found nowhere else on the planet. It is a large tree, reaching 50 m (160 ft) tall and with a trunk 1 to 2 m (3.3 to 6.6 ft) in diameter, making it among the largest of trees in the Amazon rainforests. It may live for 500 years or more. The stem is straight and commonly without branches for well over half the tree's height, with a large emergent crown of long branches above the surrounding canopy of other trees. Native Amazonians cherished these delicious nuts since ages, which provided them much needed protein, fats, and other essential nutrients.

			Each mature tree bears up to 300 fruit pods in a season. A brazil nut pod features thick outer shell as in coconuts, and may weigh up to 2.5 kg in weight. It takes about 14 months for the fruit to mature after pollination. Upon maturity, the pod falls itself from the tree, usually with a thud. The pods may remain intact even after falling from such a height. At their natural habitat, brazil nut pods exclusively depend upon caviomorph rodents to free and disperse leftover seeds for germination. Internally, each fruit pod features 10-25 seeds (kernels), arranged in segments. Each kernel in turn is encased within its own thick dark-brown thin shell. An edible white meat kernel features triangular base with sloping sides, and sweet nutty flavor and weigh about 5 g.

			Brazil nuts for international trade come from wild collection rather than from plantations. This has been advanced as a model for generating income from a tropical forest without destroying it. The nuts are gathered by migrant workers known as castanheiros or zafreros. One important fact to note is that since this is a natural product harvested by collecting, neither pesticides nor fumigations can be part of its raising. During processing, only water in different ways is used as well.