''Astrocaryum aculeatum'' (known in Brazilian Portuguese as ''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.''Astrocaryum aculeatum''
Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew: World Checklist of Selected Plant Families. It grows up to tall and is usually solitary. It has ascending leaves, erect inflorescence, and yellow fruit.

Etymology

''tucumã'' derives from ''tuku'mã'' in the Tupi language.Ferreira, A. B. H. Novo dicionário da língua portuguesa. Segunda edição. Rio de Janeiro. Nova Fronteira. 1986. p. 1724, 1725

Taxonomy

''Astrocaryum aculeatum'' was first described by German

botanist Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek wo ...

Georg Friedrich Wilhelm Meyer in 1818 based on a specimen from the Essequibo River in

Guyana Guyana ( or ), officially the Cooperative Republic of Guyana, is a country on the northern mainland of South America. Guyana is an indigenous word which means "Land of Many Waters". The capital city is Georgetown. Guyana is bordered by the ...

Distribution

''Astrocaryum aculeatum'' is found in and around the

Amazon Basin The Amazon basin is the part of South America drained by the Amazon River and its tributaries. The Amazon drainage basin covers an area of about , or about 35.5 percent of the South American continent. It is located in the countries of Bolivi ...

, from Trinidad and Tobago in the north, through Venezuela,

Suriname Suriname (; srn, Sranankondre or ), officially the Republic of Suriname ( nl, Republiek Suriname , srn, Ripolik fu Sranan), is a country on the northeastern Atlantic coast of South America. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north ...

, the Brazilian states of

Acre The acre is a unit of land area used in the imperial Imperial is that which relates to an empire, emperor, or imperialism. Imperial or The Imperial may also refer to: Places United States * Imperial, California * Imperial, Missouri * Imp ...

, Amazonas, Pará,

Rondônia Rondônia () is one of the 26 states of Brazil, located in the northern subdivision of the country (central-western part). To the west is a short border with the state of Acre, to the north is the state of Amazonas, in the east is Mato Grosso, ...

Roraima Roraima (, ) is one of the 26 states of Brazil. Located in the country's North Region, it is the northernmost and most geographically and logistically isolated state in Brazil. It is bordered by the state of Pará to the southeast, Amazonas ...

and south through the Bolivian departments of Beni, Pando, Santa Cruz.

Uses

This plant has edible fruit which may be used for making a kind of wine. It is also used to make a symbolic ring called a

tucum ring The tucum ring ( pt, anel de tucum) is a black-colored ring made with the seed of ''Astrocaryum vulgare'', a palm tree native to the Amazon Rainforest. It is worn by Christians in Brazil, especially Catholics, as a symbol of the commitment of thei ...

. A fiber is extracted from the leaves for making hammocks and ropes that resist salt water.

Oil

The fruit of ''tucumã'' is composed of a woody core almost black in color, containing the white paste of the seed (colloquially called an almond in Brazil) and covered with a yellow-orange pulp. Two types of oils are produced from this fruit: the oil of the external pulp and the almond oil. The oil extracted from the pulp contains 25.6% saturated fatty acids and 74.4% unsaturated fatty acids composed of

palmitic Palmitic acid (hexadecanoic acid in IUPAC nomenclature) is a fatty acid with a 16-carbon chain. It is the most common saturated fatty acid found in animals, plants and microorganisms.Gunstone, F. D., John L. Harwood, and Albert J. Dijkstra. The Li ...

stearic Stearic acid ( , ) is a saturated fatty acid with an 18-carbon chain. The IUPAC name is octadecanoic acid. It is a waxy solid and its chemical formula is C17H35CO2H. Its name comes from the Greek word στέαρ "''stéar''", which means tallow. ...

oleic Oleic acid is a fatty acid that occurs naturally in various animal and vegetable fats and oils. It is an odorless, colorless oil, although commercial samples may be yellowish. In chemical terms, oleic acid is classified as a monounsaturated omega ...

, and linoleic acids. It can be 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.Bora, P. S. et al.: Characterization of the oil and protein fractions of tucuma (Astrocaryum vulgare Mart) fruit. 2001, Ciencia y Technologia Alimentaria, Ourense, Espanha, v. 3, n. 2, p. 111-116. Morais, L. : Banco de Dados Sobre Espécies Oleaginosas da Amazônia, unpublished and unavailable online.

Cosmetic industry

The ''tucuma'' pulp oil could in the future be used to manufacture soap, body lotions or hair care products. Physico-chemical data

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2668329 aculeatum Trees of Brazil Trees of Trinidad and Tobago Trees of South America