''Caryocar brasiliense'', known as pequi (, ) or "souari nut", like its
congeners, is an edible
fruit
In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants that is formed from the ovary after flowering.
Fruits are the means by which flowering plants (also known as angiosperms) disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in particu ...
popular in some areas of
Brazil
Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
, especially in
Centerwestern Brazil.
Taxonomy

The pequi tree grows up to 10 m (30 ft) tall. It is common in the central
Brazil
Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
ian
cerrado
The ''Cerrado'' (, ) is a vast ecoregion of tropical savanna in eastern Brazil, particularly in the states of Goiás, Mato Grosso do Sul, Mato Grosso, Tocantins, Minas Gerais, and the Federal District. The core areas of the Cerrado biome are t ...
habitat
In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...
[Melo (2001)] from southern
Pará
Pará is a Federative units of Brazil, state of Brazil, located in northern Brazil and traversed by the lower Amazon River. It borders the Brazilian states of Amapá, Maranhão, Tocantins (state), Tocantins, Mato Grosso, Amazonas (Brazilian state) ...
to
Paraná and northern
Paraguay
Paraguay (; ), officially the Republic of Paraguay ( es, República del Paraguay, links=no; gn, Tavakuairetã Paraguái, links=si), is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to th ...
. Its leaves are large, tough, hairy and
palmate
The following is a list of terms which are used to describe leaf morphology in the description and taxonomy of plants. Leaves may be simple (a single leaf blade or lamina) or compound (with several leaflets). The edge of the leaf may be regular o ...
, with three
leaflets each. Unlike most other cerrado trees, it bears flowers in the dry winter months, approximately July to September.
The yellowish-white flowers are
hermaphroditic
In reproductive biology, a hermaphrodite () is an organism that has both kinds of reproductive organs and can produce both gametes associated with male and female sexes.
Many taxonomic groups of animals (mostly invertebrates) do not have separ ...
and bear many
stamen
The stamen (plural ''stamina'' or ''stamens'') is the pollen-producing reproductive organ of a flower. Collectively the stamens form the androecium., p. 10
Morphology and terminology
A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filame ...
s; they somewhat resemble a huge pale
St John's Wort
''Hypericum perforatum'', known as St. John's wort, is a flowering plant in the family Hypericaceae and the type species of the genus ''Hypericum''.
Possibly a hybrid between '' H. maculatum'' and '' H. attenuatum'', the species can be found a ...
flower (a distant relative among the Malpighiales). There are often two dozen or more flowers per
inflorescence
An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed o ...
.
Pollination
Pollination
Pollination is the transfer of pollen from an anther of a plant to the stigma of a plant, later enabling fertilisation and the production of seeds, most often by an animal or by wind. Pollinating agents can be animals such as insects, birds ...
is mainly by
bat
Bats are mammals of the order Chiroptera.''cheir'', "hand" and πτερόν''pteron'', "wing". With their forelimbs adapted as wings, they are the only mammals capable of true and sustained flight. Bats are more agile in flight than most bi ...
s and, as usual in such cases, the flowers do not have a pleasant smell but produce copious thin
nectar
Nectar is a sugar-rich liquid produced by plants in glands called nectaries or nectarines, either within the flowers with which it attracts pollinating animals, or by extrafloral nectaries, which provide a nutrient source to animal mutualists ...
. Flowers open in the evening and produce nectar throughout the night, ceasing in the early morning. Each night's last nectar, produced around dawn, seems richer in
sugar
Sugar is the generic name for sweet-tasting, soluble carbohydrates, many of which are used in food. Simple sugars, also called monosaccharides, include glucose, fructose, and galactose. Compound sugars, also called disaccharides or double ...
s than that produced in the night, though it is much less in quantity.
Moth
Moths are a paraphyletic group of insects that includes all members of the order Lepidoptera that are not butterflies, with moths making up the vast majority of the order. There are thought to be approximately 160,000 species of moth, many of w ...
s, nocturnal
wasp
A wasp is any insect of the narrow-waisted suborder Apocrita of the order Hymenoptera which is neither a bee nor an ant; this excludes the broad-waisted sawflies (Symphyta), which look somewhat like wasps, but are in a separate suborder. Th ...
s and
ant
Ants are eusocial insects of the family Formicidae and, along with the related wasps and bees, belong to the order Hymenoptera. Ants evolved from vespoid wasp ancestors in the Cretaceous period. More than 13,800 of an estimated total of 22 ...
s visit the flowers at night. The former two might do some pollinating but they are not known to be of major importance.
During the day, the flowers are visited by
bee
Bees are winged insects closely related to wasps and ants, known for their roles in pollination and, in the case of the best-known bee species, the western honey bee, for producing honey. Bees are a monophyly, monophyletic lineage within the ...
s and wasps which feed on remaining
pollen
Pollen is a powdery substance produced by seed plants. It consists of pollen grains (highly reduced microgametophytes), which produce male gametes (sperm cells). Pollen grains have a hard coat made of sporopollenin that protects the gametophyt ...
. From dusk to the cessation of nectar production,
hummingbird
Hummingbirds are birds native to the Americas and comprise the biological family Trochilidae. With about 361 species and 113 genera, they occur from Alaska to Tierra del Fuego, but the vast majority of the species are found in the tropics aro ...
s may visit the flowers. While most of them only do this opportunistically, some species — e.g., the
fork-tailed woodnymph
The fork-tailed woodnymph (''Thalurania furcata'') is a species of hummingbird in the "emeralds", tribe Trochilini of subfamily Trochilinae. It is found in every mainland South American country except Chile and Uruguay.HBW and BirdLife Interna ...
(''Thalurania furcata'') and in particular the
glittering-throated emerald
The glittering-throated emerald (''Chionomesa fimbriata'') is a species of hummingbird in the "emeralds", tribe Trochilini of subfamily Trochilinae. It is found in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, the Guianas, Peru, and Venezuela.HBW and Bir ...
(''Amazilia fimbriata'') — appear to visit pequi tree flowers on a regular basis.
More significantly, visits by small "tanagers" of the
Thraupidae
The tanagers (singular ) comprise the bird family Thraupidae, in the order Passeriformes. The family has a Neotropical distribution and is the second-largest family of birds. It represents about 4% of all avian species and 12% of the Neotropica ...
and
Cardinalidae
Cardinalidae (often referred to as the "cardinal-grosbeaks" or simply the "cardinals") is a family of New World-endemic passerine birds that consists of cardinals, grosbeaks, and buntings. It also includes several birds such as the tanager-like ...
families around dusk are noted. In particular species like the
guira tanager
The guira tanager (''Hemithraupis guira'') is a species of bird in the family Thraupidae.
It is found in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, and Venezuela. Its natural habitats are subt ...
(''Hemithraupis guira''),
white-lined tanager
The white-lined tanager (''Tachyphonus rufus'') is a medium-sized passerine bird in the tanager family Thraupidae. It is a resident breeder from Costa Rica south to northern Argentina, and on the islands of Trinidad and Tobago.
Taxonomy
The whi ...
(''Tachyphonus rufus'') and the
palm
Palm most commonly refers to:
* Palm of the hand, the central region of the front of the hand
* Palm plants, of family Arecaceae
**List of Arecaceae genera
* Several other plants known as "palm"
Palm or Palms may also refer to:
Music
* Palm (ba ...
(''Thraupis palmarum'') and
sayaca tanager
The sayaca tanager (''Thraupis sayaca'') is a species of bird in the family Thraupidae, the tanagers. It is a common resident in northeastern, central, and southeastern Brazil ( pt, sanhaço or ), and Bolivia, Paraguay, Uruguay, and northeaste ...
s (''T. sayaca'') seem to be quite fond of pequi flower nectar and spend considerable time feeding on it when available. But even
curl-crested jay
The curl-crested jay (''Cyanocorax cristatellus'') is a jay from South America.
This New World jay is a beautiful and large (35 cm/14 in overall) bird with predominantly dark blue back, an almost black head and neck, and snow-white chest an ...
s (''Cyanocorax cristatellus'') have been observed to hang about flowering pequi trees at daybreak, though perhaps not just for the nectar, considering many insects attracted by it earlier would still be around on the tree.
As the
stigmata
Stigmata ( grc, στίγματα, plural of , 'mark, spot, brand'), in Roman Catholicism, are bodily wounds, scars and pain which appear in locations corresponding to the crucifixion wounds of Jesus Christ: the hands, wrists, and feet.
Stigm ...
dry out at daybreak, it is not clear whether birds, particularly tanagers, play a role in pollination or are merely making use of an easy early-morning snack, particularly considering that during the flowering season of ''C. brasiliense'', little such food is available.
Fruits
Fruits start off dark purple, turning olive green and finally buffy green as they ripen, taking about 5–6 months. Ripe fruits are about the size of an
orange
Orange most often refers to:
*Orange (fruit), the fruit of the tree species '' Citrus'' × ''sinensis''
** Orange blossom, its fragrant flower
*Orange (colour), from the color of an orange, occurs between red and yellow in the visible spectrum
* ...
. They resemble a
mangosteen
Mangosteen (''Garcinia mangostana''), also known as the purple mangosteen, is a tropical evergreen tree with edible fruit native to tropical lands surrounding the Indian Ocean. Its origin is uncertain due to widespread prehistoric cultivation. ...
(another distantly related member of the Malpighiales) in having a few (usually 1-4) segments of
pulp
Pulp may refer to:
* Pulp (fruit), the inner flesh of fruit
Engineering
* Dissolving pulp, highly purified cellulose used in fibre and film manufacture
* Pulp (paper), the fibrous material used to make paper
* Molded pulp, a packaging material
* ...
y
pericarp
Fruit anatomy is the plant anatomy of the internal structure of fruit. Fruits are the mature ovary or ovaries of one or more flowers. They are found in three main anatomical categories: aggregate fruits, multiple fruits, and simple fruits. Aggre ...
inside the skin, yellow and with a typical strong taste and smell mixing sweet, fruity and
cheesy aromas. This is derived mainly from
volatile ethyl
Ethyl may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* Cold Ethyl, a Swedish rock band
*Ethyl Sinclair, a character in the ''Dinosaurs'' television show
Science and technology
* Ethyl group, an organic chemistry moiety
* Ethyl alcohol (or ethanol)
* E ...
ester
In chemistry, an ester is a compound derived from an oxoacid (organic or inorganic) in which at least one hydroxyl group () is replaced by an alkoxy group (), as in the substitution reaction of a carboxylic acid and an alcohol. Glycerides ar ...
s.
Embedded in the mesocarp is a light-colored seed enclosed in a blackish shell covered with thin and tough woody spines, though spineless individuals exist in the wild. Both the mesocarp and the seed are edible for humans as well as many animals, including usually
carnivorous
A carnivore , or meat-eater (Latin, ''caro'', genitive ''carnis'', meaning meat or "flesh" and ''vorare'' meaning "to devour"), is an animal or plant whose food and energy requirements derive from animal tissues (mainly muscle, fat and other sof ...
species like the
yellow-headed caracara
The yellow-headed caracara (''Daptrius chimachima'') is a bird of prey in the family Falconidae. It is found in tropical and subtropical South America and the southern portion of Central America. Unlike the falcons in the same family, the caraca ...
(''Milvago chimachima'').
Use by humans and status

Pequi pulp is a very popular food in
Goiás
Goiás () is a Brazilian state located in the Center-West region. Goiás borders the Federal District and the states of (from north clockwise) Tocantins, Bahia, Minas Gerais, Mato Grosso do Sul and Mato Grosso. The state capital is Goiânia. ...
,
Mato Grosso
Mato Grosso ( – lit. "Thick Bush") is one of the states of Brazil, the third largest by area, located in the Central-West region. The state has 1.66% of the Brazilian population and is responsible for 1.9% of the Brazilian GDP.
Neighboring ...
,
Mato Grosso do Sul
Mato Grosso do Sul () is one of the Midwestern states of Brazil. Neighboring Brazilian states are (from north clockwise) Mato Grosso, Goiás, Minas Gerais, São Paulo and Paraná. It also borders the countries of Paraguay, to the southwest, and ...
and
Minas Gerais
Minas Gerais () is a state in Southeastern Brazil. It ranks as the second most populous, the third by gross domestic product (GDP), and the fourth largest by area in the country. The state's capital and largest city, Belo Horizonte (literally ...
, eaten by itself raw or prepared or used as an ingredient in cooking or to flavor
beverage
A drink or beverage is a liquid intended for human consumption. In addition to their basic function of satisfying thirst, drinks play important roles in human culture. Common types of drinks include plain drinking water, milk, juice, smoothies a ...
s. Pequi with rice and chicken is an especially popular preparation.
Pequi pulp will tarnish
silver
Silver is a chemical element with the Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ag (from the Latin ', derived from the Proto-Indo-European wikt:Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/h₂erǵ-, ''h₂erǵ'': "shiny" or "white") and atomic number 47. A soft, whi ...
cutlery and, if eaten raw, the fruit is best enjoyed out of hand. Care must be taken to gently scrape the pulp off the pit using one's teeth: The spines can detach and hurt the mouth, causing considerable pain and being difficult to remove.
The pits with spines and remaining pulp can be left to dry in the sun for two days or so. Afterwards, the spines can be scraped off with a knife or stick, and the pit can be cracked open to extract the seed. From the latter, the edible
pequi oil Pequi oil is a seed oil, extracted from the seeds of the '' Caryocar brasiliense'', which is native to Brazil. The pale yellow mesocarp oil is extracted and used directly as a cooking oil. In Brazil, there are projects among indigenous people groups ...
is extracted commercially. They can also be roasted like
peanut
The peanut (''Arachis hypogaea''), also known as the groundnut, goober (US), pindar (US) or monkey nut (UK), is a legume crop grown mainly for its edible Seed, seeds. It is widely grown in the tropics and subtropics, important to both small ...
s and eaten with salt as a rich snack.
Nearly every part of the tree is usable for food, medical or construction purposes. Pequi occupies an important role in the culture of indigenous people in Brazil's Cerrado region. Traditionally, rural Brazilians plant pequi trees around villages; the seeds take a long time to germinate so that new trees must be planted every so often for the supply not to cease. Demand for the fruit has risen in recent decades while
habitat
In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...
has been destroyed, putting the stocks under strain. One report writes:
"The pequi is the main symbol of this de-structuring of the economy. The pequi is habitually consumed by the population in the Cerrado zone and is deeply rooted in the regional culture and cooking. For the Mineiros, the Cerrado inhabitants of Minas Gerais, the pequi does not belong to anyone, because it belongs to all. Therefore, they maintain their ancestral right to take it wherever it is, in public or private land, fenced in land or unfenced land, etc., wherever it is, the pequi was always "accessible" to the regional society."
Ecological relevance
Given the importance of bats and perhaps birds for pollination, removal of native woodland is liable to have long-term negative impacts on fruit yield even if no ''C. brasiliense'' trees are physically harmed. This is true for other native pollinators, such as ''
Melipona quadrifasciata
''Melipona quadrifasciata'' is a species of eusocial, stingless bee of the order Hymenoptera. It is native to the southeastern coastal states of Brazil, where it is more commonly known as mandaçaia, which means "beautiful guard," as there is a ...
'' and ''
Scaptotrigona postica
''Scaptotrigona postica'' (also known locally in Brazil as mandaguari) is a species of stingless bee that lives mainly in Brazil. It is a eusocial bee in the tribe ''Meliponini''. ''S. postica'' is one of 25 species in the genus ''Scaptotrigona' ...
'', because they nest in pequi trees, commonly building nests in the hollows of the trees.
Conserving pollinator habitat is probably crucial for rich yields of the valuable fruits and other produce.
Footnotes
References
* (2001): Diurnal bird visiting of ''Caryocar brasiliense'' Camb. in Central Brazil. ''Revista Brasileira de Biologia'' 61(2): 311-316.
PDF fulltext* (2006): Notas sobre aves de rapina (Cathartidae, Acciptridae e Falconidae) brasileiras
otes on Brazilian birds of prey
High Laver is a village and civil parish in the Epping Forest district of the county of Essex, England. The parish is noted for its association with the philosopher John Locke.
History
High Laver is historically a rural agricultural parish, pred ...
''Revista Brasileira de Ornitologia'' 14(4): 401-404
ortuguese with English abstractbr>
PDF fulltext* (2002)
''In
'. World Rainforest Movement.
External links
*
{{Taxonbar, from=Q3411901
brasiliense
Flora of Brazil
Edible nuts and seeds
Fruit trees