''Platonia insignis'', the sole

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

of the

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

''Platonia'', is a tree of the

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

Clusiaceae The Clusiaceae or Guttiferae Juss. (1789) (''nom. alt. et cons.'' = alternative and valid name) are a family (biology), family of plants including 13 genera and ca 750 species. Several former members of Clusiacae are now placed in Calophyllaceae ...

native to

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...

in the humid forests of

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

Paraguay Paraguay, officially the Republic of Paraguay, is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the Argentina–Paraguay border, south and southwest, Brazil to the Brazil–Paraguay border, east and northeast, and Boli ...

, parts of

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

and northeast to

Guyana Guyana, officially the Co-operative Republic of Guyana, is a country on the northern coast of South America, part of the historic British West Indies. entry "Guyana" Georgetown, Guyana, Georgetown is the capital of Guyana and is also the co ...

; especially in

Amazon Rainforest The Amazon rainforest, also called the Amazon jungle or Amazonia, is a Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests, moist broadleaf tropical rainforest in the Amazon biome that covers most of the Amazon basin of South America. This basin ...

. Common names include bacuri (and numerous variant spellings thereof; bacurí, bacury, bakuri, pacuri, pakuri, pakouri, packoeri, pakoeri), maniballi, naranjillo and bacurizeiro. There was a degree of nomenclatural confusion, caused by ''Moronobea esculenta''. If that were validly published for this species the current name would be ''Platonia esculenta''. It was established that ''Moronobea esculenta'' is not a formal name (not "validly published"), so the name remains ''Platonia insignis''. ''Platonia'' is related to ''

Montrouziera ''Montrouziera'' is a genus of shrubs to large trees in the family Clusiaceae, endemic to New Caledonia. As usual in the Clusiaceae, species of this genus are known to contain xanthonoid A xanthonoid is a chemical natural phenolic compound for ...

'' from

New Caledonia New Caledonia ( ; ) is a group of islands in the southwest Pacific Ocean, southwest of Vanuatu and east of Australia. Located from Metropolitan France, it forms a Overseas France#Sui generis collectivity, ''sui generis'' collectivity of t ...

Description

''Platonia insignis'' is a dry-season

deciduous In the fields of horticulture and botany, the term deciduous () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed Leaf, leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, aft ...

tree, reaching 25–40 m high. It has a pyramidal crown and copious yellow

latex Latex is an emulsion (stable dispersion) of polymer microparticles in water. Latices are found in nature, but synthetic latices are common as well. In nature, latex is found as a wikt:milky, milky fluid, which is present in 10% of all floweri ...

in the bark. The leaves are opposite, simple oblong to elliptic, 8–15 cm long, and glossy dark green, with wavy margins and a leathery texture. The flowers are 5–7 cm long and pink in color, with five petals and numerous stamens. The fruit is round to oval and 7–14 cm long, with a thick, yellow skin. It resembles a

papaya The papaya (, ), papaw, () or pawpaw () is the plant species ''Carica papaya'', one of the 21 accepted species in the genus '' Carica'' of the family Caricaceae, and also the name of its fruit. It was first domesticated in Mesoamerica, within ...

. The rind exudes a yellow latex when pressed. The sticky white pulp is fragrant, with a taste that is both sweet and sour. There are 3 to 5 seeds. The

white-bellied parrot The white-bellied parrot (''Pionites leucogaster''), or white-bellied caique in aviculture, is a species of bird in the subfamily Arinae of the family Psittacidae, the African and New World parrots. It is found in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, and ...

(''Pionites leucogaster'') is a

pollinator A pollinator is an animal that moves pollen from the male anther of a flower to the female carpel, stigma of a flower. This helps to bring about fertilization of the ovules in the flower by the male gametes from the pollen grains. Insects are ...

of the plant, making it ornithophilous.

Cultivation and uses

The bacuri is grown for its fruit, which is made into various

condiment A condiment is a preparation that is added to food, typically after cooking, to enhance the Flavoring, flavour, to complement the dish or to impart a specific flavor. Such specific flavors generally add sweetness or pungency, or sharp or piquant ...

s and beverages. It contains high levels of phosphorus, iron, and vitamin C. The oily brown seeds are used as a

home remedy Traditional medicine (also known as indigenous medicine or folk medicine) refers to the knowledge, skills, and practices rooted in the cultural beliefs of various societies, especially Indigenous groups, used for maintaining health and treatin ...

to treat skin conditions. Its yellowish wood is frequently used as timber.

Oil and butter

Bacuri fruit and the butter from the seeds

The grease of the bacuri oil has a high absorption rate, due to its high level of

tripalmitin Tripalmitin is a triglyceride derived from the fatty acid palmitic acid 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 mic ...

(50% to 55%), which penetrates the skin quickly. The high amount of fatty

palmitoleic acid Palmitoleic acid, or (9''Z'')-hexadec-9-enoic acid, is an omega-7 monounsaturated fatty acid (16:1n-7) with the formula CH3(CH2)5CH=CH(CH2)7COOH. It is a rare component of fats. It is a common constituent of the glycerides of human adipose tis ...

(5%), compared to other oils (less than or equal to 0.5 to 1.5%), makes the bacuri oil useful as an emollient and moisturizing agent. Physico-chemical data

Chemistry

''Platonia'' is a natural source of

trioxygenated xanthone A xanthonoid is a chemical natural phenolic compound formed from the xanthone backbone. Many members of the Clusiaceae contain xanthonoids. Xanthonoid biosynthesis in cell cultures of '' Hypericum androsaemum'' involves the presence of a benzoph ...

s. The latex contains resinotol.

References

Bibliography

* * *

External links

Flora of the Venezuelan Guayana: ''Platonia''
{{Taxonbar, from1=Q2654886, from2=Q15371504 Clusiaceae Monotypic Malpighiales genera Trees of the Amazon rainforest Trees of Brazil Trees of Colombia Trees of Guyana Trees of Paraguay Trees of Suriname Tropical fruit Crops originating from South America Flora of northern South America Taxa named by Carl Friedrich Philipp von Martius