''Brosimum alicastrum'', commonly known as breadnut, Maya nut or ramon, and many others, is a tree species in the family

Moraceae Moraceae is a family of flowering plants comprising about 48 genera and over 1100 species, and is commonly known as the mulberry or fig family. Most are widespread in tropical and subtropical regions, less so in temperate climates; however, their ...

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (). The term angiosperm is derived from the Ancient Greek, Greek words (; 'container, vessel') and (; 'seed'), meaning that the seeds are enclosed with ...

s, whose other genera include

figs The fig is the edible fruit of ''Ficus carica'', a species of tree or shrub in the flowering plant family Moraceae, native to the Mediterranean region, together with western and southern Asia. It has been cultivated since ancient times and i ...

and

mulberries ''Morus'', a genus of flowering plants in the family Moraceae, consists of 19 species of deciduous trees commonly known as mulberries, growing wild and under cultivation in many temperate world regions. Generally, the genus has 64 subordinate ...

. Two

subspecies In Taxonomy (biology), biological classification, subspecies (: subspecies) is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (Morphology (biology), morpholog ...

are commonly recognized: * ''B. a. alicastrum'' * ''B. a. bolivarense'' (Pittier) C.C.Berg

Description

''Brosimum alicastrum'' can be

monoecious Monoecy (; adj. monoecious ) is a sexual system in seed plants where separate male and female cones or flowers are present on the same plant. It is a monomorphic sexual system comparable with gynomonoecy, andromonoecy and trimonoecy, and contras ...

dioecious Dioecy ( ; ; adj. dioecious, ) is a characteristic of certain species that have distinct unisexual individuals, each producing either male or female gametes, either directly (in animals) or indirectly (in seed plants). Dioecious reproduction is ...

hermaphroditic A hermaphrodite () is a sexually reproducing organism that produces both male and female gametes. Animal species in which individuals are either male or female are gonochoric, which is the opposite of hermaphroditic. The individuals of many ...

, changing from female to male as they age. Birds and bats are responsible for the dispersion of the seeds. A tree can produce of fruits per year. It stays productive for 120–150 years. The tree can grow up to 45 m (150 ft) in height and up to in diameter.Heuzé V., Thiollet H., Tran G., Hassoun P., Lebas F., 2018. Breadnut (Brosimum alicastrum). Feedipedia, a programme by INRA, CIRAD, AFZ and FAO. https://www.feedipedia.org/node/175 It starts producing flowers and fruits when the tree's trunk reaches high. When planted from seed in full sun, fruiting can start at 3.5 years.

Distribution and habitat

This tree is found on the west coast of central Mexico and in southern Mexico (Yucatán, Campeche), Guatemala, El Salvador, the Caribbean, and the Amazon basin. Large stands occur in moist lowland tropical forests at elevation (especially 125–800 m), in humid areas with annual rainfall of , and average temperatures of 24 °C (75 °F). The Maya nut fruit disperses on the ground at different times throughout its range. It has a large seed covered by a thin, citrus-flavored, orange-colored skin favored by a number of forest creatures.

Cultivation

Breadnut may have formed a part of the diet of the

pre-Columbian In the history of the Americas, the pre-Columbian era, also known as the pre-contact era, or as the pre-Cabraline era specifically in Brazil, spans from the initial peopling of the Americas in the Upper Paleolithic to the onset of European col ...

Maya Maya may refer to: Ethnic groups * Maya peoples, of southern Mexico and northern Central America ** Maya civilization, the historical civilization of the Maya peoples ** Mayan languages, the languages of the Maya peoples * Maya (East Africa), a p ...

of the lowlands region in

Mesoamerica Mesoamerica is a historical region and cultural area that begins in the southern part of North America and extends to the Pacific coast of Central America, thus comprising the lands of central and southern Mexico, all of Belize, Guatemala, El S ...

,Flannery, Kent; Puleston, Dennis E. (1982), "The Role of Ramon in Maya Subsistence", Maya Subsistence: Studies in Memory of Dennis E. Puleston, Academic Press, pp. 353-366Harrison, Peter D.; Turner, B. L.; Puleston, Dennis E. (1978), "Terracing, Raised Fields, and Tree Cropping in the Maya Lowlands: A New Perspective on the Geography of Power", Pre-Hispanic Maya Agriculture, University of New Mexico Press, pp. 225-245 although to what extent has been a matter of some debate among historians and archaeologists: no verified remains or illustrations of the fruit have been found at any Mayan archaeological sites. It has been claimed in several publications by

Dennis E. Puleston Dennis E. Puleston Ph.D (June 19, 1940 – June 29, 1978Harrison, P.D.; Messenger, P.E. (1980). "Obituary: Dennis E. Puleston". American Antiquity 45 (2): 272-276.) was an American archaeologist and ecologist. Puleston archaeology, biologye ...

to have been a

staple food A staple food, food staple, or simply staple, is a food that is eaten often and in such quantities that it constitutes a dominant portion of a standard diet for an individual or a population group, supplying a large fraction of energy needs an ...

in the Maya diet. Puleston demonstrated a strong correlation between ancient Maya settlement patterns and the distribution of relic stands of ramon trees. Other research has downplayed the Maya nut's significance. In the modern era, it has been marginalized as a source of nutrition and has often been characterized as a

famine food A famine food or poverty food is any inexpensive or ready available food used to nourish people in times of hunger and starvation, whether caused by extreme poverty, such as during economic depression or war, or by natural disasters such as dro ...

. The tree lends its name to the Maya archaeological sites of

Iximché Iximcheʼ () (or Iximché using Spanish orthography) is a Pre-Columbian Mesoamerican archaeological site in the western highlands of Guatemala. Iximche was the capital of the Late Postclassic Kaqchikel Maya kingdom from 1470 until its abando ...

and

Topoxte Topoxte () (or Topoxté in Spanish orthography) is a pre-Columbian Maya civilization, Maya archaeological site in the Petén Basin in northern Guatemala with a long occupational history dating as far back as the Mesoamerican chronology, Middle Pr ...

, both in

Guatemala Guatemala, officially the Republic of Guatemala, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico, to the northeast by Belize, to the east by Honduras, and to the southeast by El Salvador. It is hydrologically b ...

and Tamuin (reflecting the Maya origin of the Huastec peoples). It is one of the 20 dominant species of the Maya forest. Of the dominant species, it is the only one that is wind-pollinated. It is also found in traditional Maya

forest gardens A forest is an ecosystem characterized by a dense community of trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological functio ...

. A high density of seeds during the seedling offsets a reduced viability of the young plants and therefore enables a good yield. Seed storage is a common issue in seedling production. Long storage adversely affects the germination rate, for example after three weeks it decreases by 10%. Refrigeration is not a solution as it risks killing the seeds.

Uses

The Maya nut is high in

fiber Fiber (spelled fibre in British English; from ) is a natural or artificial substance that is significantly longer than it is wide. Fibers are often used in the manufacture of other materials. The strongest engineering materials often inco ...

calcium Calcium is a chemical element; it has symbol Ca and atomic number 20. As an alkaline earth metal, calcium is a reactive metal that forms a dark oxide-nitride layer when exposed to air. Its physical and chemical properties are most similar to it ...

potassium Potassium is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol K (from Neo-Latin ) and atomic number19. It is a silvery white metal that is soft enough to easily cut with a knife. Potassium metal reacts rapidly with atmospheric oxygen to ...

iron Iron is a chemical element; it has symbol Fe () and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, forming much of Earth's o ...

zinc Zinc is a chemical element; it has symbol Zn and atomic number 30. It is a slightly brittle metal at room temperature and has a shiny-greyish appearance when oxidation is removed. It is the first element in group 12 (IIB) of the periodic tabl ...

protein Proteins are large biomolecules and macromolecules that comprise one or more long chains of amino acid residue (biochemistry), residues. Proteins perform a vast array of functions within organisms, including Enzyme catalysis, catalysing metab ...

and

B vitamins B vitamins are a class of water-soluble vitamins that play important roles in Cell (biology), cell metabolism and synthesis of red blood cells. They are a chemically diverse class of compounds. Dietary supplements containing all eight are referr ...

. It has a low

glycemic index The glycemic (glycaemic) index (GI; ) is a number from 0 to 100 assigned to a food, with pure glucose arbitrarily given the value of 100, which represents the relative rise in the blood glucose level two hours after consuming that food. The GI of ...

(<50) and is very high in

antioxidant Antioxidants are Chemical compound, compounds that inhibit Redox, oxidation, a chemical reaction that can produce Radical (chemistry), free radicals. Autoxidation leads to degradation of organic compounds, including living matter. Antioxidants ...

s and prebiotic fiber. The fresh seeds can be cooked and eaten or can be set out to dry in the sun and roasted and milled into a chocolatey tasting powder. Stewed, the nut tastes like mashed potato; roasted, it tastes like chocolate or coffee. It can be prepared in numerous other dishes. In Petén,

, the breadnut is cultivated for exportation and local consumption as powder, for hot beverages, and bread. The large seed is edible and can be boiled or dried and ground into a meal for

porridge Porridge is a food made by heating, soaking or boiling ground, crushed or chopped starchy plants, typically grain, in milk or water. It is often cooked or served with added flavourings such as sugar, honey, fruit, or syrup to make a sweet cereal ...

flatbread A flatbread is bread made usually with flour; water, milk, yogurt, or other liquid; and salt, and then thoroughly rolled into flattened dough. Many flatbreads are Unleavened bread, unleavened, although some are leavened, such as pita bread. A Se ...

Other uses

Breadnut leaves are commonly used as

forage Forage is a plant material (mainly plant leaves and stems) eaten by grazing livestock. Historically, the term ''forage'' has meant only plants eaten by the animals directly as pasture, crop residue, or immature cereal crops, but it is also used m ...

for livestock during the dry season in Central America. The fruits and seeds are also used to feed all kinds of animals. ''Brosimum alicastrum'' can be used for

carbon farming Carbon () is a chemical element; it has symbol C and atomic number 6. It is nonmetallic and tetravalent—meaning that its atoms are able to form up to four covalent bonds due to its valence shell exhibiting 4 electrons. It belongs to g ...

as a nut crop or

fodder Fodder (), also called provender (), is any agriculture, agricultural foodstuff used specifically to feed domesticated livestock, such as cattle, domestic rabbit, rabbits, sheep, horses, chickens and pigs. "Fodder" refers particularly to food ...

. It is an oxalogene tree. It can therefore undertake a bacterial-fungal endosymbiosis which assists the oxalate-carbonate pathway (OCP) and especially the chemical reaction of

biomineralization Biomineralization, also written biomineralisation, is the process by which living organisms produce minerals, often resulting in hardened or stiffened '' mineralized tissues''. It is an extremely widespread phenomenon: all six taxonomic kingd ...

, and in this case biocalcification (to produce CaCO₃ from CO₂ and to store it in the soils). This tree would therefore act as a

carbon sink A carbon sink is a natural or artificial carbon sequestration process that "removes a greenhouse gas, an aerosol or a precursor of a greenhouse gas from the atmosphere". These sinks form an important part of the natural carbon cycle. An overar ...

, while providing resources for both humans and animals. This was first shown by a biogeochemist Eric Verrechia, researcher at

University of Lausanne The University of Lausanne (UNIL; ) in Lausanne, Switzerland, was founded in 1537 as a school of Protestant theology, before being made a university in 1890. The university is the second-oldest in Switzerland, and one of the oldest universities ...

in 2006. The species can be used to restore damaged soils. It can prevent

erosion Erosion is the action of surface processes (such as Surface runoff, water flow or wind) that removes soil, Rock (geology), rock, or dissolved material from one location on the Earth's crust#Crust, Earth's crust and then sediment transport, tran ...

and act as a wind barrier. The tree tolerates poor, damaged, dried or salty soils and it requires few inputs after its planting. Furthermore, its oxalogenic activity increases the pH and the amount of organic matter in the soil once well implemented in the agricultural system. This leads to an increased fertility thanks to a buffer effect. Some research projects are currently on-going to develop this crop in its current distribution area.

In culture

The name "breadnut" probably arose because the seeds can be ground to produce bread. The plant is known by a range of names in indigenous Mesoamerican and other languages, including: ''ojoche, ojite, ojushte, ujushte, ujuxte, capomo, mojo, ox,

iximche Iximcheʼ () (or Iximché using Spanish orthography) is a Pre-Columbian Mesoamerican archaeological site in the western highlands of Guatemala. Iximche was the capital of the Late Postclassic Kaqchikel Maya kingdom from 1470 until its abandon ...

, masica'' in Honduras, ''uje'' in the state of Michoacan Mexico, ''mojote'' in Jalisco, in Haitian Creole and ''chataigne'' in Trinidadian Creole. In the Caribbean coast of Colombia it is called ''guaímaro'' or ''guaymaro''.

References

External links

* *
Maya Nut Institute

Crop of the Week: Maya Nut (''Brosimum alicastrum'', Moraceae)
{{Taxonbar, from=Q990886 Agriculture in Mesoamerica alicastrum Edible nuts and seeds Perennial protein crops Natural history of Mesoamerica Trees of Guatemala Trees of Northern America Trees of Peru Taxa named by Olof Swartz