Is Brazil nut related to the coconut?

Answer 1

The Brazil nut is the seed of the Pára State (Bertholletia excelsa) tree of the botanical family Lecythidaceae, native to the Amazon Rainforest emerging.

It is a fruit with high calorie and protein also contains the element selenium to fight free radicals and the many studies recommend for the prevention of cancer (cancer).

It is the only species Bertholletia. Native of Guyana, Venezuela, Brazil (Acre, Amapá, Amazonas, Maranhao, Mato Grosso, Para and Rondonia) and eastern Colombia, eastern Peru and eastern Bolivia, it occurs as scattered trees in large forests on the banks of the Amazon River Rio Negro, Orinoco, Araguaia and Tocantins River. The genus was named after the French chemist Claude Louis Berthollet.

Today is abundant only in the state of Acre, in northern Bolivia and Suriname. Included in the IUCN Red List as vulnerable, deforestation is a threat to their populations. On the banks of the Tocantins, was felled for the construction of roads and a dam. In the south of Para state, settlements of the landless. In Acre and Para, the cattle will kill it, and the hunting of agoutis, which are the dispersal of its seeds, threatens the formation of new individuals [1].

It is highly consumed by the local fresh, roasted, or in the form of flour, candy and ice cream. Its bark is very tough and requires great effort to be extracted manually