Tucuma. Awarra palm (Astrocaryum vulgare)

Family: Arecaceae | Edibility: Choice Edible (4/5)

This plant has edible fruit, which are also used for biodiesel production. The fruits have a mildly sweet flavor, and are high in vitamin A.

Edible Parts & Harvest Seasons

Edible Parts: Fruit, Nuts/Seeds, Sap/Syrup

Harvest Seasons: Early Summer, Fall, Late Summer, Spring, Winter

Flavor & Culinary Uses

flavour similar to apricots. — A flavour similar to apricots.; Used for making juices.; The mesocarp is rich in provitamin A; it provides a fatty, mashed pulp that is used to prepare the very popular French Guianan dish 'bouillon d'awara', which is traditionally eaten at Easter time.; The orange-red, globose to ovoid fruit is 35 - 45mm long and 25 - 35mm wide with a fleshy mesocarp covering a single large seed.

Habitat & North American Range

Rainforest. Especially in disturbed sites. Found in the rainforest of the Amazon and the savannahs of Surinam on flat to gently rolling terrain. Occurs mainly on land that is not subject to periodic inundation. (Zone 10)