Botanical Name: Butia capitata
*Cocos capitata Mart.
*Calappa capitata (Mart.)
*Butia capitata subsp.
*Syagrus capitata (Mart.)
Common Names: Jelly Palm, South american jelly palm, Coquinho-azedo or Butiá
Habitat :Jelly Palm is native to Southern S. America – South Brazil and Uruguay. It growsd on grassland plains near the coasts.
Jelly Palm is an evergreen Tree growing to 6 m (19ft) by 4 m (13ft) at a slow rate. It is in leaf all year. The species is monoecious (individual flowers are either male or female, but both sexes can be found on the same plant)…..CLICK & SEE
Suitable for: light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils and prefers well-drained soil. Suitable pH: acid, neutral and basic (alkaline) soils. It can grow in semi-shade (light woodland) or no shade. It prefers moist soil
Edible Uses:.....CLICK & SEE
Fruits are eaten raw. Sweet and aromatic with the flavour of apricots. They can also be made into jellies, jams, pies, cakes etc. The fruit is very fibrous but is also very nice. The fruit is about 34 x 25mm. The seed contains up to 45% of an edible oil, it is used mainly for margarines. The pith of the stem can be made into a bread. However, because the tree cannot make side branches this will effectively kill it.
The fruits are locally harvested from the wild between November and February to make juices, liquor, marmalades and ice-cream. The fruit has orange, sometimes red, skin. The pulp is bright orange, highly aromatic, somewhat oily, and quite fibrous. The pulp can be frozen for industrial production. In the north of Minas Gerais state B. capitata juice has been added to some public school lunches.
An oil can be extracted from the nuts which is quite similar to coconut oil.
The pulp is a good source of ?-carotene and provitamin A compared with other fruits usually consumed. A glass of juice containing 100g of B. capitata pulp can provide 40% of the daily vitamin A requirements for children aged under eight by the standards of the National Academy of Medicine.