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The Ecology and Harvest of Andiroba Seeds for Oil Production in the Brazilian Amazon

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dc.contributor.author Plowden, Cambell en_US
dc.date.accessioned 2009-07-31T14:54:18Z
dc.date.available 2009-07-31T14:54:18Z
dc.date.issued 2004 en_US
dc.date.submitted 2007-08-21 en_US
dc.date.submitted 2007-08-21 en_US
dc.identifier.uri https://hdl.handle.net/10535/2834
dc.description.abstract "Andiroba (Carapa guianensis Aubl.: Meliaceae) is a canopy tree found in moist tropical forests in Amazon, Central America and Africa. Manual and mechanical methods have been used to extract oil from its seeds for use in insect repellent and traditional medicine, and as an ingredient in mosquito repellent candles and medicinal soap. Forest communities need a better understanding of the ecological and economic aspects of aniroba seed and oil production to decide if and how collecting more of these seeds can be done sustainably and profitably. I worked with Tembe Indians in the eastern Brazilian Amazon in 1998-99 to investigate the ecology and economics of andiroba seed production. We found that andiroba tree (?10 cm DBH) density in mostly intact forest near Tekohaq village averaged 6.5 trees ha-1. While some trees started reproducing in the 10-20 cm DBH class, 46-63 per cent of trees ? 30cm DBH had flowers or fruits in the two seasons observed. Trees reached peak flowering in the mid-rainy season in March, and most fruit fell in the early dry season in June and July. In 1999 a group of forty-six reproducing trees yielded an average of .8 kg of seeds tree-1. Up to 29 per cent of these seeds had been infested by moth and fly larvae, partially consumed by mammals or germinated. Each tree produced an estimated average of 1.2 kg seeds with 33 percent being removed by mammals. This production is much less than the 50-300 kg seeds per tree averages cited in other accounts. The study's one measurement of seed transformation to oil (14.4 kg seed to a litre oil yield)." en_US
dc.subject Amazon River region en_US
dc.subject traditional knowledge en_US
dc.subject forest products en_US
dc.subject harvesting en_US
dc.subject trees en_US
dc.title The Ecology and Harvest of Andiroba Seeds for Oil Production in the Brazilian Amazon en_US
dc.type Journal Article en_US
dc.type.published published en_US
dc.coverage.region South America en_US
dc.coverage.country Brazil en_US
dc.subject.sector Forestry en_US
dc.identifier.citationjournal Conservation and Society en_US
dc.identifier.citationvolume 2 en_US
dc.identifier.citationnumber 2 en_US
dc.identifier.citationmonth July en_US
dc.submitter.email efcastle@indiana.edu en_US


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