| Oenocarpus bataua | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Division: | Angiospermae |
| Class: | Liliopsida |
| Subclass: | Commelinidae |
| Order: | Arecales |
| Family: | Arecaceae |
| Tribe: | Areceae |
| Subtribe: | Euterpeinae |
| Genus: | Oenocarpus |
| Species: | O. bacaba |
| Binomial name | |
| Oenocarpus bataua Mart. 1823[1] |
|
| Varieties | |
|
O. b. var. bataua (Mart.) Burret |
|
The patawa, sehe, hungurahua (Ecuador) or mingucha (Oenocarpus bataua or Jessenia bataua) is a palm tree native to the Amazonia, that produces edible fruits rich in high quality oil.[2]
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It is native to the tropical rainforest and is abundant in the wet zones at elevations less than 1000 m, from Panamá to South America: Colombia, Venezuela, Guyanas, Brazil, Bolivia, Ecuador and Peru.[3]
Its stem is solitary, erect, 10–25 m (33–82 ft) in height and 2–3 dm (8–12 in) diameter, smooth, and ring-shaped. It has 10–16 leaf terminals, petiole 10–50 cm, rachis 3–7 m long; with leaflets up till 2 m long and 15 cm breadth, approximately 100 to each side, placed in the same plane.[4]
The blossom is 1–2 m long, with about 300 rachilas up till 1.3 m length. The flowers are yellow with sepals 2 mm and petals 7 mm long.[4]
Traditionally the aboriginals have collected the fruit and mature it in tepid water in order to prepare drinks and also to extract oil[4]: its drupes, contains 8–10% oil. The fresh meolo is edible too. Besides, in these palm grow edible larvas of Rhynchophorus.[5]
The oil is used by traditional medicine to mitigate cough and bronchitis[2] and to fortify the hair.
The rachis have been used to manufacture arrows and the leaves to make baskets ant construct provisional housings.[4]
In the future, this palm could be industrialized for oil production,[2] because of its quality, its adaptation in poor soils, and its abundant production of fruits.