Family: Sterculiaceae
Genus: Theobroma
Species: grandiflorum
Common Names: Cupuasu, Copoasu, Cupuacu
Part Used: Fruit, Seed

Cupuacu is a small to medium tree in the Rainforest canopy which belongs to the Chocolate family and can reach up to 20 meters in height. Cupuacu fruit has been a primary food source in the Rainforest for both indigenous tribes and animals alike. The Cupuacu fruit is about the size of a cantaloupe and is highly prized for its creamy exotic tasting pulp. The pulp occupies approximately one-third of the fruit and is used throughout Brazil and Peru to make fresh juice, ice cream, jam and tarts. The fruit ripens in the rainy months from January to April and is considered a culinary delicacy in South American cities where demand outstrips supply. Like chocolate, the fruit has a large center seed pod filled with "beans", which the Tikuna tribe utilize for abdominal pains.

Cupuacu is found throughout the Rainforest regions with it seeds being dispersed by birds and monkeys which feast on the tasty fruit pulp. Indigenous tribes as well as local communities along the Amazon have cultivated Cupuacu as a primary food source for generations. In remote times, Cupuacu seeds were traded along the Rio Negro and Upper Orinoco rivers where river tribes drink Cupuacu juice after it has been blessed by a shaman to facilitate difficult births.

ETHNOBOTANY: WORLDWIDE USES
Amazonia	Food, Pain(Abdominal), Difficult Birth
Brazil	Food
Venezuela	Food

References:

• Balee, William. 1994. Footprints of the Forest. Columbia University Press, New York.
• Schultes, R.E, and Raffauf, R.F. 1990 The Healing Forest. Dioscorides Press
• Balee, W., and D. Moore. 1991. Similarity and variation in plant names in five Tupi-Guarani languages (eastern Amazonia). Biological Sciences 55(4):209-262
• Smith, Nigel, et.al., 1992, Tropical Forests and their Crops, Comstock Publishing, New York

The above text has been preprinted from Herbal Secrets of the Rainforest, by Leslie Taylor. Published and copyrighted by Prima Publishing Inc., © 1998 All rights reserved. No part of this document may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage or retrieval system, including websites, without written permission.

† The statements contained herein have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. The information contained in this plant database file is intended for education, entertainment and information purposes only. This information is not intended to be used to diagnose, prescribe or replace proper medical care. The plant described herein is not intended to treat, cure, diagnose, mitigate or prevent any disease. Please refer to our Conditions of Use for using this plant database file and web site.

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