• Exotic Fruits From the Amazon
    Awake!—2004 | July 22

    • The Bacuri and the Cupuaçu

      The bacuri (Platonia insignis) is an ornamental tree, standing 60 to 100 feet [20 to 30 m] high. Its canopy is shaped like an upside-down cone. The fruit is about the size of an orange and is oval in shape, with a thick, lemon-yellow skin. Wrapped around seeds, the white, sticky pulp is sweet-sour and perfumed. The juicy pulp brims with phosphorus, iron, and vitamin C. Brazilians blend bacuri into syrups, jellies, compotes, and beverages. The oily, reddish-black seeds are not thrown away but are used to treat a variety of skin conditions. The yellow wood of the bacuri tree is used as lumber in construction.