Canarium indicum

Last updated

Canarium indicum
Canarium indicum - Icica icicariba - Kohler-s Medizinal-Pflanzen-171.jpg
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Sapindales
Family: Burseraceae
Genus: Canarium
Species:
C. indicum
Binomial name
Canarium indicum
L.

Canarium indicum, known as galip nut, is a mainly dioecious tree native in eastern Melanesia. [1] It is usually found in rainforests, secondary forests, old garden areas, around villages and settlements. [1] It is also used as a shade tree, as a windbreak and in agroforestry. [2] Canarium is important in the world food system as it can be used as a food and timber source, in traditional medicine, intercropping and agroforestry. [1] [2]

Contents

Cultivars

Canarium indicum has two recognised botanical varieties: indicum and platycerioideum. The latter is uncommon and grows in Indonesia and in West Papua New Guinea. It has larger leaves and fruits than the indicum variety. [2] In Vanuatu, however, there are at least five cultivars known that differ in shape, size, fruit color at maturation and mesocarp color and texture. [1]

Origin and regions of cultivation

Canarium is native in eastern Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, and Vanuatu. Besides Melanesia, it is also cultivated in Fiji, in the North of Australia, Taiwan, Hawaii, Honduras and Trinidad. [2] Usually, it is found in rainforests, secondary forests, old garden areas, around villages and settlements [1] and is also used as a shade tree, as a windbreak and in agroforestry. [2]

Nuts have been important in the diet in Papua New Guinea for about 6,000 years. In 2007, approximately one third of the household grew Canarium. In the Solomon Islands, they are important in traditional society, with the ownership of trees being a measure of wealth. [3]

Growth

Development and physiology

Canarium indicum is an evergreen, large tree with a fluted, buttressed trunk, heavy lateral branches and a dense canopy. [2] Mature trees are usually 20–30 m (70–100 ft) tall but can grow up to 40 m (130 ft) in height. [1] They naturally grow between 200 and 300 kg/m3 in density. [4] Trunk diameter is between 1–1.5 m (3.3–4.9 ft) and can attain 30 m (100 ft) in canopy diameter. [1]

The flowering period lasts only about 2 weeks and is followed by a long gestation of 6 to 9 months. [4]

Life form

In Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands, the Canarium is dioecious. In Vanuatu, trees may also grow either hermaphrodite flowers plus female flowers, or hermaphrodite flowers plus male flowers. [1]

Cultivation

Soil requirements

Canarium prefers medium to heavy textured soils like loams, sandy clay loams, clays, clay loams and sandy clays of moderate to high soil fertility. Well-drained to slightly impeded drainage with good organic matter content are favored. A pH of 4.5-6.5 is favoured but it can tolerate pH levels up to 7.4. However, Canarium cannot grow on shallow, infertile or saline soils. Even if young trees need to be partially shaded, adult trees prefer full sun situations but also tolerate 20-70% shade. [2]

Seedbed requirements and sowing

Seedlings should be planted into well prepared holes in which topsoil and organic matter is incorporated. The suggested spacing for nut-used trees is 9–10 m (30–33 ft) by 9–10 m (30–33 ft). [1] Best germination rates are achieved when seeds are depulped by removal of the mesocarp, planted soon after harvesting and placed 10 mm (0.39 in) deep in light soils (sand and peat or topsoil). [5]

Climate requirements

Canarium is mainly found in wet lowland areas of subhumid to humid tropics. Mean annual temperatures of 15–28 °C (59–82 °F), mean maximum temperature of the hottest month of 29–32 °C (84–90 °F) and mean minimum temperature of the coldest month of 17–24 °C (63–75 °F) are preferred. [1] Canarium can also grow in sub-tropical regions with temperatures from 17–25 °C (63–77 °F). [2] However, it is sensitive to temperatures below 5–7 °C (41–45 °F) and frost. Trees mainly grow from sea level to 250 m (820 ft), but may be planted up 600 m (2,000 ft). [1] In the wild, it is found up to 100 m (330 ft) above sea level. [2] Mean annual rainfall should be 1,800–4,000 mm (71–157 in), with an optimum range 2,500–3,500 mm (98–138 in), preferably with summer or uniform annual rainfall. [1] Annual precipitations of 6,000 mm (240 in) can still be tolerated. [2] A dry season with less than 40 mm (1.6 in) should only last 0–1 months. [1] Canarium can thus survive short drought periods, but also strong winds and salt sprays. [2]

Cultivation management & fertilization

Ground cover should be regularly slashed or mown to minimize competition with trees as seedlings best survive under intermediate light levels. New-plantations should therefore be regularly weeded. Trees might also be planted in secondary and primary forest that are progressively thinned to allow more light to reach the seedlings. [1]

Fertilizer applications of 360 g urea (N), 150 g super phosphate (P) and 240 g muriate of potash (K) per tree per year is recommended for the first 10 years. After this, the rate per tree should be increased proportionally to the size of the tree and applied as several applications evenly distributed throughout the year. [1]

Pests and diseases

Canarium appears not to be highly susceptible to damage by any particular pest or disease. [1] Canarium cultivation has produced various cultivars with inherent pest and disease resistance, which could be used in breeding programs. The hard and non-perishable shell protects kernels from vermin and pathogens. [4]

Yield

Fruit consists of an outer skin (exocarp), flesh (mesocarp), nut-in-shell, and edible kernel in testa. [1]

Harvest and postharvest treatment

Traditionally, the harvesting of Canarium is of great social importance. Rights to harvest individual trees are traded within and amongst clans. Fruits can either be picked up from the ground or harvested directly from the trees. The fruiting season in Papua New Guinea lasts from May to July and in Vanuatu from October to January. In the Solomon Islands the production peak is between September and October. [1] Nut picking can last for 2–4 months, thus the area under the tree is typically kept clean and fallen fruits can be easily collected. [5] Harvesting from the tree by breaking off the fruiting branchlets has been found to be beneficial as it encourages renewed growth and flowering. [3]

The processing of the seeds consists mainly in removing the shell and drying kernels directly on farm by smoking to allow a stable storage for months. [2] [4] Vacuum-packed Canarium nuts can be stored under ambient tropical conditions for six months with daytime temperatures of around 31 °C (88 °F), and for nine months at 25 °C (77 °F). [6]

As the phenonolgy of Canarium is determined by the day length, the ones growing in lower latitudes flower and fruit earlier than those in the higher latitudes. [4] Yield is estimated to be 4-7 t kernel-in-testa per hectare per year. [1] In the Solomon Islands, nut yields were found to vary from 80 to 320 kg nut-in-shell per tree, with an average on a healthy tree of at least 100 kg nut-in-shell (15 kg kernel) per year. [5] Total production of Canarium in western Melanesia with 2 million trees is estimated to be more than 100’000 t of nuts-in-shell (16’000 t of kernels-in-testa with 16% kernel content) per year. [4]

Products

Products uses and processing technology

Many parts of the tree can be used. In Melanesia, except for Fiji, kernels are important in the local diet as fat and protein suppliers. [2] [4] Kernels are eaten raw, baked or roasted, used as a snack or added to other food, such as staple root crops, soups or even crushed and used as ice-cream toppings. Depending on the regions, they can also be used in different ways, like added to megapode eggs in the Solomon Islands or mixed with tuber puddings in Vanuatu. [2] However, taste can vary from unpalatable bitter to a soft delicate coconut butter taste and is sensible to the processing technique. [4]

Kernel oil is mainly used for cooking as a substitute to coconut oil or blended with other oils. It also serves as a medicinal product. It can be used in cosmetic and skin care products, [2] in which anti-aging and anti-inflammatory agents of Canarium oil can stimulate tensin 1 expression [7] and are thus effective against wrinkles and loss of skin firmness. [2] In the past, the kernel oil was used as a lighter and to prevent and treat arthritis. [2]

The testa can be added in animal feed. [2]

The mesocarp (flesh) is used as a fertilizer. [4]

Shells can be used as bedding for horticultural crops and for carving into jewellery. Furthermore, they can also be burned in kilns to produce clean, dense and high-grade charcoal fuel, which can be refined to “activated carbon” for pharmaceutical uses. In Papua New Guinea they are also used to make pipes for tobacco smoking. [2]

The bark is used in the western Solomon Islands in traditional medicine against chest pain. [4]

Timber is soft and can be used for light construction, canoes, boats, tools, crafts and sometimes as a veneer or as firewood. Moreover, if the wood is rotten, it can host edible insect larvae. [4]

The resinous trunk extrudate is used in caulking of canoes. [2]

Nutritive vale and special compounds

Table 1: Nutritive value of Canarium nut [8]

NutrientsQuantity per 100 g edible portion
Fat 45.9 g
Water35.4 g
Fibre 10.6 g
Protein 8.2 g
Starch 0.3 g
Sugar 0.2 g
Ash 2.6 g
Potassium 627 mg
Magnesium 284 mg
Calcium 44 mg
Sodium 18 mg
Vitamin C 8 mg
Iron 3.5 mg
Zinc 2.4 mg
Niacin 1.7 mg
Copper 1.6 mg
Manganese 1.1 mg
Thiamin 0.13 mg
Riboflavin 0.06 mg
ꞵ-carotene equivalent 165 μg

Nutritive value of a raw Canarium per 100g edible portion (kernels without the hard shell) is 439 kcal/1.838 kJ energy. [8] In terms of macronutrients, kernels contain between 67-80% oil, [8] [9] 13% protein and 7% starch [10] [11] and various others macronutrients and micronutrients, with a high nutritive value (Table 1). Fatty profile of kernel oil consists of almost equal proportion of saturated and unsaturated fatty acids with about 50% saturated (34% palmitic and 13% stearic), 38% monounsaturated (oleic) and 14% polyunsaturated (linoleic) fat. [3]

In a study led in various areas of Papua New Guinea, kernels’ antioxidant activity, in mg ascorbate equivalents, and phenolic content, in mg catechin equivalents, showed a strong positive relationship, as well as fat content versus energy and versus carbohydrate content. However, there was little variation in protein but large variation in vitamin E contents, especially in ꞵ-tocopherol. ɑ-, δ- and γ- tocopherols were also present in kernels but only in small amounts. [9]

Canarium kernels seem to possess anti-inflammatory activity through inhibition properties of its oil on prostaglandin (PGE 2) production in 3T3 Swiss Albino fibroblast cells, which workes in the same ways as aspirin. [9] However, the IgE specific to Canarium indicum can be found among pollen allergenic patients, which addresses the need for control of new foods before the introduction to a new market. [12]

Breeding

Local varieties have been developed through selection of trees based on the kernel taste and size, oil content and thin pericarp. Since the 1970s, field surveys have been undertaken, for example to identify high yielding trees or to evaluate the potential for domestication. [3] The various cultivars differing in shells and kernels morphology are an obstacle to breeding programs, productivity and profitability increase. [4]

Commercialization

Commercial processing and marketing started in the Solomon Islands in 1989. [4] Since the early 1990s, a number of projects aimed to increase the commercialization of Canarium indicum, with mixed success. The first commercial products of Canarium indicum in Papua New Guinea were launched in July 2018. This market-testing phase was a part of a project of the Australian Centre of International Agricultural Research (ACIAR). [3] Products are available in local supermarkets and duty-free stores in Papua New Guinea in three variants: roasted, peeled or natural. [13]

Prices for nuts-in-shell are around 0.30 US$/kg and 3 US$/kg for processed kernels. [4]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Almond</span> Species of nut

The almond is a species of tree native to Iran and surrounding countries, including the Levant. The almond is also the name of the edible and widely cultivated seed of this tree. Within the genus Prunus, it is classified with the peach in the subgenus Amygdalus, distinguished from the other subgenera by corrugations on the shell (endocarp) surrounding the seed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Copra</span> Dried meat or kernel of the coconut

Copra is the dried, white flesh of the coconut from which coconut oil is extracted. Traditionally, the coconuts are sun-dried, especially for export, before the oil, also known as copra oil, is pressed out. The oil extracted from copra is rich in lauric acid, making it an important commodity in the preparation of lauryl alcohol, soaps, fatty acids, cosmetics, etc. and thus a lucrative product for many coconut-producing countries. The palatable oil cake, known as copra cake, obtained as a residue in the production of copra oil is used in animal feeds. The ground cake is known as coconut or copra meal.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cashew</span> Species of flowering plant in the family Anacardiaceae

The cashew tree is a tropical evergreen tree native to South America in the genus Anacardium that produces the cashew seed and the cashew apple accessory fruit. The tree can grow as tall as 14 metres, but the dwarf cultivars, growing up to 6 m (20 ft), prove more profitable, with earlier maturity and greater yields. The cashew seed is commonly considered a snack nut eaten on its own, used in recipes, or processed into cashew cheese or cashew butter. Like the tree, the nut is often simply called a cashew. Cashew allergies are triggered by the proteins found in tree nuts, and cooking often does not remove or change these proteins.

<i>Juglans</i> Genus of trees

Walnut trees are any species of tree in the plant genus Juglans, the type genus of the family Juglandaceae, the seeds of which are referred to as walnuts. All species are deciduous trees, 10–40 metres (33–131 ft) tall, with pinnate leaves 200–900 millimetres (7.9–35.4 in), with 5–25 leaflets; the shoots have chambered pith, a character shared with the wingnuts (Pterocarya), but not the hickories (Carya) in the same family.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nut (fruit)</span> In botany, type of dry indehiscent fruit

A nut is a fruit consisting of a hard or tough nutshell protecting a kernel which is usually edible. In general usage and in a culinary sense, a wide variety of dry seeds are called nuts, but in a botanical context "nut" implies that the shell does not open to release the seed (indehiscent).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hazelnut</span> Nut of the hazel tree

The hazelnut is the fruit of the hazel tree and therefore includes any of the nuts deriving from species of the genus Corylus, especially the nuts of the species Corylus avellana. They are also known as cobnuts or filberts according to species.

<i>Sclerocarya birrea</i> Species of tree

Sclerocarya birrea, commonly known as the marula, is a medium-sized deciduous fruit-bearing tree, indigenous to the miombo woodlands of Southern Africa, the Sudano-Sahelian range of West Africa, the savanna woodlands of East Africa and Madagascar.

<i>Juglans nigra</i> Species of tree

Juglans nigra, the eastern American black walnut, is a species of deciduous tree in the walnut family, Juglandaceae, native to North America. It grows mostly in riparian zones, from southern Ontario, west to southeast South Dakota, south to Georgia, northern Florida and southwest to central Texas. Wild trees in the upper Ottawa Valley may be an isolated native population or may have derived from planted trees.

Canarium luzonicum, commonly known as elemi, is a tree native to the Philippines. The oleoresin harvested from it is also known as elemi.

<i>Canarium</i> Genus of trees

Canarium is a genus of about 100 species of tropical and subtropical trees, in the family Burseraceae. They grow naturally across tropical Africa, south and southeast Asia, Indochina, Malesia, Australia and western Pacific Islands; including from southern Nigeria east to Madagascar, Mauritius, Sri Lanka and India; from Burma, Malaysia and Thailand through the Malay Peninsula and Vietnam to south China, Taiwan and the Philippines; through Borneo, Indonesia, Timor and New Guinea, through to the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, New Caledonia, Fiji, Samoa, Tonga and Palau.

<i>Canarium ovatum</i> Species of flowering plant

Canarium ovatum, the pili, is a species of tropical tree belonging to the genus Canarium. It is one of approximately 600 species in the family Burseraceae. C. ovatum are native to the Philippines. They are commercially cultivated in the Philippines for their edible nuts and is believed to be indigenous to that country. The fruit and tree are often vulgarized with the umbrella term of "Java almond" which mixes multiple species of the same genus, Canarium.

<i>Coula edulis</i> Species of flowering plant

Coula edulis is a tree in the genus Coula, native to tropical western Africa from Sierra Leone to Angola. It is plentiful in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Nigeria and Sierra Leone. It prefers tropical regions and is tolerant of light shade. It can be found in the top canopy of forest as well as the lower story and has no special soil requirements.

<i>Caryocar nuciferum</i> Species of fruit and plant

Caryocar nuciferum, the butter-nut of Guiana, is also known as pekea-nut, or – like all other species of Caryocar with edible nuts – "souari-nut" or "sawarri-nut". It is a fruit tree native to northern Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Guyana, Panama, and Venezuela.

<i>Inocarpus fagifer</i> Species of plant

Inocarpus fagifer, commonly known as the Tahitian chestnut or Polynesian chestnut, is a species of flowering plant in the subfamily Faboideae of the legume family, Fabaceae. The tree has a wide range in the tropics of the south-west Pacific and south-east Asian regions, and a history of traditional use by the peoples of Polynesia and Melanesia. It is the only edible and culturally important member of the genus Inocarpus.

Agriculture in Papua New Guinea has more than a 7,000 years old history, and developed out of pre-agricultural plant/food collecting and cultivation traditions of local hunter-gatherers. Currently around 85% of Papua New Guinea's population lives from semi-subsistence agriculture. 86% of all food energy consumed in Papua New Guinea is locally sourced.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Phulwara oil</span> Oil extracted from seeds of Phulwara tree

Phulwara oil is extracted from seeds of Phulwara tree. Phulwara Trees are also known locally as Chiuri Trees, Kaeleb Trees, or Butter Nut Trees. Refined Phulwara Oil is marketed as Phulwara Ghee.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kilu Cave</span>

Kilu Cave is a paleoanthropological site located on Buka Island in the Autonomous Region of Bougainville, Papua New Guinea. Kilu Cave is located at the base of a limestone cliff, 65 m (213 ft) from the modern coastline. With evidence for human occupation dating back to 30,000 years, Kilu Cave is the earliest known site for human occupation in the Solomon Islands archipelago. The site is the oldest proof of paleolithic people navigating the open ocean i.e. navigating without land in sight. To travel from Nissan island to Buka requires crossing of at least 60 kilometers of open sea. The presence of paleolithic people at Buka therefore is at the same time evidence for the oldest and the longest paleolithic sea travel known so far.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Karuka</span> Species of tree in the family Pandanaceae and regional food crop

The karuka is a species of tree in the Screwpine Family (Pandanaceae) and an important regional food crop in New Guinea. The nuts are more nutritious than coconuts, and are so popular that villagers in the highlands will move their entire households closer to trees for the harvest season.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 Thomson, L. A. J. & Evans, B. Canarium indicum var. indicum and C. harveyi (canarium nut). Tradit. Trees Pacific Islands Their Cult. Environ. Use 209–226 (2006).
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Lim, T. K. Canarium indicum. in Edible Medicinal and Non-Medicinal Plants 619–623 (Springer, 2012).
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Nevenimo, T. et al. Domestication potential and marketing of Canarium indicum nuts in the Pacific: 1. A literature review. Agrofor. Syst. 69, 117–134 (2007).
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Bourke, R. Indigenous edible nuts in Papua New Guinea. in 84–98 (2010).
  5. 1 2 3 Evans, B. R. The agronomy on Ngali nut (Canarium spp.) in Solomon Islands. Res. Bull. (1991).
  6. ↑ Walton, D. A. et al. Shelf life of tropical Canarium nut stored under ambient conditions. Horticulturae 3, 24 (2017).
  7. ↑ Maestro, Y., Saintigny, G. & Bernard, F. X. Cosmetic use of an active agent capable of stimulating tensin 1 expression (2009).
  8. 1 2 3 Aalbersberg, W. G. L., English, R. M. & Scheelings, P. Pacific Island foods: description and nutrient composition of 78 local foods. (1996).
  9. 1 2 3 Leakey, R. et al. Characterization of tree-to-tree variation in morphological, nutritional and medicinal properties of Canarium indicum nuts. Agrofor. Syst. 73, 77–87 (2008).
  10. ↑ Howes, F. N. Nuts, their production and everyday uses. Nuts, their Prod. everyday uses. (1948).
  11. ↑ Macrae, R., Robinson, R. K. & Sadler, M. J. Encyclopaedia of food science, food technology, and nutrition. (Academic Press, 1993).
  12. ↑ Sten, E. et al. Allergenic components of a novel food, Micronesian nut Nangai (Canarium indicum), shows IgE cross‐reactivity in pollen allergic patients. Allergy 57, 398–404 (2002).
  13. ↑ Yargop, R. Papua New Guinea’s ‘Galip Nut’ commercialised. The centre for global food and resources (2018). Available at: https://blogs.adelaide.edu.au/global-food/2018/07/31/papua-new-guineas-galip-nut-commercialised/. (Accessed: 5th November 2020)
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.