''Astrocaryum murumuru'' (Portuguese common name: murumuru) is a

palm Palm most commonly refers to: * Palm of the hand, the central region of the front of the hand * Palm plants, of family Arecaceae **List of Arecaceae genera * Several other plants known as "palm" Palm or Palms may also refer to: Music * Palm (ba ...

native to Amazon Rainforest

vegetation Vegetation is an assemblage of plant species and the ground cover they provide. It is a general term, without specific reference to particular taxa, life forms, structure, spatial extent, or any other specific botanical or geographic characte ...

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

, which bears

edible An edible item is any item that is safe for humans to eat. "Edible" is differentiated from "eatable" because it does not indicate how an item tastes, only whether it is fit to be eaten. Nonpoisonous items found in nature – such as some mushroo ...

fruits. ''Murumuru'' butter, extracted from the seeds of the plant, may be used as a moisturizer.One remarkable feature of this palm is that it is covered with spines up to twelve inches (30 centimeters) in length. The ''murumuru'' palm trees grow in Brazil and around the Amazon and are one of the dominant trees in this region. It has a thick trunk and a shuttlecock-shaped, bushy crown. The nutritious, edible fruits are an important local food source and materials made from the tree, fruit, and seed kernels are commercially significant to the region. Hammocks are made from the tree’s fibres. ''Murumuru'' butter is moisturizing (

emollient A moisturizer, or emollient, is a cosmetic preparation used for protecting, moisturizing, and lubricating the skin. These functions are normally performed by sebum produced by healthy skin. The word "emollient" is derived from the Latin verb ''m ...

). It is also film-forming and glossy. These qualities make it very protective. It contains vitamins and has a high content of

oleic acid Oleic acid is a fatty acid that occurs naturally in various animal and vegetable fats and oils. It is an odorless, colorless oil, although commercial samples may be yellowish. In chemical terms, oleic acid is classified as a monounsaturated omeg ...

. The oil from the seeds is traditionally used to soften and protect hair. ''Murumuru'' butter is the white to yellowish fat obtained from the seeds of the ''murumuru'' palm.

Ecology

The Murumuru palm (''Astrocaryum murumuru'') is abundant in the Brazilian Amazon, extending to the borders of Bolivia and Peru. It prefers to grow in periodically flooded areas, especially on islands and in lowlands along the rivers throughout the Amazon River estuary and its tributaries, in dense or semi-open forests.LORENZI, H. Árvores Brasileiras., 2002, p.368 It is also frequently found in the lowlands of Marajo Island. The stem, leaves and fruit stalks are covered with hard, black spines that can reach over 20 cm in length, complicating fruit harvesting. When the fruit is ripe, the inflorescence (cluster of flowers) drops to the ground. The fruit contains a yellow flesh often consumed by rodents as food, which leave the seeds clean. The seed's hard shell is only separable from the kernel when dry. In general, 100 kg of dry seeds (12–15% water) yields 27 kg to 29 kg of kernels, which must be further dried to prevent deterioration during storage. These kernels then yield 40% to 42% oil. A single Murumuru palm produces about 11 kg of dry seeds. Hydraulic extraction can produce 35% oil relative to the dry weight of the kernel, which is equivalent to about 3.8 liters of oil per Murumuru palm. The kernels must be ground with grinding discs before hydraulic extraction. A kilogram of fruit pulp contains approximately 50 seeds. Seed germination is moderate and growth in the field is slow.MORAIS, L.: Banco de Dados Sobre Espécies Oleaginosas da Amazônia, unpublished PINTO, G.P. Características físico-químicas e outras informações sobre as principais oleaginosas do Brasil. Recife: Instituto de Pesquisas e Experimentação Agropecuárias do Nordeste, Boletim Técnico 18, 1963.

Astrocaryum murumuru butter

Murumuru butter contains lauric,

myristic Myristic acid (IUPAC name: tetradecanoic acid) is a common saturated fatty acid with the molecular formula CH3(CH2)12COOH. Its salts and esters are commonly referred to as myristates or tetradecanoates. It is named after the binomial name for nut ...

, and

s. The fruit contains a white butter that is odorless and tasteless and has the advantage of not becoming rancid easily. The quality of Murumuru butter is similar to the seed fat of the Tucumã palm and

coconut palm The coconut tree (''Cocos nucifera'') is a member of the palm tree family (Arecaceae) and the only living species of the genus ''Cocos''. The term "coconut" (or the archaic "cocoanut") can refer to the whole coconut palm, the seed, or t ...

, but it has the advantage of providing greater consistency because of its melting point (33 C), which is superior to that of the Tucumã palm (30 °C) and coconut palm (22.7 °C). The quality of Murumuru butter makes it possible to mix it with other vegetable butters that have a lower melting point. It can also be used to partially substitute cocoa butter in chocolate, providing a firmer consistency in environments where the temperature is higher.. Murumuru butter has the great advantage of having a low acidity value (4% to 5%), especially when made from fresh seeds, which reduces the cost of refinement.PESCE, C. Oleaginosas da Amazônia, 1941, Oficinas Gráficas da Revista Veterinária, Belém/PA. Murumuru butter was highly valued in Europe and the United States during the 1940s and 1950s, when it served as an ingredient in vegetable creams and soaps. Today, soaps containing Murumuru butter together with Ucuuba butter leave a protection layer on the skin similar to silicone, only it does not clog the pores. Murumuru butter is used in small amounts in shampoos (0.5% to 1%) and formulas for conditioners, creams, soaps, lipsticks and deodorants (0.5% to 8%).

References

External links

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''Astrocaryum murumuru''
{{Taxonbar, from=Q4811547 murumuru Trees of the Amazon Endemic flora of Brazil Tropical agriculture Trees of Brazil Taxa named by Carl Friedrich Philipp von Martius Trees of Peru