Dipteryx alata

It is known in Spanish as almendro (almond) in Santa Cruz department in southern Bolivia,[6] almendrillo in Pando in northern Bolivia, and shihuahuaco in the Department of Madre de Dios in southern Peru. In both these last two regions it shares the same name with Dipteryx micrantha. Both tree species are also known as mawi in the Ese Eja language spoken there.[7]

The common name baru appears to be the most used in Brazilian Portuguese.[8][9][10][11] A long list of other names used in Brazil have been recorded; some of these names are barujo,[8] coco-feijão,[9] cumaruna,[8] cumarurana,[9] cumbaru,[8][9] emburena-brava[9] feijão-coco[8][9] and imburana-brava.[8] A number of names, such as cumaru[8][9] and pau-cumaru,[8] are shared with the closely related Amazonian D. odorata, the tonka bean or cumaru tree, due to the similarity of the two trees. Harri Lorenzi complied most of these names in 1992, culled from the herbarium sheets he had collected, and the names can be traced to specific regions.[8]

The German botanist Julius Rudolph Theodor Vogel named the species alata, which means "winged" [12] and refers to the winged petiole of the leaves. As a legume, this tree belongs to the botanical family Fabaceae;[13] this is also known as Leguminosae, and commonly known as the bean, or pea, family.[14] The Dipterygeae tribe is an early branching of the Faboideae subfamily of the legumes, dating ~58 million years and preceding staple legumes such as soybeans, peas or peanuts by ~10 million years. It is quite distant from other less-known legumes such as Inga, Parkia, Tylosema, or tamarinds).[15][16]

The tree can measure up to 25 m in height and 0.7 m in diameter.[17]

It has compound leaves with 6 to 14 leaflets. The greenish-white flowers are 6 to 15mm in diameter.[18]

Young sapling cultivated in São Paulo.

The form of the fruit (a bean pod) is ovoid and contains a juicy flesh within.[18] The fruit has an average weight of 25g and average dimensions of 52.40 ± 4.48mm for length, and 38.31 ± 4.05 mm for width.[10] Of these:

• 42% is pulp
• 53% is ligneous endocarp
• 5% is seed

It is native to Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay and Peru.[6][9][18][19][20][21]

Bolivia: It has been recorded in northwestern Bolivia in the province of Abel Iturralde (in northern La Paz Department)[21] and Madre de Dios[7] (in Pando Department),[6] and in southeastern Bolivia in the provinces of Andrés Ibáñez, Chiquitos, Germán Busch, Ichilo, Ñuflo de Chávez, Sara and José Miguel de Velasco (all in Santa Cruz Department). It grows in the tropical savannah of the Chiquitania region.[21] It grows in Noel Kempff Mercado National Park,[6] and is thought to grow in Madidi National Park.[22]

Brazil: It can be found in suitable habitat throughout much of central and western Brazil.[9][20][18][21] It occurs in the north in the states of Pará[18] and Tocantins,[18] in the west in Acre,[21] Amazonas[21] and Rondônia,[18][21] in the northeast in Bahia,[18] Maranhão,[8][18] Piauí[18] and possibly Ceará,[18] in the central-west in Distrito Federal,[18][21] Goiás,[18][21] Mato Grosso[8][18][21] and Mato Grosso do Sul[8][18][21] and in the southeast in Minas Gerais,[8][18][21] Paraná[8][21] and the Atlantic coast of São Paulo.[8][9][18] According to Siqueira et al. (1992) it is almost extinct in the wild in these last two states, but found almost exclusively planted ex situ.[8]

Paraguay: It has been recorded from central eastern Paraguay in the departments of Amambay[19][23] and Concepción.[19]

Peru: It has been recorded in Peru in the departments of Huánuco (Pachitea Province), Loreto (Maynas and Ucayali provinces) and Madre de Dios (Tambopata Province).[24]

Fruits of Dipteryx alata hanging from a branch in Formosa, Goiás in July

It is used as lumber, for charcoal production and for shade in pastures, by the indigenous peoples of its range. The fruits are often used as feed for cattle. The seeds are a nutritious part of the local communities' diet.[28][29][30]

According to Alexiades some among the Ese Eja people, which have recently started using the hallucinogenic drug ayahuasca, see visions of concrete houses under the influence of this drug, which according to a source interviewed by Alexiades represents a tree of this species. Alexiades theorises that this tree is to be considered a "teacher plant" in the new ayahuasca shamanism that the Ese Eja have adopted and that it, in specific, and trees in general, represents the "future".[7]

Uses for the fruit can be summarized as:[11]

Baru seed

Baru seeds

Baru seed, dry-roasted[32]

Nutritional value per 100 g (3.5 oz)
Energy	2,238 kJ (535 kcal)
Carbohydrates	13.6 g
Sugars	0.0 g
Dietary fiber	9.2 g
Fat	42 g
Saturated	7.6 g
Monounsaturated	21.4 g
Polyunsaturated	13.8 g
Protein	29 g
Vitamins	Quantity %DV†
Vitamin E	143% 21.4 mg
Minerals	Quantity %DV†
Calcium	11% 110 mg
Iron	37% 4.8 mg
Magnesium	46% 164 mg
Phosphorus	119% 832 mg
Potassium	21% 980 mg
Zinc	48% 4.6 mg
Units μg = micrograms • mg = milligrams IU = International units
†Percentages are roughly approximated using US recommendations for adults.

The baru seed, also known as the baru nut, baru almond, or chiquitanian almond, is the seed of Dipteryx alata. It is classified as a tertiary grain legume,[33] as its supply chain is still very limited. Atypically among legume crop plants, baru seeds develop from a tree and are dispersed by animals, particularly birds, bats, and rodents.

Baru seeds are mild in flavor with a taste similar to peanuts and almonds, and are often served in similar ways in Western cuisines.[34] The botanical definition of a "nut" is a fruit whose ovary wall becomes hard at maturity. Using this criterion, the baru seed is not a nut given its unique fruit. However, it was initially translated in English as "nut" due to the first internationally published articles translating the word "castanha" from Portuguese.

Baru seeds are highly nutritious[35] and rich in: antioxidants (mainly tocopherols), protein, dietary fiber, omega-6, omega-3, magnesium, potassium, phosphorus and zinc.

Baru seeds should be served after heating through boiling, baking or roasting, which deactivates a trypsin inhibitor enzyme.[36] The trypsin inhibitor, if not deactivated, will not allow for the high protein content in baru seeds to be digested.[37]

Baru seeds are used mostly as an occasional salted snack by local communities, due to the difficulty of extracting them manually. In Canada and the United States, baru seeds are used as a snack and ingredient and are slowly being adopted as a peanut substitute. Individually, they are eaten dry-roasted.[34] Baru nuts are growing in popularity as an individual snack, and as an ingredient in other food such as protein bars.[5]

According to D.K. Requena Suarez, an assessor writing for the IUCN in 2021, this species is vulnerable due to over-collection of the seeds, usage as timber, and habitat loss by intensive farming.[41] However, the IUCN uses a restricted distribution instead of the actual range.

Media related to Dipteryx alata at Wikimedia Commons

• Siqueira, Egle Machado de Almeida; Marin, Alinne Martins Ferreira; Da Cunha, Marcela de Sá Barreto; Fustinoni, Adriana Medeiros; De Sant'Ana, Lívia Pimentel; Arruda, Sandra Fernandes (2012). "Consumption of baru seeds [Dipteryx alata Vog.], a Brazilian savanna nut, prevents iron-induced oxidative stress in rats". Food Research International. 45: 427–433. doi:10.1016/j.foodres.2011.11.005. INIST:25499152.
• Fernandes, Daniela Canuto; Alves, Aline Medeiros; Castro, Gabriela Salim Ferreira; Jordao Junior, Alceu Afonso; Naves, Maria Margareth Veloso (2015). "Effects of Baru Almond and Brazil Nut Against Hyperlipidemia and Oxidative Stress in Vivo". Journal of Food Research. 4 (4): 38–46. doi:10.5539/jfr.v4n4p38.