In some recent treatments this species is seen as no more than a variety of Astrocaryum murumuru, as Astrocaryum murumuru huicungo (Dammer ex Burret) A.J.Hend.[].

Common Name:

General Information

Astrocaryum huicungo is a spiny, multi-stemmed, evergreen palm with short, mainly subterranean stems that in time can become 2 metres tall and 15-18cm in diameter. Each stem is topped by a crown of 8 - 15 leaves that can be up to 7 metres long including the petiole[, , ].
The plant is sometimes harvested from the wild for local use as a food and source of materials.

Known Hazards

None known

Botanical References

,

Range

S. America - northern Peru.

Habitat

Lowland rainforest, usually along river margins or other periodically inundated areas[].

Properties

Edibility Rating
Other Uses Rating
Habit	Evergreen Shrub
Height	5.00 m
Cultivation Status	Wild

Cultivation Details

Not known

Edible Uses

The palm heart (the inner core and growing bud of the plant) is harvested[]. It provides a crispy food, rich in nutrients, that can be eaten raw or cooked. Harvesting the heart will lead to the death of the stem it was harvested from, though in multi-stemmed plants such as this the rest of the plant will continue to grow and often produce new stems.

Fruit - raw[]. A fleshy pulp[]. The tawny, obovoid fruit can be 65 - 75mm long and 37 - 44mm wide, with an orange, fleshy mesocarp surrounding a single, large seed[, ].
The liquid endosperm (developing seed) of the unripe fruits is drunk[, ].

We have no specific information for this species, but the fruits and seeds of various species in this genus are reported to be used for oil production in the Amazon region[]. Existing analyses of fruit fat content show a relatively homogeneous composition among the different species, with around. 20% of fat content in the mesocarp, mostly composed of oleic and palm itic acids, and 20 - 35% of fat content in the endosperm, with a predominance of lauric acid[].

Medicinal

None known

Agroforestry Uses:

The plant is a natural pioneer species that can become very abundant in secondary forest and pastures[]. It can be used in reforestation schemes within its natural range for restoring forests[].

Other Uses

The leaves and stems are sometimes used in the construction of traditional houses[].

The hard endocarp of various Amazonian species is commonly used to make beads and ornaments for necklaces[]

Propagation

Seed -

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Captcha: if i have 3 bananas, and i eat them all, how many bananas did i just eat?