breadnut
- Also called:
- milk tree or ramon
- Related Topics:
- seed
breadnut, (Brosimum alicastrum), prolific tree of the family Moraceae and its edible seeds. The plant is found widely in second-growth Central American and Mexican tropical rainforests and is cultivated in many tropical countries. The sweet orange-skinned fruits contain protein-rich seeds that are boiled and made into a paste or are roasted and used to make a coffeelike drink. The milk-white sap, giving the tree one of its popular names, is a nutritious drink. The light-coloured hardwood can be used in construction, and the leaves offer forage for cows, sheep, and goats.
Tall with a dense, wide crown, a single breadnut tree can yield 1,000 kg (2,200 pounds) of nutritious seeds from masses of yellow, round, one-inch fruits. The alternate, short-stemmed, oval or oblong leaves measure about 18 cm (7 inches) long. The breadnut is an easy tree to cultivate, tolerating many soil types and growing rapidly.
Breadnut grows widely in areas formerly colonized by the Mayan civilization, especially in the Petén region of Guatemala, and its presence in deep forest is considered by some experts to be evidence of pre-Colombian Mayan silviculture. The trees were planted extensively in the lost city of Tikal (200 bce–900 ce). Mayans are thought to have preserved the seeds in underground chambers called chultunob, probably as insurance against famine.
