Surprisingly, the main producer of walnuts in Brazil is not the country that gives it its name, but Bolivia. The Brazilian nut is native to the Guianas, Venezuela, Brazil, eastern Colombia, eastern Peru and eastern Bolivia. It appears as trees scattered in large forests along the banks of the Amazon River, Rio Negro, Tapajós and the Orinoco. In North America, as early as 1896, walnuts from Brazil were sometimes referred to by the slang term “fingers in black”, a vulgarity that gradually ceased to be used as racial insult became socially unacceptable.
Brazil's walnut trees produce fruit almost exclusively in virgin forests, since altered forests lack large bees of the genera Bombus, Centris, Epicharis, Eulaema and Xylocopa, which are the only ones capable of pollinating the flowers of the tree, with different types of bees being the main pollinators in different areas and at different times of the year. In recent years, several second- and third-tier exporters have outperformed former production centers, resulting in a constantly changing mix of food sources. It grows on trees in the rainforest, since the tree's complex ecological needs are difficult to reproduce on cultivated land. Brazil nut (Bertholletia excelsa) is a South American tree from the Lecythidaceae family, and is also the name of the tree's edible seeds harvested commercially.
Half of the world's Brazil nuts come from Bolivia, another 40% more or less come from Brazil and the other 10% from Peru. But he didn't mention that Colombia's cocaine production has simply been transferred to neighboring countries. The fruit without nuts (actually more closely related to a blueberry) in question was once cultivated by a small monopoly in Brazil, but for many years Bolivia has led production. The fluctuation in production affected the price of walnuts in Brazil worldwide, but the effects were most pronounced in the United Kingdom, where prices rose by around 60%.
Annual production fluctuates depending on environmental conditions and on a standard method for projecting future production that does not exist. In several Spanish-speaking countries in South America, walnuts from Brazil are called chestnuts from Brazil, walnuts from Brazil, or chestnuts from Pará (or Para). The family of Brazil nuts, Lecythidaceae, belongs to the order Ericales, as do other well-known plants such as blueberries, blueberries, sapote, gutapercha, tea, phlox and persimmons. The country produces the most tea in the world by far, but it lags far behind countries such as Sri Lanka and Kenya in terms of exports.
Walnut wood from Brazil is prized for its quality in carpentry, flooring and heavy construction. During the period under review, the increase in global nut production in Brazil was mainly due to the increase in disposable income, the popularity of healthy eating and the growth of medical and personal care products. In addition, these key factors are expected to continue to promote Brazil's nut production in the short term.
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