Editing Caryocar brasiliense (section)

== Fruit and uses ==

The edible part is the orange, oily, strongly scented mesocarp, with a sweet but acquired flavor. <sup>[[#cite_note-4|[4]]]</sup> The internal mesocarp carries 36-66% oil on a dry-weight basis, roughly 60% oleic and 35% palmitic acid, and pulp and kernel oils have been studied as a potential cocoa-butter substitute fat. <sup>[[#cite_note-12|[12]]]</sup>

The hard endocarp of each pyrene is lined with numerous tiny rigid spines. Biting directly into the pit drives these spicules painfully into the mouth, where they are difficult to remove; the safe way to eat the fruit raw is to scrape the spike-free outer layer of pulp away with the teeth. <sup>[[#cite_note-3|[3]]]</sup>

Cooking underlies most uses: pequi flavors rice and chicken dishes and is made into jams and a liquor, and the seeds are processed into pequi oil for cooking and cosmetics, with skin products citing moisturising properties. <sup>[[#cite_note-3|[3]]]</sup>

At least one spineless-endocarp tree has been documented in the wild, at São José do Xingu in Mato Grosso; its endocarp contents were described as fleshier and slightly sweeter, and RAPD markers separated the spineless population from thorny trees. It remains a documented individual, not a released cultivar. <sup id="cite_ref-16">[[#cite_note-16|[16]]]</sup>