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Andiroba seed

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Irene:
Hi,
I was checking a shampoo and found andiroba seed oil as an ingredient.  The scientific name is carapa guianensis and it's from the rainforest in Brazil.  Does anyone know if it is a nut?  I did a quick Google search but did not find any definitive answer.
Thanks for any help anyone can offer.

Irene

CMdeux:
Let me see what I can figure out...

carapa guianensis

It's in the family

Meliaceae.  (Mahogany family.)

This link has a very nice view of the 'fruit' in a lovely botanical illustration:

http://www.tropilab.com/carapa-gui.html

I think that coupled with this (classic) resource...


http://waynesword.palomar.edu/ecoph8.htm

and

http://waynesword.palomar.edu/fruitid1.htm

It looks as though this seed is quite like those of the horse chestnut (buckeye) family.  It's also possible, however, that it could well be among the Brazil nut relatives, based on the seed pods.

I'm not a botanist, and I don't  even pretend to have expertise in taxonomy like that.

http://www.carapa.org/en/introduction.htm

Might shed more light on it.

Irene:
CMdeux, thanks for much for your research and links.  I still don't have a definitive answer, unfortunately, so I'll avoid using the shampoo for now.

Irene

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