Description of the tropical endemic, calorie content, composition and useful properties. Restrictions on the use of yatob. How to get the pulp of the fruit and prepare a delicious dish. Interesting facts about the copal tree. Due to the high starch content in the pulp, it is recommended to use the fruits for gastritis with high acidity and with increased bile secretion. When it enters the digestive tract and stomach, a film forms on the mucous membrane that protects against the aggressive effects of hydrochloric acid and bile.
Contraindications and harm to
Like all tropical fruits, agouti in a European person can provoke the development of an allergic reaction. Copal tree fruits are highly allergenic.
It is impossible to introduce "locusts" into the diet in case of diabetes mellitus and pancreatitis.
The harm from it appears with daily use, which causes:
- Stagnation of toxins in the intestines and gradual intoxication;
- Violation of water and electrolyte balance due to pronounced diuretic action;
- The development of varicose veins.
The Indians give the pulp of the pods to their children instead of sweets, but for European babies, such an additive to the diet is not recommended until they reach the age of three. In order not to provoke negative reactions of the body, one should not introduce locusts into the menu for pregnant and lactating women.
How the copal tree is eaten
Local residents often consume the sweet white-yellow pulp raw, but sometimes it is diluted in water or milk. Sometimes it is mixed with honey, formed into balls and given to children as a treat.
How to eat jatobu, if the skin of the pods is stiff and the halves are tightly closed? It is impossible to pick them up with a knife. To open the pods, use the same method as for nuts. The shell is broken.
There is no need to be afraid that the pulp will spill out. In fresh agouti, it contains a lot of moisture and does not crumble. And the shells can be ground and used as tea leaves.
Jatobie recipes
Dried pulp from the pods is added to the dough when baking bread and desserts, used as an ingredient for puree soup. To get flour, the pulp from the fruit is first dried and then rubbed through a sieve to remove lumps.
Recipes from jato:
- Broyns … Ingredients for the dough: a little less than a glass of ordinary wheat flour and half a glass of pulp and polenta (corn flour) each, half a glass of milk, a glass of sugar, 2 eggs. Knead the dough using 1 egg, add a teaspoon of salt and soda (you can replace the soda with a tablespoon of baking powder), a handful of fennel seeds. The consistency of the dough should be firm, if necessary, add or reduce the amount of milk. The dough is considered ready when it stops sticking to your hands. Preheat the oven to 180 ° C. A baking sheet is greased with vegetable oil - preferably refined corn, and round buns are formed from golden dough, slightly smaller in size than golf balls. These "balls" are greased with a beaten egg, placed in the oven and baked until tender. The upper crust on the finished breuns is slightly cracked, rough. Buns go well with coffee and milk.
- Creamy soup with yatoba … Chicken broth is boiled first. It is not necessary to use chicken breast, any meat can be used. You need about 1 liter of broth. You don't need to add salt, you still need salt later, but you must use vegetables: carrots, onions and 3 cloves of garlic. The vegetables are then removed. Lentils are soaked in advance and washed. Next, pour 50 g of lentils into the broth and boil until half cooked. Add grated carrots to the pan, half a glass, the same amount of chopped celery root, half a glass of finely chopped ham. All this is boiled until the lentils are fully cooked. 5 minutes before turning off, add pod pulp and spices - a quarter teaspoon each of dried basil, oregano, black pepper. If necessary, dilute the soup with boiled water, add salt and pour in about 8 tablespoons of hot tomato sauce just before turning it off. The finished soup is interrupted with a blender. Before serving, add sour cream and sprinkle with finely chopped parsley.
- Baked jatoba … The fruits are baked in the same way as chestnuts. It is impossible to do this only without skill. The skin of the pods is hard enough to use a hard-bladed electric knife or drill to cut. After the holes have been made in the pods, they are laid out on an oven rack or grill and baked until the rind turns dark brown. You do not need to wait until it cracks, otherwise the pulp will be overcooked. Baked jatoba opens easier. The pulp can be eaten with a spoon, with ice cream, or diluted with milk. You do not need to throw out the seeds and peels, you can make delicious drinks from them.
Residents of Brazil bake bread and porridge from the pulp of the fruit, add it to jelly and even ice cream.
Jatoba Drink Recipes
The easiest way to prepare a drink for children is to simply dilute the fresh pulp with milk or freshly brewed cocoa.
Drinks from ito:
- Tea … The peel of fresh fruit is finely ground and brewed like tea.
- Cinnamon drink … It tastes like coffee. Brew the crushed shell and seeds from fried fruits, boil for 5 minutes, add cinnamon.
- Mate with yatoba … Can be consumed even with milk protein intolerance. Young shoots of Paraguayan holly are boiled in milk, and pulp is added to it. It softens the bitter taste, and children drink the drink with pleasure. It can be used as a breakfast for babies - just add more pulp. If not very sweet, you can add honey.
- Sweet mate … For children, milk is used for brewing, for adults - water. The liquid is boiled, cooled to 80-85 degrees, poured with mate and infused for 20 minutes. Pour in the pulp, mixed with honey, so much that it does not turn out too thick. If water was used for infusion, a slice of lemon is added to the mat.
The pulp of the pods is mixed with vodka and allowed to ferment. The resulting mash is filtered and used as an ingredient for cocktails.
Interesting facts about the copal tree
Jatoba is an evergreen tree, but can shed its foliage during the long dry season. Despite the fact that the fruit does not at all resemble a cherry or plum, the tree is sometimes called the South American cherry or plum. Probably because of the large red-brown beans.
The wood is very dense, hard, beautiful on the cut - light pink, almost "salmon", with black veins. It goes to the manufacture of countertops or cabinet doors in exclusive headsets.
The fruits of the plant are not popular fresh, although the export of the pods is very easy to establish. They do not deteriorate during long-term storage, do not require special conditions. However, due to the unpleasant odor, the pulp has to be processed, and it goes on sale after processing. In this form, the shelf life is reduced to 3-4 months.
Bats pollinate the tree. If the dry season lasts only 2-3 months, it bears fruit all year round. One plant can harvest 100-150 pods.
The pulp of the fruit is often used as animal feed.
The copal tree gives off a resin that, when solidified, resembles amber. The resin of the first ancient copal trees is valued like Baltic amber and is called anime. Souvenirs and various crafts are made from it. There are cases when the newly released copal resin was passed off as an anime, having previously processed it so that it would not melt.
Aboriginal people often chew bark instead of chewing gum. Unlike the fruit, the smell is pleasant, and the taste is sweet, like pulp.
The Indians use anime to treat lung diseases and fungal infections. They fumigate patients with rheumatism with resin. Scientific studies have confirmed its bactericidal properties.
The resin is also used to treat toothaches and gum inflammation. Fumigation normalizes the heart rate and improves visual function, stimulates the regeneration of the skin.
The bark is used to treat prostatitis and cystitis, and the leaf tincture is used to eliminate pain in rheumatism.
Plants prefer moist soil and partially shaded areas, they do not tolerate frost at all. When the temperature drops to + 5-7 ° C, the tree dies. Young growth, after it grows, destroys all surrounding crops with a shadow, creating a "free zone" for rooting its own seeds. Mature trees need more light.
Watch the video about jatoba:
It is impossible to get a crop from an endemic grown in a winter garden. Flowers are pollinated by bats, and how to replace them has not yet been invented.
