ABSTRACT
This chapter provides information on the uses, folk medicine, chemistry, germplasm, distribution, ecology, cultivation, harvesting, yields, energy, and biotic factors of Physic Nut. Nuts can be strung on grass and burned like candlenuts. According to Ochse, "the young leaves may be safely eaten, steamed or stewed." They are favored for cooking with goat meat, said to counteract the peculiar smell. Though purgative, the nuts are sometimes roasted and dangerously eaten. In South Sudan, the seed as well as the fruit is used as a contraceptive. Seeds are used also for dropsy, gout, paralysis, and skin ailments. Seed is viewed as aperient; the seed oil emetic, laxative, purgative, for skin ailments. Root is used in decoction as a mouthwash for bleeding gums and toothache.
