ABSTRACT
This chapter provides information on the uses, folk medicine, chemistry, germplasm, distribution, ecology, cultivation, harvesting, yields, energy, and biotic factors of Saba Nut. Young leaves and flowers are used as a vegetable. The seeds contain 50 to 58% oil, with an aroma suggesting licorice or fenugreek. Panamanians and/or Colombians make a breadstuff from powdered roasted seed. Bark yields a yellow dye used to tint sails, fishing nets, and lines. Saba nut is a folk remedy for eye ailments and inflammations. Guatemalans use the bark and immature fruits for liver afflictions. Saba nut is reported to tolerate drought and waterlogging. The genus apparently contains only one more species, the very similar Pachira insignis. Pachira insignis is listed as an important alternative host to Steirostoma breve, major cocoa pest in tropical South America and the Caribbean Islands.
