ABSTRACT
This chapter provides information on uses, folk medicine, chemistry, germplasm, distribution, ecology, cultivation, harvesting, yields, energy, and biotic factors of Pili Nut. Abarquez says pili is second only to cashew as a food nut in the Philippines, where it is considered superior to almonds. The nuts have been used to adulterate chocolate. This species is one source of the commercial resin traded as Manila elemi. Spaniards repaired their ships, in colonial days, with gum elemi. The "elemi" was once used as an ointment for healing wounds. Filipinos use the crushed emulsion of the kernels as a substitute for milk for infants. Generally grown from seed; superior selections may be grafted. It can be marcotted and budded as well. In the Philippines, it is often planted between rows of coconut. Seedlings, wrapped in banana sheath or bark, are transported carefully to the transplant site at the onset of the rainy season.
