ABSTRACT
This chapter provides information on the uses, folk medicine, chemistry, germplasm, distribution, ecology, cultivation, harvesting, yields, energy, and biotic factors of Moreton Bay Chestnut. Australian aborigines processed the seeds for food. Of its edibility, O. N. Allen and E. K. Allen say, "The edibility of the roasted seed of C. australe, often equated with that of the European chestnut, has been overestimated. Commonly cultivated in Australia in home gardens and as a street tree, this species is well known in the timber trade as Black Bean. Australian cattle fatalities are reported from grazing the fallen seed during dry periods. Seeds contain the triterpenoid castanogenin. According to the Threatened Plants Newsletter, 100 kg of seed were shipped to the US for cancer and AIDS research, research which is suggesting anti-AIDS activity, in vitro at least. The unpleasant purgative effects of fresh seeds and their indigestibility are attributed to the 7% saponin content.
