ABSTRACT
This chapter provides information on the uses, folk medicine, chemistry, germplasm, distribution, ecology, cultivation, harvesting, yields, energy, and biotic factors of Candlenut Oil Tree. Following fungi are known to attack candlenut-oil tree: Clitocybe tabescens, Fomes hawaiensis, Gloeosporium aleuriticum, Phasalospora rhodina, and Polyporus gilvus. Candlenut trees thrive in moist tropical regions, up to 1,200 m altitude. Seeds are moderately poisonous and press cake is used as fertilizer. Kernels, when roasted and cooked are considered edible; may be strung as candlenuts. Reported to be aperient, aphrodisiac, laxative, poison, purgative, stimulant, sudorific, candlenut oil tree is a folk remedy for asthma, debility, sores, swelling, tumors, unconsciousness, womb ailments, and wounds. The oil is purgative and sometimes used like castor oil. In Yunani medicine, the oil is considered anodyne, aphrodisiac, and cardiotonic, and the fruit is recommended for the brain, bronchitis, bruises, heart, hydrophobia, liver, piles, ringworm, and watery eyes.
