Cohune oil

Cohune oil

Cohune oil is pressed from the seeds of the cohune palm, which is native to Central and South America.

Along with other byproducts of the palm, cohune oil is believed to have been used by cultures in southern Mesoamerica since the pre-Columbian era, in particular by the Maya. Uses of the oil include as a lubricant, for cooking, soapmaking and lamp oil. For this latter purpose the oil was placed in earthenware or soapstone lamps and lit with a wick, for cooking and illumination. The manufacture and usage of the oil continues among certain contemporary Maya communities in Belize, Guatemala and Honduras.[1]

Cohune oil is made up of the following portions of fatty acids:

Compositional analysis of cohune oil[2]
Fatty acid Percentage
Caprylic 7.5%
Capric 6.5%
Lauric 46.5%
Myristic 16.0%
Palmitic 9.5%
Stearic 3.0%
Oleic 10.0%
Linoleic 1.0%

Notes

  1. ^ Gann (1918, pp.17,31,130–131); Schlesinger (2001, pp.116–119)
  2. ^ Data sourced from Axtell (1992).

References

Axtell, B.L. (1992). "Cohune palm" (reproduced online at the FAO Corporate Document Repository). Minor Oil Crops. from research by R.M. Fairman. Rome: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. ISBN 92-5-103128-2. OCLC 26187175. http://www.fao.org/docrep/X5043E/x5043E06.htm#Cohune%20palm. Retrieved 2007-01-01. 
Gann, Thomas W.F. (1918) (PDF online facsimile of original, digitized [2008] by the Internet Archive). The Maya Indians of Southern Yucatan and Northern British Honduras. Smithsonian Institution Bureau of American Ethnology Bulletin no. 64. Washington DC: Government Printing Office. OCLC 424421. http://www.archive.org/details/mayaindiansofsou00ganniala. 
Schlesinger, Victoria (2001). Animals and Plants of the Ancient Maya: A Guide. Juan C. Chab-Medina (illus.), foreword by Carlos Galindo-Leal. Austin: University of Texas Press. ISBN 0-292-77759-0. OCLC 46937482. 

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Look at other dictionaries:

  • cohune oil — noun semisolid fat from nuts of the cohune palm; used in cooking and soap making • Syn: ↑cohune nut oil, ↑cohune fat • Hypernyms: ↑oil • Substance Holonyms: ↑cohune nut * * * noun …   Useful english dictionary

  • cohune oil — also called  cohune nut oil , cohune also spelled  cohoun        oil obtained from the kernels of the fruits, or nuts, of the cohune palm tree, Attalea cohune. The tree grows in western Central America from the Yucatán Peninsula to Honduras. The… …   Universalium

  • cohune fat — noun semisolid fat from nuts of the cohune palm; used in cooking and soap making • Syn: ↑cohune nut oil, ↑cohune oil • Hypernyms: ↑oil • Substance Holonyms: ↑cohune nut * * * noun see …   Useful english dictionary

  • cohune-nut oil — noun semisolid fat from nuts of the cohune palm; used in cooking and soap making • Syn: ↑cohune oil, ↑cohune fat • Hypernyms: ↑oil • Substance Holonyms: ↑cohune nut * * * noun see …   Useful english dictionary

  • cohune nut — noun nut of the cohune palm having hard white shells like those of ivory nuts • Hypernyms: ↑seed • Part Holonyms: ↑cohune palm, ↑Orbignya cohune, ↑cohune • Substance Meronyms: ↑cohune nut oil, ↑ …   Useful english dictionary

  • Cohune — Co*hune , n., or Cohune palm Cohune palm . [Prob. fr. a native name in Honduras.] A Central and South American pinnate leaved palm ({Attalea cohune}), the very large and hard nuts of which are turned to make fancy articles, and also yield an oil… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Cohune palm — Cohune Co*hune , n., or Cohune palm Cohune palm . [Prob. fr. a native name in Honduras.] A Central and South American pinnate leaved palm ({Attalea cohune}), the very large and hard nuts of which are turned to make fancy articles, and also yield… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • cohune — [kō ho͞on′] n. [< Central AmInd name cóhun] a Central American palm tree (Orbignya cohune) with featherlike leaves and large nuts that yield an edible oil used to make soap …   English World dictionary

  • Attalea cohune — Cohune Palm Scientific classification Kingdom: Plantae (unranked): Angiosperms (unranked): Monocots …   Wikipedia

  • cohune palm — noun tropical American feather palm whose large nuts yield valuable oil and a kind of vegetable ivory • Syn: ↑Orbignya cohune, ↑cohune • Hypernyms: ↑feather palm • Member Holonyms: ↑Orbignya, ↑genus Orbignya …   Useful english dictionary

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