Pracaxi (Pentaclethra macroloba) is a large tree native to the Amazon basin and other tropical regions of Central and South America. It produces long seed pods containing oily seeds that have been used by Indigenous communities for centuries, both as a food source and for traditional medicine.
Pracaxi oil, extracted from the seeds, is rich in oleic and behenic acids and has a distinctive fatty acid profile. While it is more widely known in the cosmetics industry for use in skin and hair products, the oil and seeds also have culinary applications in their regions of origin.
Pracaxi is not widely known or available in Australia. It is a niche ingredient that appears primarily in specialty and imported products. The tree plays an ecologically important role in its native habitat, including in mangrove and floodplain forests.
How it's produced
Pracaxi seeds are predominantly wild-harvested from trees growing in Amazonian forests and floodplains. The trees produce large pods that split open when ripe, releasing seeds that are collected from the ground or from the tree. Harvesting is largely done by hand by local communities as part of traditional agroforestry and extractivist economies.
The seeds are dried and then pressed to extract the oil, typically using mechanical cold-pressing methods. Some community-based processing cooperatives have been established to add value locally. Commercial cultivation of pracaxi is limited, though there is growing interest in sustainable agroforestry plantings as demand for the oil increases.
What it costs the planet (per kilo)
≈ Estimated from its category — typical for vegetable oils, not measured for this item yet. Sources & methods →
What comes from this
Your household's take
One thumb per person, shared with your household — it steers what the wider-web shelf and the swap chips offer you. Tap again to take it back.
✎ Spotted something wrong? Suggest a correction
Checking who you are...