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Domesticating the Rainforest: Commercial Nuts from Rainforest Trees of Australia and the South Pacific
Journal article

Domesticating the Rainforest: Commercial Nuts from Rainforest Trees of Australia and the South Pacific

Helen M Wallace
Chronica Horticulturae, Vol.52(2), pp.16-18
2012
url
https://www.ishs.org/chronica-horticulturae/vol52nr2View
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Abstract

Horticultural Production
Nuts have been found to have many health benefits such as reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease and diabetes (Allen, 2008). They also have huge potential to improve the livelihood of the rural poor in developing countries and meet the Millennium Development Goal to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger. Nuts often have a high protein and oil content, giving them excellent nutritional value. They can be processed and stored for long periods and therefore can improve food security. Packaged nuts can be sold for cash, processed and exported to distant markets, thus helping the rural poor to participate in the cash economy. Only a few of the world's 250,000 species of flowering plants have been domesticated, and as few as 100 plant species provide 90% of the world's food supply (Prescott-Allen and Prescott- Allen, 1990). The world trade in tree nuts is in excess of $US 2 billion and just four species, walnuts, hazelnuts, pistachios, and almonds, make up more than 80% of this trade (USDA, 2004, 2008). Many other species of edible nuts have potential to be domesticated and sold commercially. Two rainforest trees, Macadamia and Canarium, have been the focus of efforts to domesticate and create new nut industries in Australia and the South Pacific.

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