HISTORY OF THE TAGUA NUT
Tagua Nut (Philetelas Microcarpas), also called the
Vegetable Ivory Nut, is the ivory alternative. The ivory nut is close grain and
very hard. The cellular structure and grain is similar to that of elephant
ivory, but is more dense and resilient. It resembles the finest ivory in
texture and color.
Tagua Nut
The fruit of the tagua tree is almost completely round
measuring 20 to 50 cm in diameter with a blackish exterior. This fruit, also
known as “mococha”, has many locular cavities each containing two or more
seeds.
Tagua will take approximately 15 years to produce its
first harvest and will not stop bearing fruit for all of the years and even a
century to come. A 35 to 40 year old plant measures about 6 feet and produces,
in the 3 yearly harvests, between 15 to 16 heads or “mocochas”.
Before the invention of plastics tagua was used in the
making of buttons and other common items such as jewelry, dice, chess pieces
and cane handles. In fact, some expensive "ivory" pieces from the
Victorian era were actually made from tagua nuts. Tagua products are experiencing
a comeback in an effort to protect endangered species such as elephants, whales
and walruses that have been a source of animal ivory. The tagua nuts, however,
are harvested by hand without harming the tree.
Tagua and the Tropical Rainforest
Tagua and the Tropical Rainforest
In addition to protecting animal ivory, tagua products help preserve tropical rainforests by providing a sustainable income for forest peoples. Renewable rainforest products such as tagua can help prevent the degradation of forests into low quality farmland and cattle pastures. The sale of tagua products also helps forest peoples make the transition to a cash economy when they are unable to survive in a completely traditional lifestyle.
There are several species of tagua palms and they often
grow in colonies to the exclusion of other vegetation. The tagua nuts grow in
large armored clusters with each cluster containing many egg sized nuts.
The content of the immature fruit is a tasteless crystalline liquid. When it starts to ripen this turns into a sweet and pleasant milky substance, transforming later to a gelatinous viscous consistency and finally becoming an extraordinarily hard product similar in color, appearance and feel to natural ivory. Tagua nuts are eaten by forest animals.
To get a better understanding please visit this youtube
video.
This video shows the process of this special seed to make
jewelry.
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