about 9% of the mean daily caloric intake and about 10% of the 
protein intake. Of the two seeds, Monopteryx was consumed 
more frequently and in larger quantities. It accounted for about 
70% of the total caloric and over 80% of the protein contribution 
of the two seeds. 
There is a general tendency among the Tatuyo to use vegeta- 
ble products gathered from the wild in order to supplement 
meals in which there is little or no animal protein. This pattern 
was clear in the consumption of fresh Monopteryx seed. Only 
six out of the eighteen adults surveyed during the dietary study 
consumed fresh cooked Monopteryx seeds as part of a meal. In 
all of those meals, animal protein was not only absent but 
unavailable in the household. The exception was one meal con- 
taining a small amount of roasted insects contributing less than 
| g. of animal protein. The mean per capita intake of these 
individuals, five women and one man, was about 300 g. of fresh 
cooked seed, giving them an average intake of about 370 kcal. 
(1.5 MJ) and 9 g. crude vegetable protein. 
The highest consumption of Monopteryx in this group of six 
was one woman whose intake over a 24-hour period was 548 g. 
of fresh seed, and an additional 57 g. as “jimio janique”, making 
the daily total 605 g. of fresh seed. The seed provided her with 
about 750 kcal. (3.1 MJ) and 17 g. vegetable protein. She explic- 
itly stated that she was eating “jimio” because there was no fish 
or meat available. 
The use of Monopteryx seed as a beverage (jimio janique) 
tends to be reserved for days of low animal protein availability. 
This is especially true of stored supplies of fermented “jimio” 
after the harvest. This investigator’s carefully stored supply, set 
aside early in the harvest specifically for biochemical analysis, 
proved to be no exception. One dreary rainy morning when we 
had breakfasted without fish or meat, the family with whom we 
were living dug up the sample of fermented “jimio” and prepared 
it as “jimio janique” so that we would not be hungry. 
Like Monopteryx, fresh Erisma seed is also consumed at 
meals in which there is little or no animal protein available. The 
dietary survey data, however, indicate a much lower consump- 
tion of these seeds. The mean per capita intake of the five out of 
the eighteen adults in the dietary survey who consumed freshly 
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