cooked Erisma seed was 44 g. This provided them with approxi- 
mately 125 kcal. (0.5 MJ) and 1.5 g. crude vegetable protein. 
Since both Erisma seed and bati-butter are very high in fat, they 
are more important as sources of calories than of vegetable 
protein. 
The ability of the Tatuyo to store both Monopteryx and 
Erisma in a fermented state extends their availability. The har- 
vest period lasts into the mid-rainy season when neither hunting 
nor fishing is very productive. Stored supplies of both seeds are 
important food resources at the height of the rainy season in 
July, when animal protein of almost any kind is difficult to 
obtain. 
Stored supplies of “jimio” in the village were almost all 
exhausted by late August, two months after the harvest. One 
household held a supply for two additional months. Bati-butter 
is eaten in smaller amounts than “jimio” and stored supplies 
were stretched to at least six months in many households. Much 
of the bati-butter, however, was eaten during the height of the 
rainy season, even though it was explicitly stated by the Tatuyo 
that it was being saved to eat with fish porridge in October when 
fish are more abundant. 
Our purpose here has been to describe and illustrate the use of 
two little-known food plants in the diet of indigenous peoples in 
the northwestern Amazon. By doing so, we suggest that closer 
attention be paid to collected vegetable foods. Although the 
caloric staple of these people is provided by cultivation, and 
animal protein is obtained from wild fauna, gathered vegetable 
foods are important supplementary nutritional resources. 
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 
We are indebted to Dr. Polidoro Pinto E., Director of the 
Instituto de Ciencias Naturales, Universidad Nacional de 
Colombia, Bogota, and to the specialists at this institute for their 
generous hospitality and technical assistance. We would also 
like to thank Drs. V. E. Rudd, R. S. Cowan, and J. J. Wurdack 
for their assistance in verifying plant determinations; Dr. Ger- 
ardo Pérez Gomez, Departamento de Quimica, Universidad 
Nacional de Colombia, for his help with the biochemical anal- 
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