VOLUME LXXII NUMBER 5 
LHE 
HOTANICAE” (GAZETTE 
NOVEMBER 1o2t 
DECAY OF BRAZIL NUTS 
EDWIN ROLLIN SPENCER 
(WITH PLATES VIII-XII AND THREE FIGURES) 
Introduction 
Brazil nuts, Para nuts, Cream nuts, etc., are the seeds of 
Bertholletia nobilis Miers and B. excelsa Humb. and Bonpl. The 
nuts are harvested in the months of January, February, and March, 
when the heavy pericarps containing the seeds fall to the ground. 
They are collected and transported from the forests to the seaports 
at a time of year when heat and moisture favor fungous growth, 
and often a cargo reaches New York 30 per cent spoiled. The 
United States Bureau of Chemistry holds that nuts are adulterated 
food if more than 15 per cent are spoiled, and requires that such 
nuts be shelled before being placed on the market. In spite of 
these measures, however, Brazil nuts reach the consumer containing 
from 10 to 25 per cent of spoiled nuts. There were 43,076,348 
pounds of Brazil and Cream nuts shipped into the United States 
in 1919 (7). It is probable that half of this amount, or 21,538,174 
pounds, were retailed in the shell. It is conservative to estimate the 
loss through spoiled nuts at ro per cent of this amount, or 2,153,817 
pounds, an approximate money loss, at 40 cents per pound, of 
$861,526.80, which falls directly upon the consumer. Brazil nuts 
do not become rancid very readily, and for this reason they are 
not placed in cold storage during warm weather as are most other 
nuts. They are heaped in piles in supposedly dry and often very 
265 
