Platonia insignis Mart. - syn.Platonia esculenta (Arruda) Oken - Clusiaceae - bacurizeiro, bacouré (port.), bacuri, **Bacuri**

Dry-season deciduous tree, up to 40m tall, native to tropic South America; bark with yellow latex; leaves opposite, elliptic to oblong to, up to 15cm long, glossy dark green, leathery.

"The flowers are 5-7 cm long and pink in color, with five petals and numerous stamens. The fruit is round to oval and 7-14 cm long, with a thick, yellow skin. It resembles a papaya. The rind exudes a yellow latex when pressed. The sticky white pulp is fragant, with a taste that is both sweet and sour. There are 3 to 5 seeds." \\ [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Platonia]]

"After the first bite, I thought I have never tasted anything like this before in my life. It’s a semi sticky pulp with a soft texture, and it’s incredibly fragrant. It’s very sweet but with a slight sour/acidic kick at the end - it’s absolutely delicious, and the rich flavor lingers in your mouth long after you swallow the pulp. After a few more bites, I had a vivid childhood flashback and immediately realized what flavor I was tasting - Fruit Loops! I could never figure out what fruit Fruit Loops actually tasted like until now. I know it’s a stretch (and I’m not sure that Alex totally agrees with me on this comparison) but I’m convinced that someone came to the Amazon, saw a colorful bird eating this fruit, tried it, had an epiphany, and sold the concept to Kellog’s. Coincidentally, the bacuri is actually pollinated by the white-bellied parrot. :p" \\
[[http://seekingsustenance.wordpress.com/2010/03/07/bacuri-cupuacu/]]

"The free and bound flavour components of bacuri fruits were analysed by capillary GC and GC-MS following XAD-2 separation. Seventy-five components were identified in the free volatile fraction; the most abundant were terpene alcohols, among them, linalool and related compounds, linalol furanoxides and pyranoxides, hotrienol and several dimethyl-octadiendiols. Abundant amounts of 4-methoxy-2,5-dimethyl-3(2H)-furanone were also found. Seven glucosides and three rutinosides were identified by GC-MS of their TFA derivatives for EI-MS and NCI-MS, in agreement with quantitative data obtained for enzymatically released aglycones and saccharidic moieties structure; the most important glycosides were benzyl, 2-phenylethyl, (E)-linalool furanoxide and (S)-linalool glucosides and benzyl, 2-phenylethyl, and (S)-linalool rutinosides." \\
[Free and bound flavour components of amazonian fruits. 1: Bacuri., Boulanger, R., Chassagne, D., Crouzet, J., Flavour and fragrance journal, Vol.14(5), 1999, 303-311]

{{:platonia_insignis.jpg?600}} \\
Martius,C., Eichler,A.G., Urban,I., Flora Brasiliensis, vol.12(1) f.102, t.107 (1888) \\
[[http://plantgenera.org/species.php?id_species=805921]]

{{https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c0/Bacuri_Platonia_insignis_3.JPG}} \\
Bacuri, Platonia insignis fruits, author: Hellen Perrone (2007) \\
[[https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Platonia_insignis|Wikimedia Commons]] © [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_domain|Public Domain]]