Babassu
(Orbignya oleifera)
A traditional beauty treatment, Babassu oil was already known for its therapeutic and cosmetic properties during the Mayan era. Characterised by its sweet smell of nuts, the oil is extracted from the seeds of the Babassu, a tree that looks like a palm tree.
Native to the Amazon, it is found from Latin America to the sunny climes of Florida and the Caribbean. Fruits similar to small coconuts have been cultivated and used by the natives for more than four centuries for their nourishing properties.
In Maranhão, a community in eastern Brazil, women who engage in small nut farming are known as “quebradeiras de coco” or “nut crackers”.
