Byrsonima crassifolia
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The changunga, nanche, nancite, nanchi or nance is the pulpy fruit of the species Byrsonima crassifolia, yellow to red when ripe, with a strong aroma, a little smaller than an olive, with a hard, round seed.
Name and etymology
It comes from the Nahuatl word nan-tzin, name of the goddess Tonantzin or Cihuacoatl. He referred nanchi and then nanche. It means 'mother'.
Classification and description
It is a small twisted or shrubby evergreen tree, deciduous in dry forests, 3 to 15 m tall with a diameter at breast height of 30 cm. Its cup is wide, open and irregular. It presents elongated leaves, arranged in a cross, simple, in the form of sheets 5 to 15 cm long by 2 to 7.5 cm wide, elliptical with the entire margin; they are dark green and almost smooth above, and pubescent grayish-yellowish green below. The trunk shows ascending branches and frequently branching from the ground. Its outer bark is scaly and falls off in gray rectangular pieces. The inner bark is cream-pink, turning pinkish-brown, fibrous, and bitter.
The flowers are presented in racemes or narrow terminal panicles 5 to 15 cm long, pubescent; they are actinomorphic flowers, hermaphrodite, yellow in color and turn reddish when ripe, 1.5 cm in diameter; calyx green, with 6-10 sessile glands; petals 5, rounded. Pendulous infructescences 10-15 cm long, drupe-like globose drupes, 1.7-2 cm in diameter, yellowish to slightly orange, with abundant sweet-sour flesh surrounding a large, hard bone. The seeds are white and are surrounded by a thin brown testa. One seed per fruit. Deep root system.
Byrsonima crassifolia is propagated by seeds or cuttings, traditionally cultivated in various tropical countries of America, although the distribution and sale of its fruit tends to be restricted to the local market. The tree is also used as an ornamental plant in countries with a warm climate outside of Latin America.
Distribution
It has a wide distribution throughout tropical America.
It is found throughout Central America and South America as far as Paraguay. It is a very common tree in the Venezuelan savannah and in coastal areas of northeastern Brazil. It is also grown in southern California and Mexico is one of the main producers of this fruit, specifically in the state of Veracruz.
Atmosphere
It has great silvicultural and ecological importance. The species restores the regenerative capacity of the forest as it grows in full sun and produces fruit quickly after being planted. This attracts animals that contribute to seed dispersal. It is found at altitudes from 50 to 1700 m. It is a very frequent primary or secondary species that makes up the tree stratum of grasslands or the so-called "savanna jungles".
It lives in places with warm, semi-warm and temperate climates. It grows and develops well in places with annual rainfall between 600 and 3000 mm, with average temperatures of 21 to 28 °C. It does not tolerate temperatures below freezing point. It thrives on open, stony slopes of tropical deciduous forest, as well as on hillsides often made up of metamorphic rocks and flat terrain. It is found in fairly degraded soils. It can withstand excessively fast-draining or poorly-drained conditions that flood in the wet season, although it does not tolerate standing water. It is observed in areas of abandoned cultivation. Soils: rocky brown, clayey, yellow-clayey, volcanic lava, stony-brown, deep-reddish limestone.
Grows in grasslands; Secondary vegetation derived from tropical forests, on stony and sandy terrain. Withstands drought and periodic pasture fires.
Conservation status
Changungo can be used for living fences and has been used successfully to restore agricultural productivity in fallow fields. The tree is used to restore degraded areas and in agroforestry systems, due to its rapid growth and its fruits, which attract wildlife. In Mexico there are plantations mixed with Spondia ssp.
Chemical studies carried out in the savannahs of Venezuela show that it induces the accumulation of organic matter in the soil.
Food consumption
The fruit is edible when ripe. It has a sweet flavor and an intense yellow color, with a bitter aftertaste. The bitterness is strongly accentuated in the immature drupes, which are also edible.
In Costa Rica, the fruit is usually eaten, or a flavored liquor known as vino de nance.
In Panama the fruits are eaten raw or cooked as a dessert. Throughout the country it is prepared cooked in water with sugar or zest, with corn starch, or with sweet corn milk or even flour, which is known as "pesada de nance", always accompanied by cheese cool white. In some regions milk is added to this preparation. The nance is also consumed in juices, soft drinks, hard (frozen) and even ice cream and even as a sweet prepared with the fruit cooked in water and sugar. Its firewood is also highly appreciated, as it gives a delicious aroma and flavor to roasted meats.
In Mexico it is consumed and prepared in various ways: raw, salty, enchilada, syrupy, in ice cream, frozen popsicles, as fresh water, shaved snow, and even tanned with brandy known as Wine or Changunga Liquor or … from Nancite, depending on the name it receives in each country. It is one of the most popular fruits that are fermented for the preparation of tepache.
In Nicaragua the fruit is usually eaten and the nancite caramel is one of the typical sweets of the country.
Properties
The most common medicinal use given to this plant is against diarrhea. Although it is also indicated in other digestive disorders such as dysentery, stomach pain, indigestion, lack of digestion, bile and constipation. In the treatment of these ailments the bark is used in cooking, orally.
It is used in gynecological problems such as infections of the womb and inflammation of the ovaries, it prevents abortion and facilitates childbirth, and it is applied in skin conditions, against scabies, pimples and cloves. Its cooking combined with cedar bark (sp. n/r) is used to wash wounds.
Other medicinal uses that are given to it are: kidney conditions, lower back pain, colds, diabetes, as a tonic, to tighten gums, wounds and snake bites. Antipyretic and astringent properties are attributed to it. Its effectiveness is due to the astringent action of the tannin it contains.
History
In the XVI century, Francisco Hernández recounts: "the fruit is cold and moist in nature, edible and favorable to those who have a fever".
No further information appears until the XX century when Maximino Martínez refers to it as: acaricide, antiblenorrhea, antidiarrheal, antitumor, aperitif, astringent, intestinal atony, cathartic, eupeptic, galactogenic, for metrorrhagia and tonic.
Common name
Spanish: changunga, nanci, nance, indano, nanche, white nance, nancite, nancito, chaparro, chinche chaparro, savannah chaparro, peralejo chaparro, manteco chaparro, manteco, manteco sabanero, manero, crabo, marushi, queer, maricao cimarrón, cimarrón, peralejo, white peralejo, peralija, tapal, yoco.