Illipe Nut II

Illipe nuts come in a wide variety of sizes and shapes. Irregardless of the size of the seed produced, all species of illipe nut flower and fruit synchronously at unpredictable intervals of from 2 to 10 years. This reproductive behavior, known as "mast fruiting",  is thought to be an evolutionary response to excessive seed predation. What this means from a commercial standpoint, however, is that the availability of seeds from year to year is almost impossible to predict.  Try explaining that to your buyers. [NOTE: Mast fruiting is thought to limit the abundance of frugivores and seed predators in the forest by concentrating their food supply into one brief period every few years when they are swamped by more food than they can posisble eat.]

Illipe Nut

Illipe nuts from various Shorea species.

Dayak children in West Kalimantan with the seeds of S. stenoptera.

Trucks loaded with illipe nuts waiting outside the C.V. Mentawi processing plant in Pontianak, West Kalimantan.

The seeds produced by several species of Shorea in Borneo contain an edible oil whose physical and chemical properties are remarkably similar to cocoa butter.  These seeds are known commercially as "illipe nuts", and large quantities are collected and sold internationally to be used in the manufacture of chocolate, soap, candles, and cosmetics. West Kalimantan exports tens of thousands of tons of illipe nuts. [NOTE: The triglyceride fractions in illipe nut oil occur in similar proportions to those found in cocoa butter, and the oil can be blended with chocolate without altering the texture, gloss, or taste of the original confection.  The higher melting point of illipe nut oil makes it especially useful as a chocolate hardener, i.e. so that it melts in your mouth, not in your hand].