The nut and parts of the tree are prepared in a variety of ways. The three sided brazil nut with meat of flesh that consists of 70 percent fat or oil and 17 percent protein. In the Brazilian Amazon the tree bark is brewed into a tea to treat liver ailments and diseases. For centuries the indigenous tribes of the rainforest have relied on Brazil nuts as an important and significant staple of their diet. So important, that is has even been used as a trade commodity, much like money.
Indigenous tribes eat the nuts raw, or they are grated and mixed into gruels.
In the Brazilian Amazon, the nuts are grated with the thorny stilt roots of Socratea palms into a white mush know as leite de catanha , and then stirred into manioc flour. The Brazil nut does have other economic values other than human consumption, Brazil nuts have a valuable oil as well. The oil is a clear yellowish in color which has a pleasant and sweet smell and taste. Brazil nut oil contains mainly palmitic, oleic and linoleic and alpha linolenic acids and small amounts of myristic and stearic acids and phytosterols. It provides stabilizing detergent properties and helps keep hair clean.