The kukui nut, which is known in Latin as Aleurites moluccana is a tree of the Euphorbiacae, the spurge family. It is also known by various names like Varnish tree, Indian walnut Buah keras and Candleberry to the different people. Wide-spread throughout the world, Kukui nut is very popular with the people for its different uses.
The kukui nut tree is found all over the world. The full grown tree has the height of 15-25m and has pendulous or wide spreading branches. The leaves of the tree are 10-20 cm long, simple and green. They are trio bed or ovate or 5-lobed which has an acute apex. The kukui nut are 4- 6 cm in diameter and round. The seeds which are inside have a hard seed coat and contain very high oil content.
Kukui nut is called buah keras in Malay language and kemiri in Indonesian language and is used often in Malaysian and Indonesian cuisine. The kukui nut is known Lumbang in Philippines and is very popular in their cuisine. In Hawaii, kukui nut is used prominently for cooking. The oil is extracted from kukui nut and is used in the cooking. The kukui nut is roasted and a condiment which is known as Inamona which is mixed as the paste with the salt is made from the nut. In traditional Hawaiian poke, Inamona is the main ingredient.
Medicinal uses of kukui nut
Traditional medicines have always used several parts of the kukui tree in various treatments. The oil of the kukui nuts is used as the laxative and an irritant. It is also used as the additive to hair treatment and is a hair stimulant. The bark of the tree is used on tumors in Japan. The pounded seeds are burned with charcoal and are used as paste around the navel for curing costiveness in Sumatra. For headache, ulcers, fevers, gonorrhea and swollen joints, people in Malaya use boiled leaves or pulped kernels. For treating oral candidiasis in children, Hawaiian people use the sap at the top of husk and flower immediately after removing it from the branch. The bark of the tree is used for curing dysentery or diarrhea in Java.
Hawaiin people used to burn the kukui nuts to provide light. Also they use to burn nuts to measure the time before the invention of clocks. They also use to extract the oil from the kukui nuts to burn it in the stone lamps which is called kukui hele po in their language. It means light, darkness go.
Other uses of kukui nuts
Aleurites moluccana, which is commonly known as kukui nut has different name in different countries and has many uses like an ingredient in cooking, trees whose different parts are used for medicinal purpose by the people. Kukui nut is very popular with everybody as every part of the plant can be used by the people for different uses. The kukui nuts have high oil content. In Hawaii, people extract oil from kukui nut and use it for cooking. Apart from the medicinal use, kukui nut is used it for many other purposes.
