Dominical Costa Rica

"Beware of Fat Lima Beans and Yellow Strawberries that Smell like Juicy Fruit Gum"

   Yemaya handed me the fat, crescent-shaped seed about three times as large as a lima bean. Some slight indentations were visible on the otherwise smooth surface.
   “ Jenny told me it was a cashew nut,” she explained. “I love cashews, but when I bit down on the seed I felt a funny taste and something inside me said, “STOP!” I think I messed up.”
   Yemaya’s lips were flushed and a rash was visible in the corners of her mouth. I remember thinking how fortunate it was that she hadn’t bitten down any harder. My wife, Diane checked her over and told her to wait a while to see if any more symptoms appeared. After an hour she didn’t seem any worse, so Diane told her that it was probably okay to go back to the house where she was staying with other volunteers.
   The next day, Yemaya felt a little lightheaded, and had a rash on her face and neck. We tried to get her to go to a doctor, but she insisted it was nothing and said not to worry. The following day the rash covered much of her body and she was feeling terrible. She still insisted she didn’t want to see a doctor, but shortly thereafter she fainted. After Yemaya revived, Diane drove her to a local clinic. The doctor dripped serum into her vein for a couple of hours and gave her several injections in the hip. Then they sent her home with some capsules and instructions to return if she didn’t show rapid improvement. The doctor commented that, had she bitten much deeper into the cashew seed, she probably wouldn’t be there to tell the tale.
   The cashew tree (Anacardium occidentale) called “marañon” in Spanish produces an edible fruit that is slightly sweet and, at the same time, will make you pucker your lips. When hanging from the tree, it resembles a small, upside down bell pepper with a fat lima bean attached to the bottom. That “fat lima bean” has a cashew nut in the center, incased in a tough outer husk that contains a highly caustic and poisonous oil. The outer covering is the part that Yemaya bit down on, but fortunately didn’t penetrate with her teeth.
   Traditionally the edible nut is extracted by charring the entire seed until all the oil has vaporized and only the tender, tasty center remains. This is usually done with a large curved plate called a comal, outside over an open fire. The seeds are placed in the comal which is suspended over the fire, and then everyone moves away. As the oil heats it splatters, and a drop on your skin burns like concentrated acid. Even the smoke and vapor that rises from the sizzling seeds are deadly. Once the seeds are completely charred it is safe to remove them from the fire. After brushing away the burned outer covering, the delicious cashew nuts may be eaten. I have also heard of cooking the seeds by throwing them into the dwindling but still red coals of the cooking fire. Everyone I talked to about this method warned of the dangers of inhaling the smoke.
   Martiza, a long time employee of Hacienda Barú, once had some fungus spots on her right shoulder. Several trips to two different doctors had yielded no improvement and she was becoming concerned. When a fellow worker told her that a tiny bit of the oil from the outer casing of the cashew would get rid of the fungus, she decided to try it. Two of Maritza’s companions, Pedro and Olman, scored the outer surface of a cashew seed with a knife. When the milky colored oil started to ooze from the shell, they applied it lightly to the fungus spots on her neck and shoulders. The result was a series of open sores that burned, festered and itched for days and finally healed after several months. The fungus, however, survived the treatment. Today, two years later, Martiza still sports scars, reminders of her unpleasant experience with cashew oil.
   I once experienced a burn similar to those of Maritza, but originating from a different source. I first noticed it one morning, upon awaking, when I felt an irritation on the side of my face. Examination in the bathroom mirror showed a rash covering my left eyelid and the left side of my face all the way back to, and including part of my ear. By evening the rash had become an open sore, similar to Maritza’s. I had no idea what had caused it. None of the creams and ointments I normally applied to similar lesions had the slightest effect. Two trips to two different doctors produced two diagnosis and two different treatments, neither of which worked. A friend recommended a pharmacist who specializes in herbal remedies. The pharmacist, Don Edwin, took one look at my face and said, “It looks like you’ve had a little encounter with el hinchador.” The word is derived from hinchar, meaning to swell. He explained that he was referring to the manzanillo tree (Hippomane mancinella) which is commonly found on Pacific beaches. Simply lying in the shade under the tree will cause your entire body to swell. Don Edwin told me there was nothing much that could be done for my condition other than keep the sore clean and give it time to heal. He sold me an inexpensive liquid that alleviated some of the discomfort, and recommended that I rinse it will tepid chamomile tea, which also had a soothing effect. Nevertheless, healing took over a month. After hearing Don Edwin’s diagnosis, I remembered riding horseback past a manzanillo tree the afternoon before my face began to itch. I also remembered a branch of the tree brushing the left side of my head as I rode past.
   Every part of the manzanillo tree is toxic. Much of the time, tiny droplets of a sap-like substance float in the air under its branches. This sticky mist is what causes people’s bodies to swell. This sap was probably what brushed off the leaves and onto my face causing the skin to blister and peel. The bark has a milky latex that is at least as caustic as the cashew oil. Local country people won’t touch the tree with a machete for fear the latex will splatter on them. The pinkish-yellow fruit, about the size and texture of a large strawberry, smells like juicy fruit gum but is perhaps the most poisonous part of the tree.
   Tomás, a young a relative of one of our workers, once came to Hacienda Barú for a visit. Not being from this region, he had never seen a manzanillo tree and was unaware of its dangerous nature. Tomás picked up a sweet smelling fruit with the idea of eating it. As a prelude to popping it into his mouth, he thought to take a big sniff of the delicious aroma, bringing the fruit to his nose and into contact with his upper lip and nostrils. Immediately realizing his error, Tomás quickly threw the fruit on the ground, but even so, the resulting burn persisted for two months and left scars.
   The manzanillo tree is even mentioned in the ship’s log from one of Christopher Columbus' voyages to the new world. A passage in the official record describes a tragic incident that took place on an unnamed Caribbean island. After days at sea with dwindling rations and water, the crew spied land. After anchoring, the hungry and thirsty sailors rushed ashore in search of fresh water and food. A stream provided water, and nearby stood a manzanillo tree heavily laden with ripe fruit. The sailors picked it by the handful and hurriedly gulped it down. According to the log, seventeen of the crew perished that day.
   A surprisingly high percentage of plants have at least one part that is poisonous during some time during the life cycle of the plant. An example of this is the castor bean, which grows wild in much of this region. Although the seeds are somewhat toxic, the castor oil may be extracted from them and consumed in small doses with no ill effects. However, the young tender roots are quite toxic and may even be used for rodent control. Many years ago I planted some pochote trees on Hacienda Barú. While the trees were still seedlings we had problems with rats eating the roots. A forester recommended planting castor beans amongst the small trees. The rats prefer the toxic castor bean roots to any other, but die after eating them. I did as he recommended and the problem disappeared. Once the pochotes trees were mature, the roots no longer attracted the rodents. The sun loving castor bean plants then died out under the shade of the pochote.
In our tropical environment there is a tremendous diversity of species of plants. The vast majority are quite harmless, but as we have seen, there are a few that aren’t. Other than the manzanillo there are very few that are irritating to the touch. Several species of trees have a caustic latex in the bark, yet others produce an edible latex which was used by pre-Colombians as food. The best rule to follow is to never put anything in your mouth unless you know exactly what it is. As Yemaya discovered, even something as common as the cashew nut can be dangerous in its unprocessed form.

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Articles By Jack Ewing
Founder / Owner of Hacienda Baru