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Candlenut (Aleurites moluccanus)

Kemiri or candlenut (Aleurites moluccanus) is a plant species in Euphorbiaceae, a large tree, up to 40 meters high, up to 1.5 m in diameter, gray bark and slightly rough lenticell, widespread in tropical areas, seeds are used as source of oil and spices.

A. moluccanus has young leaves, twigs and flowers adorned with stellar hair that is dense, short and silver in color as if it is dusted with flour. Large tree canopy appears whitish or silvery in the distance.

Dlium Candlenut (Aleurites moluccanus)


Single leaf, alternating, dark green, stalk has a length of up to 30 cm with a pair of glands at the tip. Leaflets are round or egg-shaped or oval or triangular, diameter up to 30 cm, heart-shaped base, 3-5 triangles at the ends and bones are traced only at first.

The flowers are in thyrsoid panicles in the terminal or at the tip of the armpits and 10-20 cm long. White flowers, short stems, females at the end of the extra umbrella panicles, males have a smaller size, bloom first and have more numbers. The lancet-shaped crown, 5 parts, 6-7 mm long in males and 9-10 mm in females.

Fruit slightly ovate and somewhat flattened, 5-6x4-7 cm, olive green outside with velvet hair, whitish flesh and not broken. Each fruit has 1-2 seeds, wrapped in a hard and thick shell, slightly flattened, up to 3x3 cm with whitish pieces and rich in oil.

Seeds are widely used as a cooking spice and thick sauce which is eaten with vegetables and rice. The ripe fruit is processed into a paste and used as a fertilizer for hair, soap and shampoo. Seed core contains 60-66% oil. Each tree will produce about 30-80 kg every year and 15-20% of the weight is oil.





Oil is used to preserve wood, varnish or paint, coating paper to be waterproof, soap ingredients, a mixture of insulation materials, rubber substitutes, low-quality fuels and others. Wood is very light and whitish in color, often used for small appliances, lighters, handicrafts, firewood and pulp.

Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Tracheophyta
Subphylum: Angiospermae
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Malpighiales
Family: Euphorbiaceae
Genus: Aleurites
Species: Aleurites moluccanus

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