Macadamia ( Macadamia integrifolia )

Fruit Warehouse | Macadamia ( Macadamia integrifolia ) | The flowers are produced in a long, slender, simple raceme 5-30 cm long, the individual flowers 10-15 mm long, white to pink or purple, with four tepals. Common names include macadamia, macadamia nut, Queensland nut, bush nut, nut maroochi, queen of nuts and nut bauple; Indigenous Australian names include gyndl, jindilli, and boombera.

Macadamia is a genus of nine species of Flowering plants in the family Proteaceae, with a disjunct distribution native to eastern Australia (seven species), New Caledonia (one species M. neurophylla) and Sulawesi in Indonesia (one species, M. hildebrandii).

Assessment as to whether a macadamia nut has undergone sufficient drying to Ensure the moisture content is low, can be undergone by dropping the Macadamia nuts in their shell from normal hand onto a floor surface height That Is Relatively hard and solid, eg concrete or tiles. Subsequent shaking of the nut and hearing the rattling inside nutmeat indicates the nut is loose from its shell, and Thus Spake can be cracked with a higher intact-nut-yield ratio. That do not rattle Nuts have not dried sufficiently to Reduced the moisture content and allow the nut to shrink away from the shell. To penetrate the nut's hard protective shell, a metal vise or hammer can be used to compress the shell until it lightly fractures, then the pressure is released and the nut is repositioned to crack it along a different plane.

In Malawi, the macadamia tree was first introduced in Tea Plantations as wind shields in the low tea and the tea fields Pickers used to roast the nuts in this style as a fatty snack. Compared to other common edible nuts as almonds and cashews Such, macadamias are high in fat and low in protein. Macadamias are toxic to dogs.  Macadamia nuts are Often fed to hyacinth Macaws in captivity. These large parrots are one of the few animals, aside from Humans, capable of cracking and shelling the nuts. Nuts of the "Arkin Papershell" variety crack open more readily.

Macadamia species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species, Including Batrachedra arenosella. Macadamia nuts are Often used by law enforcement to crack cocaine in drug Simulate Stings. When chopped, the nuts resemble crack cocaine in color. Macadamia oil is prized for containing approximately 22% of the omega-7 palmitoleic acid, the which makes it a botanical alternative to mink oil, the which contains approximately 17%. This Relatively high content of "cushiony" palmitoleic acid plus macadamia's high oxidative stability make it a Desirable ingredients in cosmetics, ESPECIALLY for skincare.