Kukui or the Candlenut tree is such an important tree to Hawaii that it was named the State Tree of Hawaii in 1959, due to its multitude of uses. In Maui, this tree is a symbol of peace and enlightenment. It is prized for its high oil content and its ability to burn for about 15 minutes giving it the nickname candlenut. Today it is considered highly ornamental and can grow up to 98 feet or more when mature. This tree has a long medicinal and practical history with the culture of Hawaii.
About the Candlenut Tree
The candlenut tree is in the Euphorbiaceae family whose scientific name is Aleurites moluccanus. Hawaiians called it Kukui. This tree can be found in tropical rainforests and are is noted for its wide-spreading branches. The heart-shaped leaves are pale green and covered in rusty or cream stellate hair. The flowers are small and the fruit is a drupe with one or two lobes that has a soft, white, oily kernel contained within a hard shell. The seeds contain saponin and phorbol and are mildly toxic when eaten raw. It is difficult to determine when the first candlenut trees were domesticated but it is thought that they were first harvested on the islands of Southeast Asia. There are archeological sites with remains of harvested candlenuts in Timor and Morotai in eastern Indonesia that date to 13,000 BP.
Practical Uses
In Ancient Hawaii, kukui nuts were burned to provide light. The nuts were strung in a row on a palm leaf midrib, lit on one end, and burned one by one every 15 minutes or so. This led to their use as a measure of time. One could instruct someone to return home before the second nut burned out. Hawaiians also extracted the oil from the nut and burned it in a stone oil lamp called a kukui hele po (light, darkness goes) with a wick made of Kapa cloth.
Hawaiians made leis from the shells of the candlenut tree and would make ink from charred nuts that they would use in tattoos. They also made a varnish from the oil. Fishermen would chew the nuts and spit them on the water to break the surface tension and remove reflections, giving them greater underwater visibility. A red-brown dye made from the inner bark was used on kapa and aho (Touchardia latifolia cordage). A coating of kukui oil helped preserve fishing nets. The trunk was sometimes used to make smaller canoes used for fishing.
Traditionally, healers picked green nuts, separate the stem from its husk, and gather the sap collected in a small hole resulting from this process. This sap was topically applied on the sores or mixed with water for curing sores inside the mouth as a mouthwash. Baked nut meats, breadfruit, and milk were applied to sores and ulcers. Flowers of this tree were pounded and the resulting liquid was given to infants for stomach or bowel trouble. The nut oil was used as a very strong laxative. The bark, sap, and flowers were pounded together, and the resulting liquid was heated and then taken for asthma, sore throats, tonsillitis, toothaches, and bad breath. Young leaves were heated and placed on swellings, broken bones, and bruises. The sap from the nut was given to babies to help relieve the pain of teething. The oil was used to reduce stretch marks on a pregnant woman's stomach.
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Aleurites comes from the Greek language meaning covered with flour and is a reference to the fine hairs of the tree that makes it look like it is dusted with flour.
Other names for this tree are Indian walnut, Kemiri, Varnish tree, Kukui, or Buah keras.
Cooked nuts are generally edible, although some strains contain high amounts of cyanide.
Usually, the nut is pressed for its oil, which is used for a variety of industrial purposes like soap making, varnishes, and fuel.
In Tonga as recently as 1993, candlenuts were chewed into a sweet-scented emollient used during a traditional funerary ritual.
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