Açai
The Açai Palm tree is native to tropical Central and South America growing mainly in floodplains and swamps of Brazil and Peru. Açai is known mostly for its fruit, a small deep-purple berry about 1 inch in diameter.

The berries are harvested as food. In a study of three traditional Caboclo populations in the Amazon region of Brazil, açaí palm was described as the most important plant species because the fruit makes up such a major component of diet (up to 42% of the total food intake by weight) and is economically valuable in that region.

The juice and pulp of açaí fruits are frequently used in various juice blends, smoothies, sodas, and other beverages. In northern Brazil, açaí (or jussara, which is one of the fruit's common folk names) is traditionally served in gourds called "cuias" with tapioca and, depending on the local preference, can be consumed either salty or sweet.

Açaí has become popular in southern Brazil where it is consumed cold as "açaí-na-tigela" ("açaí in the bowl"), mostly mixed with granola — a fad in which açai is considered an energizer. Studies have demonstrated that blood antioxidant capacity increases within two hours of consuming a commercial açaí juice.

Apart from the use of its berries as food, the açai palm has other commercial uses. Leaves may be made into hats, mats, baskets, brooms and roof thatch for homes, and trunk wood, resistant to pests, for building construction.

Buriti Palm
Mauritia flexuosa
The buriti palm grows in and near swamps and other wet areas in tropical South America. It is an elegant tree which can reach up to 35 meters in height. The large leaves form a rounded crown. The flowers are yellowish, and appear from December to April. The fruit, which grows from December to June, is a chestnut color and is covered with shiny scales. The seeds float, and this is the means by which the palm tree propagates.

Buriti Palm fruit is edible, has a high vitamin C content, and is used to make juice, jam, ice cream, and a fermented "wine". An oil high in vitamin A is extracted from the pulp and is frequently used to treat burns because of its soothing qualities. The inflorescence buds are eaten as a vegetable, and the sap can be drunk fresh or fermented. Threads and cords are locally produced from the tree's fibers.

Buriti oil is an orange-reddish oil extracted from the fruit of the Moriche palm. The oil contains high concentrations of oleic acid, tocopherols and carotenoids, especially β-carotene. Recently it has been found to filter and absorb cancer-causing UV rays from the sun. 

This tree is important to several bird species, such as the Red-bellied Macaw,Sulphury Flycatcher and Moriche Oriole, which use it for nesting and food.

Coconut Cocos nucifera

The Coconut Palm is a member of the Family Arecaceae. It is the only species in the genus Cocos, and is a large palm, growing to 30 m tall; old leaves break away cleanly leaving the trunk smooth. The term coconut refers to the fruit of the coconut palm. 

The coconut palm is grown throughout the tropical world, for decoration as well as for its many culinary and non-culinary uses; virtually every part of the coconut palm has some human uses.

Coconut palms require warm conditions for successful growth, and are intolerant of cold weather. The only two states in the U.S. where coconut palms can be grown and reproduced outdoors without irrigation are Hawaii and Florida.  India is the world leader in coconut production (2007) followed closely by the exponentially increasing product of Philippines. Then, in a distant third Indonesia.

Golden Grass (Capim Dourado)

The Brazilian Savannah Highland in Tocantins, is the only natural habitat of an amazing eco-material known as Capim Dourado (Golden Grass) because its phenomenal aesthetic similarity to spun gold.

Golden Grass grows naturally only in fields of the soaked wet in the rainy season and dry during periods of drought. In September, the pickers walk great distances collecting the precious plant in this heavenly environment. The seeds are left behind to guarantee next years harvest.

After cleaning the fine rushes, skilled craftspeople execute exclusive design, using also another precious eco-material extracted from Buriti palm, to sew the grass. Finally, the delicate golden sticks are transformed into exquisite works of art, such as baskets, handbags, bracelets and earrings.

The preservation of this habitat is extremely important, because he Capim Dourado, revolutionizing the local economy, became a main source of income for many families of artisans throughout that region. There is a program of management and protection of that land administered by the Government.

Castanha da India - Horse Chestnuts
Aesculus Hippocastanum

Indian chestnut is a robust tree up to 25 meters, with huge crown-ceilinged and its fruit designate themselves as horse-chestnuts.

Originated in the Balkans, was introduced in France in 1651 and began its broadcasting across Europe, ornamenting  its parks and avenues for being one of the first trees to bloom in spring.

The horse-chestnuts, is astringent, anti-hemorrhagic, anti inflammatory, vein constrictor,  being an excellent tonic circulatory.

Serves on the venous system, increasing the strength and tone of the veins, reducing the permeability and capillary fragility.

It is indicated for disorders of the venous system and hemorrhoids, fatigue in the legs, menstrual cramps, venous pain, swelling and varicose veins by poor circulation; assists in the activation of the peripheral circulation.

Jarina or Tagua (ja-reen-ah, ta-guu-wah)
Phytelephas macrocarpa R. and Phytelephas microcarpa R & Pav.

The jarina is a small palm, thick trunk with numerous adventitious roots and flowers of strong perfume. It is also known as "vegetable ivory" in Portuguese, tagua in Spanish, ivory plant in English and Brazilianische steinmüssee in German. The genus Phytelephas literally means "elephant plant". The ivory-nut palm trees are found mainly in the tropical rain forests of South America.

The palm tree has slow growth, and found individuals with more than 100 years old. The seeds take 3 to 4 years to germinate and the plants from 7 to 25 years to start of fruiting. Its seed is harder than wood and can be polished and carved just like ivory from the walrus and elephant.

Prior to World War II, jarina was used to make buttons and handles for canes (typically made from elephant tusk). The aristocracy were known to have been fooled by the vegetable ivory thinking they were the far more expensive elephant tusk.

The palm is used by local people in building and construction (coverage of homes with leaves), food for man and animals (mature flesh) and confections of strings (fibers). However, the most used is the seed of the plant, which to replace the ivory animal, is used in the manufacture of ornaments, buttons, pieces of knee support, the piano keys, small statues and several souvenirs. Transformed into jewelry, jarina is gaining fame with the luxury stores, offering watches, earrings, bracelets and necklaces made of ivory-plant.

Today, International conservation organizations pay farmers for vegetable ivory, in hopes that interest in the product will lead to resources being allotted for the protection of rain forests and the preservation of its flora.

Marajoara Culture and Art

The Marajoara or Marajó culture was a pre-Columbian society that flourished on Marajó island at the mouth of the Amazon river.

The Marajoara art is known for its ceramics, despite the fact that the Amerindian populations may have used other materials, such as wood, bones and fibers to artistically express their ideas. These ideas acquired visual status on geometric designs, which resemble the local fauna. Animals such as snakes, lizards, caimans, scorpions, and turtles were represented as spirals, triangles, rectangles, concentric circles, and waves, among others, in various techniques. The study of these discrete icons and their placement on the design allowed the identification of the zoomorphic themes, possibly supernatural or mythological beings.

In the Amazon region, several groups of potters dedicate themselves to preserve the legacy of their ancestors, indigenous populations who inhabited Marajo Island long
before the European conquest.  They have studied the techniques and iconographic symbols created in prehistoric times and now produce beautiful ceramic vessels, plates, and figurines, which are replicas of archaeological specimens.

Piranheira

The Piranheira Tree grows mainly on river banks and the floodplains of the Amazon forests, preferring the sandy soils of the black water rivers in the Amazon Várzeas and Igapós (flooded forests).

The name of the tree comes from Piranha fish which hide amongst the heavy branches that lay in the water, partly as a defense against predators but, mostly to camouflage themselves to more easily catch their prey. The piranheira seeds are interestingly also a substantial food source, supplementing their carnivorous diet. The piranheira benefits by having its seeds dispersed by the fish assuring their propagation.

Sisal Hemp
Agave sisalana

Sisal hemp is a 60 - 100 cm long fiber from the sword-shaped leaves (leaf fiber) of the approximately 2 m tall sisal agave, a member of the lily family (Liliaceae).

The sisal plant comes from the native Mexican henequen plant, for which reason Mexican sisal used to be called henequen. Like Manila hemp, sisal hemp is a hard fiber. The fibers are white to yellowish-white in color, resistant, supple and light-weight. Sisal hemp is only slightly inferior in quality to Manila hemp.

The fibers are obtained from the fresh leaves by decorticators, washed and dried in the sun. Decorticators are fully automatic machines, to which the sisal leaves are fed cross-ways on a conveyor belt. They remove the leaf tissue by crushing, scraping and washing. If this procedure is not performed carefully, the fibers become blotchy.

Sisal is considered a plant of the tropics and subtropics, since production benefits from temperatures above 25 degrees Celsius and sunshine. It occupies 6th place among fiber plants, representing 2% of the world’s production of plant fibers (plant fibers provide 65% of the world’s fibers). Today Brazil is the major world producer of sisal at 125,000 tons.

Due to its good resistance to moisture, sisal hemp is mainly used to produce cordage (ropes, binder twine etc.), brushes, sailcloth, tarpaulins, awnings, sacks and coarse woven fabrics. Also, sisal is used in low-cost and specialty paper, dartboards, buffing cloth, filters, geotextiles, mattresses, carpets, handicrafts, wire rope cores and macramé. In recent years sisal has been utilized as a strengthening agent to replace asbestos and fiberglass as well as an environmentally friendly component in the automobile industry.
 

Tucumã
Astrocaryum aculeatum

Tucumã is a palm measuring up to 60 feet tall and native from Colombia, Trinidad and Brazil, especially the Brazilian states of Acre, Amazonas, Para and Rondonia.

Tucumã has many uses such as the cultivation of its fruit and palm heart used as food, rich source in vitamin A. The seed is very dense with a speckled-dark color, which is used to make bio-jewelry and other artwork, especially small carvings. Tucum fiber is extracted from the palm's leaves and is used to make fishing nets and sailing ropes, which are highly resistant to salt water corrosion, mold and mildew.

The oil from it's seed is even used as a cooking oil. Because of the high lipid content found in the pulp and the endosperm, this high energy oil is converted into biodiesel fuel.

Care & Maintenance

Seeds
We recommend that you care for your bio-jewelery by storing them in a place that gets plenty of air, away from direct sunlight, excessive heat or cold.

Metal
Wipe gently with a dry or moist cloth. Do not use cleaning products containing harsh chemicals. Avoid friction with other metal parts. Do not leave exposed to the sun or rain for long period of time.

Advantages to Eco-Fashion

The main component of the eco-fashion movement is the use of natural materials, moving away from traditional fashions that use raw materials such as gemstones, leather, solid metals and plastics in their manufacture. Eco-clothing designers, for example, are utilizing reused cotton from recycled jeans to create innovative collections.

Plastics only seem cheap, but are extremely expensive if you consider that they are derived from petroleum, which is entirely dependent upon government subsides to keep their cost to the consumer so low.

Our Brazilian handcrafted products, in comparison to traditional mainstream fashions, are affordable for most people and sustainable for our environment, making them much more fun to wear and own.