Other ‘Chestnuts’

Other plants bearing nuts termed ‘chestnuts’ are less similar to the true kind. These include some leguminous plants such as the Tahiti (or Polynesian or Fiji) chestnut, Inocarpus fagifer (syn I. edulis), a tree of the tropical Pacific islands. The large, single, seeds, locally called mape and other names (ivi in Fiji), may be boiled or roasted, or grated to become an ingredient of breads or puddings. They are almost a staple food on some of the more remote islands. However, most authors follow Burkill (1965–6) in describing them as indigestible. They are sometimes fermented like breadfruit seeds, and it may be that this process, which makes it possible to store them underground for long periods, also reduces the indigestibility.