Why You Should Consider Buying Tagua?
What is Tagua?
One of the most valuable raw material in the world!
Tagua, also known as ivory nut, ivory palm, and tagua nut, is vegetable ivory from the Phytelephas macrocarpa palm. The tagua palm tree grows in tropical rain forests of South America. Tagua has been used to make jewelry, buttons, figurines, and other small objects for centuries.
History
Let’s start with the basics.
So what are tagua nuts? They are small palm nuts found in the tropical forests of Ecuador and Peru.
Taga means nut or seed in Quichua, a language indigenous to the Andes of South America. It is also called toca, and the Spanish conquistadors coined this name. The name tagua is a combination of these two words. It comes from two other Andean languages: taca and gua.
Taca is a corruption of taga, but Gua comes from gua, which means “sprout” or “root” in Quechua. The word taga can be translated as “seed” or “root” in English, so Gua likely represents the root or sprout that makes up Tagua nuts.
These trees have been grown commercially since at least 2000 BCE, but their economic value today is limited because they cannot be shipped to large markets because of their small size and high risk of spoilage due to humidity, insects, and disease. Tagua is smaller than most other palm nuts (about 8–13 mm long) and, therefore, less able to absorb water from rainwater or snowmelt than regular palms such as coconut and avocado trees.
How Tagua is Used
The Tagua tree grows in dense forests with very little light and receives food from insects and small animals such as birds and bats. The Tagua tree was introduced into South America around 500 BC by Nasca Indians, probably the first people to use this large, edible nut for food or decoration.
Although they are not as hard as ivory, if one has the skill to work with them properly, one can make buttons for high-end clothing. The raw material that can be used for buttons for the fashion industry is obtained from the bark of these trees and is called “tagua blanks.”
Tagua blanks can be processed into buttons using water or dry in the air or sun without humidity or air drying. In Europe, it is used in making bags and purses, booties, garments, furniture, shoes, etc.,
The Tagua Nut (taguá) has been one of the most sought-after raw materials. It can be produced at an extremely high cost without significant quality loss due to processing or chemical treatment. It has long been known as one of the most valuable raw materials in the world. There are currently more than 30 different types of each species that fall under five other genera: Taguiagumma (Taguiagumma acuminatum), Taguiagumma lutea, Taguiagumma oreomarginatum, Dasitaguá (Dasitaguá) variegatum, and Tagoiapu (Tagoiapu) dahuricum.
Markets
Natives from the Napo region sell tagua nuts to manufacturers worldwide, who use them to make buttons., toys, crafts, and other small items.
In Bolivia, the tagua nut is one of the essential raw materials used in handicraft production.
Because of the shape, size, and color of the tagua nut, it is very similar to the mother of pearl. This resemblance has a great attraction for the people working with crafts. And for craft and art items. The tagua nut is not a nut from a nut-bearing tree and is not related to nuts from any other plant. The tagua seed is a fruit/seed from a species of a palm tree. It is not a nut in the botanical sense.
The tagua nut is a kind of vegetable ivory obtained from the seed of an ivory palm (Phytelephas aequatorialis), a species indigenous to the Amazon rainforest in Ecuador.
Get a quote today for tagua blanks: the perfect eco-friendly choice!
