The babassu palm (A. speciosa) is a species that stands out in the economy and livelihood of the people who live in the Cerrado biome, which is approximately 24% of Brazilian territory. A survey on the use and knowledge of babassu was carried out in the village of Las Casas, in Las Casas Indigenous Land. This village is located in the municipalities of Pau D'Arco, Floresta do Araguaia and Redenção. The importance of babassu for the community was analyzed by taking into account the types of uses registered and their management. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews (25 people), and the index of diversity of use among interviewees (IDs) was calculated. Informants recognized two babassu species, A. speciosa (rôn tire) and A. eichleri (rôn ne) with diverse applications classified in five categories: food, construction, cosmetics, domestic and ritual. The IDs values obtained were 22.89 for A. speciosa and 10.35 for A. eichleri. These figures show that the respondents have a lower dependence on the features offered by A. eichleri when compared to A. speciosa and although the values of the two species are divergent, their importance for the community is mainly related to using the nut oil for cosmetics and in rituals.
babassu oil; ethnospecies; Kayapó
