Macadamia

Macadamia is a genus of four species of trees in the flowering plant family Proteaceae. They are indigenous to Australia—specifically, northeastern New South Wales and central and southeastern Queensland. Two species of the genus are commercially important for their fruit, the macadamia nut Template:IPAc-en (or simply macadamia). Global production in 2025 was . Other names include Queensland nut, bush nut, maroochi nut or bauple nut. It was an important source of bushfood for the Aboriginal peoples.

File:Bolivia Macadamia (4370865469).jpg

Fresh macadamia nut with husk or pericarp cut in half

File:Starr-081111-0455-Macadamia integrifolia-different stages-Makawao-Maui (24299912723).jpg

Stages of a Macadamia integrifolia nut: unripe, ripe, husk peeled, deshelled

File:Macadamia nuts, with one cracked and exposing the nut.jpg

Roasted macadamia nuts with sawn nutshell, one cracked open

The nut was first commercially produced on a wide scale in Hawaii, where Australian seeds were introduced in the 1880s, and which for more than a century was the world's largest producer. South Africa has been the world's largest producer of the macadamia since the 2010s.

The macadamia is the only widely grown food plant that is native to Australia.

Description

Macadamia is a genus of evergreen trees that grows tall.

The leaves are arranged in whorls of three to six, lanceolate to obovate or elliptic in shape, long and broad, with an entire or spiny-serrated margin. The flowers are produced in a long, slender, and simple raceme long, the individual flowers long, white to pink or purple, with four tepals. The fruit is a hard, woody, globose follicle with a pointed apex containing one or two seeds. The nutshell ("coat") is particularly tough and requires around 2000 N to crack. The shell material is five times harder than hazelnut shells and has mechanical properties similar to aluminum. It has a Vickers hardness of 35.

Taxonomy

Species

Image	Scientific name	Distribution
File:Starr 080715-9228 Macadamia integrifolia.jpg	Macadamia integrifolia Template:Au	south east Queensland and extreme adjacent northern New South Wales
File:Macadamia jansenii juvenile.jpg	Macadamia jansenii Template:Au	Queensland
File:Macadamia ternifolia kz2.jpg	Macadamia ternifolia Template:Au	Queensland
File:Macadamia tetraphylla in Hackfalls Arboretum (6).jpg	Macadamia tetraphylla Template:Au	extreme south east Queensland and northern New South Wales

Nuts from M. jansenii and M. ternifolia contain cyanogenic glycosides. The other two species are cultivated for the commercial production of macadamia nuts for human consumption.

Previously, more species with disjunct distributions were named as members of this genus Macadamia. Genetics and morphological studies published in 2008 show they have separated from the genus Macadamia, correlating less closely than thought from earlier morphological studies. The species previously named in the genus Macadamia may still be referred to overall by the descriptive, non-scientific name of macadamia.

Formerly included in the genus

Lasjia Template:Au, formerly Macadamia until 2008

• Lasjia claudiensis Template:Au; synonym, base name: Macadamia claudiensis Template:Au
• Lasjia erecta Template:Au; synonym, base name: Macadamia erecta Template:Au
  A tree endemic to the island of Sulawesi, Indonesia. First described by science in 1995.
• Lasjia grandis Template:Au; synonym, base name: Macadamia grandis Template:Au
• Lasjia hildebrandii Template:Au; synonym, base name: Macadamia hildebrandii Template:Au
  Another species endemic to Sulawesi.
• Lasjia whelanii Template:Au; synonyms: base name: Helicia whelanii Template:Au, Macadamia whelanii Template:Au

Catalepidia Template:Interlanguage link, formerly Macadamia until 1995

• Catalepidia heyana Template:Au; synonyms: base name: Helicia heyana Template:Au , Macadamia heyana Template:Au

Virotia Template:Au, formerly Macadamia until the first species renaming began in 1975 and comprehensive in 2008

• Virotia angustifolia Template:Au; synonym, base name: Macadamia angustifolia Template:Au
• Virotia francii Template:Au; synonym, base name: Roupala francii Template:Au
• Virotia leptophylla Template:Au (1975 type species); synonym, base name: Kermadecia leptophylla Template:Au
• Virotia neurophylla Template:Au; synonyms: base name: Kermadecia neurophylla Template:Au, Macadamia neurophylla Template:Au
• Virotia rousselii Template:Au; synonym, base name: Roupala rousselii Template:Au
• Virotia vieillardi Template:Au; synonym, base name: Roupala vieillardii Template:Au

Etymology

The German-Australian botanist Ferdinand von Mueller gave the genus the name Macadamia in 1857 in honour of the Scottish-Australian chemist, medical teacher, and politician John Macadam, who was the honorary Secretary of the Philosophical Institute of Victoria beginning in 1857.

Cultivation

File:Macadamia integrifolia, buds.jpg

Macadamia integrifolia flowers

The macadamia tree is usually propagated by grafting. It does not begin to produce commercial quantities of seeds until it is 7–10 years old, but once established, it may continue bearing for over 100 years. Macadamias prefer fertile, well-drained soils, a rainfall of , and temperatures not falling below (although once established, they can withstand light frosts), with an optimum temperature of . The roots are shallow, and trees can be blown down in storms; like most Proteaceae, they are also susceptible to Phytophthora root disease. As of 2019, the macadamia nut is the most expensive nut in the world, which is attributed to the slow harvesting process.

File:Macadamia Beaumont.JPG

Macadamia 'Beaumont' in new growth

Cultivars

Beaumont

A Macadamia integrifolia / M. tetraphylla hybrid commercial variety is widely planted in Australia and New Zealand; Dr. J. H. Beaumont discovered it. It is high in oil but is not sweet. New leaves are reddish, and flowers are bright pink, borne on long racemes. It is one of the quickest varieties to come into bearing once planted in the garden, usually carrying a useful crop by the fourth year and improving from then on. It crops prodigiously when well pollinated. The impressive, grape-like clusters are sometimes so heavy they break the branchlets to which they are attached. Commercial orchards have reached per tree by eight years old. On the downside, the macadamias do not drop from the tree when ripe, and the leaves are a bit prickly when one reaches into the tree's interior during harvest. Its shell is easier to open than that of most commercial varieties.

File:Macadamia Maroochy.JPG

Macadamia 'Maroochy' new growth

Maroochy

A pure M. tetraphylla variety from Australia, this strain is cultivated for its productive crop yield, flavour, and suitability for pollinating 'Beaumont.'

Nelmac II

A South African M. integrifolia / M. tetraphylla hybrid cultivar, it has a sweet seed, which means it must be cooked carefully so that the sugars do not caramelise. The sweet seed is usually not fully processed, as it generally does not taste as good, but many people enjoy eating it uncooked. It has an open micropyle (hole in the shell), which may let in fungal spores. The crack-out percentage (ratio of nut meat to the whole nut by weight) is high. Ten-year-old trees average per tree. It is a popular variety because of its pollination of 'Beaumont,' and the yields are almost comparable.

Renown

A M. integrifolia / M. tetraphylla hybrid, this is a rather spreading tree. On the plus side, it is high-yielding commercially; from a 9-year-old tree has been recorded, and the nuts drop to the ground. However, they are thick-shelled, with not much flavour.

Production

In 2024, South Africa was the leading producer of macadamia nuts, with 87,000 tonnes, up from 77,000 tonnes in 2023 and 54,000 tonnes out of global production of 211,000 tonnes in 2018. Macadamia is commercially produced in many countries of Southeast Asia, South America, Australia, and North America having Mediterranean, temperate or tropical climates.

History

The first commercial orchard of macadamia trees was planted in the early 1880s by Rous Mill, southeast of Lismore, New South Wales, consisting of M. tetraphylla. Besides the development of a small boutique industry in Australia during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, macadamia was extensively planted as a commercial crop in Hawaii from the 1920s onward. Macadamia seeds were first imported into Hawaii in 1882 by William H. Purvis, who planted seeds that year at Kapulena. The Hawaiian-produced macadamia established the well-known seed internationally, and in 2017, Hawaii produced over 22,000 tonnes.

In 2019, researchers collected samples from hundreds of trees in Queensland and compared their genetic profiles to samples from Hawaiian orchards. They determined that essentially all the Hawaiian trees must have descended from a small population of Australian trees from Gympie, possibly just a single tree. This lack of genetic diversity in the commercial crop puts it at risk of succumbing to pathogens (as has happened in the past to banana cultivars). Growers may seek to diversify the cultivated population by hybridizing with wild specimens.

Shelling

File:Macadamia cracking tool.jpg

Screw-type macadamia nut cracker on a plate of unshelled macadamias

Macadamias are the world's hardest edible nut to crack. Since ordinary nutcrackers apply insufficient force, various types of specialist macadamia nut crackers are available, many of which apply force to the micropyle, visible as a white dot, to fracture the shell.

For commercial scale deshelling, rotating steel rollers are used. In South Africa, the average crack-out rate, meaning the ratio of usable nut to discarded shell, is 27.6% nut to 72.4% waste.

Toxicity

Nuts from M. jansenii and M. ternifolia contain cyanogenic glycosides.

Allergen

Macadamia allergy is a type of food allergy to macadamia nuts which is relatively rare, affecting less than 5% of people with tree nut allergy in the United States. Macadamia allergy can cause mild to severe allergic reactions, such as oral allergy syndrome, urticaria, angioedema, vomiting, abdominal pain, asthma, and anaphylaxis. Macadamia allergy can also cross-react with other tree nuts or foods that have similar allergenic proteins, such as coconut, walnut, hazelnut, and cashew. The diagnosis and management of macadamia allergy involves avoiding macadamia nuts and their derivatives, reading food labels carefully, carrying an epinephrine auto-injector in case of severe reactions, and consulting a doctor for further testing and advice.

Toxicity in dogs and cats

Macadamias are toxic to dogs. Ingestion may result in macadamia toxicity marked by weakness and hind limb paralysis with the inability to stand, occurring within 12 hours of ingestion. It is not known what makes macadamia nuts toxic in dogs. Depending on the quantity ingested and the size of the dog, symptoms may also include muscle tremors, joint pain, and severe abdominal pain. In high doses of toxin, opiate medication may be required for symptom relief until the toxic effects diminish, with full recovery usually within 24 to 48 hours.

Macadamias are also toxic to cats, causing tremors, paralysis, joint stiffness, and high fever.

Uses

Nutrition

Raw macadamia nuts are 1% water, 14% carbohydrates, 76% fat, and 8% protein (table). In a reference amount of Template:Cvt, macadamia nuts provide 740 kilocalories of food energy, and are a rich source (20% or more of the Daily Value, DV) of thiamine, iron, magnesium, and manganese, with other B vitamins and dietary minerals in moderate amounts (table).

Raw macadamia nuts have a high amount of monounsaturated fats (59% of total fat content) and contain the saturated fatty acid, palmitic acid (reference in table).

Other uses

The trees are also grown as ornamental plants in subtropical regions for their glossy foliage and attractive flowers. The flowers produce a well-regarded honey. The wood is used decoratively for small items. Macadamia species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species, including Batrachedra arenosella.

Macadamia seeds are often fed to hyacinth macaws in captivity. These large parrots are among the few animals, other than humans, capable of cracking the shell and removing the seed.

Modern history

1828

Allan Cunningham was the first European to encounter the macadamia plant in Australia.

1857–1858

German-Australian botanist Ferdinand von Mueller gave the genus the scientific name Macadamia. He named it after his friend John Macadam, a noted scientist and secretary of the Philosophical Institute of Australia.

1858

'Bauple nuts' were discovered in Bauple, Queensland; they are now known as macadamia nuts.

Walter Hill, superintendent of the Brisbane Botanic Gardens (Australia), observed a boy eating the kernel without ill effect, becoming the first nonindigenous person recorded to eat macadamia nuts.

1860s

King Jacky, an aboriginal elder of the Logan River clan, south of Brisbane, Queensland, was the first known macadamia entrepreneur in his tribe and he regularly collected and traded the macadamias with settlers.

1866

Tom Petrie planted macadamias at Yebri Creek (near Petrie) from nuts obtained from Aboriginals at Buderim.

1882

William H. Purvis introduced macadamia nuts to Hawaii as a windbreak for sugar cane.

1888

The first commercial orchard of macadamias was planted at Rous Mill, 12 km from Lismore, New South Wales, by Charles Staff.

1889

Joseph Maiden, an Australian botanist, wrote, "It is well worth extensive cultivation, for the nuts are always eagerly bought."

1910

The Hawaiian Agricultural Experiment Station encouraged the planting of macadamias on Hawaii's Kona District as a crop to supplement coffee production in the region.

1916

Tom Petrie begins trial macadamia plantations in Maryborough, Queensland, combining macadamia with pecans to shelter the trees.

1922

Ernest van Tassel formed the Hawaiian Macadamia Nut Co. in Hawaii.

1925

Tassel leased on Round Top in Honolulu and began Nutridge, Hawaii's first macadamia seed farm.

1931

Tassel established a macadamia-processing factory on Puhukaina Street in Kakaako, Hawaii, selling the nuts as Van's Macadamia Nuts.

1937

Winston Jones and J. H. Beaumont of the University of Hawaiʻi's Agricultural Experiment Station reported the first successful grafting of macadamias, paving the way for mass production.

1946

A large plantation was established in Hawaii.

1953

Castle & Cooke added a new brand of macadamia nuts called "Royal Hawaiian," which was credited with popularizing the nuts in the U.S.

1991

A fourth macadamia species, Macadamia jansenii, was described, being first brought to the attention of plant scientists in 1983 by Ray Jansen, a sugarcane farmer and amateur botanist from South Kolan in Central Queensland.

1997

Australia surpassed the United States as the major producer of macadamias.

2012–2015

South Africa surpassed Australia as the largest producer of macadamias.

2014

The manner in which macadamia nuts were served on Korean Air Flight 86 from John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City led to a "nut rage incident", which gave the nuts high visibility in South Korea and marked a sharp increase in consumption there.

See also

• Macadamia oil

External links

• Template:Commonscat-inline