Pão-de-índio e massas vegetais: elos entre passado e presente na Amazônia indígena

Abstract

Resumo A elaboração de tecnologia de armazenamento de alimentos pelos povos indígenas da Amazônia é um tema descrito desde os relatos dos primeiros cronistas europeus na região. Frequentemente são encontrados, de maneira fortuita ou em sítios arqueológicos, artefatos culturais denominados ‘pães-de-índio’, presentes em diversos ambientes e bacias hidrográficas e relatados pelos moradores locais como um composto de plantas processadas e enterradas, comestíveis mesmo depois de anos enterrados. A partir da década de 1980, porém, uma série de trabalhos botânicos e micológicos vem classificando estes supostos pães como um fungo do gênero Pachyma Fr., Polyporus indigenus. Este artigo apresenta evidências arqueológicas, microbotânicas e etnográficas que mostram que pães-de-índio foram compostos preparados pelo processamento de espécies frutíferas e tuberosas, amplamente descritas pelos povos indígenas. Apresentamos os resultados da primeira tentativa de extrair grãos de amido de dois desses artefatos, os quais testaram positivamente para grãos de amido de milho, pimenta, batata-mairá e outras espécies de vegetais. Este texto dedica-se a demonstrar, ainda, que pães-de-índio são o testemunho do manejo e do uso da diversidade de plantas da floresta e do emprego de um conjunto de instrumentos e técnicas de produção com fins ao armazenamento de alimento.

Adaptive Management Strategies of Local Communities in Two Amazonian Floodplain Ecosystems in the Face of Extreme Climate Events

“…We show that building mounds is a practice that is still recurrent among ribeirinho communities in floodplains as a strategy to avoid flood-driven plant mortality, particularly during extreme floods. Additionally, we show that, during extreme floods, ribeirinhos put in place practices to store manioc roots for future processing that are analogous to pre-Columbian techniques (Mendes dos Santos et al 2021). Together, these examples suggest that the body of knowledge and practices with which Amazonian communities have historically shaped their ecosystems can also provide useful insights to address more recent issues, such as climate change.…”

Mairá-Potato (Casimirella sp.): Botanical, Food, Pharmacological, and Phytochemical Aspects

“…In work by dos Santos et al [ 42 ], the diagnosis of starch grains from bread found in the southern region of the Amazonas state was performed. In the publication, the authors surveyed several findings of “Indian bread” (as they called the material) and it was possible to identify the presence of the Mairá-potato.…”

“…However, due to such a high quantity of transitory starches, the authors inferred that they could be from various plant parts, such as the leaves. For example, Watling et al [ 43 ] stated that there were several records of bread being wrapped in leaves of different species before being buried; still, dos Santos et al [ 42 ] indicated this process.…”

New data on amylolytic fermentation in the Amazon

“…In this sense, the results of the tarubá analysis can be considered an anticipation of what can be expected from tests with other types of aerobic fermentation. By analyzing starch grains from archaeological finds, archaeologists are today beginning to recognize some of these practices narrated by chroniclers and confirmed by indigenous and popular traditions, which went into producing so-called 'Indian bread' (Santos et al, 2021). To fully understand the processes behind Indian bread ('pãode-índio'), it will be important to perform field tests, but the tradition of pit storage, widely used in Polynesia to store fruit from the bread and banana trees (Steinkraus, 1996, p. 309;Battcock & Azam-Ali, 1998, p. 53), may indicate the importance of lactic fermentation in its fabrication, a process also associated with European sauerkraut.…”