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ITAMATATIUA QUILOMBO, ALCANTARA, MARANHAO STATE, BRAZIL - 2009/10/10: Isolated wattle and daub house inside dense vegetation with lots of babacu trees at Itamatatiua Quilombo, Alcantara rural area, Maranhao. Brazil. This plant has commercial value because its seeds produce an edible oil called babassu oil, which is also used in cleaners and skin care products. The fruit is used to produce products such as medicines, beauty aids, and beverages. Traditional communities of the Maranhao region also produce a flour from the fruit and this is commercialized as a nutritional supplement. The leaves are also used to provide thatch for houses and can be woven into mats for constructing house walls. The stems are used for timbers. The Babassu palm is considered a weed in pasture areas of Cerrado vegetation in Brazil. A quilombo is a Brazilian hinterland settlement founded by people of African origin. Most of the inhabitants of quilombos were escaped former slaves and, in some cases, a minority of marginalised non-slave Brazilians that faced oppression during colonization. (Photo by Ricardo Funari/Brazil Photos/LightRocket via Getty Images)