| antithyroid effects in vivo and in vitro of babassu and mandioca: a staple food in goiter areas of brazil. | babassu (orbignya phalerata), a palm-tree coconut fruit, mixed with mandioca (manihot utilissima) is the staple food of people living in the endemic goiter area of maranhao in brazil, where goiter prevalence among schoolchildren was still 38% in 1986 despite an adequate iodine intake in most of the population. therefore, the question arose as to whether or not the ingestion of babassu alone or mixed with mandioca contributed to the persistence of endemic goiter in this area of brazil. in this in ... | 1994 | 8075782 |