See text Inga edulis, known as ice-cream bean, ice-cream-bean, joaquiniquil, cuaniquil (both from Nahuatl: cuahuxinicuile combining cuahuitl "tree"; icxitl "feet" and necuilli "crooked"[2]) guama or guaba, is a fruit native to South America.

[3] It is widely grown, especially by Indigenous Amazonians, for shade, food, timber, medicine, and production of the alcoholic beverage cachiri.

[4] The taxonomic name Inga is derived from its name with the Tupí people of South America (ingá[5]) while the species name edulis is Latin for "edible".

The leaves are alternate, evenly pinnate, 10–30 cm long with 4–6 pairs of opposite, dark-green, membranous, slightly pubescent, oval leaflets.

The fruits are longitudinally ribbed, cylindrical indehiscent leguminous pods which can be straight, curved or often spirally twisted up.

: The natural distribution of Inga edulis spreads from Central to South America and ranges from subtropical dry to tropical wet conditions.

[12] It can be found at elevations from sea level up to 2200 m. Inga edulis grows best when mean annual daytime temperature ranges from 23 to 30 °C.

[13] The natural habitat of Inga edulis includes margins of large rivers like the Amazon, thickets below high water line and wooded swamps.

As a leguminous tree, Inga edulis can compensate for nutrient depleted soils by fixing nitrogen with its root nodules.

[14] Direct sowing of the seeds is possible, but the establishment of seedlings with already a certain height can decrease competition with noxious weeds and thus increase growth.

[14] Food crop Inga edulis has been cultivated as a fruit tree for millennia and is widely sold on the local South American marketplace, mainly for the sweet, succulent pulp surrounding the seeds.

Toxic compounds such as trypsin and chymotrypsin inhibitors contained in the seeds of Inga edulis are destroyed through cooking.

One important reason for this is that in comparison to other shade tree species Inga edulis retains its leaves in the dry season.

[14] The wood is sometimes used as timber and for fuel, its popularity as a source of firewood stemming from its high calorific value and weak smoke production.

[12] Crushed, boiled leaves are ingested to relieve coughing or applied to lip sores, possibly caused by herpes.

[22][6] Several studies have investigated Inga edulis as a source of polyphenols for use as antioxidants and have shown promising results.