Syzygium cumini | |
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Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Eudicots |
Clade: | Rosids |
Order: | Myrtales |
Family: | Myrtaceae |
Genus: | Syzygium |
Species: | S. cumini |
Binomial name | |
Syzygium cumini | |
Synonyms [2] | |
List
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Syzygium cumini, commonly known as Malabar plum, [3] Java plum, [3] black plum, jamun, jaman, jambul, or jambolan, [4] [5] is an evergreen tropical tree in the flowering plant family Myrtaceae, and favored for its fruit, timber, and ornamental value. [5] It is native to the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia, including Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and the Andaman Islands. [4] [2] It can reach heights of up to 30 metres (98 ft) and can live more than 100 years. [4] A rapidly growing plant, it is considered an invasive species in many world regions. [5]
Syzygium cumini has been introduced to areas including islands of the Pacific and Indian Oceans, Australia, Hong Kong and Singapore. [6]
The tree was introduced to Florida and is commonly grown in tropical and subtropical regions worldwide. [5] Its fruits are eaten by various native birds and small mammals, such as jackals, civets, and fruit bats. [5]
As a rapidly growing species, it can reach heights of up to 30 m (100 ft) and can live more than 100 years. [4] Its dense foliage provides shade and is grown just for its ornamental value. At the base of the tree, the bark is rough and dark grey, becoming lighter grey and smoother higher up. The wood is water resistant after being kiln-dried. [4] Because of this, it is used in railway sleepers and to install motors in wells. It is sometimes used to make cheap furniture and village dwellings, though it is relatively hard for carpentry. [4]
The aromatic leaves are pinkish when young, changing to a leathery, glossy dark green with a yellow midrib as they mature. The leaves are used as food for livestock, as they have good nutritional value. [7]
Syzygium cumini trees start flowering from March to April. The flowers are fragrant and small, about 5 mm (0.2 in) in diameter. The fruits develop by May or June and resemble large berries; the fruit of Syzygium species is described as "drupaceous". [8] The fruit is oblong, ovoid. Unripe fruit looks green. As it matures, its color changes to pink, then to shining crimson red and finally to black color. A variant of the tree produces white-coloured fruit. The fruit has a combination of sweet, mildly sour, and astringent flavour and tends to colour the tongue purple. [4]
Nutritional value per 100 g (3.5 oz) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Energy | 251 kJ (60 kcal) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
16 g | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
0.23 g | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
0.7 g | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Other constituents | Quantity | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Water | 83 g | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
†Percentages estimated using US recommendations for adults, [9] except for potassium, which is estimated based on expert recommendation from the National Academies. [10] |
Syzygium cumini is native to the Indian subcontinent (the Andaman Islands, Bangladesh, Nepal, India, the Eastern Himalayas, Pakistan, Assam state, the Laccadive Islands and Sri Lanka); China (Hainan province, South-Central and Southeast China); Indonesia (Java, the Maluku Islands, Sulawesi); Southeast Asia (Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam and Myanmar); Australia (Queensland). [11]
This species is considered invasive in Florida, South Africa, parts of the Caribbean, several islands of Oceania, and Hawaii. [5] [6]
Jambolan fruits have a sweet or slightly acidic flavor, are eaten raw, and may be made into sauces or jam. [4] Fruits may be made into juice, jelly, sorbet, syrup (e.g., kala khatta), [12] or fruit salad. [4]
Raw fruit is 83% water, 16% carbohydrates, 1% protein, and contains negligible fat. In a 100 gram reference amount, the raw fruit provides 60 calories, a moderate content of vitamin C, and no other micronutrients in appreciable amounts (table).[ citation needed ]
The 1889 book The Useful Native Plants of Australia records that the plant was referred to as "durobbi" by Indigenous Australians, and that "The fruit is much eaten by the natives of India; in appearance it resembles a damson, has a harsh but sweetish flavour, somewhat astringent and acid. It is eaten by birds and is a favourite food of the flying fox (Brandis)." [13] The fruit has been used in traditional medicine. [4] [5]
This section needs additional citations for verification .(March 2016) |
In the Majjhima Nikāya, three parallel texts (MN 36, MN 85 and MN 100) claim that the Buddha remembered an experience of sitting in the cool shade of a jambu tree when he was a child. While his father was working, he entered into a meditative state which he later understood to be the first stage of Jhāna meditation. The texts claim that this was a formative experience, which later encouraged him to explore and practise Jhāna meditation, and that this then led to his Awakening. The Pāli word jambu is understood by Pāli dictionaries to refer to the Syzygium cumini which they often translate as the Rose-apple tree. [14]
Krishna was said to have four symbols of the jambu fruit on his right foot as mentioned in the Srimad Bhagavatam commentary (verse 10.30.25), "Sri Rupa Chintamani" and "Ananda Candrika" by Srila Visvanatha Chakravarti Thakura. [15]
In Maharashtra, Syzygium cumini leaves are used in marriage pandal decorations. A song from the 1977 film Jait Re Jait mentions the fruit in the song "Jambhul Piklya Zaadakhali".
Besides the fruits, wood from neredu tree (as it is called in the region's language, Telugu) is used in Andhra Pradesh to make bullock cart wheels and other agricultural equipment. The timber of neredu is used to construct doors and windows.
Legend in Tamil Nadu speaks of Avvaiyar (also Auvaiyar or Auvayar) of the Sangam period and the jamun fruit, called naval pazham in Tamil. Avvaiyar, believing to have achieved everything that is to be achieved, is said to have been pondering over her retirement from Tamil literary work while resting under naval pazham tree. There she was met with and was wittily jousted by a disguised Murugan, regarded as one of the guardian deities of Tamil language, who later revealed himself and made her realize that there is still a lot more to be done and learnt. [16]
A plum is a fruit of some species in Prunus subg. Prunus. Dried plums are often called prunes, though in the United States they may be labeled as 'dried plums', especially during the 21st century.
The persimmon is the edible fruit of a number of species of trees in the genus Diospyros. The most widely cultivated of these is the kaki persimmon, Diospyros kaki – Diospyros is in the family Ebenaceae, and a number of non-persimmon species of the genus are grown for ebony timber. In 2019, China produced 75% of the world total of persimmons.
The jackfruit is a species of tree in the fig, mulberry, and breadfruit family (Moraceae). The jackfruit is the largest tree fruit, reaching as much as 55 kg in weight, 90 cm in length, and 50 cm in diameter. A mature jackfruit tree produces some 200 fruits per year, with older trees bearing up to 500 fruits in a year. The jackfruit is a multiple fruit composed of hundreds to thousands of individual flowers, and the fleshy petals of the unripe fruit are eaten.
Syzygium samarangense is a species of flowering plant in the family Myrtaceae, native to an area that includes the Greater Sunda Islands, Malay Peninsula, and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, but introduced in prehistoric times to a wider area and now widely cultivated in the tropics. Common names in English include wax apple, Java apple, Semarang rose-apple, and wax jambu.
Carissa is a genus of shrubs or small trees native to tropical and subtropical regions of Africa, Australia and Asia. Until recently about 100 species were listed, but most of them have been relegated to the status of synonyms or assigned to other genera, such as Acokanthera.
Syzygium is a genus of flowering plants that belongs to the myrtle family, Myrtaceae. The genus comprises about 1200 species, and has a native range that extends from Africa and Madagascar through southern Asia east through the Pacific. Its highest levels of diversity occur from Malaysia to northeastern Australia, where many species are very poorly known and many more have not been described taxonomically. One indication of this diversity is in leaf size, ranging from as little as a half inch to as great as 4 ft 11 inches by sixteen inches in Syzygium acre of New Caledonia.
Pouteria campechiana is an evergreen tree native to, and cultivated in, southern Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, and El Salvador. It is cultivated in other countries, such as India, Costa Rica, Brazil, the United States, the Dominican Republic, Australia, Cambodia, Vietnam, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Nigeria, and the Philippines. The edible part of the tree is its fruit, which is colloquially known as an egg fruit.
Spondias purpura is a species of flowering plant in the cashew family, Anacardiaceae, that is native to tropical regions of the Americas, from Mexico to northern Colombia and the southwest Caribbean Islands. It has also been introduced to and naturalized to other parts of the American tropics, Southeast Asia, and West Africa. It is commonly known as jocote, which derives from the Nahuatl word xocotl, meaning any kind of sour or acidic fruit. Other common names include red mombin, Spanish plum, purple mombin, Jamaica plum, and hog plum.
Spondias mombin, also known as yellow mombin, hog plum, amra or cajazeira, is a species of tree and flowering plant in the family Anacardiaceae. It is native to the tropical Americas, including the West Indies. The tree was introduced by the Portuguese in South Asia in the beginning of the 17th century. It has been naturalized in parts of Africa, India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, The Bahamas, Indonesia, and other Caribbean islands. It is rarely cultivated except in parts of the Brazilian Northeast.
Syzygium jambos is a species of rose apple originating in Southeast Asia and occurring widely elsewhere, having been introduced as an ornamental and fruit tree.
Diospyros kaki, the Oriental persimmon, Chinese persimmon, Japanese persimmon or kaki persimmon, is the most widely cultivated species of the genus Diospyros. Although its first botanical description was not published until 1780, D. kaki cultivation in China dates back more than 2000 years.
Syzygium malaccense is a species of flowering tree native to tropical Asia and Australia. It is one of the species cultivated since prehistoric times by the Austronesian peoples. They were carried and introduced deliberately to Remote Oceania as canoe plants. In modern times, it has been introduced throughout the tropics, including many Caribbean countries and territories.
Muntingia is a genus of plants in the family Muntingiaceae, comprising only one species, Muntingia calabura, named in honour of Abraham Munting. It is native from Mexico south to Bolivia and Argentina. Its fruit is edible, and it has been widely introduced in other tropical areas.
Jambu or jumbu may refer to:
Oemleria cerasiformis, a shrub commonly known as osoberry or Indian plum, is the sole extant species in genus Oemleria.
Spondias dulcis, known commonly as June plum, is a tropical tree, with edible fruit containing a fibrous pit. In the English-speaking Caribbean it is typically known as golden apple and elsewhere in the Caribbean as pommecythere or cythere. In Polynesia it is known as vī.
Syzygium densiflorum is a species of evergreen tree in the family Myrtaceae. It is endemic to the Western Ghats mountains, India. The species is categorised as Vulnerable in the IUCN Red List.
Antidesma bunius is a species of fruit tree in the family Phyllanthaceae. It is native to South Asia, Southeast Asia, Melanesia, and northern Australia. It is commonly known as bignay, after its native name in the Philippines, where the fruits are commonly used for making bignay wine and jams. It is also known more ambiguously as Chinese laurel, Queensland cherry, salamander tree, wild cherry, and currant tree.
Ximenia afra, the sourplum, is a small tree or small shrub that is thinly branched. It is part of the Olacaceae family which is native throughout tropical regions. In particular, the sourplum is native to regions in South East Africa, mainly Botswana, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. Sourplum fruits are generally sour, with a dry aftertaste, and contain significant amounts of potassium. The tree is fairly hardy, with frost resistance and drought tolerance. The tree, fruit, seed, leaves, and roots are all used for human consumption, medicinally, or for fuel.
Syzygium alternifolium is a species of plant in the family Myrtaceae. It is native to North Arcot, Cuddapah, Kurnool, and the Nagari hills, in eastern Chittoor district, India. It has alternate leaves.