Syzygium malaccense | |
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Syzygium malaccense Flower and Fruit | |
Rare (NCA) | |
Scientific classification ![]() | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Eudicots |
Clade: | Rosids |
Order: | Myrtales |
Family: | Myrtaceae |
Genus: | Syzygium |
Species: | S. malaccense |
Binomial name | |
Syzygium malaccense | |
Synonyms [2] | |
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Syzygium malaccense is a species of flowering tree native to tropical Asia and Australia. [2] [3] 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. [4] [5] [6]
Syzygium malaccense has a number of English common names. It is known as a Malay rose apple, or simply Malay apple, mountain apple, rose apple, Otaheite apple, pink satin-ash, plumrose and pommerac (derived from pomme Malac, meaning "Malayan apple" in French). [2] Despite the fact that it is sometimes called the Otaheite cashew, it is not related to cashew.[ citation needed ] While cashew nuts (but not cashew fruits) may trigger allergic reactions, [7] [8] rose apple fruit has not been observed to do so. [9] In Costa Rica it is known as manzana de agua. [2] It is found mainly in the rainy zones on the Atlantic coast of the country. In Colombia, Puerto Rico, and other Latin American countries it is also found and known as poma rosa. In Venezuela it is known as pomagás. [10]
The combination of tree, flowers and fruit has been praised as the most beautiful of the genus Syzygium. [11] The fruit is oblong-shaped and dark red in color, although some varieties have white or pink skins. The flesh is white and surrounds a large seed. Its taste is bland but refreshing. Jam is prepared by stewing the flesh with brown sugar and ginger.[ citation needed ]
The tree is a medium to large perennial, growing 5-15 meters tall. Its leaves are simple, elliptical, or oval-shaped with pointed tips and smooth edges. The leaves are thick and glossy. The flowers grow in clusters at the branch ends, displaying bright pink or red colors. The fruit is bell-shaped, round, or oval, green when unripe, and turns red or red-streaked white when ripe, containing a single large seed inside.
Malay apple is a strictly tropical tree and will be damaged by freezing temperatures. [12] It thrives in humid climates with an annual rainfall of 152 cm (60 in) or more. It can grow at a variety of altitudes, from sea level up to 2,740 m (8,990 ft). The tree can grow to 12–18 m (39–59 ft) in height. It flowers in early summer, bearing fruit three months afterward. In Costa Rica, it flowers earlier, with ripe fruit in April. Coffee growers use the species to both divert birds and provide shade.[ citation needed ]
In Hawaii, Syzygium malaccense is called mountain apple or 'Ōhi'a 'ai. [13] When the Polynesians reached the Hawaiian Islands, they brought plants and animals that were important to them. The mountain apple was one of these "canoe plants," arriving 1000–1700 years ago. [14]
The mountain apple is an edible fruit that can be consumed when raw and ripe. In Puerto Rico, the Malay apple is used to make wines, in Hawai'i, the fruits are consumed the same way a Pacific Northwest apple is eaten. [15] Indonesians consume the flowers of the tree in salads and in Guyana the skin of the mountain apple is cooked down to make a syrup. [15] A mountain apple has a white fleshy fruit that has a similar texture to a pear but less sweet than an apple. Below is a chart with more nutrition information derived from Malay apples found in Hawai'i, El Salvador, and Ghana. Due to the high water content, the Mountain Apple is lower in calories than a Gala apple or a Fuji apple and contains a moderate amount of vitamins and minerals.[ citation needed ]
Food Value Per 100g of Edible Portion | |
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Moisture | 90.3-91.6 g |
Protein | 0.5-0.7g |
Fat | 0.1-0.2 g |
Fiber | 0.6-0.8 g |
Ash | 0.26-0.39 g |
Calcium | 5.6-5.9 g |
Phosphorus | 11.6-17.9 g |
Iron | 0.2-0.82 g |
Carotene | 0.003-0.008 mg |
Vitamin A | 3-10 I.U. |
Thiamine | 15-39 mcg |
Riboflavin | 20-39 g |
Niacin | 0.21-0.41 mg |
Ascorbic Acid | 6.5- 17.0 mg |
In 1793, Captain William Bligh was commissioned to procure edible fruits from the Pacific Islands for Jamaica, including this species. [16] He brought back this from Tahiti (called Otaheite at the time).
Breadfruit is a species of flowering tree in the mulberry and jackfruit family (Moraceae) believed to be a domesticated descendant of Artocarpus camansi originating in New Guinea, the Maluku Islands, and the Philippines. It was initially spread to Oceania via the Austronesian expansion. It was further spread to other tropical regions of the world during the Colonial Era. British and French navigators introduced a few Polynesian seedless varieties to Caribbean islands during the late 18th century. Today it is grown in 90 countries throughout South and Southeast Asia, the Pacific Ocean, the Caribbean, Central America and Africa. Its name is derived from the texture of the moderately ripe fruit when cooked, similar to freshly baked bread and having a potato-like flavor.
Cashew is the common name of a tropical evergreen tree Anacardium occidentale, in the family Anacardiaceae. It is native to South America and is the source of the cashew nut and the cashew apple, an accessory fruit. The tree can grow as tall as 14 metres, but the dwarf cultivars, growing up to 6 m (20 ft), prove more profitable, with earlier maturity and greater yields. The cashew nut is edible and is eaten on its own as a snack, used in recipes, or processed into cashew cheese or cashew butter. The nut is often simply called a 'cashew'.
Guava is a common tropical fruit cultivated in many tropical and subtropical regions. The common guava Psidium guajava is a small tree in the myrtle family (Myrtaceae), native to Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean and northern South America. The name guava is also given to some other species in the genus Psidium such as strawberry guava and to the pineapple guava, Feijoa sellowiana. In 2019, 55 million tonnes of guavas were produced worldwide, led by India with 45% of the total. Botanically, guavas are berries.
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.
Aleurites moluccanus, the candlenut, is a flowering tree in the spurge family, Euphorbiaceae. It grows up to 30 m (98 ft) tall. It was first described by Carl Linnaeus in 1753. The species epithet means "from the Moluccas".
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.
Morinda citrifolia is a fruit-bearing tree in the coffee family, Rubiaceae, native to Southeast Asia and Australasia, which was spread across the Pacific by Polynesian sailors. The species is now cultivated throughout the tropics and widely naturalised. There are over 100 names for this fruit across different regions, including great morinda, Indian mulberry, noni, beach mulberry, vomit fruit, awl tree, and rotten cheese fruit.
Pandanus is a genus of monocots with about 578 accepted species. They are palm-like, dioecious trees and shrubs native to the Old World tropics and subtropics. Common names include pandan, screw palm and screw pine. They are classified in the order Pandanales, family Pandanaceae.
Mammea americana, commonly known as mammee, mammee apple, mamey, mamey apple, Santo Domingo apricot, tropical apricot, or South American apricot, is an evergreen tree of the family Calophyllaceae, whose fruit is edible. It has also been classified as belonging to the family Guttiferae Juss. (1789), which would make it a relative of the mangosteen.
Terminalia catappa is a large tropical tree in the leadwood tree family, Combretaceae, native to Asia, Australia, the Pacific, Madagascar and Seychelles. Common names in English include country almond, Indian almond, Malabar almond, sea almond, tropical almond, beach almond and false kamani.
Phyllanthus acidus, known as the Otaheite gooseberry, Malay gooseberry, Tahitian gooseberry, country gooseberry, star gooseberry, starberry, arbari, West India gooseberry, Grosella, or simply gooseberry tree, is one of the trees with small edible yellow berries in the family Phyllanthaceae. Despite its name, the plant does not resemble the gooseberry, except for the acidity of its fruits.
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.
Syzygium cumini, commonly known as Malabar plum, Java plum, black plum, jamun, jaman, jambul, or jambolan, is an evergreen tropical tree in the flowering plant family Myrtaceae, and favored for its fruit, timber, and ornamental value. It is native to the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia. It can reach heights of up to 30 m (100 ft) and can live more than 100 years. A rapidly growing plant, it is considered an invasive species in many world regions.
Pandanus tectorius is a species of Pandanus (screwpine) that is native to Malesia, Papuasia, eastern Australia, and the Pacific Islands. It grows in the coastal lowlands typically near the edge of the ocean. Common names in English include thatch screwpine, Tahitian screwpine, hala tree and pandanus. The fruit is edible and sometimes known as hala fruit.
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.
Metrosideros polymorpha, the ʻōhiʻa lehua, is a species of flowering evergreen tree in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae, that is endemic to the six largest islands of Hawaiʻi. It is a member of the diverse Metrosideros genus, which are widespread over the southwest Pacific. It is the state tree of Hawai‘i.
Syzygium aqueum is a species of brush cherry tree. Its common names include watery rose apple, water apple and bell fruit, and jambu in Malay and several Indian languages.
Clusia rosea, the autograph tree, copey, cupey, balsam apple, pitch-apple, and Scotch attorney, is a tropical and sub-tropical flowering plant species in the family Clusiaceae. The name Clusia major is sometimes misapplied to this species.
Artocarpus camansi, the breadnut, is a species of medium-sized tree in the family Moraceae. The wild ancestor of A. altilis (breadfruit), it is also known as seeded breadfruit to distinguish it from its mostly seedless descendant.
Sterculia foetida is a soft wooded tree that can grow up to 35 metres tall. Common names for the plant are the bastard poon tree, Java olive tree, hazel sterculia, wild almond tree, and skunk tree.