Star Fruit

Averrhoa Carambola



Synonyms : Carambole (French), Carambola (Spanish), Ma Fueng (Thaïland), Fuang (Laos), Khe (Vietnam), Belimbing (Malaysia)

Origin : The origin of the fruitis unknown, but it is probably native to Malaysia, Indonesia and India. Some people claim that it is originated of Moluccas.

Area of Culture : Despite its Asiatic origin, the fruit spreads out in the world. It is domesticated in the American tropics (Hawaï, Florida, Brazil..), in Australia. Its commercial production now occurs throughout tropical regions of the world and it is exported in Europe. Malaysia is the global leader of the star fruit production in the world.

Description : The star fruit is a slow-growing tree: it remains a shrub during a long time and it becomes very tall reaching more than two meters in height.

Flowers appear in groups at the pit between the leaves and the stem or at the branch apex. They are of pink colour. The blooming begins between November and December and the flowers follow one another until May.

The fruit is composed of 5 to 6 salient fins. The star shaped cross section gives to the Carambola its common name of Star fruit as well as it colour : translucent yellow.

When you cut the fruit in slices, you can have much as star shaped slices as you want to.

The light-brown seeds are flattened and not numerous.

Climate conditions : The star fruit is a tropical and subtropical fruit. The Star fruit is best grown in warm regions from sea level to 2000 feet high. The fruit stops growing below temperatures of 55-60F and older trees can be killed when they are exposed a long time to temperatures below 28F. The fuit needs to be protected from extreme cold. However, older trees are more tolerant to frost.

The Star fruit needs also a shaded place at the beginning of its growth.

Cultural method : The Star fruit prefers full sun but it also requires enough humidity (rainfall). It does not have a preference in the type of soils (quality) but it requires a good drainage.

The Carambolas need to be planted at least 20 feet far away from each other. You have to fertilize the plants four to five times a year and to give regular and moderate amount of water throughout the year. The fruiting period is situated during the months of June, July and August but in some regions of the world, you can have a n all year fruitung period. The first fruits appear at 4 to 5 years of age.

A Carambola is ripe when the fruit shows colours of yellow with a lightshade of green. At the contrary, an unripe fruit is green and an overripe fruit is yellow with brown spots on it.

Uses : Fruits are generally eaten raw, but occasionally they can be used in desserts or juices. The best way to consume a Carambola, it is when it is ripe. The fruit is entirely an edible fruit, incluiding the skin.

Because of the fruit star shape, the fruit is also used as an adornment.

Mangosteen

Garcinia Mangostana L.

Synonyms : Mangostan

Origin : The place of origin of the mangosteen is unknown but it might be the Sunda Islands and the Moluccas in Malaysia.

Area of culture : The area of culture of the mangosteen is stretching from the South of the Philippines to South India, but it is cultivated primilary in Thaïland, Vietnam, Singapore, Malaysia, Burma, Hawaï.. : the most in Indonesia and South of the peninsula indochinese.

Description : The mangosteen tree is growing slowly, reaching from 20 to 80 feet in height with a pyramidal crown. The evergreen, elliptic and opposite leaves present two colours: the upper side of the leaf is green and bright; while the lower side is yellow-green and matted.

Flowers appear solitary or in pairs at the branch apex. They are composed of four pink petals with white shade in the middle and four persistent green sepals.

The fruit is round but lightly flattened at both ends. Mangosteen fruit is surrounded by a thick and smooth rind. When the fruit is ripe, the rind passes from yellow-green to red-purple. It contains from 6 to 8 white fruit segments: arils of the seeds.

We remove all the segments as we do for an orange. Mangosteen fruit is known for its aromatic and sweet flesh taste !

Climate conditions : The mangosteen is a strict tropical fruit. As a consequence, it requires high temperatures and a high amount of rainfall through its growing (high atmospheric humidity). It needs an annual rainfall of at least 1500 mm well shared through the growing period of the fruit : it tolerates only brief periods of drought. This water stress will induce blooming. The optimals temperatures for growing are situated between 25 and 30°C : the plant cannot tolerates temperature below 4°C and above 37°C. Mangosteen generally grows from sea level to 1,50 meters high.

Cultural method : The tree needs rich organic soil, and especially sandy soil. Mangosteen is usually propagated by "seeds". The so-called "seeds" are not true seeds because they developed without pollinisation: sexual intervention by pollen.

The capacity to germinate for the seed is lost quickly when the seed is separated from the fruit. As a consequence, seeds need to be sowed fresh and quickly. Procede by stem cuttings is difficult to realize because we have to do it in a water saturated environment.
It is recommended to have a place of around 12 meters for each seed. Planting is preferably done at the beginning of the humid season.

Plants need 50-75% of shade for the first 3 to 5 years: culture using the association of mangosteen trees and banana trees is a good solution !

With a good care, the trees will begin to produce fruits from 6 to 8 years after planting. Young trees produce around 100 to 200 fruits per year and mature trees produce from 500 to 1000 fruits per year (or more).

Uses : Mangosteen is primilary eaten raw but it can also be canned and used to make juices, jams or jellies.