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.

Cape Goosberry

Physalis peruviana

Synonyms : Uvilla, Ground-cherry, Golden berry, Physalis, Aguaymanto, Inca berry, Poc-Poc [....].



Origin : Native to high altitude tropical lands in South America. More precisely, Physalis is native to Andean region of Venezuela (between 800 and 3000 meters high). However, fruits were cultivated in South Africa, in the region of the Cape of Good Hope during the 1800s: it is presumably the origin of its common name, Cape goosberry.



Area of Culture : After the cultivation of these fruits in the Cape of Good Hope, they developed in Australia. Now, Cape goosberries have spread to a large scale in the world and have naturalized in tropical regions around the world.


Description : Physalis is a perennial plant reaching from 1 to 2 feet in height: it is usually small, like tomato plant. The plant has green hairy leaves. The yellow flower is hermaphrodite. The fruit is a small round berry about the size of a marble with a lot of small yellow seeds in it. The colour of the ripe fruit is yellow or orange. The fruit is surrounded by a calyx: a kind of pod which looks like a lantern.





Climate conditions : Cape goosberry grows best in tropical areas with not quite hot temperatures (warm temperatures). The plant needs also to be covered from frost because the aerial part of the plant is nipping at (- 3°C). Howling winds can damage or kill the plant.




Cultural method : Plants are propagated by seeds or by stem cuttings. Physalis can grow in most soil types. It can accept very poor soils to grow and also to be cultivated in pots. However, Cape goosberry feared misdrained soils and suffocating one. Densities of population do not exceed 6500 to 11000 plants per hectare. We have to provide lots of water thoughout the growing period of time except when the fruit begins to ripe. Physalis can be cultivated as an annual or as a biennial plant.




Uses : The fruit is commonly eaten raw but it can also be used in jams, jellies or pies [....]. It is also popular to find cape goosberries in a restaurant used as a garnishment for a table or a dish because of their appearances with husks. In South America, fruits are also used in medicine because of their diuretic properties.

Dragon Fruit

Hylocereus undatus

Synonyms : Pita(ha)ya (Spanish), Belle of the Night (English)

Origin : The exact origin is unknown and undated but the plant might come from an area situated between Mexico (Central America) and South America.

Area of Culture : Now, dragon fruit is widespread: it is cultivated around the world in tropical areas. You can find it mostly in Southeast Asia, Australia and South America.

Description : Pitahaya is a succulent and vining or creeping plant with green steems reaching from 6 to 12 feet long. The plant climbs onto trees using aerial roots. They propaged by seeds or by stem cuttings.

Flowers are beautiful and some species are used as ornementals. They bloom only at night and one time. Flowers are called "Moonflower" or "Belle of the night". Blossoms are grouped together: 4 to 6 blossoms could succeed between December and April. These flowering cycles are leading to 4-6 fruiting cycles per year. As a consequence, you can find on the same plant at this period of time, buds, young fruits and mature fruits. Pollinisation is necessary to set fruit.

Dragon fruits will be harvest around one month later pollinisation. They can weigh from 150-700g each. Some fruits reach 1kg.

They are three types of dragon fruits:

- Hylocereus undatus (Red Pitaya) with red skin and white flesh composed of a lot of small black seeds. The most commonly known as "Dragon fruit".

- Hylocereus costaricensis with red skin and red flesh composed also of a lot of small black seeds.

- Hylocereus megalanthus (Yellox Pitaya) with yellow skin and white flesh composed also of a lot of small black seeds.

Climatic conditions : Dragon fruit grows best in dry tropical areas with a moderate amount of rain. The annual rainfall may be situated between 600 to 1300 mm per year with an alternation of humid and dry seasons. The first summery rains begin blooming period. The plant tolerates high temperatures (38-40°C) and short period of frost otherwise the plant will be damage or kill.

Cultural methods : Because of their epiphytic nature, plants are not much depending on soil types. It is recommended to grow them in soil that is supplemented with a high amount of organic materials. The plants also grow successfully in sandy soils. Attention needs to be paid to the plants because of their environment. A specie of ant Solenospsis germinata cause important damages to the plants and particularly to the fruits and steems. The bites caused seem to be a good entrance for other diseases for Pitaya. Birds can also be a nuisance for the plant. Overwatering or excessive rainfall can cause the flowers to simply drop off and rot. A specie of bacteria can also cause steems to rot.

Uses : The only part of the fruit which is edible is the flesh: the skin is not eaten. It is recommended and very popular that dragon fruit is eaten chilled and alone to improve flavour. The fruit is low in calories. Eating fruit is likened to kiwi fruit. The fruit can be also converted into juice or used to flavour other drinks (tea..). Unopened flowerbuds are cooked and eaten as vegetables.