Abiu Fruit [ emperor's golden fruit ]

          Abiu is an attractive, bright yellow fruit with a sweet, caramel flavoured, creamy-white pulp. The fruit is round to oval in shape, sometimes pointed, with smooth bright yellow skin. It has creamy sweet, succulent flesh which tastes like mango mixes with persimmon. Cut in half and scoop out the flesh with a spoon. A young grafted plant grows in abundant sun light can expect first harvest in about 18 months. It is a hardy plant and needs very little care. It bears fruits all year round. This is a garden plant, it provides shade as well as fruits to eat. The tree is best grown in the ground as the roots are 'friendly'. It does not damage adjacent cemented area after years of growing.

          It has successfully grown and marketed the fruit in Malaysia, Singapore and Hong Kong. The fruit was renamed “Wong Kum Kuo” which means Emperor’s Golden Fruit and it was very well received by consumers in the region.

          Abiu fruit tree originates from the Amazon.

           fruit is a berry, with a smooth, leathery skin, 3-5 mm thick, containing an irritant latex when the fruit is green. When mature the fruit turns bright yellow. It varies in shape from ellipsoidal to spherical and may have a pointed end (nipple). It is 60-100 mm in diameter and weighs 100-600 gm, with some fruit reaching 1,500 gm. A yield of 10-30 kg/tree/year may be obtained from three year old trees and up to 200 kg/tree/year from older trees. At spacings of 200 trees/ha (10 m by 5 m ) yields of up to 40 tons/ha /year can be obtained.
          

          The flesh is soft, gelatinous, translucent-white and each fruit has 1-4 large dark brown seeds. Abiu is eaten slightly chilled by halving the fruit and scooping out the flesh or by cutting the fruit into segments and eating alone or in a fruit salad. It can also be used for juice and in ice-cream. The fruit is rich in vitamins and minerals: thiamine 0.2 mg, ribiflavin 0.2 mg, niacin 3.4 mg, vitamin C 49 mg, calcium 22 mg and iron 1.8 mg.

       

THE TREE
          

         Abiu is an evergreen tree, reaching heights of five to fifteen metres in its natural habitat. The commercial varieties are usually less than 7 m high. It has alternate, longish, leathery leaves with a short stalk, arranged spirally on the branch. The flowers are small and white and appear singly or in clusters at the axil of the leaf or leaf scar, and a branch may have up to 280 flowers. They open in the morning. They are usually cross pollinated by insects. In Queensland (Queensland is a state of Australia)  flowering occurs three times a year and may overlap with fruit set, but in the Northern Territory two flowerings are usual, in February-March and July-August. Abiu does not appear to need a dry period to trigger flowering.

           The tree grows best in tropical areas and in places that have a warm moist climate all year long. Propagation is nearly always by seeds. The new seeds will germinate quickly if they are fresh. After the seeds are planted, the tree will bear fruit in three or more years. Grafting and air layering will also be used to reproduce the upper strains of the plant.

        A tree that has just been planted will be fragile and needs protection from wind and cold weather. It only requires light pruning and should be fed frequently, but lightly.

 Leaves and Flowers


        The leaves of the tree range from oblong to elliptic that can be anywhere from four to eight inches in length and one and a half to two and a half inches in width. The flowers on the tree can come either by themselves or in clusters of two to five flowers. The will come in on the leaf axils on long, thin shoots. The flowers are small and have either four or five petals. The petals are cylindrical and will be white to greenish in color. The flowers are hermaphroditic, which means they are both sexes. The flowers open in the morning and can stay open for about two days.

   
        Each tree can produce around one hundred to one thousand fruits each year. The fruit has a sweet taste and is often used in ice cream. The skin of the fruit is a yellow color and can have a leathery texture. It has a white translucent pulp.

       
         The fruit of the abiu tree is edible and is eaten out of hand in most cases. In Colombia, it is advised that if you eat the fruit, you grease your lips before eating it in order to keep the gummy latex from sticking to their lips. The fruit of the abiu is also used in ice cream. It can be cut up and put in yogurt for a light and delicious breakfast. Another way to serve the abiu is to scoop out the flesh and sprinkle a little limejuice on it to bring out the flavor, and then chill it. There are not a lot of ways to serve the abiu because it has a very subtle flavor and will be overcome by any other fruit if it is added to a fruit salad.

     
 The wood of the abiu tree is dense, heavy, and hard and it is used in construction. In Brazil, people will eat the pulp in order to relieve coughs, bronchitis, and other pulmonary complaints because the pulp has a mucilaginous nature. Medically, it is used for many things such as adstringent, anti-anemic, and anti-inflammatory. It can help to stop a fever, stop diarrhea, stop coughs, and it also contains many helpful nutrients.

     


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                         Tuttu Collins