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Spondias dulcis (syn. Spondias cytherea), known commonly as Polynesian plum or Tahiti apple, is a Tropics fruit tree native to Melanesia, with edible fruit containing a fibrous pit.
The tree was spread to neighboring regions as in Island Southeast Asia and Polynesia in prehistoric times by seafaring Austronesians during the Austronesian expansion. It remains widely cultivated in Polynesia, where it is generally known under the names vī or wī, and variants thereof.
It has also been introduced to other areas of the world in colonial times. In the English-speaking Caribbean it is typically known as golden apple and elsewhere in the Caribbean as pommecythere, April plum or June plum, or cythere.
Spondias dulcis can take 4–6 years from planting time to harvest, with a productive life of 20–30 years and almost all year round fruiting season. Propagation is primarily by cuttings or air layering.
The fruit may be eaten raw; the flesh is crunchy and a little sour. According to Boning (2006), "The fruit is best when fully colored, but still somewhat crunchy. At this stage, it has a pineapple-mango flavor. The flesh is golden in color, very juicy, vaguely sweet, but with a hint of tart acidity." In Indonesia and Malaysia, it is eaten with shrimp paste, a thick, black, salty-sweet sauce called hayko in the Southern Min dialect of Chinese language. It is an ingredient in rujak in Indonesia and rojak in Malaysia. The juice is called kedondong in Indonesia, amra in Malaysia, balonglong in Singapore and gway thee in Myanmar.
The fruit is made into fruit preserves and flavorings for sauces, soups, braised and stews. In Fiji it is made into jam, and its leaves are used to flavour meat. In Samoa and Tonga it is used to make otai. In Sri Lanka the fruit is soaked in vinegar with chili pepper and other spices to make acharu. In Vietnam the unripe fruit is eaten with salt, sugar, and chili, or with shrimp paste. Children eat the fruit macerated in artificially sweetened licorice extract. In Jamaica, it is mostly considered a novelty, especially by children. It can be eaten with salt or made into a drink sweetened with sugar and spiced with ginger. In Barbados, the ripe fruit is eaten naturally, or sprinkled with a bit of salt, or dipped in the ocean's natural slightly salty water while at the beach. It is also used to make juice in Grenada and Saint Lucia. In Trinidad and Tobago, it is curried, sweetened, salted, or flavored with pepper sauce and spices. In Cambodia it is made into a salad called nhoam mkak (/ɲŏam məkaʔ/ ញាំម្កាក់). In Suriname and Guyana, the fruit is dried and made into a spicy chutney, mixed with garlic and peppers. In Thai cuisine both the fruits and the tender leaves are eaten.
Habitat
Spondias dulcis is native to the coastal areas of Melanesia and Southeast Asia, specifically modern day Indonesia and Malaysia, (1995). 9789813018112, PT Mekar Unggul Sari. ISBN 9789813018112 and has been introduced into tropical areas across the world. It was brought to Jamaica in 1782, and it is cultivated in Panama, Cuba, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Suriname, Brazil, Costa Rica, Grenada, Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados, St. Lucia, and eastern Sucre in Venezuela. The United States Department of Agriculture received seeds from Liberia in 1909, but it did not become a popular crop in the US. Nevertheless, it is grown in South Florida as far north as Palm Beach County. The fruit is also widely grown in Somalia's agriculture belt, probably introduced during the colonial times preceding 1960.
As food
Spondias dulcis is most commonly used as a food source. In West Java, its young leaves are used as seasoning for pepes. In Costa Rica, the more mature leaves are also eaten as a salad green though they are tart. However, it is most commonly used for its fruit.
Vernacular names
(in alphabetical order)
See also
External links
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