Spondias mombin

 ( Mombin ) 

Spondias mombin, also known as yellow mombin, hog plum, amra or cajazeira, is a species of tree and flowering plant in the family Anacardiaceae. It is native to the tropical Americas, including the West Indies. The tree was introduced by the Portuguese in South Asia in the beginning of the 17th century. It has been naturalized in parts of Africa, India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, The Bahamas, Indonesia, and other Caribbean islands. It is rarely cultivated except in parts of the Brazilian Northeast.

The mature fruit has a leathery skin and a thin layer of pulp. The seed has an oil content of 31.5%.

---

Description Spondias mombin also known as the hog plum is a small deciduous tree up to high and in girth, and is moderately buttressed. Its bark is thick, corky, and deeply fissured. When slashed, it is pale pink, darkening rapidly. Branches are low and branchlets are glabrous. The leaves are pinnate, with 5-8 leaflets opposite pairs with a terminal leaflet, , oblong or oblong lanceolate, broadly acuminate, glabrous. The flowers bloom January to May and are sweet-scented, in large, lax terminal panicles of small white flowers. Fruits appear July to September and are nearly long, ovoid yellow, acid, wrinkled when dry. The fruits have a sharp, somewhat acid taste and are edible. Their flesh surrounds a single spiny kernel.

---

Use as food The fruit pulp is either eaten fresh or made into juice, concentrate, Gelatin dessert, and sherbets.

In Nepal this fruit is called Lapsi (लप्सी ) also amaaro in some other regions. This fruit pulp is mainly used for pickle called Lapsi ko achaar (लप्सीको अचार ) and also as a dried fruit called Lapsi Ko Maada (लप्सीको माड़ा ). Nepalese think this fruit is only found in nepal. In Thailand this fruit is called makok () and is used in som tam as a secondary ingredient. The young leaves, which taste slightly bitter and sour, are sometimes served raw together with certain types of nam phrik (Thai chili pastes). It is also served with chili powder in Bangladesh where the fruit is known as আমড়া (amṛa). In India, it is known as Amado in Konkani language, അമ്പഴം (ambazham) in Malayalam and, omora in Assamese.

As a member of the sumac family (Anacardiaceae), exposure to the sap of this species may result in an identical allergic reaction to that of the poison ivy plant. Those with a known sensitivity to urushiol should exercise caution in consuming or handling this species.

---

Traditional medicine In traditional medicine, Spondias mombin has had a variety of uses. The fruit has been used as a diuretic and febrifuge. The bark is astringent and used as an emetic and for diarrhea, dysentery, hemorrhoids, gonorrhoea, and leukorrhea. The flowers and leaves are used to make a tea for stomach ache, biliousness, urethritis, cystitis, and inflammation.

---

Common names

Spondias mombin has several common names. Throughout most of the Spanish-speaking Caribbean, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, and parts of Mexico it called jobo, derived from the Carib language. In Northern Mexico and most of Cuba it is called ciruela. In the Habla Congo language of the Palo Mayombe religion in Cuba, it is called nkunia guenguere kunansieto' . In Nepal it is called Amara (अमरा ) . In Costa Rica it is called yuplón after the English name gully plum . In El Salvador, it is called Jocote de Corona . Among the English-speaking Caribbean islands it is known as yellow mombin or hog plum. In Jamaica it is also called Spanish plum , gully plum or coolie plum . In Suriname the fruit is called Mope . In Brazil, the fruit is known by several different names, such as cajá , taperebá and ambaló . In Peru, it is known as uvos or mango ciruelo . In Ghana, it is known as the hog plum or Ashanti plum , or Akukor in the Ewe language-speaking regions. In Nigeria, the fruit is called Ughighen in the Urhobo language, Iyeye orYeye in the Yoruba language,See Ayoka et al. (2008, p.130), Oladele (2008, p.5). Note that Aiyeloja & Ajewole (2006, p.57) give agbalumo as the local name in Osun State, however other sources identify agbalumo elsewhere in Nigeria with the African star apple, Chrysophyllum alibidum and Chrysophyllum; see for example Aiyeloja & Bello (2006, p.18) and Oyelade et al. (2005). ngulungwu in Igbo language and isada in Hausa language. In Somalia, it is called Isbaandhees . In Bengali language, it is called Amṛa (আমড়া) . In the southern Indian state of Kerala it is called Ambazhanga . In Kannada it is called AmateKaayi (ಅಮಟೆ ಕಾಯಿ) . In Goa it is known as Ambadde . In Telugu language, it is called karakkaya (కరక్కాయ). In Sri Lanka, it is called Ambaralla (ඇඹරැල්ල) . In Palauan language, it is called titimel. Other common names include hug plum, true yellow mombin, golden apple or Java plum.

---

Gallery

---

See also

• List of plants of Cerrado vegetation of Brazil
• Amazonian cuisine
• Spondias purpurea (Purple mombin)
• Spondias tuberosa (Umbú)
• Spondias pinnata (India)

---

Notes

• Tolu Odugbemi (2025). 9789784871273, University of Lagos Press. ISBN 9789784871273

---

External links

Categories: Mombin, Tropical Fruit, Trees Of Central America, Trees Of The Caribbean, Trees Of Northern America, Trees Of South America, Trees Of Belize, Trees Of Costa Rica, Trees Of El Salvador, Trees Of Guatemala, Trees Of Nicaragua, Trees Of Panama, Trees Of Guyana, Trees Of Suriname, Trees Of Venezuela, Trees Of Brazil, Trees Of Bolivia, Trees Of Colombia, Trees Of Ecuador, Trees Of Peru, Trees Of Paraguay, Flora Of The Amazon, Flora Of The Cerrado, Plants Described In 1753, Taxa Named By Carl Linnaeus, Plants Used In Traditional African Medicine, Medicinal Plants Of North America, Medicinal Plants Of South America, Fruit Trees

Post Comment