UST-AB: How familiar are you with these fruits?

Dr Abe V Rotor

Living with Nature School on Blog

Paaralang Bayan sa Himpapawid with Ms Melly C Tenorio 
738 DZRB AM Band, 8 to 9 evening class, Monday to Friday

1. This fruit is popular in Mindanao, it has a thick rind with deep red dye, but the inside which is the edible part is white, divided into segments, each containing a seed.  Its taste is slightly sweet, fibrous and has a mild flavor.  

2. It is the most popular food dye used in coloring cheese and other dairy products, dishes such as kaldereta and kare-kare. The red dye comes from the fruit of a medium size tree that pops open (dehiscent) when mature and dry, as shown in the photo. 

3. It is a highly seasonal fruit in summer sold on sidewalks and along highways. It comes in two varieties - green and purple - but the taste is more or less the same.  When cut in cross-section, the arrangement of the seeds is like a star which gives its name.  A milky and sticky substance makes eating rather inconvenient, especially if the fruit is not fully ripe. 

4. When fully mature, the green nuts turn brilliant red as shown in the photo which for which the tree is planted as an ornamental tree on the backyard and in parks. It is a source of astringent and hallucinogenic substances but such properties have not been commercially developed. The life span of the palm may reach fifty years.

5. This is the main ingredient in making of nganga or chewing nut.  The palm reaches some 20 to 30 feet and lives up to 50 years of continuous fruiting. The mature nut is harvested and cut into pieces and covered skillfully with betel leaf lined with lime.  Natives of the Cordillera are the country's top nganga consumers.  

6. A signature fruit of Batanes, the ripe fruits as shown in the photo, are made into candies and other confectioneries. The plant is a relative of the pine, a gymnosperm. While it grows on the lowland, it fails to produce fruits, and therefore it is planted only for its ornamental value.

7. In summer the whole tree loses its leaves in favor of numerous fruits borne directly on the branches and stems.  The fruits come in green and purple, but some fruits are first green then turn purple as they mature and ripen.    

Answers: 
1. Mangosteen (Garcinia mangostana)
2. Anatto or achuete (Bixa orellana)
3. Caimito or star apple (Chrysophyllum cainito)
4. Bunga de Jolo (Veitchia merrillii)
5. Betel nut (Areca catechu)
6. Arius (Podocarpus costalis)
7. Sineguelas (Spondias purpurea)