Kumquat

The kumquats or cumquats are a group of small fruit-bearing trees.[1] The edible fruit (which is also called kumquat) is similar to other Citrus but is smaller.

Kumquats are slow-growing, evergreen shrubs or small trees, from 2.5–4.5 m tall, with dense branches. Sometimes they have small thorns. The leaves are dark glossy green, and the flowers pure white, similar to citrus flowers.

Kumquats came from China (they are known in literature of the 12th century), and have long been cultivated there and in Japan. They were introduced to Europe in 1846 by Robert Fortune, who was collector for the London Horticultural Society, and a short time later into North America.

They are much hardier than citrus plants as oranges. The 'Nagami' kumquat needs a hot summer, ranging from 25 ºC(77ºF) to 38º C(100.4ºF), but can withstand frost down to about −10 °C(14ºF). It grows in the tea regions of China where the climate is too cold for other citrus fruits, even the Mikan (also known as the Satsuma) orange.

Etymology

The English name "kumquat" derives from the Cantonese pronunciation gam1 gwat1 (given in Jyutping romanization). The alternate name 柑橘, also pronounced gam1 gwat1 in Cantonese (gān jú in Mandarin, literally "large tangerine orange") is now more commonly written by Cantonese speakers.

Names in other Asian languages include:

* Japanese: kinkan (金柑)
* Korean: geumgyul (금귤)
* Mandarin: jīnjú (金橘)
* Thai: somchíd (ส้มจี๊ด)
* Vietnamese: cam quất (from the Cantonese) or, less commonly, (quả) kim quất (if transliterated from the characters 金橘 into Sino-Vietnamese; "quả" (果) is the Sino-Vietnamese prefix for "fruit")

Otaheite gooseberry

he Otaheite gooseberry (Phyllanthus acidus), also called Malay gooseberry, Tahitian gooseberry, country gooseberry, star gooseberry, West India gooseberry, simply gooseberry tree, Mayom in Thai or chùm ruột in Vietnamese, is one of the trees with edible fruit in the Phyllanthaceae family. Despite its name, the plant does not resemble the gooseberry, except for the acidity of its fruits. It is called Nela Usiri in Telugu and Chinna Nellikkai (small gooseberry) in Tamil. It is mostly cultivated for ornamentation.

The plant is a curious intermediary between shrubs and tree, reaching 2 to 9 m in height. The tree's dense and bushy crown is composed of thickish, tough main branches, at the end of which are clusters of deciduous, greenish, 15-to-30-cm long branchlets. The branchlets bear alternate leaves that are ovate or lanceolate in form, with short petioles and pointed ends. The leaves are 2-7.5 cm long and thin, they are green and smooth on the upperside and blue-green on the underside. In general, the Otaheite gooseberry very much looks like the bilimbi tree.
Leaves

The flowers can be male, female or hermaphrodite. They are small and pinkish and appear in clusters in 5-to-12.5-cm long panicles. Flowers are formed at leafless parts of the main branches, at the upper part of the tree. The fruits are numerous, oblate, with 6 to 8 ribs, develop so densely that they actually form spectacular masses. They are pale yellow or white, waxy, crisp and juicy, and very sour. It has only one seed in each fruit.

Origin and distribution

This tropical or subtropical species is thought to originate in Madagascar, then carried to the East Indies. Now it is generally found in South India, and Southeast Asian countries, such as Southern Vietnam, Laos, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Northern Malaya. It also occurs in the Indian Ocean islands of Mauritius, Réunion and Rodrigues and also in Guam, Hawaii and several other Pacific islands. In 1793, the plant was introduced to Jamaica (where it is commonly referred to as "Jumbilin" or "Jimbilin") from Timor. From there, it progressively spread to the whole Caribbean region, as far as the Bahamas or Bermuda and Nevis. It is now naturalized in Central and South America.

In the United States, the tree is occasionally found as a curiosity in Florida. For instance, it is resistant enough to fruit in Tampa.

Cultivation and culinary interest

The Otaheite gooseberry prefers moist soil. Although it usually grows from seeds, the tree can also be multiplied from budding, greenwood cuttings or air-layers. It bears two crops per year in South India: one in April-May and the other in August-September. Elsewhere, it is mainly harvested in January.

The juice can be used in beverage, or the fruit pickled in sugar. When cooked with plenty of sugar, the fruit turns ruby red and produces a kind of jelly, which is called mứt chùm ruột in Vietnamese. It can also be salted.

The fruit is called "Grosella" in Puerto Rico. Since the fruit is tart, it is often eaten in "Dulce de Grosellas". The preparation of this dessert consist in simmering the berries with sugar until they are soft and turn red in color. The liquid from the cooking is also used as a beverage.

Green Marula fruits

The Marula (Sclerocarya birrea) (Greek σκληρός skleros hard, καρυά karya walnut in reference to the stone inside the fleshy drupe) is a medium-sized dioecious tree, indigenous to the miombo woodlands of Southern Africa and the Sudano-Sahelian range of West Africa. The tree is a single stemmed tree with a wide spreading crown. It is characterised by a grey mottled bark. The tree grows up to 18m tall mostly in low altitudes and open woodlands. The fruits are used in the liqueur Amarula. The distribution of this species throughout Africa has followed the Bantu in their migrations, as it has been an important item in their diet since time immemorial.

When ripe, the fruits have a light yellow skin, with white flesh, rich in vitamin C - about 8 times the amount found in an orange - are succulent, tart with a strong and distinctive flavour.[1] Inside is a walnut-sized, thick-walled stone. These stones, when dry, expose the seeds by shedding 2 (sometimes 3) small circular plugs at one end. The seeds have a delicate nutty flavour and are much sought after, especially by small rodents who know to gnaw exactly where the plugs are located.

Common names: maroela (Afrikaans), Boran (Kenya) - didissa ; English - jelly plum, cat thorn, morula, cider tree, marula, maroola nut/plum; Hausa - dania; Kamba (Kenya) - muua; Kwangali - ufuongo; Lovedu - marula; Maasai (Kenya) - ol-mangwai; Meru (Kenya) - mura; Ndebele - iganu, ikanyi, umganu, umkano; Pedi [fruits] - lerula, marula; Pedi [tree] - morula, merula; Pokot (Kenya) - oruluo; Portuguese (Mozambique) - canhoeiro; Ronga (Mozambique) - ncanhi; Sebei (Kenya) - katetalum; Shangaan - nkanyi, inkanyi; Shona - mutsomo, mukwakwa, mushomo, muganu, mupfura; Shona [fruits] - pfura; Shona [tree] - mufura, mafuna, marula; Swahili, Diga (Kenya) - mngongo; SiSwati - [fruits]- emaganu,[tree]umganu; Swazi - umganu; Tonga - tsua, tsula, umganu; Tswana - morula; Tugen (Kenya) - tololokwo; Zulu [fruits]- amaganu, [seeds] - umganu, [tree] - umganu.

Relationships: Belongs to the same family Anacardiaceae as the mango, cashew nut, pistachio and Rhus, and is closely related to the genus Poupartia from Madagascar.

A traditional food plant in Africa, this little-known fruit has potential to improve nutrition, boost food security, foster rural development and support sustainable landcare.[2]

* The seed kernels are high in protein and fat with a subtle nutty flavour and constitute an important emergency food.

* Fruits are commonly eaten fresh or used to prepare juice, jelly and alcoholic drink. The alcoholic distilled beverage (maroela mampoer) made from the fruit is referenced in the stories of the South African writer Herman Charles Bosman.

* Marula oil, made from the seed kernel, is a delicious additive to meals in Africa, and can be used as a type of skin care oil. It contains antioxidants and oleic acid.

* The bark is used both as treatment and a prophylaxis for malaria.

* Gums exudates from the stem are mixed with water and soot to make ink by certain tribes in the region.

* The bark also yields a red-brown dye used in colouring traditional craft ware.

* The leaves are chewed upon to help indigestion and to treat heartburn.

* The fruit infusion is used to bathe tick-infested livestock. The fruit is regarded as a potent insecticide.

* The marula fruit is also eaten by various animals in Southern Africa. In the movie Animals Are Beautiful People by Jamie Uys, released in 1974, some scenes portray elephants, warthogs and monkeys becoming intoxicated from eating fermented marula fruit. Later research showed that these scenes were improbable and, in all probability, staged. Elephants would need a huge amount of fermented marulas to have any effect on them, and other animals prefer the ripe fruit. The amount of water drunk by elephants each day would also dilute the effect of the fruit to such an extent that they would not be affected by it.[3]

* An infusion of the inner bark of the marula tree may be applied to scorpion stings and snake bites to alleviate pain.

Apple juice

Apple juice is a fruit juice manufactured by the maceration and pressing of apples. The resulting expelled juice may be further treated by enzymatic and centrifugal clarification to remove the starch and pectin, which holds fine particulate in suspension, and then pasteurised for packaging in glass, metal or aseptic processing system containers, or further treated by dehydration processes to a concentrate. Apple juice may also be sold in an untreated state.

Due to the complex and costly equipment required to extract and clarify juice from apples in large volume, apple juice is normally commercially produced. In the United States, unfiltered fresh apple juice is produced by smaller operations in areas of high apple production, in the form of unclarified apple cider. Apple juice is one of the most common fruit juices in the world, with world production led by China, followed by Poland, Germany and the United States.

Uses

Apple juice is a common beverage for both children and adults, but in North America, it is often marketed specifically to children, who are informally considered its major consumers. Apple juice is also a component of several cocktails, and is a filler in some other fruit drinks, because it is less expensive and more widely available than other juices. It may also be produced and consumed in a carbonated form, referred to as sparkling apple juice.

Health benefits

Vitamin C is sometimes added by fortification, because content is variable, and much of that is lost in processing. Other vitamin concentrations are low, but apple juice does contain various mineral nutrients, including boron, which may promote healthy bones.Apple juice has a significant concentration of polyphenols that may protect from diseases associated with ageing due to the antioxidant effects which help reduce the likeliness of developing cancer. Research from the University of Massachusetts Lowell (UML) suggests that apple juice increases acetylcholine in the brain, resulting in increased memory

Apple cider

While "apple juice" generally refers to the filtered, pasteurised product of apple pressing, an unfiltered and sometimes unpasteurised, product commonly known as apple cider in the United States and parts of Canada, may be packaged and sold as "apple juice". In the U.S., there is an unclear distinction between filtered apple juice and "natural" apple cider.In other places, such as New Zealand, Australia and the United Kingdom, "apple cider" is an alcoholic beverage. The alcoholic beverage referred to as "cider" in these areas, is usually referred to as "hard cider" in the United States.

Mango juices

Ingredients:
2 ripe mangos
½ cup sugar
½ cup water
½ to 1 teaspoon salt
1 ½ cup boiling water

Method:
Preparing the syrup by dissolving ½ cup of water with ½ cup of sugar. Boil until dissolved well. Peel the mangoes and cut into small pieces -- It should be about ½ cup of mangoes. Put it in the blender. Add boiling water, syrup and salt. Blend thoroughly. It should give a strong sweet taste since ice will be added when serving.