Syzygium samarangense

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Syzygium samarangense

Kingdom:	Plantae
Division:	Magnoliophyta
Class:	Magnoliopsida
Order:	Myrtales
Family:	Myrtaceae
Genus:	Syzygium
Species:	S. samarangense

Binomial name

Syzygium samarangense
(Blume) Merrill & Perry

Syzygium samarangense (syn. Eugenia javanica) is a species in the Myrtaceae, native to Indonesia and Malaysia. Common names include wax apple, love apple, java apple, Chomphu(In Thai Language ), Bellfruit (In Taiwan), jambu air (in Indonesian), water apple, mountain apple, jambu air ("water guava" in Malay), wax jambu, Rose apple, bell fruit, makopa, tambis (Philippines), and chambekka in Malayalam.

It is a tropical tree growing to 12 m tall, with evergreen leaves 10-25 cm long and 5-10 cm broad. The flowers are white, 2.5 cm diameter, with four petals and numerous stamens. The fruit is a bell-shaped edible berry, with colors ranging from white, pale green, green, red, purple, crimson, to deep purple or even black, 4-6 cm long in wild plants. The flowers and resulting fruit are not limited to the axils of the leaves and can appear on nearly any point on the surface of the trunk and branches. When mature, the tree is considered a heavy bearer and can yield a crop of up to 700 fruits. "Fruits of warm climates" (1987). Java Apple: 381–382. Miami, FL.

[edit] Cultivation and uses

The fruit has a crunchy texture, which is bland ,but in some is sweet, but nonetheless very juicy and it has nothing in common to an apple except for its color. The color of its juice depends on the cultivar of the fruit. The fruit's pith has a texture similar to cotton, or a sponge. As well as in its native range, it is also cultivated in tropical regions such as Vietnam, Taiwan, Thailand, Bangladesh, Pakistan and India. A number of cultivars with larger fruit have been selected. In general, the paler or darker the color is, the sweeter it is. In South East Asia, the black ones are nicknamed "Black Pearl" or "Black Diamond," while the very pale greenish white ones are called "Pearl." They are among the highest priced ones in fruit markets.

When choosing a good wax apple, look for ones with the bottom segments closed up because open holes signify worm eggs inside the fruit. Also, usually the reddest fruits are the sweetest. To eat, the core is removed and the fruit is served uncut, in order to preserve the unique bell shape presentation.

The wax apple tree also grows in the Caribbean. On Curaçao, Netherlands Antilles, the fruit is called kashu Sürnam in Papiamentu, which means kashu or cashew from Surinam, while in Surinam the fruit is called Curaçaose appel (apple from Curaçao in Dutch), in Trinidad & Tobago it is known as Pomerac.

In the Pacific Islands, this fruit is known as Mountain Apple. In the Fiji Islands it is common in the outskirts of forests. Called "Kavika" in Fiji, it is well-documented as a medicinal plant (particularly the bark of the Kavika tree). It is known to contain oleanolic acid, an anti-HIV compound.

In Saint Kitts and Nevis it is commonly known as "morroca," a corruption of Morocco, from where the plant was imported to St. Kitts in colonial days.

In Taiwan and China, it is known by a phonetic approximation "lian wu" (simplified Chinese: 莲雾; traditional Chinese: 蓮霧; pinyin: lián wù; POJ: lián-bū or lembu).