Spondias mombin

Spondias mombin, also known as yellow mombin or hog plum 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.

Spondias mombin
S. mombin, fruiting.
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Sapindales
Family: Anacardiaceae
Genus: Spondias
Species:
S. mombin
Binomial name
Spondias mombin
Synonyms[1]
  • Spondias aurantiaca Schumach. & Thonn.
  • Spondias dubia A. Rich.
  • Spondias graveolens Macfad.
  • Spondias lutea L.
  • Spondias oghigee G. Don
  • Spondias pseudomyrobalanus Tussac

The mature fruit has a leathery skin and a thin layer of pulp. The seed has an oil content of 31.5%.[2]

Description

Spondias mombin is a small deciduous tree up to 20 m (66 ft) high and 1.5 m (4.9 ft) 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, 10 cm × 5 cm (4 in × 2 in), 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 4 cm (1.5 in) 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

Bai makok, the name for the leaves of the Spondias mombin in Thai
The fruit, of which the seed can easily be seen in this image, can also be used for making green papaya salad in Thailand and Laos
Green fruits in a supermarket in the Dominican Republic
Ripe fruits

The fruit pulp is either eaten fresh or made into juice, concentrate, jellies, and sherbets.

In Thailand this fruit is called makok (Thai: มะกอก) 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 Assamese it is called omora.In Nepal this fruit is called lapsi.

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.[3] The bark is astringent and used as an emetic and for diarrhea, dysentery, hemorrhoids, gonorrhoea, and leukorrhea.[3] The flowers and leaves are used to make a tea for stomach ache, biliousness, urethritis, cystitis, and inflammation.[3]

Language

Spondias mombin has several common names. Throughout the Spanish-speaking Caribbean, except Cuba where they are called Ciruelas, in Costa Rica and in Mexico it is called jobo (derived from the Carib language[4]). In El Salvador, it is called Jocote de Corona. Among the English-speaking Caribbean islands it is known as yellow mombin[5] or hog plum. In Jamaica it is also called Spanish plum, gully plum or coolie plum. In Surinam 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 hog plum or Ashanti plum. It is called "Akukor" in the Ewe language of Ghana. In Bengali, it is called আমড়া (Amṛa). In the southern Indian state of Kerala it is called Ambazhanga അമ്പഴങ്ങ. In Kannada it is called AmateKaayi( ಅಮಟೆ ಕಾಯಿ ). In Nigeria, the fruit is called Iyeye or Yeye in the Yoruba language,[6] ngulungwu in Igbo and isada in Hausa.[7] Other common names include hug plum, true yellow mombin, golden apple or Java plum, Ambaralla (ඇඹරැල්ල) in Sri Lanka. In Somalia, it is called Isbaandes. In Panama it is called jobo. In "habla congo" of palo mayombe in Cuba, it is called nkunia guenguere kunansieto', ciruela. In Palauan, it is called titimel.

See also

Notes

  1. "Spondias mombin L." The Plant List: A Working List of All Plant Species. Retrieved June 27, 2014.
  2. Eromosele, C.O; Paschal, N.H (2003). "Characterization and viscosity parameters of seed oils from wild plants". Bioresource Technology. 86 (2): 203–205. doi:10.1016/S0960-8524(02)00147-5. PMID 12653289.
  3. Ayoka A.O, Akomolafe R.O, Akinsomisoye O.S & Ukponmwan O.E (2008). "Medicinal and Economic Value of Spondias mombin". African Journal of Biomedical Research. 11 (2): 129–136.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  4. Spanish Royal Academy Dictionary
  5. "Spondias mombin". Natural Resources Conservation Service PLANTS Database. USDA. Retrieved 27 November 2015.
  6. 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 related species; see for example Aiyeloja & Bello (2006, p.18) and Oyelade et al. (2005).
  7. Aiyeloja, Adedapo Ayo; Bello, Oluwakemi A. (April 2006). "Ethnobotanical potentials of common herbs in Nigeria: A case study of Enugu state". Educational Research and Review. 1 (1): 16–22.

References

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