Perennial Edible Fruits of the Tropics: an and Taxonomists Throughout the World Who Have Left Inventory

United States Department of Agriculture Perennial Edible Fruits Agricultural Research Service of the Tropics Agriculture Handbook No. 642 An Inventory t Abstract Acknowledgments Martin, Franklin W., Carl W. Cannpbell, Ruth M. Puberté. We owe first thanks to the botanists, horticulturists 1987 Perennial Edible Fruits of the Tropics: An and taxonomists throughout the world who have left Inventory. U.S. Department of Agriculture, written records of the fruits they encountered. Agriculture Handbook No. 642, 252 p., illus. Second, we thank Richard A. Hamilton, who read and The edible fruits of the Tropics are nnany in number, criticized the major part of the manuscript. His help varied in form, and irregular in distribution. They can be was invaluable. categorized as major or minor. Only about 300 Tropical fruits can be considered great. These are outstanding We also thank the many individuals who read, criti- in one or more of the following: Size, beauty, flavor, and cized, or contributed to various parts of the book. In nutritional value. In contrast are the more than 3,000 alphabetical order, they are Susan Abraham (Indian fruits that can be considered minor, limited severely by fruits), Herbert Barrett (citrus fruits), Jose Calzada one or more defects, such as very small size, poor taste Benza (fruits of Peru), Clarkson (South African fruits), or appeal, limited adaptability, or limited distribution. William 0. Cooper (citrus fruits), Derek Cormack The major fruits are not all well known. Some excellent (arrangements for review in Africa), Milton de Albu- fruits which rival the commercialized greatest are still querque (Brazilian fruits), Enriquito D. de Guzman relatively unknown in other parts of the Tropics*and (Philippine fruits), R. B. Drummond (African fruits), should be promoted. Introducing new fruits into a Victor Galan Sauco (Canary Island fruits), Charles B. country is often difficult, however, and must be done Heiser (minor South American fruits), L. Antonio Lizana legally. Obtaining information on the fruits and their (South American, especially Chilean, fruits), Raul sources is a first step, and this publication provides Mosqueda Vazquez (Mexican fruits), Sunit K. Mukherjee much of that information. This publication also lists the (Indian fruits), Melicia Munoz (South American, espe- minor fruits as completely as can be done with the cially Chilean, fruits), and Robert K. Soost (citrus fruits). present state of knowledge. Finally, we thank the typist, Migdalia Malave, for her Keywords: major tropical fruits, minor tropical fruits, long hours of dedication. tropical fruit cultivation, tropical fruit distribution, tropical fruit introduction, tropical fruits, tropical fruit utilization Copies of this publication can be purchased from Superintendent of Documents U.S. Government Printing Office Washington, DC 20402 Microfiche copies can be purchased from National Technical Information Office 5285 Port Royal Road Springfield, VA 22161 Agricultural Research Service has no additional copies for free distribution. United States Department of Agriculture Perennial Edible Fruits Agricultural Research of the Tropics Service An Inventory Agriculture Handbook No. 642 By Franklin W. Martin Tropical Agriculture Research Station Mayaguez, PR Carl W. Campbell University of Florida. TREC Homestead, FL Ruth M. Ruberte Tropical Agriculture Research Station Mayaguez, PR Contents Chapter 1. Introduction 1 2. Major Fruits 12 3. Citrus Fruits and Their Relatives 65 4. Minor Fruits of the Americas 79 5. Minor Fruits of Africa 126 6. Minor Fruits of Australia, Southeast Asia, and the Pacific Islands 178 7. Minor Fruits of the Indian Subcontinent and Adjacent Places 207 8. Fruits Meriting Wider Distribution 220 References 242 Issued April 1987 1. Introduction No class of foods hias as muchi general appeal as What Is a Fruit? fruits. Altfiough they are sometimes ricfi In vitamins, minerals, oils, starcfies, and even proteins, fruits are In the botanical sense, all flowering plants (mono- seldom consciously eaten for their nutritional value but cotyledons and dicotyledons) produce fruits (fig. 1). for their beauty, texture, aroma, juiciness, and refresh- These are the results of reproductive growth, generally ing flavor. Fruits are usually not the main course. They the structures developed from flowers or from clusters are the desserts or the foods to be nibbled or devoured of flowers. Fruits may be only the reproductive organs between meals. of the plant or may include other parts of the flower, such as the receptacle, sepals, and pedicel. We use the How many species of fruits are there in the Tropics?^ word "fruit" in a more restrictive and popular sense. In our opinion there are thousands. Of these, 300 are major and 100 are excellent, but perhaps only 50 are We consider only edible fruits of tropical or subtropical already well known. Many tropical fruits are uni<nown origin. We do not include in this Inventory certain to the temperate palate, and there are many still known Temperate Zone fruits grown in restricted areas of the in only a small part of the Tropics. There remains an Tropics, such as apples, peaches, and pears and their immense task to know, to culture, to Improve, to show, many relatives. Temperate Zone fruits in the Tropics and to share tropical fruits with the world. are generally out of place and insignificant in their impact. But having said this, we realize that certain Temperate Zone fruits—grapes, for example—can be adapted to the Tropics, and we have Included such selections. We have further limited our selection to perennials. Thus, we do not consider the family Cucurbitaceae (fig. 2), although many have sweet fruits occupying the Figure 1,—Botanical fruits of several kinds. iWe define the Tropics as that area betw/een the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capri- corn (the Torrid Zone) w/ith warm day and night temperatures throughout the year. For our purpose we include adjacent areas in the Temperate Zone with this climate (the sub- tropics), and we include highlands with temperate climates in the Torrid Zone. Figure 2.—Fruits of annual herbaceous plants. Chapter 1 same position in ttie diet as any other fruit. On the other hand, we have included fruits of the family ^Itg Solanaceae, although they are borderline by our definition. In addition, some might consider the Solanaceae to be "vegetables," but we could not find, based on use and perception, any such clear-cut distinction. Fruits are often eaten raw, out of hand, but a few are eaten or are edible only when cooked. A cooked botanical fruit is often considered a vegetable. We have tried to eliminate botanical fruits that are used more as vegetables (fig. 3). Yet, there were traditional excep- tions, including the breadfruit, clearly a fruit to every- one, yet used only as a vegetable. We have wrestled with the concept of "nut" as opposed to "fruit" and "seed." Botanically, a nut is a hard, in- dehiscent one-seeded fruit (fig. 4). In horticulture, however, many fruits that are considered to be nuts do not fit this definition. Moreover, the exact distinction between seeds and nuts is vague, and we may have included certain seed-bearing species that others may not consider to be either fruits or nuts. Figure 4. —Nuts and seeds of various kinds. Although edibility was one of our prime criteria for including a selection, there are fruits that are considered edible by some and inedible by others. The distinction is fuzzy, and we cannot resolve the problem. We have preferred to err on the side of being inclusive in these cases. Size was another of our criteria. We have excluded very small fruits that are hardly worth the effort of harvest, except in emergency, but we have included many that are so tasty that their omission would be an error. The task of deciding which fruits to include was com- plicated by taxonomy. We have used the best sources of information available to us, but information is often lacking. For instance, experts are often confused by the variety of forms within broadly distributed species. Whether these forms are distinct species, in the sense that they are reproductively isolated from each other, or are only variants of one or more species often cannot be determined. Errors may also occur when the same form is given two or more names. In many cases we were not able to establish synonymy, and we believed it better to include too many names rather than too few. Figure 3. —Fruits used as cooked vegetables. Introduction Major and Minor Fruits We have segregated the major and minor fruits in sepa- rate chapters because we believe most people will want We have attennpted to classify fruits as major (chapter more information on the major fruits than on the minor 2 and part of 3) and minor (part of 3 and chapters 4-7), fruits. However, with respect to Rutaceae, the citrus often a difficult task. Major fruits have often been intro- family, we have placed major and minor fruits in one duced from one region to another and are frequently chapter because of the intimate relationships among well known. They are usually large, but when small, them and the difficulty of making a clear separation. they are of high quality. They may be marketed inter- nationally, or they may be economically important only Major fruits listed in chapters 2 and 3 are not included in certain regions. On the other hand, they may have in any regional list of minor fruits, even though they little or no economic importance; nonetheless, we have may indeed be minor in some of those. On the other considered them to be major if they are widespread, hand, minor fruits occurring in more than one region well known, or often used. are listed in all appropriate chapters. In contrast, minor fruits are usually not widely distrib- Of the major fruits listed in chapters 2 and 3, we con- uted.

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