A handful of islands grow ackee as an ornamental
tree, but only Jamaica looks at it as a tree that bears edible
fruit.. A bright red tropical fruit that, when ripe, bursts open to
reveal three large black seeds attached individually to a soft,
creamy yellow flesh. The tree grows about 9 metres (30 feet) tall.
Ackee is poisonous if eaten before it is fully mature and because of
its toxicity.
Avocadoes
Avocado is a pear shaped tropical fruit with
green, reddish-purple or blackish skin and rich yellowish pulp
enclosing a single large seed. The skin itself can sometimes be
speckled with tiny yellow dots, it may be smooth or pebbled, glossy
or dull, thin or leathery, pliable or granular and brittle. The
single seed is round in shape, hard and heavy. An avocado is really
ripe when you can hear the seed rattle if you shake the fruit. The
avocado tree usually grow to 30 ft (9 m) but sometimes grow to 60 ft
(18 m) or more. The avocado was first cultivated in Jamaica in 1696
before making it ways to the rest of the Caribbean.
Note: To speed the ripening process, place the avocado in a
paper/plastic bag, and store at room temperature until ready to eat
(usually two to five days).
Balata
A large tree bearing medium sized, purple/yellow
skinned fruits, about two inches across, bearing many similarities
to the sapodilla and taste similar to Star Apple .
Banana
A major income earner in the Caribbean, bananas
are also a favourite food in the region. Green bananas are boiled
and eaten as a staple food, while the ripe fruit are eaten raw or
incorporated into several tasty recipes such as banana cake, and
fritters.
Barbadine is a fast growing vine, arising from a
fleshy root that enlarges with age, and can climb to a height of 33
to 50 ft (10-15 m). The flesh of the ripe fruit, with the inner skin
removed can be used as a vegetable or when cooked with sugar, eaten
as an dessert, or be made into a jelly from the unpeeled flesh
boiled for 2 hours and the pulp simmered separately. The juice
strained from both is combined and, with added sugar and lemon
juice, is boiled until it jells. The young, unripe fruit may be
steamed or boiled and served as a vegetable, or may be cut up,
breaded and cooked in butter with milk, pepper and nutmeg.
Breadfruit
The Breadfruit was originally grown in the South
Seas - being a native of Polynesia. The breadfruit is a large tree
that grows widely in Jamaica, but was unknown here before 1793. Its
arrival is one of Jamaica’s romantic stories. The first attempt to
introduce the breadfruit was made at a time when many slaves were
dying of starvation.
Carailli
The plant thrives in tropical climates like the
West Indies, Florida, Hawaii, Central and South America, Sri Lanka,
India, Malaysia, China and other parts of south east Asia. The "Five
Fingers" tree attains a height of 30 feet and produces small,
fragrant, rose-coloured flowers throughout the year. The tree also
produces fruits more than once per year. On the tree the fruit has a
variety of appearances. The very ripe fruit has a golden yellow
colour; half-ripe its a lemon green and unripe they are very green,
all can be eaten. It also has a variety of tastes when eaten raw.
The fruit is sweet, watery, slightly acid and pleasant to taste.
Five Fingers is also referred to as the "Star Fruit" . When the
fruit is cut across it has a striking star shape, hence the reason
for the name. The skin of the fruit is thin and somewhat waxy and
there's no need to peel the fruit, although the outer edge of the
ribs may be removed if they are bruised.
Cashew Fruit
Cashew fruit can grow up to 15 meters (50 feet)
tall with thick trunks and branches that reaches the ground. The
tree bark and leaves of the cashew tree are used for medical
purposes, the roasted cashew nut has international appeal, and the
shell around the nut is used in local remedies even though it can be
toxic. The cashew nut grows externally in its own kidney shaped hard
shell at the end of this stem commonly known as cashew fruit or
cashew apple. The cashew apple is the yellowish-orange part that's
attached to the fruit When ripe, the fruit turns a bright reddish
orange color. The cashew fruits and juice can be used to treat fever
and sweeten breath. It leaves a sort of tangy taste in the mouth.
The green fruit is used to treat warts and flu, and cashew fruit
extracts are also used in body care products.
Coconut
Described as the 'Tree of Heaven', the coconut is
so named because almost every part of the crop, from the roots, to
the bark, to the fruit, is of some economic value. Throughout the
Caribbean, coconut water is a preferred thirst quencher, while the
'milk' and 'meat' are used in preparing tasty dishes and pastries.
Grapefruit
The grapefruit is believed to originate from
Barbados. A large citrus fruit known as a shaddock was brought to
the Caribbean from Polynesia. This shaddock was then crossed with
the orange (or a citrus) to produce what we now call a "grapefruit".
With a slightly acidic and bitter taste, the "white" grapefruit
takes its name from the colour of its flesh. There are also pink or
ruby grapefruits and the blood pummelo, which are sweeter.
Grapefruit trees are large with glossy dark green leaves and the
fruit hangs in clusters on the tree.
Guava
Guava is the authentic Arawak name of this
pungently scented fruit which is eaten raw when ripe or used for
making the popular Guava Jelly or tinned guava nectar. The leaves of
the tree are used in folk medicine with a popular Jamaican folk song
claiming 'Guava root a medicine to cure the young gal fever'.
Guinep/Kenip
This fruit has a rough but thin skin with soft
jelly-like flesh. The slightly tart guinep grows in bunches and are
usually eaten a small bunch a time. The pulp is used, juiced with
limes and/or ginger to make a refreshing drink
Lime
While they are used in much the same way, the
small fragrant varieties of limes grown in the Caribbean are not to
be confused with lemons. The fruit is used in lemonades while the
leaf is popular as 'lime leaf tea'
Mango
The first mango plants brought to Jamaica arrived
in 1782 aboard the HMS Flora - one of Lord Rodney's ships which
captured the plant from a French ship on the high seas. There are
many varieties of mango, usually distinguishable by shape and the
consistency of the flesh. Eaten ripe, the fruit is aromatic, and the
flesh is soft and sweet. Mango is also used to make nectar and
ice-cream.
Naseberry
The naseberry is native to Central America and the
Caribbean. The Indians of Mexico originally called the tree
'sapodilla', a name that is retained in many parts of the region.
The fruit is round in shape and has a reddish brown skin. When ripe,
the fleshy pulp may be eaten or used to make custard and ice-cream.
The early Indians chewed the rubbery sap of the tree, which they
called 'chicle' and it was this - with the addition of massive
amounts of sugar - that New Yorker Thomas Adams managed to make into
successful commercial product - chewing gum.
Pomegranate (Chinese Apple)
Pomegranate (Punica granatum), showing persistent
calyx at top of fruit. The calyx is cut away on right fruit to show
the numerous stamens. The fruit is technically a leathery-skinned
berry containing many seeds, each surrounded by a fleshy, juicy
aril. The pomegranate tree is native to Africa, Caribbean and the
Near East. Hebrews decorated their buildings with pomegranate
motifs, and the beautiful, many-seeded fruits became associated with
a symbol of fertility and abundance. In Asia, pomegranates were
offered to wedding guests who threw them on the floor of the
honeymoon suite, shattering the fruits and scattering the bright red
seeds. This practice was believed to insure fertility and a large
number of offspring for the newlyweds. The French word for a
pomegranate is "grenade," which also refers to a hand-thrown bomb
that scatters deadly metal fragments (shrapnel) instead of seeds.
The leaves are opposite or sub-opposite, glossy, narrow oblong,
entire, 3–7 cm long and 2 cm broad. The flowers are bright red, 3 cm
in diameter, with four to five petals (often more on cultivated
plants). The fruit is between a lemon and a grapefruit in size, 5–12
cm in diameter with a rounded hexagonal shape, and has thick reddish
skin and around 600 seeds.[5] The seeds and surrounding pulp,
ranging in colour from white to deep red, called arils, are edible;
indeed, the fruit of the pomegranate is a berry. There are some
cultivars which have been introduced that have a range of pulp
colours such as purple.
Guanabana
The soursop is ovoid in shape, covered with short
, soft spines dark green in colour, changing to a pale green when
ripe. The pulp of the fruit is white, of a 'woolly' texture and
pleasantly acidic. The juice is used to make a delightful ice cream
or iced drink.
Sugar Sop
This heart shaped fruit has a peculiar appearance
- the entire surface being divided into small, knobbly scales that
break away separately when the fruit is ripe, exposing the creamy,
sweet custard-like pulp which encloses small black seeds.
Tamarind
The segmented pod of the tamarind hardens on
maturity into a brittle shell which houses three or four small seeds
embedded in a tart pulp. The pulp is mixed with sugar to make
tamarind balls, a popular confectionery, and can also be mixed with
water, and sugar or honey to make a rich drink
Tangarine (Mandarin)
A member of the citrus family, tangerines have a
rougher more pliable skin than oranges which does not require
peeling and which can be easily broken to reveal the large, juicy
pegs inside.
Watermelon
A relative of the cantaloupe, the watermelon
provides an overwhelmingly juicy mouthful with every bite. The fruit
is also blended into a refreshing drink.
