Rare Fruits of Malaysia

(28 March 2006)

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Rare Fruits of Malaysia

Malaysia possesses a rich diversity of tropical fruits. Besides the commercial fruits, there are many other fruit species which are grouped under rare fruits. Many of the rare fruit species have great potential but they are under exploited. The production of rare fruits is rather limited due to low number of trees available for each species. However, some of the potential rare fruits are sold at night markets, "pekan sehari" or along the roadsides. Most of the rare fruits are seasonal, but there are also species that are non-seasonal, producing fruits throughout the year.

They provide nutritional benefits and some of these species have unique medicinal value. Furthermore, due to its rarity, it provides good source of income.

These rare fruits are usually grown in home gardens or orchards. Among the fruits that can be found in home gardens are Cermai, Ceri Terengganu, and Durian Nyekak. Jentik-jentik grows in the wild and can be found in forests. Beruas is now being planted as landscaping trees in gardens or pathways.

Considered as treasures of the forests, it is important to cultivate the public's awareness on the value and importance of these rare fruit species as well as ensure that effective conservation and sustainable utilization of the diversity is undertaken so that the future generation is able to appreciate their uniqueness and specialty.

Terap Bulu (Artocarpus Sericicarpus)

Terap bulu is famous in Sarawak. The fruit is large, weighing between 450g - 800g and resembles that of nangka or cempedak. The shape is oval and is slightly orange in color with a strong smell. The whole fruit is covered with long, coarse hair and when ripe the fruit is soft and can be easily opened while the flesh and stalk can be easily pulled from the skin. The flesh, consisting of many small segments is white, soft, sweet, juicy and fragrant. Seeds can be eaten by frying without oil or boiled.

Cermai (Phyllanthus Acidus)

The small sized tree bears fruits in bunches from the branch or stalks and are non-seasonal. The fruit is small, measuring about 2 cm in width and 1.5 cm in length. When ripe, the fruit is yellow, translucent and shiny. The shape of the fruit is round and slightly flattened. The surface of the fruit has 6-8 lobes while the flesh is usually sour in taste with stony seed. Besides eating fresh, the fruit can be pickled, made into dried candy and used in rojak mixture.

Beruas (Garcinia Hombroniana)

The shape of the Beruas tree and its leaves very much resemble that of the mangosteen trees. The flowers are scented and blooms at the end of the branch in clusters of 6-8 blooms or flowers. Fruits are 4cm - 5cm in width and round shaped with pointed tips attached with the stigma. The skin is dark, red and shiny while the thin flesh consists of 8-10 segments and is white in color as well as sour in taste. The tree can be used as beautiful landscape plants.

Ceri Terengganu (Lepisanthes Alata)

The tree is non-seasonal and produces fruit throughout the year. The fruits are arranged closely and attractively in a big bunch of cluster of which each bunch consists of about 20 fruits. The fruits, about 2cm - 3 cm in width are dark red, shiny and round with pointed tip. Each fruit contains 1-3 pieces of seeds and its flesh is soft and tastes fairly sweet. The tree is small but can reach medium height. Its canopy spreads out and the purplish color of the young leaves adds to the attractiveness of the tree. Due to this Ceri Terengganu is usually planted for landscaping purposes.

Jentik-Jentik (Baccaurea Polyneura)

The trees are large, reaching up to more than 30 meters in height while the fruits are borne in large and long clusters hanging down from the branches. A bunch contains up to 10-20 fruits that are small in size with 2 cm in width and 2.5 cm in length and are orange in color. The skin is hard and brittle and is easily broken when clicked with fingers. The flesh, consisting of 1-3 segments is shiny and dark orange in color with sweet and acidic taste. The tree is seasonal, produce flowers and fruits only once a year.

Nyekak (Durio Kutejensis)

Nyekek can be found in the states of Sarawak and Sabah. The tree is medium in height, reaching 30 meters tall. Leaves are dark green on the upper surface with golden underside. Nyekak can be easily recognized through its big, dark red flowers. The fruit shape varies from round to oval and oblong while its size varies from small to big at 8 cm up to 13 cm in length and weighing from 300g to 940g. The skin is yellow with short and sharp thorns while the flesh is yellow to orange in color and can reach up to 7 mm in thickness. Nyekak fruit tastes creamy, sweet and less pungent in flavor whereas the seed is dark brown and shiny. An interesting trait of the fruit is that the flesh has no odor and it does not stick to the fingers. Another important characteristic of the Nyekak is that the calyx and its filaments are firmly attached to the base of the fruit.

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