Can anyone tell me please, what is the name of this fruit? I saw this fruit tree at a roadside coffee shop in Ipoh. The cute, pretty fruit caught my eye! It looks like a miniature apple. The fruit is green when young, and change to red when ripen and then very dark maroon when mature. According to an Indian uncle who sells food at this coffee shop, this fruit can be eaten but he does not know its name, nobody does!
To prove that it can be eaten and is not poisonous, he ate one. He says that nobody likes the fruit as it is sour, he is the only one consuming it. Sometimes, he wife uses this fruit for cooking replacing the asam jawa. My sisters and myself tried this fruit, and find that it is quite nice with a sour taste but definitely not as sour as my belimbing! We cut off some stems, courtesy from the kind uncle, and took them home to try our luck at propagating these.
I did a search on the web, and found that it is called Acerola or Barbados Cherry. Do any of you have this plant? Is it Acerola Cherry? If it is, then the good news is, it is loaded with Vitamin C.
On the way back from Ipoh, at the Sg Buloh resthouse, we saw about five of these plants growing by the side of the road with some fruits! They are however much smaller that the one above. I guess that some of you probably know and familiar about this fruit plant. If you do, please enlighten me! Thank you!
Happy Gardening !
It reminds me of Surinam Cherry. The plant I saw was very beautiful with many red cherries. Everyone flocked towards the tree/bush but we were all disappointed after tasting it as it was very sour. After that I regretted I didn't bring back the fruit to grow. You are smart for bringing home stems to propagate.
ReplyDeleteA rare find I would say, good for you for taking it home! I think Ive seen the seedlings in Sg Buloh too.
ReplyDeletethat is absolutely beautiful!
ReplyDeleteYes it looks like one acerola! The fruit has lots of vitamin C. I have a bonsai tree. This is huge in comparison. Btw, did you see the flowers. You can compare the flower with pictures in the web ;-)
ReplyDeleteOh, you pointed out rosemary correctly ;-) I know you cook lots of delicious food in your other blog, do you have one?
Happy cooking and gardening!
It's looks delicious! This plants i have seen in Penang Floral Festival 2010 in Bonsai Show. The name of the plant the exhibitor put in Chinese characters, may be you can understand. I will sharing the picture of the Bonsai in my post later.
ReplyDeleteHappy cooking and Happy gardening!
Hi, I hope you feel much better now. Sorry I don't know whats it call. But it does sound interesting and thank you for the introduction. I wonder if we can cook masak lemak with it like belimbing buloh.
ReplyDeletethat Acerola should fit in my new garden ....
ReplyDeleteI just saw post in bangchik blog about Acerola! It's new to me though!
ReplyDeleteBelimbing taste sour? I thought it suppose to be sweet!
the biggest acerola cherry tht i ever seen. nice !
ReplyDeleteHi One,
ReplyDeleteHopefully I will have success with the stems!
Hi p3chandan,
If I am not successful with the propagating, then I guess, Sg. Buloh is my next stop!
Hi mr. pineapple man,
Yes, I think so too.
Hi O.D.D.,
Ashamed to say I can't read Chinese characters! Went to Convent School-lah! But I can ask my hubby to read for me!
Hi Diana,
Yes, thank you. I am much better now, only an occasional cough now and then. No idea whether can cook masak lemak, when I have the chance to try, I'll let you know!
Hi Bangchik,
Yes, this would be perfect in your new garden!
Hi Malar,
The one in Bangchik's post looks a little different, the fruit is oval instead of round, but they might be similar and loaded with Vit C.
Belimbing is extremely sour, I have not heard of sweet belimbing, maybe you meant the belimbing besi (star fruit)?
Hi waliz
Thank you for dropping by. Yes, that is a fabulous acerola cherry tree. Wish I could grow one just like that!
I think it looks like acerola cherry (Malpighia emarginata) too. I photographed a bonsai at Floria 2010. My post is here:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.mynicegarden.com/2010/07/putrajaya-floria-2010-acerola-cherry.html
My brother has a similar but much smaller tree in Ipoh. We had mistaken it to be Indian jujube because the seller told him it is 'mini apple'. The acerola cherry's flowers are tiny and pink while fruits are only about 1-3cm diameter. The Indian jujube flowers are yellow and fruits a little bigger at 4.5cm.
Hello there,
ReplyDeleteYes this plant is called Acerola Cherry. I have one in the yard and i eat the fruit everyday. It has very high Vit C content in one tiny cherry.
Happy gardening! :)
I bought this the other day, the aunty told me it's called Thai cherry. Look high and low on internet for more info.. now I know it's called acerola. :P Thanks Joyce.
ReplyDelete