From Plant
Resources of South-East Asia No 2: Edible fruits and nuts, PROSEA
Foundation
by W. Sm. Gruèzo
Taxon
Antidesma bunius
(L.) Sprengel
Protologue
Syst. Veg. 1: 826 (1825).
Family
EUPHORBIACEAE
Chromosome
Numbers
2n = 26
Synonyms
Stilago
bunius L. (1767), Antidesma
rumphii Tulasne (1851), Antidesma dallachyanum
Baillon (1865—1866).
Vernacular
Names
Bignay,
Chinese laurel, salamander tree (En). Antidesme (Fr). Indonesia: buni
(Malay), wuni, huni (Sundanese). Malaysia: buni, buneh. Philippines:
bignay (Tagalog), paginga (Ibanag), isip (Pampango). Laos: kho liên tu.
Thailand: baa mao ruesee, mamao dong (Chiang Mai), mao chaang
(Chanthaburi). Vietnam: chòi mòi.
Origin and
Geographic Distribution
Antidesma
bunius
is found wild in the wetter parts of India, from the Himalaya
southwards and eastwards, in Sri Lanka, Burma and Malaysia. It may not
be native in the Philippines and Peninsular Malaysia, but if so it must
have been introduced in prehistoric times and have become widely
naturalized, at least in the Philippines.
Bignay is cultivated
extensively in many parts of Indonesia, particularly in Java and also
in Indo-China. In Malaysia and the Philippines the tree is rarely seen
in cultivation.
Uses
Ripe
fruit can be eaten raw; it
stains mouth and fingers. Unripe berries are rather sour and since the
berries in a bunch do not ripen evenly, the fruit is often used to make
jam or jelly. Juice of fully ripened fruit serves as a refreshing drink
and yields an excellent wine. Indonesians prepare a sour fish sauce
from the fruit. Young leaves are also used to flavour fish or meat stew
and both immature fruit and young leaves serve as substitutes for
vinegar. The young leaves are also eaten in salads and cooked with rice.
Bark
and leaves contain an alkaloid which has medicinal use, but is also
reported to be poisonous. The timber is reddish and hard but not very
useful. In the Philippines the tree is common in thickets, open places
and secondary forest; like some other species in the genus it may have
value for reclamation of degraded land (Antidesma ghaesembilla
Gaertner, for instance, invades lalang-infested areas and comes to the
fore in spite of annual grass fires). The fruit with its changing
colours makes bignay an attractive ornamental tree.
Properties
The edible
portion is 65—80% of the fruit. Per 100 g the edible portion contains:
water 90—95 g, carbohydrates 6.3 g, fat 0.8 g, protein 0.7 g, calcium
37—120 mg, phosphorus 22—40 mg, iron 0.1—0.7 mg, vitamin C 8 mg, and
vitamin A 10 IU. The energy value is 134 kJ/100 g. Citric acid is the
predominant organic acid.
Botany
Dioecious tree,
growing according to Rauh's architectural model, 3—10(—30) m tall, with
straight trunk, usually branched near the base. Leaves distichous,
oblong-lanceolate, 19—25 cm x 4—10 cm, base obtuse or rounded, apex
acuminate or obtuse, entire, coriaceous, shiny, midribs strongly
prominent below; petiole up to 1 cm long. Inflorescences terminal or
axillary, narrowly spicate or racemose, many-flowered, 6—20 cm long;
male flowers sessile, calyx cupular with 3—4 short, rounded, ciliate
lobes, ca. 1 mm x 2 mm, stamens 3—4, reddish, ovary rudimentary on a
fleshy disk; female flowers pedicelled, calyx cupular-campanulate,
3—4-lobed, ca. 1 mm x 2 mm, persistent, ovary ovoid, stigmas 3—4, disk
small; in female trees often a large proportion of the flowers is
perfect. Fruit a globose or ovoid drupe, 8—10 mm in diameter,
yellowish-red to bluish-violet, juicy. Seed ovoid-oblong, 6—8 mm x
4.5—5.5 mm.
Information on growth, flowering and fruiting is
lacking. There appears to be much tree to tree variation in seedlings,
also in respect of time of bloom and yield; the latter may be
aggravated by differences in pollination intensity. In Indonesia the
main flowering period is September—October and the harvest time is
given as February—March for Indonesia, July—August in the Philippines
and July—September in north Vietnam.
Ecology
Bignay is not a
strictly tropical tree, for it grows and fruits in central Florida. In
the tropics it is found from sea level to elevations of more than 1000
m. In Indonesia it is grown in the monsoon climate of the eastern
provinces as well as in the humid western parts, but its distribution
in India suggests that it is not by any means drought-tolerant. The
tree is common in the early stages of secondary forest succession,
invading marginal grassland. However, it attains optimum growth on
well-drained clay loams under partial shade.
Agronomy
Bignay can be
easily propagated from seed as well as by stem cutting, marcotting,
budding, and grafting. Marcots of 2—5 cm diameter normally produce
roots in 95 days. Moderately mature budwood, 3—4 cm long, smooth,
green, petioled and lenticellate, should be obtained for budding. The
age of the rootstock is not critical. A 6—8 m spacing in the field is
recommended. Male trees may not be needed since most female trees
produce enough perfect flowers for adequate pollination. Seedling trees
bear fruit 4—5 years after planting. Asexually propagated plants start
producing fruit within a couple of years. The fruiting season lasts
only two months.
Information on pests and diseases attacking Antidesma
species is scanty. Termites, mealy bugs and scales sometimes infest the
tree; a report from Singapore mentions an incident of severe damage to
the foliage by beetle larvae (Autoserica
rufocuprea).
The
bunches are harvested by hand with the help of a bamboo pole,
preferably with a net bag to collect the detached bunches. The trees
can bear good crops but the only indication of actual (top) yields
comes from two trees in Florida bearing 270 and 400 kg of fruit in a
season.
Prospects
Bignay is a
decorative home garden tree in Indonesia and is said to bear well.
Selection, cloning and attention to pollination could boost yields and
improve fruit quality. This might make cultivation more popular in
other countries of South-East Asia; it is not at all clear why the tree
is grown so sporadically in Malaysia. The usefulness of the tree in
'regreening' programmes also deserves further consideration.
Literature
Carangal, A.R.,
Gonzalez, L.G. & Daguman, I.L., 1961. The acid constituents of
some
Philippine fruits. The Philippine Agriculturists 44(10): 514—519.
Hans, A.S., 1970. Polyploidy in Antidesma (Euphorbiaceae). Caryologia
23(3): 321—327.
Henkin, R.I. & Gillis, W.T., 1977. Divergent taste
responsiveness to fruit of the tree Antidesma bunius.
Nature (London) 265: 536—537.
Marañon,
J., 1935. Nutritive mineral value of Philippine food plants (calcium,
phosphorus and iron contents). Philippine Journal of Science 58:
317—358.
Merrill, E.D., 1912. A flora of Manila. Bureau of Science, Manila. pp.
287—288.
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