Botanical Name :Syzygium samarangense
Family: Myrtaceae
Genus: Syzygium
Species: S. samarangense
Kingdom: Plantae
Order: Myrtales
Synonym:Syzygium javanicum, Eugenia javanica
Common Names : wax apple, love apple, java apple, chomphu (in Thai), Man (in Vietnam), bellfruit (In Taiwan), Jamaican Apple, Otaheti Apple (in Jamaica), jambu air (in Indonesian), water apple, mountain apple, cloud apple, jambu air (“water guava” in Malay), wax jambu, rose apple, bell fruit, makopa, tambis (Philippines), and chambekka in Malayalam, jamrul (in Bengali), and jumbu (Sri Lanka). It is called the nonu vao in Samoan.
It is known as jamalac in French, and zamalac in the French-based creole languages of Mauritius, Réunion, Seychelles and other Indian ocean islands.The wax apple tree also grows in the Caribbean. On Curaçao, Netherlands Antilles, the fruit is called kashu Sürnam in Papiamentu, which means ‘cashew from Surinam’, while in Surinam the fruit is called curaçaose appel (‘apple from Curaçao’ in Dutch), while in the Dominican Republic a small sub-species of the wax apple is known as Cajuilito, (small cashew) in Cuba and Puerto Rico it is known as Pumarosa or in other parts of the Caribbean it is known as Corazón.
It should not be confused with the Malay Apple(Syzygium malaccense) which is known as the pommerac in Trinidad and Tobago.
Habitat :Native to Philippines, India, Indonesia, Malaysia and Samoa
Description:
It is a tropical tree growing to 12 m tall, with evergreen leaves 10–25 cm long and 5–10 cm broad. The flowers are white, 2.5 cm diameter, with four petals and numerous stamens. The fruit is a bell-shaped edible berry, with colors ranging from white, pale green, green, red, purple, crimson, to deep purple or even black, 4–6 cm long in wild plants. The flowers and resulting fruit are not limited to the axils of the leaves and can appear on nearly any point on the surface of the trunk and branches. When mature, the tree is considered a heavy bearer and can yield a crop of up to 700 fruits.
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The ripened fruit varies in hue and can be light pink to a dark, almost purple, red. One of the most highly prized and sought after wax apples in Taiwan are “black pearls,” which are purplish-red. If it is ripe enough, the fruit will puff outwards, with the middle of the underside of the “bell shape” dented in a touch. Healthy wax apples have a light sheen to them.
Propagation:
Seeds and cuttings.
Due to recalcitrant nature of the seeds, they have a short viable life, can not be dried well and can not withstand low temperatures.
Edible Uses:
It is a very delicious fruit to eat ,sweet soft and watery.Despite its name, a ripe wax apple only resembles an apple on the outside in color. It doesn’t taste like an apple, and it has neither the fragrance nor the density of an apple. Its flavor is similar to a snow pear, and the liquid to flesh ratio of the wax apple is comparable to a watermelon. Unlike either apple or watermelon, the wax apple’s flesh has a very loose weave. The very middle holds a seed that’s situated in a sort of cotton-candy-like mesh. This mesh is edible but flavorless. The color of its juice depends on the cultivar of the fruit; it may be purple to entirely colorless. As well as in its native range, it is also cultivated in tropical regions such as Vietnam, Taiwan, Thailand, Bangladesh,
Constituents :
• Leaf oil largely composed of monoterpenes (30% sesquiterpenes, 9 % caryophyllene).
• Considered diuretic, emmenagogue, abortifacient, febrifuge.
Medicinal Uses:
Folkloric
Not known in the Philippines for its medicinal properties.
In other countries, the astringent bark is a mouthwash for thrush (dapulak).
A root-bark decoction used for dysentery and amenorrhea.
Powdered leaves used for cracked tongues.
Root-bark used as abortifacient.
In Hawaii, juice of salted pounded bark used for wounds.
In Molucca, decoction of bark used for thrush.
Malayans use powdered dried leaves for cracked tongues. Root preparations for itching.
In Cambodia, decoction of fruit, leaves and seeds used for fever. Juice of leaves used for baths and lotions.
In Brazil, used for diabetes, cough, headaches.
In Malaysian Borneo, Malaysian Bornea, decoction of stem and bark for diarrhea.
Nutrion / Culinary
Fruit is eaten raw but may be prepared with flavoring.
In Puerto Rico, used for making of table wines.
In Indonesia, flowers eaten in salads. Young shoots and leaves eaten, raw or cooked.
The flowers are used in Taiwan to treat fever and diarrhea. The phytochemicals in the Java apple tree show some antibiotic action against staphylococcus aureus, candida albicans and mycrobacter smegmatis.
Other Uses:
Wood is used for construction, bowls and boards.
Studies
• Antiinflammatory: Flavan-3-ols isolated from some medicinal plants inhibiting COX-1 and COX-2 catalysed prostaglandin biosynthesis: S malaccense was one of four plants tested that were traditionally used for inflammatory conditions.
• Antioxidant: Study of 58 underutilized Malaysian fruits of 32 different species, showed fruits from some genera, including Syzygium, had higher antioxidant capacity compared to other general.
• Leaf Oil Analysis: Study of hydrodistilled essential oil from the fresh leaves of SM grown in Nigeria showed the oil to be largely composed of monoterpenes (61.1%) characterized mainly by a-pinene, b-pinene, p-cymene and a-terpineol. The sesquiterpenes constituted 30.8% of the oil with b-caryophyllene as the major component.
• Essential Oils / Non-Ichthyotoxic: Study yielded three compounds – ursolic acid, B-sitosterol, and sitos-4-en-3-one. None of the compounds gave any significant ichthyotoxicity.
• Aldose Reductase Inhibition / Cataract Prevention: Cataractogenesis is a common complication in diabetes, and aldose reductase in a lens enzyme involved in its development. In a study, S malaccense was one of the best four plant extract inhibitors with a preventive effect on cataract formation.
Disclaimer:
The information presented herein is intended for educational purposes only. Individual results may vary, and before using any supplements, it is always advisable to consult with your own health care provider.
Resources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syzygium_samarangense
http://www.stuartxchange.com/Makopa.html
http://www.tropilab.com/syzygium-samaran.html
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One reply on “Jamrul (Syzygium samarangense)”
fine but if the nutrient content would be given it would be more helpful.