1709

2: Edible fruits and nuts

Mammea americana L.

GUTTIFERAE

Mamey, mammee, South American apricot (En). Apricot d'Amérique, abricotier sauvage (Fr). Indonesia: manggis negri. Malaysia: aprikot.

Native to the West Indies and northern South America. It is also cultivated there and occasionally elsewhere in the tropics and subtropics. In South-East Asia particularly in Java and in the Philippines.

The fruits are eaten raw or made into salads, pies, tarts, marmalades, etc. Juice or wine is prepared from the fruit as well. An insecticidal solution can be prepared from most parts of the tree, especially from the bark resin. The wood is heavy and hard and valuable as timber, but it is susceptible to termites. The tannin from the bark is used for tanning hides. Powdered seeds are used to treat parasitic skin diseases. An infusion of the leaves is used against malaria.

Tree, up to 20 m tall, trunk to 1 m in diameter. Leaves broadly elliptic, up to 20 cm x 10 cm. Flowers unisexual or bisexual, white, fragrant. Fruit a globose to irregular berry, 10—20 cm in diameter, light-brown; flesh yellow to orange, juicy, sweet in good cultivars. Seeds 1—4, ellipsoid, up to 6 cm long, brown. In tropical or near-tropical climates, on many types of soils; up to 1000 m altitude. Propagation by seeds or cuttings. Good trees produce 300—400 fruits per year.

[10]Burkill, I.H., 1966. A dictionary of the economic products of the Malay Peninsula. 2nd ed. 2 Volumes. Ministry of Agriculture and Co-operatives, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. 2444 pp.
[26]Heyne, K., 1927. De nuttige planten van Nederlandsch Indië [The useful plants of the Dutch East Indies]. 2nd ed. 3 Volumes. Departement van Landbouw, Nijverheid en Handel in Nederlandsch Indië. 1953 pp.
[56]Morton, J.F., 1987. Fruits of warm climates. Creative Resource Systems Inc., Winterville, N.C., USA. 503 pp.

P.C.M. Jansen, J. Jukema, L.P.A. Oyen, T.G. van Lingen

Jansen, P.C.M., Jukema, J., Oyen, L.P.A. & van Lingen, T.G., 1991. Mammea americana L.. In: Verheij, E.W.M. and Coronel, R.E. (Editors): Plant Resources of South-East Asia No 2: Edible fruits and nuts. PROSEA Foundation, Bogor, Indonesia. Database record: prota4u.org/prosea