Spondias mombin

Spondias mombin
S. mombin, fruiting.
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
(unranked):	Angiosperms
(unranked):	Eudicots
(unranked):	Rosids
Order:	Sapindales
Family:	Anacardiaceae
Genus:	Spondias
Species:	S. mombin
Binomial name
Spondias mombin L.
Synonyms[1]
Spondias aurantiaca Schumach. & Thonn. Spondias dubia A. Rich. Spondias graveolens Macfad. Spondias lutea L. Spondias oghigee G. Don Spondias pseudomyrobalanus Tussac

Spondias mombin or Spondias purpurea var. lutea, is a tree, a species of flowering plant in the family Anacardiaceae. It is native to the tropical Americas, including the West Indies. The tree has been naturalized in parts of Africa, India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Indonesia. It is rarely cultivated.

The mature fruit has a leathery skin and a thin layer of pulp. The seed has an oil content of 31.5%.^[2]

Use as food

Bai makok, the name for the leaves of the Spondias mombin in Thai

The fruit, of which the seed can easily be seen in this image, can also be used for making green papaya salad in Thailand and Laos

Green fruits in a supermarket in the Dominican Republic

Ripe fruits

The fruit pulp is either eaten fresh or made into juice, concentrate, jellies, and sherbets.

In Thailand this fruit is called makok (Thai: มะกอก) and is used in som tam as a secondary ingredient. The young leaves, which taste slightly bitter and sour, are sometimes served raw together with certain types of nam phrik (Thai chilli pastes).

As a member of the Sumac family (Anacardiaceae), exposure to the sap of this species may result in an identical allergic reaction to that of the poison ivy plant. Those with a known sensitivity to urushiol should exercise caution in consuming or handling this species.

Use in Medicine

The fruit-juice is used as a febrifuge and diuretic. The roots are well-known febrifuge on the Ivory Coast, being sometimes used with leaves of Ximenia, Premna hispida, Ficus sp., and Alchornea. They are pulped, boiled in water, and drunk, or used as a lotion or for baths. The bark is used as a purgative and in local applications for leprosy (Kerharo and Bouquet). The bark decoction is used for severe cough, causing relief through vomiting. The dry pulverized bark is applied as a dressing to the circumcision wound. The bark contains a certain amount of tannin. A decoction of the mashed leaves is used by the Ibos (Nigeria) for washing a swollen face. The leaves, ground with sugar, are rubbed on the mouth and gums. A leaf infusion is a common cough remedy or used as a laxative for fever with constipation. A leaf decoction is used for gonorrhea. The leaves with the leaves of Vitex quinata and Terminalia avicennoides, are used on the Ivory Coast for fresh wounds preventing inflammation. All these leaves are used for leprosy. Crushed with lemon they are effective for worms in children. With Alchornea leaves and lemon a gargle is made from the leaves. They are crushed to obtain the juice. A decoction of pounded leaves is used as an eye lotion and the juice pressed from young, warm leaves is given to children for stomach troubles. The young leaves are used as an infusion taken internally or as a warm astringent lotion by women in confinement in Sierra Leone. In the Congo the young leaves pounded to a frothy pulp are used as a bed for paralytics, who are then massaged with them to the accompaninent of incantations.^[3] In Suriname's traditional medicine, the infusion of the leaves is used as a treatment of eye inflammation, diarrhea and venereal diseases.

The extract has shown anti-inflammatory activity in Wistar rats.^[4]

Language

Spondias mombin has several common names. Throughout the Spanish-speaking Caribbean and in Costa Rica and Mexico it is called jobo (derived from the Carib language ^[5]). In El Salvador, it is called Jocote de Corona. Among the English-speaking Caribbean islands it is known as yellow mombin^[6] or hog plum, while in Jamaica it is called Spanish plum, gully plum or coolie plum. In Surinam the fruit is called Mope. In Brazil, the fruit is known by several different names, such as cajá, taperebá and ambaló. In Peru, it is known as uvos or mango ciruelo. In Ghana, it is hog plum or Ashanti plum. It is called "Akukor" in the Ewe language of Ghana. In Nigeria, the fruit is called Iyeye or Yeye in the Yoruba language,^[7] ngulungwu in Igbo and isada in Hausa.^[8] Other common names include hug plum, true yellow mombin, golden apple or Java plum, Ambaralla (ඇඹරැල්ල) in Sri Lanka. In Assamese it is called Omora (অমৰা). Similarly in Bengali, it is called আমড়া (Aamra). In Goan Konkani, it is called "Ambado". In Kannada it is called Ambate / Amate Kaayi. In Malayalam, it is called "Ambazham" and "Junglee Aam" in Hindi. In Vietnam, it is called Cóc. In Panama it is called mangotin. In "habla congo" of palo mayombe in Cuba, it is called nkunia guenguere kunansieto', ciruela. In Odisha, it is called Ambda/Ambada. In Palauan, it is called titimel.

Plant Description

A small deciduous tree up to 20 m (66 ft) high and 1.5 m (4.9 ft) in girth, moderately buttressed; bark thick, corky, deeply fissured, slash pale pink, darkening rapidly, branches low, branchlets glabrous; leaves pinnate, leaflets 5-8 opposite pairs with a terminal leaflet, 10 cm × 5 cm (4 in × 2 in), oblong or oblong lanceolate, broadly acuminate, glabrous; flowers (Jan.-May) sweet-scented, in large, lax terminal panicles of small white flowers; fruits (July-Sept.) nearly 4 cm (1.5 in) long, ovoid yellow, acid, wrinkled when dry; 1 seed.

The fruits have a sharp, somewhat acid taste and are edible. Their flesh surrounds a spiny kernel.

See also

• List of plants of Cerrado vegetation of Brazil
• Amazonian cuisine
• Spondias purpurea (Purple mombin)
• Spondias tuberosa (Umbú)

Notes

References

External links

• Spondias mombin in West African plants – A Photo Guide.