Pulasan

Year 2012.. the year of fruits... In January 2012 alone, we had several fruits. Besides durian, we had also Pulasan and rambutan.

The pulasan, Nephelium mutabile Blume (family Sapindaceae), is a tropical fruit closely allied to the rambutan and sometimes confused with it. It has various common names, including pulasan in English, Spanish and Malay, kapulasan in Indonesia, ngoh-khonsan in Thailand, andbulala in the Philippines.

Usually eaten fresh, it is sweeter than the rambutan and lychee, but very rare outside Southeast Asia.

Description

The pulasan tree is an ornamental. It attains a height of 10-15 m and has a short trunk to 30-40 cm thick. The branchlets are brown and hairy when young. The alternate leaves, pinnate or odd-pinnate, are 17-45 cm long, have 2 to 5 pairs of opposite or nearly opposite leaflets, are oblong or elliptic-lanceolate, 6.25-17.5 cm long and up to 5 cm wide; slightly wavy, dark-green and barely glossy on the upper surface; pale, and somewhat bluish, with a few short, silky hairs on the underside. Very small, greenish, petalless flowers with 4-5 hairy sepals are borne singly or in clusters on the branches of the erect, axillary or terminal, panicles clothed with fine yellowish or brownish hairs.The name pulasan comes from the Malay word pulas (twist). The fruit is opened through the act of twisting the fruit with both hands, thus the name pulasan.

The pulasan is ultra-tropical and thrives only in very humid regions between 360 and 1,150 ft (110-350 in) of altitude. In Malaya, it is said that the tree bears best after a long, dry season.
The fruit is ovoid, 5-7.5 cm long, dark red, with its thick, leathery rind closely set with conical, blunt-tipped tubercles or thick, fleshy, straight spines, which are up to 1 cm long. There may be one or two small, undeveloped fruits nestled close to the stem. Within is the glistening, white or yellowish-white flesh (aril) to 1 cm thick, more or less clinging to the thin, grayish-brown seedcoat (testa) which separates from the seed. The flavour is generally much sweeter than that of the rambutan. The seed is ovoid, oblong or ellipsoid, light brown, somewhat flattened on one side, and 2 to 3.5 cm long.

While very similar to rambutan, the fruit lacks the hairy spines. The flesh is very sweet and juicy, and separates easily from the seed, much more easily than the rambutan. In addition, unlike the seed of the rambutan, the seed of the pulasan is readily edible raw. It has a flavour somewhat similar to that of almonds.

Origin and distribution
The pulasan is native to Peninsular Malaysia. Wild trees are infrequent in lowland forests around Perak, Malaysia but abundant in the Philippines at low elevations from Luzon to Mindanao. The tree has long been cultivated in the Malay Peninsula and Thailand; is rarely domesticated in the Philippines. Ochse reported that there were extensive plantings in Java only around Bogor and the villages along the railway between Bogor and Jakarta.
The tree was planted at the Trujillo Plant Propagation Station in Puerto Rico in 1926 and young trees from Java were sent to the Lancetilla Experimental Garden, Tela, Honduras, in 1927. The latter were said in 1945 to be doing well at Tela and fruiting moderately. The pulasan is little known elsewhere in the New World except in Costa Rica where it is occasionally grown and the fruits sometimes appear on the market.

Taken from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pulasan

Durian season

This year we had less durian, we only have Durian Monthong and also Durian Chanee. The other species like: Durian Otak Udang, Durian Kuning and Polo is not available. Because of the carelessness and lack of workers, this year, all the durian production is NOT FOR SELL. Because many of them are SPOILED and eaten by Squirel, in Malay local word here call 'Basing'. 


When i opened the fresh, it is quite nice and sweet. I like the strong smells of it.. really good. 

I managed to take few photos of the durian from our farm. Next year, we will be more careful and take care of the trees.

 

 

This year, most of the durian was picked up by my brother who regularly visited and went down to see the fall durian from the trees. It is heavy and worth it.

Below the durian which are spoiled by Squirrel or 'Tupai' in local term....

Durian Season- King of Fruits

End of December 2011 and New Year 2012, once again Brunei hit by the durian season. Durian is famous fruits in Borneo Island and South East Asia. In our farm, the last season is 2009, that was the time when I was in Kuala Lumpur for my training. 


Habitats of Durian Fruit

Durian is a native plant of Brunei, Malaysia and Indonesia but some highlight that it is native to Philippines as well. Thailand is one of the main countries that export durian to the international market. Sri Lanka, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Myanmar, West Indies, India, Hawaii, Polynesian Islands, Madagascar, China, Singapore, Northern Australia, and Malaysia as well as some parts of America are also well known as habitats for the durian tree.

Appearance of Durian

Nick named ‘King of Fruits’; durian is highly valued in Southeast Asian countries. Durian has a very distinguished smell and its skin is thorny and hard. The dimension of a durian fruit is about 30 – 15 cm and its weight is about three Kgs. Durian flowers bloom in a cluster and there are about three to thirty identical clusters borne on its trunk and large branches. Every flower has sepals and about five to six petals. Durian is round although the oblong shape is not irregular. The shells are green or brown while its flesh is a luminous yellowish or reddish color.

The odor of the edible parts of durian is so penetrating; it spreads a long distance even without removing the shell. Some like the aroma of durian very much while some others highly despise its scent. Durian trees yield two harvests per year, but it may vary in keeping with the various climates, cultivars and places. Durian trees bear fruit after 4 -5 years and they take about three months to ripe. From a great variety of durian, only the Durio ziebethinus variety is marketed internationally.

How to Eat Durian Fruit

The durian fruit is quite large. Its size is not a great problem as ripe ones fall in time. They may slightly crack when falling. By inserting a knife or a fair sized cleaver to such a crack, it can be opened very easily. Within, are about five parts and in each one of these, several seeds can be seen covered with an aril identical to custard. When durian is eaten immediately on falling, the pungent smell is bearable and the taste is also favorable. Durian fruit can be mixed with many flavors to increase its taste. Its seed can also be eaten after it’s cooked.

REF: http://tropical-fruits.biz/