rambutan

The rambutan ( /ræmˈbuːtən/; taxonomic name: Nephelium lappaceum) is a medium-sized tropical tree in the family Sapindaceae. The fruit produced by the tree is also known as "rambutan."
According to popular belief and the origin of its name, rambutan is native to Indonesia and Malaysia. The earliest record of rambutan trees show that they were cultivated by the Malayan jungle tribes around their temporary settlements, a practice followed to date.^[3] Rambutan trees grow naturally in Thailand, Vietnam, the Philippines (where it is also called "laguan"), and elsewhere in Southeast Asia, although its precise natural distribution is unknown.^[4] It is closely related to several other edible tropical fruits including the lychee, longan, and mamoncillo.^[4] It is native to the Indonesian Archipelago,^[5] from where it spread westwards to Thailand, Burma, Sri Lanka and India; northwards to Vietnam, and the Philippines.^[4]
A species regularly sold in Costa Rican markets may be known as "wild" rambutan. Yellow in color, it is smaller than the usual red variety. The flesh exposed when the outer skin is peeled off is sweet and sour, slightly grape-like and gummy to the taste. In Costa Rican Spanish, it is known as mamón chino ("Chinese mamón") due to its Asian origin and the likeness of the edible part with Melicoccus bijugatus. The fruit has been successfully transplanted by grafting in Puerto Rico.^[4]
Rambutans are a non-climacteric fruit - that is, they ripen only on the tree.^[4]

Etymology

The name rambutan is derived from the Indonesian word rambutan, meaning "hairy":^[4] rambut the Indonesian word for "hair", a reference to the numerous hairy protuberances of the fruit, together with the noun-building suffix -an.^[3] In Vietnam, it is called chôm chôm (meaning "messy hair") due to the spines covering the fruit's skin.^[6]

Description

It is an evergreen tree growing to a height of 12–20 m.^[4] The leaves are alternate, 10–30 cm long, pinnate, with 3-11 leaflets, each leaflet 5–15 cm wide and 3-10 cm broad, with an entire margin. The flowers are small, 2.5–5 mm, apetalous, discoidal, and borne in erect terminal panicles 15–30 cm wide.^[4]
Rambutan trees are either male (producing only staminate flowers and, hence, produce no fruit), female (producing flowers that are only functionally female), or hermaphroditic (producing flowers that are female with a small percentage of male flowers).
The fruit is a round to oval drupe 3–6 cm (rarely to 8 cm) tall and 3-4 cm broad, borne in a loose pendant cluster of 10-20 together. The leathery skin is reddish (rarely orange or yellow), and covered with fleshy pliable spines, hence the name rambutan, derived from the Malay word rambut which means hairs. The fruit flesh is translucent, whitish or very pale pink, with a sweet, mildly acidic flavor very reminiscent of grapes.^[4]
The single seed is glossy brown, 1–1.3 cm, with a white basal scar.^[4] Soft and crunchy, the seeds are mildly poisonous when raw, but may be cooked and eaten. In fact the peeled fruits can be cooked and eaten, first the grape-like aril, then the nutty seed, with no waste.