Melicoccus bijugatus

Melicoccus bijugatus, common name mamón, mamoncillo, huaya or quenepa (among others), is a fruit tree of the Sapindaceae family, naturalized in the intertropical zone of America. It is appreciated for its edible fruits (drupa).

Description

A good-sized perennial tree, between 12 and 18 m high or even 30 m, depending on conditions and habitats, and forms a dense crown. Its leaves have helical alternation, the upper ones are 8 to 12 cm long and the lower ones are 3 to 6 cm long, pinnate, with 4 to 6 opposite leaflets of about 7 to 12 cm long each. At the beginning of the wet season it produces panicles of small flowers with 4 or 5 greenish-white petals, very fragrant. They are monoecious, that is, each tree has male or female flowers, although on some stems they are bisexual.

The fruit is a round drupe 2-4 cm in diameter with a thin and brittle green shell, mainly in its ripening season—during the summer—and is grouped in large clusters up to 50 cm long and 12 cm thick.. They contain one, and sometimes two, whitish seeds that normally occupy most of the fruit and are surrounded by a gelatinous and juicy salmon-colored pulp.

Distribution and habitat

Native tree in Mexico, Venezuela, Brazil and Colombia. It has been naturalized throughout South America, Central America, the Caribbean and the southern United States, as well as in some western areas of tropical Africa. It grows at low to mid elevations up to 1000 m s. n. m., with dry or humid climates with rainfall of 900 to 2600 mm, and requires a dry season of 4 or 5 months to flower and produce satisfactorily. It grows in a wide variety of soils, but prefers deep, fertile soils of calcareous origin. It thrives even in impoverished soils, in Yucatan it thrives in limestone soils with little land, colonizing many areas. It tolerates drought and adult trees can withstand frost without damage.

Phytochemistry

The ripe fruits are bittersweet, mucilaginous and somewhat laxative. They are exceptionally rich in iron (0.93 mg per 100 g) and phosphorus (50.4 mg per 100 g). In Puerto Rico and Florida there has been some work on selecting varieties that produce fruits with superior characteristics, especially a higher proportion of pulp.

The pulp contains several types of phenols, caffeic acid, ferulic acid and coumaric acid. The seed contains epicatechin, catechin and type A procyanidins.

Uses

Food

The main use is its fruits, which are consumed fresh or made into preserves and canned fruits, mainly in Central and South America.

It is consumed fresh and is even used to prepare refreshing drinks. Sometimes it is sold canned. As a bee flora, its flowers are rich in nectar and appreciated by hummingbirds and bees. The honey produced is somewhat dark but has a pleasant flavor.

With the pulp you can prepare beer, brandy or sweets. The Venezuelan indigenous people of the Orinoco consume the cooked seed as a substitute for cassava.^{[citation needed]}

Medicinal

It has astringent, antidiarrheal and antimicrobial effects; It is used for gastrointestinal and respiratory conditions and asthma. The roasted and ground seeds and the decoction of leaves and bark are used against dysentery and diarrhea.

Other uses

The wood of this tree is of good diameter and suitable for construction work and general carpentry, it is even used in fine joinery works. However, it must be used indoors as it is not a durable wood. It is yellowish white, compact and medium heavy (0.6 1), with fine grain and a beautiful appearance.

Diseases and pests

The tree is a host for the citrus black fly (Aleurocanthus woglumi), but several parasitoids (Prospaltella spp., Eretmocerus serius, Amitus hesperidium) provide a effective control of this pest. In Florida, Armillariella (Clitocybe) tabescens causes root rot; Fusarium and Phyllosticta cause leaf spots.^{[citation needed]}

Taxonomy

The genus Melicoccus was first described by the physician and botanist Patrick Browne in 1756. Melicoccus bijugatus was described by Nikolaus Joseph von Jacquin and published in Enumeratio Systematic Plantarum, quas in insulis Caribaeis 19, in the year 1760. In 1762, Carl Linnaeus used a variation of the name, naming it Melicocca bijuga. This variation would be used by almost all publication for the next two centuries. In 1994, it was proposed to retain the genus as Melicocca instead of Melicoccus; The proposal was rejected and the original name was restored.

The epithet bijugatus refers to bijugated leaves, being composed of two pairs of leaflets.

Sinonimia

• Melicoccus bijuga L.
• Melicoccus bijugatus f. alata Kitan.
• Melicoccus bijugatus f. alatus Kitan.
• Melicoccus carpopodea Juss.

Common names

In Venezuela and Colombia it is known as mamón, mamoncillo or mamones; In Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama it is known only as mamón or talpa. In eastern Venezuela it is called maco. In Puerto Rico it is known as quenepa, and in the meaning of the names "huaya", "guaya" and "guayum" is uncertain, although they could come from the Nahuatl word hueyona, a combination of hue-i 'large' and yona-catl 'pulp', which means 'large pulp'. In the Dominican Republic, they are called limoncillos although they are also called quenepa. In Mexico it is known as huaya or guaya, possibly coming from the Mayan language, wayúum. In Cuba they are called mamoncillo (or anoncillo in the Camagüey area). The terms motoyoé (in Bolivia), coquito de San Juan or guapoó (in Argentina and Paraguay) or yvapovõ (in Guaraní) refer to the fruit of the species Melicoccus lepidopetalus cultivated in southern America and very similar to the Caribbean mamoncillo.^{[citation required]}