Dimocarpus longan, commonly known as the longan is a tropical tree that produces edible fruit. It is one of the better known tropical members of the soapberry family to which also the lychee belongs. It is native to the Indomalaya ecozone defined by South Asia and Southeast Asia. (source: Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia)
an apple with mango taste or a mango that looks like an apple in appearance, whatever..
We used to have an apple mango tree in front of our house when I was a kid. My father planted the tree and I guess he had a green thumb that even when the tree was very young, it already bears a lot of fruit. At that time, it was always noticed by neighborhood and passers by because of its fruit with pinkish and apple like color.
We love the apple mango tree but not the fruit. We were not really interested to harvest because we don’t like the taste at all. Yes, we eat, but it’s not our favorite fruit, as we find it dull for our taste bud.
It was just some years ago when we decided to cut down the tree as the old folks said that it gave us bad luck based from Feng Shui, and that a sour tree is never good planted in front of the house. if only I could turn back the time, I wouldn’t have let them cut the tree. Poor tree, my children would have enjoyed the fruit and the shade would have provided a cooler temperature especially during summer.
The taste of apple mango gives me a different taste like a medicinal herb. I would always prefer a ripe carabao mango. However when unripe, I liked it better as it isn’t as sour as carabao. I can eat it without shrimp paste or salt.
A few days ago, I bought a kilo of apple mango. Surprisingly, I like the taste now. Do taste buds change? I guess, yes! I find it sweeter now just as much as carabao.
I usually buy fruits that are only common to us like mango, water melon and orange. When I buy a certain fruit like kiwi, passion fruit and dragon fruit, that means I only crave to buy a piece or two and not because it is included in our diet. Dragon and kiwi are kind of expensive and thought that I could get all the vitamins from other fruits that give the same nutrients.
When I watched a documentary show that features dragon fruit, I listed down dragon fruit in my supermarket list. I thought about the many benefits we would get from this fruit. It has little black edible seeds inside like kiwi fruit, sweet and crunchy. It is low in calories and rich in nutrients like Vitamin C, phosphorus, calcium, plus fiber and antioxidants.
While touring around Baguio, we stopped by at vendors selling fruits and vegetables. It was my first time to see Passion Fruit and this fruit is really strange to me. My friend Joy, knowing the benefits of this fruit, bought a kilo and had me tasted it. It is juicy with numerous black seeds inside, hollow yet crunchy. I could say it is exotic, sweet yet sour in taste.
Passiflora edulis (Passion Fruit) is a vine species of passion flower that is native to Brazil, Paraguay and northern Argentina. Its common names include passion fruit (UK and US), passionfruit (Australia and New Zealand), and purple granadilla (South Africa). In the Philippines passion fruit is commonly sold in public markets and in public schools. Some vendors sell the fruit with a straw to enable sucking out of the seeds and juices inside. It is not very popular because of its sour flavour, and the fruit is very seasonal. Source: Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia
There are a lot more benefits of passion fruit. All parts are used including the leaves, flowers, peels, stems and passion fruits. The passion fruit contains phytochemicals. The juice especially the leaves contain the alkaloids that lower blood pressure, as sedative and as antispasmodic. The leaves are used for medicinal purposes while the flowers has sedative effects that can induce sleep.
It is enough to say, even without checking the info online, that the weather today hits the hottest temperature as I felt the warm sun kissed my skin. I hanged my laundry, did not spin it, and it got dried up in a few minutes.
Drink enough water or fresh drink to rehydrate your body. The weather is just so draining and my head is starting to get drained too. I didn’t cook much this week as we have less appetite because of the El Nino-like weather. I just prepared something for FTF to refresh your body, fresh juice to cool you down.
