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''Melicoccus bijugatus'' is a
fruit In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants that is formed from the ovary after flowering. Fruits are the means by which flowering plants (also known as angiosperms) disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in particu ...
-bearing
tree In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, including only woody plants with secondary growth, plants that are ...
in the
soapberry Soapberry is a common name for several plants and may refer to: * Plants in the genus ''Sapindus'', native to warm temperate to tropical regions in both the Old World and the New World. The berries of these plants contain a natural, low-sudsing de ...
family Sapindaceae, native or naturalized across the
New World The term ''New World'' is often used to mean the majority of Earth's Western Hemisphere, specifically the Americas."America." ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'' (). McArthur, Tom, ed., 1992. New York: Oxford University Press, p. ...
tropics including South and Central America, and parts of the Caribbean. Its stone-bearing fruits are edible. It is also called Bajan ackee, genip, guinep, genipe, ginepa, kenèp, quenepa, quenepe, quenette, chenet, skinup, talpa jocote, mamón, limoncillo, canepa, skinip, kenepa, kinnip, huaya, or mamoncillo.


Taxonomy

The genus ''Melicoccus'' was first described by Patrick Browne, an Irish physician and botanist, in 1756. This description was based on ''M. bijugatus'' trees which were cultivated in Puerto Rico. In 1760, Nikolaus Joseph von Jacquin described the first species in Browne's genus, which he named ''M. bijugatus''. In 1762 Linnaeus used a spelling variation of the name ''Melicocca bijuga''. Over the next two centuries, Linnaeus' spelling variation was used in almost all publications. A proposal was made in 1994 to conserve ''Melicocca'' over ''Melicoccus'', but the proposal was rejected, leading to a restoration of the original version of the name. In 1888 German taxonomist Ludwig Radlkofer placed ''Melicoccus'' in the tribe Melicocceae together with eight other genera. In his monograph on the Neotropical members of the tribe (''
Talisia ''Talisia'' is a genus of 52 species of flowering plants in the family Sapindaceae, native to tropical regions of the Americas. The genus is closely related to '' Melicoccus'', with some species sometimes included in that genus. The species are ...
'' and ''Melicoccus'') Pedro Acevedo-Rodríguez suggested that although ''Talisia'' and ''Melicoccus'' appeared to form a monophyletic group, the other (Old World) genera probably did not belong to the same lineage. The specific epithet ''bijugatus'' refers to the bijugate leaves, leaves which consist of two pairs of leaflets.


Distribution

''Melicoccus bijugatus'' is native to northern South America and naturalised in coastal and
dry forest Dry or dryness most often refers to: * Lack of rainfall, which may refer to **Arid regions **Drought * Dry or dry area, relating to legal prohibition of selling, serving, or imbibing alcoholic beverages * Dry humor, deadpan * Dryness (medical) * ...
in Central America, the Caribbean and parts of the Old World tropics. It is believed to have been introduced into the Caribbean in pre-Columbian times and is also found in India. This fruit, known as ''quenepa'' in Puerto Rico, grows particularly abundantly in the municipality of Ponce, and there is a yearly celebration in that municipality known as
Festival Nacional de la Quenepa The Festival Nacional de la Quenepa (English: National Genip Fruit Festival) is a cultural celebration that takes place every year in Ponce, Puerto Rico. The festival centers around the genip fruit, the city's official fruit. The celebration ...
(National Genip Fruit Festival). The fruit ripens during the warm summer months.


Description

Trees can reach heights of up to and come with alternate, compound leaves. The leaves have four elliptic leaflets which are long and wide. They are typically dioecious plants, however
autogamous Autogamy, or self-fertilization, refers to the fusion of two gametes that come from one individual. Autogamy is predominantly observed in the form of self-pollination, a reproductive mechanism employed by many flowering plants. However, species of ...
trees occur from time to time. Flowers have four petals and eight stamens and produce void, green drupes which are long and wide. Their pulp is orange, salmon or yellowish in color with a somewhat juicy and pasty texture.


Fruit

The fruit is a round drupe, approximately in diameter, with a thin, brittle, green peel. The bulk of the fruit is made up of the one (or, rarely, two) whitish seeds, which are surrounded by an edible, orange, juicy, gelatinous pulp. There are efforts in
Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and unincorporated ...
and
Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...
to produce cultivars with a more favourable flesh-to-seed ratio. When ripe, the fruits have a bittersweet, wine-like flavour and have mild laxative properties. They are extremely rich in iron and phosphorus. The seed, being slippery, is a potential choking hazard. Fruits mature in the dry season or summer.


Use

The main use of the mamoncillo is its sweet fruits, which are consumed fresh or canned, and can also be used in the preparation of soft drinks and alcoholic beverages. It can produce a strong yellow dye, although it is rarely used for this purpose. The pit is also edible. When roasted, it resembles cashew nuts. The indigenous peoples of the Orinoco river consume them as a substitute for
cassava ''Manihot esculenta'', commonly called cassava (), manioc, or yuca (among numerous regional names), is a woody shrub of the spurge family, Euphorbiaceae, native to South America. Although a perennial plant, cassava is extensively cultivated ...
, and in
Nicaragua Nicaragua (; ), officially the Republic of Nicaragua (), is the largest country in Central America, bordered by Honduras to the north, the Caribbean to the east, Costa Rica to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Managua is the countr ...
, they are ground and made into
horchata Horchata (; ), or (), is a name given to various beverages, which are generally plant-based, but sometimes contain animal milk. In Spain, it is made with soaked, ground, and sweetened tiger nuts. In Latin America and other parts of the Americas ...
as a cure for
parasites Parasitism is a close relationship between species, where one organism, the parasite, lives on or inside another organism, the host, causing it some harm, and is adapted structurally to this way of life. The entomologist E. O. Wilson ha ...
. The wood of the tree is pale, dense and moderately heavy with a fine grain, and is used for construction, carpentry, and fine cabinetmaking. However, it is not particularly durable, so its use is limited to indoors. The leaves are used in various traditional medicinal preparations, and also used as pest deterrents. The species is also commonly planted along roadsides as an ornamental tree.


Quenepa in popular culture

The quenepa fruit is frequently referenced in popular culture in the Spanish Caribbean, including songs such as ''Suave'' by Puerto Rico rapper René Pérez (Residente).


See also

*
Korlan ''Nephelium hypoleucum'', the korlan, is a tree in the family Sapindaceae. It is in the same genus as the rambutan and also closely related to several other tropical fruits including the lychee, longan, and guinep. The fruit In botany, a ...
*
Longan ''Dimocarpus longan'', commonly known as the longan () and dragon's eye, is a tropical tree species that produces edible fruit. It is one of the better-known tropical members of the soapberry family Sapindaceae, to which the lychee and rambu ...
*
Lychee Lychee (US: ; UK: ; ''Litchi chinensis''; ) is a monotypic taxon and the sole member in the genus ''Litchi'' in the soapberry family, ''Sapindaceae''. It is a tropical tree native to Southeast and Southwest China (the Guangdong, Fujian, Yun ...
*
Rambutan Rambutan (; taxonomic name: ''Nephelium lappaceum'') is a medium-sized tropical tree in the family Sapindaceae. The name also refers to the edible fruit produced by this tree. The rambutan is native to Southeast Asia. It is closely related to s ...


References


External links


Fruits of Warm Climates: Mamoncillo
{{Taxonbar, from=Q279728 Sapindaceae Tropical fruit Edible nuts and seeds Flora of Colombia Flora of northern South America Taxa named by Nikolaus Joseph von Jacquin Dioecious plants