Jaboticaba 7 Flavours in 1 Fruit
‘Now we are heading to the jaboticaba garden,’ said Simon Wong, the guide during the journey to Taiwan in April 2007. That sentence directly reminded Sardi Duryatmo, Trubus reporter, on a piece of information from Australia. From the kangaroo land, jaboticaba was only a snapshot picture. Therefore, when Simon took us to the garden, Trubus was straightly coming along.
The 4,3 acres wide garden which belongs to Pan Liang Hwa in Chou Zhou, Pin Tung, Taiwan, directly satisfied curiousity. There, 50 shady canopy trees 3 m tall are in rows neatly with 2 m x 3 m growing space. The blackish purple fruits which were in groups on the stem captured the attention in an instant. It is one of jaboticaba distinctive features.
Pan, then, invited Trubus to taste those ripe fruits. Rosy Nur Apriyanti, Trubus reporter, picked up the fruits. ‘It tastes sweet,’ she said as the grape like fruit flesh with soft texture was savored by the tongue.
Pan informed that the flavour of the Myrtaceae family member will change as the fruit gets older. On the last nine days before it is ripe-the fruit is ripe within 20-30 days after the flowers appear-the changes occured. On the first day, its flavour is like guava; the second day it is like mangosteen; the third day is lychee; the forth is passion fruit; the fifth is sweetsop fruit; the sixth up to the eighth is grape. ‘The best flavour sensation is on the ninth day when the fruit is perfectly ripe: it tastes sweet and smells good,’ said Pan. Unsurprisingly more than 10 fruits were absolutely wiped out from Trubus hand. (more…)