A jaboticaba (), spelled jabuticaba in Portuguese, is a round, edible fruit produced by a jaboticaba tree (''Plinia cauliflora''), also known as Brazilian grapetree. The purplish-black, white-pulped fruit grows directly on the

trunk Trunk may refer to: Biology * Trunk (anatomy), synonym for torso * Trunk (botany), a tree's central superstructure, and the stem of woody plants * Trunk of corpus callosum, in neuroanatomy * Elephant trunk, the proboscis of an elephant Comput ...

of the tree, making it an example of '

cauliflory Cauliflory is a botanical term referring to plants that flower and fruit from their main stems or woody trunks, rather than from new growth and shoots. It is rare in temperate regions but common in tropical forests. There have been several st ...

'. It is eaten raw or used to make jellies, jams, juice or

wine Wine is an alcoholic drink made from Fermentation in winemaking, fermented fruit. Yeast in winemaking, Yeast consumes the sugar in the fruit and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Wine is most often made f ...

. The tree, of the

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

Myrtaceae Myrtaceae (), the myrtle family, is a family of dicotyledonous plants placed within the order Myrtales. Myrtle, pōhutukawa, bay rum tree, clove, guava, acca (feijoa), allspice, and eucalyptus are some notable members of this group. All ...

, is native to the states of

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...

Minas Gerais Minas Gerais () is one of the 27 federative units of Brazil, being the fourth largest state by area and the second largest in number of inhabitants with a population of 20,539,989 according to the 2022 Brazilian census, 2022 census. Located in ...

Goiás Goiás () is a Brazilian States of Brazil, state located in the Central-West Region, Brazil, Central-West region. Goiás borders the Federal District (Brazil), Federal District and the states of (from north clockwise) Tocantins, Bahia, Minas Ge ...

and

São Paulo São Paulo (; ; Portuguese for 'Paul the Apostle, Saint Paul') is the capital of the São Paulo (state), state of São Paulo, as well as the List of cities in Brazil by population, most populous city in Brazil, the List of largest cities in the ...

in Brazil. Related species in the genus ''

Myrciaria ''Myrciaria'' is a genus of large shrubs and small trees described as a genus in 1856. It is native to Central and South America, Mexico, and the West Indies, with many of the species endemic to Brazil. Common names include hivapuru, sabará, ...

'', often referred to by the same common names, are native to Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, Peru and Bolivia.

Etymology

The name jaboticaba derives from the Tupi word îaboti Lusitanized '' jaboti/jabuti'' (tortoise) + ''kaba'' (place), meaning "the place where

tortoise Tortoises ( ) are reptiles of the family Testudinidae of the order Testudines (Latin for "tortoise"). Like other turtles, tortoises have a shell to protect from predation and other threats. The shell in tortoises is generally hard, and like o ...

s are found"; it has also been interpreted to mean 'like turtle fat', referring to the fruit's white pulp. It could also derive from ''ïapotï'kaba'' meaning "fruits in a bud". The Guarani name is ''yvapurũ'': ''yva'' means fruit and the onomatopoeic word ''purũ'', from ''pururũ'', describes the crunching sound the fruit produces when bitten.

Description

Plant

The tree is a slow-growing

evergreen In botany, an evergreen is a plant which has Leaf, foliage that remains green and functional throughout the year. This contrasts with deciduous plants, which lose their foliage completely during the winter or dry season. Consisting of many diffe ...

that can reach a height of if not pruned. The leaves are salmon-pink when young, turning green as they mature. The tree prefers moist, rich, lightly acidic soil. It is widely adaptable, however, and grows satisfactorily even on alkaline beach-sand type soils, so long as it is tended and irrigated. Its flowers are white and grow directly from its

in a cauliflorous habit. In their native habitat, jaboticaba trees may flower and fruit five to six times throughout the year. Jaboticaba trees are tropical to subtropical plants and can tolerate mild, brief frosts, not below 26 °F (-3 °C). The tree has a compact, fibrous root system, that makes it suitable for growing in pots or

transplanting In agriculture and gardening, transplanting or replanting is the technique of moving a plant from one location to another. Most often this takes the form of starting a plant from seed in optimal conditions, such as in a greenhouse or protected n ...

Fruit

The fruit is a thick-skinned berry and typically measures in diameter. The fruit resembles a slip-skin grape. It has a thick, purple,

astringent An astringent (sometimes called adstringent) is a chemical that shrinks or constricts body tissues. The word derives from the Latin '' adstringere'', which means "to bind fast". Astringency, the dry, puckering or numbing mouthfeel caused by t ...

skin that encases a sweet, white or rosy pink gelatinous flesh. Embedded within the flesh are one to four large seeds, which vary in shape depending on the species. Jaboticaba seeds are recalcitrant and they lose viability within 10 days when stored at room temperature. In Brazil, the fruit of several related species in the

Plinia ''Plinia'' is a genus of flowering plants in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae described by Linnaeus in 1753. It is native to Central and South America as well as the West Indies The West Indies is an island subregion of the Americas, surrounde ...

and

genera share the same common name.

Production and cultivation

Jaboticabas have been cultivated in Brazil since

pre-Columbian In the history of the Americas, the pre-Columbian era, also known as the pre-contact era, or as the pre-Cabraline era specifically in Brazil, spans from the initial peopling of the Americas in the Upper Paleolithic to the onset of European col ...

times. Today, the fruit is a commercial crop in the center and south of the country. Commercial cultivation of the fruit in the

northern hemisphere The Northern Hemisphere is the half of Earth that is north of the equator. For other planets in the Solar System, north is defined by humans as being in the same celestial sphere, celestial hemisphere relative to the invariable plane of the Solar ...

is more restricted by slow growth and the short shelf-life of fruit than by temperature requirements. Grafted plants may bear fruit in five years, while seed-grown trees may take 10 to 20 years to bear fruit. Jaboticaba trees are fairly adaptable to various kinds of growing conditions, tolerating sand or rich topsoil. They are intolerant of salty soils or salt spray. They are tolerant of mild drought, though fruit production may be reduced, and irrigation will be required in extended or severe droughts. Jaboticaba trees are vulnerable to the

rust Rust is an iron oxide, a usually reddish-brown oxide formed by the reaction of iron and oxygen in the catalytic presence of water or air moisture. Rust consists of hydrous iron(III) oxides (Fe2O3·nH2O) and iron(III) oxide-hydroxide (FeO(OH) ...

, '' Austropuccinia psidii''. particularly when the tree flowers during heavy rain. Other important diseases that affect jaboticaba trees are

canker A plant canker is a small area of dead tissue, which grows slowly, often over years. Some cankers are of only minor consequence, but others are ultimately lethal and therefore can have major economic implications for agriculture and horticultur ...

(''

Colletotrichum gloeosporioides ''Glomerella cingulata'' is a fungal plant pathogen, being the name of the sexual stage ( teleomorph) while the more commonly referred to asexual stage ( anamorph) is called ''Colletotrichum gloeosporioides''. For most of this article the pathog ...

''), dieback ('' Rosellinia''), and fruit rot (''

Botrytis cinerea ''Botrytis cinerea'' is a necrotrophic fungus that affects many plant species, although its most notable hosts may be wine grapes. In viticulture, it is commonly known as "botrytis bunch rot"; in horticulture, it is usually called "grey mould" ...

'').

Uses

Culinary

Common in Brazilian markets, jaboticabas are largely eaten fresh. Fruit may begin to ferment 3 to 4 days after harvest, so it is often used to make jams, tarts, strong wines, and liqueurs. Due to the short shelf-life, fresh jaboticaba is rare in markets outside areas of cultivation. The fruit has been compared to Muscadine grapes, and in

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

the flavor of jaboticaba has been described as similar to that of Kyoho grapes.

Bonsai

Their slow growth and small size when immature make jaboticaba trees popular as

bonsai Bonsai (; , ) is the Japanese art of Horticulture, growing and shaping miniature trees in containers, with a long documented history of influences and native Japanese development over a thousand years, and with unique aesthetics, cultural hist ...

or container ornamental plants in temperate regions. It is a widely used bonsai species in

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

and parts of the

Caribbean The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...

Cultural significance

The jaboticaba tree appears as a

charge Charge or charged may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Charge, Zero Emissions/Maximum Speed'', a 2011 documentary Music * ''Charge'' (David Ford album) * ''Charge'' (Machel Montano album) * '' Charge!!'', an album by The Aqu ...

on the coat of arms of

Contagem Contagem () is a city in the center of the state of Minas Gerais, in Brazil. It is only from the capital, Belo Horizonte, and forms part of a metropolitan area with a population of 4.8 million. Over time, the city's geographic boundaries were lo ...

, Brazil. In Brazilian politics, and less commonly in everyday speech, "jabuticaba" is a slang that describes a political or legal setting that is considered absurd, unusual, or needlessly complex, among others, that could only exist in a country like Brazil. It is a reference to the popular wisdom that jaboticaba trees can only grow in Brazil.

Related species

A number of similar species of plant in the family Myrtaceae produce fruit that is also known by the common name jaboticaba. * ''

Myrciaria glazioviana ''Myrciaria glazioviana'', the cabeluda, or yellow jaboticaba, is a species of plant in the family Myrtaceae. __TOC__ Distribution Myrciaria glazioviana endemic to the states of Rio de Janeiro and Minas Gerais in south-eastern Brazil. The pla ...

'' ( or yellow jaboticaba) * '' Myrciaria tenella'' ( or soft jaboticaba) * '' Plinia coronata'' ( or king jaboticaba) * '' Plinia grandifolia'' ( or large jaboticaba) * '' Plinia martinellii'' ( or little forest jaboticaba) * '' Plinia oblongata'' ( or sour jaboticaba) * '' Plinia peruviana'' ( or small stemmed jaboticaba) * '' Plinia phitrantha'' ( or white jaboticaba) * '' Plinia rivularis'' ( or bunched jaboticaba) * ''

Plinia spirito-santensis ''Plinia spirito-santensis'', commonly known as (hairy cross jaboticaba) or Grimal in the United States, is a species of plant in the family Myrtaceae. It is endemic to broad-leafed coastal forests, at altitude, in eastern Brazil. The plant is a ...

'' (, hairy cross jaboticaba, or grimal in the United states).

References

External links

Jaboticaba
California Rare Fruit Growers.
Popenoe, Wilson (July 1914). "The Jaboticaba". ''Journal of Heredity''. 5 (7): 318-326
via Biodiversity Heritage Library. {{Taxonbar, from=Q1973619 Plinia Plants described in 1956 Plants used in bonsai Crops originating from the Americas Crops originating from Brazil Tropical fruit Flora of Southern America Fruits originating in South America Cauliflory Crops originating from Peru Fruit trees Berries