Mamoncillo

''Melicoccus bijugatus'' is a fruit-bearing tree in the soapberry family Sapindaceae, native or naturalized across the New World tropics including South and Central America, and parts of the Caribbean. Its stone-bearing fruits, commonly called quenepa, kenèp or guinep, are edible. Other names for the fruits include limoncillo, Bajan ackee, chenet, Spanish lime and 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'' 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 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 (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, though autogamous 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 and Florida to produce cultivars with a more favourable flesh-to-seed ratio.

When ripe, the fruits have a sweet-tart or lime-like flavor. The seed, being slippery, is a potential choking hazard to small children.

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, and in Nicaragua, they are ground and made into horchata.

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 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 Rican rapper René Pérez (Residente) as part of the band Calle 13.

See also

* Korlan
* Longan
* Lychee
* Rambutan

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