My nephew, Chong, gave me a bag of this fruit which I have seen at Satok market before. We bought some then but it did not taste very nice - possibly not fully ripened. So I was a bit wary but my nephew told me that they are really sweet - the fruit is marketed as Australian Longans but it is actually Fijian Longan (Pometia pinnata) and known locally as kasai. Apparently, Fijian longan is a fast growing tree reaching a height of 60-90 feet (18-27 m). So it is certainly not a tree for the home garden!
The shell is pretty tough and needs to be cracked with a pestle or small hammer.
The fruits do look like longan and they taste like longan - sweet though not as sweet or as juicy as longan. It is a nice fruit and we polished off the whole bag in a few minutes :-)
The pictures did not come out very nice but no re-takes of the fruits as we have finished off the lot! :-)
Dear My Garden,
ReplyDeleteI am currently developing an Encyclopedia of Fruits of the World.
I would like to use your photo of the Pometia pinnata (matoa):
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_MC2l33_Ut1U/THYe4ehLKSI/AAAAAAAAAS8/rnDVhjw8Hdk/s1600/IMG_4781C_resize.jpg
Please, let me know if this is OK for you. The author of the photo will be credited.
You may take a look to a preliminary project for iPad/iphone that I have developed at:
http://doctorcastello.com/fruits/
And the video of the App:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TdnD6eLqUxo&feature=player_embedded
However, this will be a printed/pdf book and will include much more references.
Best regards,
Dr Jose R Castello
ABOUT THE PROJECT
This is an ongoing General Reference educational project which will include more than 400 different type of edible fruits. Each photo in the project will be credited with the full name of the photographer (and website if desired). The location in which the photo was taken will be also included. It will be also clearly stated that the copyright of the photos will be retained by their original authors. This is a personal project which I am developing in my spare time, with no editorial support of any kind.
Jose R Castello, MD PhD
info@doctorcastello.com