Jatoba Fruit Plant (Hymenaea courbaril )

Jatoba (Hymenaea courbaril)

Botanical Name: Hymenaea courbaril

Common Names: Jatoba, West Indian Locust Tree, Brazilian Copal, Amami Gum, Umami-gum

General Information:

Evergreen tree.

Common in the Caribbean, Central America, and South America.

Slow-growing but can reach up to 30 meters in height.

Massive spreading branches with a heavy, umbrella-shaped crown.

Hardwood is used for furniture, flooring, and decoration.

Fruit:

Indehiscent woody oblong pod (8 - 15 cm long, 3 - 5 cm wide).

Contains 1 - 6 brown flattened seeds.

Seeds embedded in dry, creamy brown to greenish pulp.

Culinary Uses: Fruits: Eat raw or cooked. Dry, whitish-yellow pulp with a sweet flavor. Used in making ice cream, custards, or fermented into an alcoholic beverage.

Bark: Used to make tea. Utilized in local folk medicine as a cure-all.

Medicinal Uses: Bark, Leaves, Sap, Fruits: Medicinally used against various ailments, including coughs, cystitis, hepatitis, prostatitis, bronchitis, anemia, wounds, mouth ulcers, and diabetes. Broadly used in local folk medicine. Significant antiviral activity against rotavirus. Fisetin obtained from xylem sap showed activity against various fungi.

Wood Usage: Used as fuel and to make charcoal. Utilized for making high-class furniture, cabinets, construction, heavy-duty flooring, and shipbuilding.

Cultivation Information:

Bloom Time/Fruiting: 3 to 4 Years

Maintenance Required: Moderate