My wife loves Borassus flabellifer fruits. How long does the palm take to bear?

[red durian]

My wife loves Borassus flabellifer fruits.  How long does the palm take to bear?

photo from www.

[fruitlovers]

My wife loves Borassus flabellifer fruits.  How long does the palm take to bear?

photo from www.

Can't tell you number of years. Only that here they grow painfully sllllllow. Seeds take at least a year just to send up a shoot.

[FloridaGreenMan]

If you are in the 30s they may be ready for your retirement party! Seriously it takes a long time. They are cold sensitive and the colder it is the longer they will take to fruit.       

[tabbydan]

I always wanted to try those but I've also always been a bit scared.

In Thailand itinerant pickers will sell them at the roadsides, the problem is that the arils(?) sit in buckets of water that isn't bottled water.

I want to try them but I don't want hepatitis... so I always skip.  You can buy them canned but I imagine fresh is a lot better.

I was told the people in Thailand who have them growing on their land seldom deal with the palms, instead they wait for these itinerant pickers to show up.  The pickers pay the landowner some cash, and then climb the trees, pick all the nuts and sell them on the road typically within site of the tree they picked them from.

A beautiful relative of the coconut, of course, the one that really interests me in that group is the "double coconut".  Also supposedly a very slow and tedious grower.  Sadly the Garfield Park Conservatory in Chicago lost theirs (which they claimed was the largest one of its kind under glass) after their greenhouse was trashed in a freak summer hailstorm.

[DurianLover]

How do people eat this fruit in Sabah? Cut like in a photo and scoop with spoon?
In South India they cut those jelly sockets out with special knife. I have been going to the same street vendor  for 17 years to enjoy these fruits, but I still feel like his art lacks perfection. Wooden particles clinging to the fruit. If you are cutting yourself, watch your fingers!

[red durian]

In Java,  the whole fruit is sold, but because it is not so easy to open, the seller will open it for you on the spot.  In the morning you can see an example of the edible portion in a plastic bag, but it looks ugly once it gets hot, so you won't see this in the bag in the afternoon.  I also have not tasted it!  This info comes from the missus.

[DurianLover]

I always wanted to try those but I've also always been a bit scared.

In Thailand itinerant pickers will sell them at the roadsides, the problem is that the arils(?) sit in buckets of water that isn't bottled water.

I want to try them but I don't want hepatitis... so I always skip.  You can buy them canned but I imagine fresh is a lot better.

Why didn't you ask to cut them fresh? In India vendor cuts the sockets, than flips fruit over for sockets to fall into small plastic bag. Vendor never even touches fruit throughout entire process.

[red durian]

How do people eat this fruit in Sabah? Cut like in a photo and scoop with spoon?
In South India they cut those jelly sockets out with special knife. I have been going to the same street vendor  for 17 years to enjoy these fruits, but I still feel like his art lacks perfection. Wooden particles clinging to the fruit. If you are cutting yourself, watch your fingers!

Have not seen it sold in Sabah.  In Java, my wife buys it not fully opened, takes it home, then cuts and peels it with a regular knife.  The vendor prepares it like this:

[BMc]

Borassus flabellifer

He was my favourite Bond villain!

[DurianLover]

How do people eat this fruit in Sabah? Cut like in a photo and scoop with spoon?
In South India they cut those jelly sockets out with special knife. I have been going to the same street vendor  for 17 years to enjoy these fruits, but I still feel like his art lacks perfection. Wooden particles clinging to the fruit. If you are cutting yourself, watch your fingers!

Have not seen it sold in Sabah.  In Java, my wife buys it not fully opened, takes it home, then cuts and peels it with a regular knife.  The vendor prepares it like this:

Ah, now I understand. I was surprised with your posting, because did not expect this palm to grow in Sabah. I always assumed that this palm grows only in drier parts of SE Asia tropics (one annual monsoon)

[tabbydan]

I always wanted to try those but I've also always been a bit scared.

In Thailand itinerant pickers will sell them at the roadsides, the problem is that the arils(?) sit in buckets of water that isn't bottled water.

I want to try them but I don't want hepatitis... so I always skip.  You can buy them canned but I imagine fresh is a lot better.

Why didn't you ask to cut them fresh? In India vendor cuts the sockets, than flips fruit over for sockets to fall into small plastic bag. Vendor never even touches fruit throughout entire process.

I confess to being linguistically impaired, as I don't know Thai, plus itinerant fruit pickers wouldn't understand why foreigners avoid tap water....

He cut out the juicy bits, then helpfully washed off any remnants of the outer shell and dropped it in a bag.  I took the bag but never ate the item inside owing to the water.  I might have asked my friend to translate "once again without washing" but I think that would come across just like the guy who frantically wipes off his shoulder blade after being patted on the back...


mod edit: fixed quote

[Recher]

good article = http://www.worldagroforestry.org/sea/products/afdbases/af/asp/SpeciesInfo.asp?SpID=18139


Toxic Effects of Borassus flabellifer (Palmyrah Palm) in Rats = young shoots

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2072428/

[HMHausman]

So the fruits are edible but certain of the plant parts are poisonous?  Very interesting info, Recher.  I guess I would advise Red Durian to have the life insurance up to date on his wife as soon as possible and certainly before his first fruit crop on this tree.

[tabbydan]

So the fruits are edible but certain of the plant parts are poisonous?  Very interesting info, Recher.  I guess I would advise Red Durian to have the life insurance up to date on his wife as soon as possible and certainly before his first fruit crop on this tree.

A part of the plant being toxic might seem disturbing but it isn't so odd for one part of a plant to be edible and another toxic (though if all you know is one part is toxic it is probably a good idea to avoid the plant).

For instance:
  Rhubarb: edible stem, poisonous leaf
  ANY edible ANNONACEA: edible fruit pulp, mildly toxic fruit skin, toxic seeds, toxic leaves
  ANY edible Sapindaceae: edible aril, toxic seed (seed toxicity varries greatly from ackee on one end to lytchee on the other)

[Recher]

Its just the shoots which are esteemed in some places that are toxic

[fruitlovers]

I've eaten toddy palm fruits both in soutern India and in Thailand. In both places you can buy the fruit whole and have it cut right before your eyes. It is an excellent fruit, very similar to coconut, and worth the wait in growing them. Also a very beautiful palm, while you're waiting for it to fruit. Imagine a coconut that can grow in the driest desert and you have toddy palm. It is a real life saver. I had it ice chilled in S. India where it was incredibly hot! You drink one of those babies under the shade of a tree and your life is spared. Amazingly enough they seem to handle wet places ok also.

[Soren]

I am growing Borassus aethiopum, which is my slowest growing plant - around 6 years after sowing the seeds only a few fan-leaves are visible extending 70+cm out of the soil. It is mainly grown as a toddy palm and for the edible root shoot which is cooked as a vegetable. The nut is small, but the fibrous mesocarp around it smells like bubble-gum and can be sieved with water to produce a drink..

[tabbydan]

I am growing Borassus aethiopum, which is my slowest growing plant - around 6 years after sowing the seeds only a few fan-leaves are visible extending 70+cm out of the soil. It is mainly grown as a toddy palm and for the edible root shoot which is cooked as a vegetable. The nut is small, but the fibrous mesocarp around it smells like bubble-gum and can be sieved with water to produce a drink..

Cool stuff, another interesting African plant... thanks for the info Soren!  Hopefully, one day I'll get to try some of the less well known African fruits.

And I should try the better known toddy palm too.  I've just been inhibited by unsanitary handling practices in the past.

[fruitlovers]

I am growing Borassus aethiopum, which is my slowest growing plant - around 6 years after sowing the seeds only a few fan-leaves are visible extending 70+cm out of the soil. It is mainly grown as a toddy palm and for the edible root shoot which is cooked as a vegetable. The nut is small, but the fibrous mesocarp around it smells like bubble-gum and can be sieved with water to produce a drink..

One of the most popular uses of toddy palm in India is to produce toddy which is an alcohol drink made from the toddy palm. I've never tried it yet. Maybe i'll get a chance on this trip. It is very popular especially in Goa.