The Tropical Fruit Forum

Hey Peter, glad to hear you’ve got maprang growing now. these small mangoes overall have a different taste than Manila, similar but they have a stronger flavor. Also more orange on the exterior, and more fragrant. In Hawaii the old seedling trees produce a similar fruit, at least in size but they are stringy and have a bigger seed. These are fiberless. Now have been to the 3 main markets in Da Nang and I still have yet to find anything that resembles what we know as Cac in the states. It’s leads me to believe that what people think is Cac is actually something totally different.

The maprang are extremely good. Exceeded my expectations. The mangoes on the bottom left have the thinnest seed I’ve ever encountered and the taste is phenomenal. Now I know why they were pricier than all the other varieties. The mangosteens were pricy at about $8 per kg. The longans are just ok. Still not sure if any of these are Cat chu mangoes. They all seem different than what we know as Cac. Sugar apple 8/10. very content with what I’m finding here in Da Nang

Noticed there is a second edition as well.

Some info on the author-

Anthony Lamb was born in Sri Lanka, where he had his early schooling and found his interest in the diversity of wildlife. He completed his secondary education in England and graduated in Agriculture from Cambridge University, followed by a Diploma in Tropical Agriculture at the University of the West Indies in Trinidad, before joining the Department of Agriculture in Sabah in 1962. From 1967 to 1977 he was in charge of the Ulu Dusun Agricultural Research Station, where he started taking an interest in the great diversity of wild edible fruits in the forests there, aided by botanists in the Forest Research Centre at Sepilok.

In 1987, he married Anthea Phillipps, at the time ecologist with the Sabah Parks, and with her and Dr George Argent and Sheila Collenette jointly produced a book on the Rhododendrons of Sabah, followed by Pitcher Plants of Borneo with Anthea Phillipps and Chien Lee. More recently, he has been involved in a 2-volume edition of the Orchids of Mount Kinabalu, A Guide to the Gingers of Borneo, a co-author in a monograph of Bulbophyllum of Borneo with Jaap Vermeulen and Peter O’Byrne, and in 2016, A Guide to Hoyas of Borneo with Michele Rodda.

He officially retired from the Department of Agriculture in 1992, but then took on the task of developing the Agricultural Park in Tenom until 2001 when it was opened. Since retirement he has worked in voluntary roles with the Forest Research Centre Sabah and its Herbarium. He has now retired in Kota Kinabalu with his wife and has a daughter and son.

https://www.nhpborneo.com/publication-author/anthony-lamb/ 

A weird or ugly looking durian, discoloration of the skin etc usually indicates a bad durian from my experience. A good durian will be glowing sort of speak when they are really prime. Skin color etc can definitely indicate whether or not it’s past it’s prime. If a durian is being sold as low grade anywhere in Malaysia you better bet most of them are low grade. Of course a vendor would never sell you something saying it’s low grade, they are trying to make a sale. Kampongs can be very good but again you’d want to pick one that has a nice look to it. The best durians I’ve eaten also have a nice look to the exterior so I would not say that outer appearance doesn’t matter, with durian, it most certainly matters.

Isn’t Malaysia like a 3 hour flight for you aussies anyway? Good god, just go already

https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Morphological-characters-of-leaves-of-D-zibethinus-from-East-Kalimantan-A-Lai-Durian_fig1_280632538

Looks like they harvested it too early. $120 for an unripe durian , that is damn near robbery

You are only going based off all the fruits videos this season? It wasn’t a good year for durian this season apparently. Look at his previous videos where he’s eating kutenjensis and hybrids. December and January usually are the main seasons on Borneo, starting November in Sabah. There are sometimes smaller seasons in the middle of the year or other times. Based off videos I’ve seen of fruits in Kalimantan, there may be a better variety of jungle fruits compared to the Malaysian side as I never even came across willughbeia species on the Malaysian side, although I know they exist in some of the jungles. I’m not that adventurous. stick to roadside stands and markets. On the Malaysian side, you will find different species of durio too. It’s worth going to Sarawak to experience eating dabai alone.

What part of Thailand will have maprang? I’m planning to go later this year

I have not , cassowary but would be interested to try it. Maybe next time I visit Borneo

No cassowary, I’ve seen what happens to them when they sit out for days and they become wrinkled and dry I’m presuming. They are very firm before the hot water is cooked which leads me to belief they ripen differently than safou. Safou no doubt can ripen naturally, no water necessary. I’m ok with soaking them in a bit of hot water to speed up the ripening process. Seems this is how Malaysians traditionally prepare dabai

That is why Oscar is a con artist. He has a ton of stuff listed on his website that he never actually has in stock. Surprising to me that many people have probably fallen for his deceiving ways. I know of 2 people in HI who have fruited Keledang. One of them, Steph , who sometimes posts here says it’s good , but marang is still better. After reading Mike t’s posts before about pruning keledang, it seems it handles a heavy pruning better than marang. Marang is almost impossible to keep small.