2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38
Mamonchillo (lat. Melococcus bijugatus) - a fruit crop, which is the brightest representative of the numerous Sapindov family and is sometimes called two-pair melicoccus or Spanish lime.
Description
Mamonchillo is a tree with an even and straight trunk, from which many spreading branches depart. It can grow up to twenty meters in height. Mature trees are covered with grayish bark, and the bark of young branches is painted in pleasant reddish tones. As for the thickness of the trunks, it is sometimes capable of reaching 1.7 meters. The length of the pointed elliptical leaves of the mammachillo ranges from five to twelve and a half centimeters, and their width ranges from 3.25 to 6.25 cm.
The white flowers of this plant, forming thin tassels, reaching a length of six to ten centimeters, are always very fragrant. As a rule, female and male flowers are located on different trees, but sometimes you can meet specimens on which both flowers grow. Such trees are usually attributed to an independent subspecies. All flowers are very attractive to a wide variety of insects (especially bees love them) and are considered excellent honey plants - incredibly fragrant dark honey is extracted from them.
Round fruits of mammonchillo are characterized by a rather impressive weight and very high density. Unripe specimens are covered with a smooth green skin, and the surface of ripe fruits boasts a firm leathery texture. In appearance, mammonchillo is very similar to lime - it is for this similarity that it was nicknamed the Spanish lime. The pulp of the fruit is yellowish or orange-pink, juicy, transparent and slightly jelly-like in consistency. As for the taste, it can be either sweet or sweet and sour. And inside the fruits you can find one or two large yellowish-whitish seeds.
Where grows
Colombia, French Guiana, Suriname, Guyana, and Venezuela are the birthplaces of Mammonchillo. In addition, this crop is grown in Ecuador, in several Central American countries, as well as in the Bahamas and Antilles. In 1914, the mammachillo was also brought to Bermuda, but there the trees grew only up to nine meters high, and at the same time none of them bloomed.
Application
Mammonchillo can be eaten fresh, and with the peel. In addition, excellent jams, as well as jellies and jams, are obtained from the pulp of these fruits. And in Colombia, a wonderful canned juice is made from mammonchillo, which is subsequently exported to other countries.
You can also eat fried mammonchillo seeds - their taste is very reminiscent of the well-known French fries. These seeds will become indispensable helpers for diarrhea. And in order to get rid of a number of intestinal ailments, enemas are made with a decoction of the fruits of mammonchillo.
As for the leaves, they are excellent at repelling insects - the inhabitants of Panama systematically place them in the corners of their homes to scare off fleas.
Mammonchillo wood is also in demand. It is very practical, fine-grained and hard - these properties make it an excellent raw material for the manufacture of furniture and many other joinery.
Contraindications
Mamonchillo is a rather allergenic fruit, and this must be taken into account for people prone to allergies.
Growing and caring
Mamonchillo is a crop perfectly adapted to dry subtropical and tropical conditions and can boast impressive drought tolerance. This plant is completely undemanding to soils - it bears fruit equally well on a wide variety of soils. But mamonchillo simply adores limestones, and at the same time it does not matter at all whether these soils are enriched.
This culture is able to withstand minor frosts, only they have a rather detrimental effect on its yield. And the reproduction of mammonchillo occurs not only by seeds, but also by vegetative means - it can be easily grafted even on related trees.
