2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38
Kaffir plum (lat. Dovyalis caffra) Is a fruit crop representing the Willow family. Botanically, this plum has nothing in common with an ordinary plum.
Description
Kaffir plum is a dioecious fruit plant reaching nine meters in height, which can be both shrubby and woody. Both trees and shrubs are endowed with highly branching crowns. They are all very dense and have rather sharp and stiff spines. And the glossy leaves of the kaffir plum can be either elliptical or obovate.
The flowers of this plant are magnificent honey plants. They are very small, and they are characterized (like many other willows) by the absence of petals. Since the kaffir plum is a dioecious culture, male and female flowers are formed on different trees, while not all trees bear fruit, but exclusively female specimens. The kaffir plum begins to bear fruit in the fourth or fifth year from the moment of seed germination. As a rule, one male tree is enough to pollinate two dozen female ones. This culture bears fruit very abundantly, however, the truly incredible number of thorns significantly complicates the process of collecting fruits.
For the fruits of the kaffir plum, a pear-shaped or spherical shape is characteristic, however, sometimes they can be slightly flattened. The diameter of these fruits varies from two and a half to four centimeters, and their taste vaguely resembles apricots and plums (this is the reason for the name of this culture). From above, each fruit is covered with a smooth orange or bright yellow skin, and inside there is an acidic, but very fragrant pulp, which includes from five to fifteen seeds slightly flattened in the middle.
Where grows
Kaffir plum came to us from South-West Africa, and now, after the introduction, it is rather successfully cultivated in Algeria, in Egypt and Italy, as well as in southern California. It is also found in the Philippines, southern France, as well as Florida, Jamaica and northwestern Australia. Plantations of this culture can be found at an altitude of 1200 meters above sea level.
Application
The fruits of the kaffir plum can be eaten fresh - and so that they are not so sour, it will not hurt to sprinkle them with sugar. In addition, they make excellent jellies, rich marinades and wonderful jams, and they are also actively used in the preparation of the popular tkemali sauce. As for the energy value of these fruits, it is equal to about 42 kcal for every hundred grams of fruit.
Ripe fruits boast a rather impressive content of ascorbic acid. In addition, they are very rich in various amino acids (there are about fifteen types of them here), including sulfur-containing ones. This makes the kaffir plum an excellent general tonic.
In landscape gardening, as well as in forestry, this culture is widely used to consolidate sands and soils - this is especially true for coastal sea zones. It also makes great hedges. If you soak these fruits in water and let them ferment, you get an incredibly effective herbicide.
Contraindications
The taboo on the use of kaffir plums is the increased acidity of gastric juice and various diseases associated with this condition (ulcers of the digestive organs, hyperacid gastritis, etc.).
Growing and caring
Kaffir plum is not only very drought-resistant, but also endowed with the ability to survive minor frosts without much difficulty. It will grow well on salty soils, the main thing is to provide it with good drainage and remember that it cannot stand stagnant moisture. And it is usually propagated by cuttings or seeds.
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