CARAMBOLA (STARFRUIT)
Carambola, also
known as starfruit, is the
fruit of Averrhoa carambola, a
species of tree native to the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, India,Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.
The fruit is popular throughout Southeast
Asia, the South Pacific and parts of East Asia.
The tree is also cultivated throughout non-indigenous tropical areas, such as
in Latin America,
the Caribbean,
and the southern United States.
The fruit has distinctive ridges
running down its sides (usually five, but can sometimes vary); in
cross-section, it resembles a star, hence its name. The entire fruit is edible
and is usually eaten out of hand. They may also be used in cooking, and can be
made into relishes, preserves, and juice drinks.
Gastronomy
Carambola, raw
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Nutritional value per 100 g (3.5 oz)
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128 kJ (31 kcal)
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6.73 g
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3.98 g
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2.8 g
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.33 g
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1.04 g
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.39 mg (8%)
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12 μg (3%)
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34.4 mg (41%)
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12 mg (2%)
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133 mg (3%)
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.12 mg (1%)
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The entire fruit is edible, including the slightly waxy skin. The
flesh is crunchy, firm, and extremely juicy. It does not contain fibers and has
a texture similar in consistency to that of grapes. Carambolas are best consumed shortly after they ripen,
when they are yellow with a light shade of green or just after all traces of
green have disappeared. They will also have brown ridges at the edges and feel
firm. Fruits picked while still slightly green will turn yellow in storage at
room temperature, but will not increase in sugar content. Overripe carambola
will be yellow with brown spots and can become blander in taste and soggier in
consistency
Ripe sweet type carambolas are sweet without being overwhelming as
they rarely have more than 4% sugar content. They have a tart, sour undertone,
and an oxalic acid odor. The taste is difficult to compare, but it has been
likened to a mix of apple, pear,
and citrus family fruits all at once. Unripe starfruits are firmer and sour,
and taste like green apples
sugar,
sometimes with apples Ripe carambolas may also be used in
cooking. In Southeast Asia, they are usually stewed in cloves and.
In China, they are cooked with fish. In Australia, they may be cooked as a
vegetable, pickled, or made into jams. In Jamaica they are sometimes dried.
Unripe
and sour type carambolas can be mixed with other chopped spices to make
relishes in Australia. In the Philippines, unripe carambolas are eaten dipped in rock salt. In Thailand, they are cooked
together with shrimp.
The juice from
carambolas is also used in iced drinks, particularly the juice of the sour
varieties. In Hawaii they are used to make sherbet, while in the Philippines they can be
used as seasoning. In India, the juice is bottled for drinking.
Benefits
Risks
Carambolas
contains oxalic acid, which can be
harmful to individuals suffering from kidney failure, kidney stones, or those under kidney dialysistreatment. Consumption by those
with kidney failure can produce hiccups, vomiting, nausea, and mental
confusion. Fatal outcomes have been documented in some patients.
Drug interactions
Like the grapefruit, carambola is considered to be a
potent inhibitor of seven cytochrome P450 isoforms. These
enzymes are significant in thefirst-pass elimination of
many medicines, and, thus, the consumption of carambola or its juice in
combination with certain medications can significantly increase their effective
dosage within the body. Research into grapefruit juice has identified a number
of common medications affected, including statins, which are commonly used to treat
cardiovascular illness, and benzodiazepines (a
tranquilizer family including diazepam).
Cultivation
Carambola
trees are planted at least 20 feet (6.1 m) from each other and typically
are fertilized three times a year. The tree grows rapidly and typically
produces fruit at four or five years of age. The large amount of rain during
spring actually reduces the amount of fruit, but, in ideal conditions,
carambola can produce from 200 to 400 pounds (91 to 180 kg) of fruit a year.
The carambola tree flowers throughout the year, with main fruiting seasons from
April to June and October to December in Malaysia, for
example, but fruiting also occurs at other times in some other locales, such as
South Florida.
Major
pests are fruit flies,
fruit moths, ants, and birds. Crops are also susceptible to frost, especially
in the United States and in the Philippines.
Top
producers of carambola in the world market include Australia, Guyana,
India, Israel, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan, and the
United States. Malaysia is a global leader in starfruit production by volume
and ships the product widely to Asia and Europe. Due
to concerns over pests and pathogens, however, whole starfruits cannot yet be
imported to the US from Malaysia under current Food and Drug
Administration regulations. In the United States, carambolas are grown in
tropical and semitropical areas, including Texas, Florida and Hawaii.
In
the United States, commercial cultivation and broad consumer acceptance of the
fruit only dates to the 1970s. That acceptance is attributable to Morris Arkin, a backyard horticulturalist, fromCoral Gables,
Florida. During the late 1960s, Arkin began cultivating plants and
trees in his backyard, eventually developing a kind of carambola, or star
fruit, that became commercially viable and was named after him. Until the early 1970s, carambola had been grown
only as specimen trees in botanical gardens and experiment stations and as a
curiosity in home landscapes. However, because of its attractive star shape
when cut in cross-section and yellow to golden color, it began to grow in
popularity. Fruit from early introductions were however, sour and sometimes
considered unpalatable. This limited market and public acceptance, inhibiting
development and expansion of carambola as a commercial fresh fruit. Arkin
cultivated the 'Arkin' variety – a sweet carambola with good handling
characteristics – in the mid to late 1970s. Soon afterward, the limited
commercial area of carambola under cultivation in south Florida (4 to 12 ha)
was top-worked to 'Arkin' and this new cultivar led to a rapid increase in consumer demand for the fruit which further
stimulated interest in establishing new commercial plantings. Today, the
'Arkin' variety represents 98% of the current acreage in South Florida.
Other uses
The
trees are also grown as ornamentals for their abundant brightly colored and
unusually shaped fruits, as well as for their attractive dark green leaves and
their lavender to pink flowers.
Like
the bilimbi, the juice of the
more acidic sour types can be used to clean rusty or tarnished metal (especially brass)
as well as bleach rust stains from cloth. They may also be used as amordant in dyeing.
Common names
The
carambola is known under different names in different countries. It should not
be confused with the closely related bilimbi, with which it shares some common
names.
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