Ceylon gooseberry is a shrub or small, dioecious perennial tree growing to 4–6 m high with long, slender, arching, wide-spreading branches. The trunk and lower branches have sharp, 4 cm long spines. The fruit is an edible dark purple globose berry 2–3 cm diameter, very juicy with an acidic flavor, and containing several small seeds. The fruit is quite acidic, so it is usually not eaten fresh. The tree takes about 2-3 years to fruit. Its thin, bitter skin turns from somewhat orange to dark purple on ripening and is coated with short, grayish-green, velvety hairs, unpleasant in the mouth. The pulp is very juicy, extremely acid, and purple-red, enclosing 9 to 12 hairy seeds about 1/4 in (6 mm) long.

Dovyalis hebecarpa, with common names Ceylon gooseberry, ketembilla, and kitambilla, is a plant in the genus Dovyalis, native to Sri Lanka and southern India. The fruit is often eaten fresh or made into jam. Some cultivars have been selected for being thornless (making harvesting easier) and for larger fruit. Apart from Ceylon gooseberry, it is also known as Ketembilla, Kitembilla, kei apple, Puerto Rican cranberries, and tropical apricots. The tree takes about 2-3 years to fruit. Fruit is quite juicy, extremely acidic, and is mostly used for making preserves, jelly, jam, and juice.

Plant

Ceylon gooseberry is a shrub or small, dioecious perennial tree growing to 4–6 m high with long, slender, arching, wide-spreading branches. The trunk and lower branches have sharp, 4 cm long spines. Leaves are alternate, simple, and elliptic to ovate, 7–10 cm long, 2–3.5 cm wide, wavy-margined, gray-green, finely velvety, with pinkish, woolly petioles, and thin in texture. The flowers are inconspicuous, solitary, or clustered, with no petals. It is dioecious, with male and female flowers on separate plants, though some female plants are parthenogenetic. Flowers are greenish-yellow, apetalous, 1.25 cm across, and axillary.

Fruit

Ceylon gooseberry is globose, berry up to 2.5 cm diameter, velvety pubescent. Fruit is green when young turning to orangey brown to maroon-purple when mature. The fruit has thin bitter skin coated with short, grayish-green, velvety hairs, unpleasant in the mouth that encloses purple-red colored flesh. The fruit normally has an acidic flavor and is slightly sweeter also sour and astringent in taste.  The pulp is very juicy, extremely acid, purple-red, enclosing 9–12 pubescent seeds about 6 mm long. Every fruit contains roughly 5-9 small hairy seeds. Since Ceylon gooseberry has an acidic flavor it is mostly used in making preserves, jelly, jam, and juice. Kitembilla fruit, which tastes similar to a gooseberry (they are sometimes called “Ceylon Gooseberry”), is often eaten fresh or made into jam. Some cultivars have been chosen for being thornless (making harvesting easier) and larger fruit.

History

Ceylon gooseberry is native to Sri Lanka, previously known as Ceylon. Doctor David Fairchild brought it to the United States around the turn of the 20th century, despite the fact that he didn’t care for the fruit’s flavor. From there it journeyed to Hawaii where it was proposed for use as a shrub in hedgerows and wound up becoming an important part of the island chain’s economy and cuisine. The Ceylon gooseberry is also grown in Puerto Rico, where it has become naturalized in the country’s landscape, as well as various parts of South America, South Africa, and India. It is also found in Israeli orchards.  Today, the fruit grows in Israel, Florida, and Hawaii of the US, and limited parts of Central America, and South Africa. It is also naturalized in Puerto Rico.

Nutritional Value

Apart from their slightly sweeter, sour, and astringent taste, Ceylon gooseberry is a good source of nutrients, vitamins, and minerals. Consuming 100 grams of Ceylon gooseberry offers 98 mg of Vitamin C, 14.6 g of Total Dietary Fiber, 0.4 mg of Vitamin B2, 1.2 mg of Iron, 26 mg of Phosphorus, 1.2 g of protein, 0.8 g of Total Fat, 0.3 mg of Vitamin B3, 0.02 mg of Vitamin B1, 13 mg of Calcium.

How to eat

• The very sour and astringent fruits are almost too acidic to eat raw and this is compounded by its velvety hairs which are offensive in the mouth.
• Fruits are excellent for making preserves, jelly, jam, and juice.
• In Hawaii, there are recipes for juice, spiced jelly, ketembilla-papaya jam, ketembilla-guava jelly, and ketembilla-apple butter.
• Ketembilla is respected mainly as a source of jelly for export in Israel.
• Since the pulp of the fruit is very juicy, it is either used as a flavoring for beverages or for preserves.

Other Traditional benefits of Ceylon gooseberry

• The fruit has a high content of vitamin C which is essential for healing wounds and for repairing and maintaining bones and teeth.

Other Facts

• Dovyalis hebecarpa is also planted as an ornamental or as wind-break.

References

Previous

Flacourtia indica - Nutritional Value, Health Benefits

Next

Dovyalis hebecarpa - Nutritional Value, Health Benefits

Related Articles

Added to wishlistRemoved from wishlist 0

Phosphorus

Added to wishlistRemoved from wishlist 0

Ice Apple

Added to wishlistRemoved from wishlist 0

Vitamin K Deficiency

Added to wishlistRemoved from wishlist 0

What Is a Ketogenic Diet?