Carissa (natal plum) /Carissa macrocarpa is also known as Natal plum big num-num, Amatungulu and grootnoem-noem is native to South Africa and is also planted in some parts of America. It is a member of the Dogbane or Apocynaceae family. Fruit can be eaten fresh or can also be cooked. People enjoy the Carissa fruit raw or in jellies, jams, pies, and sauces. They taste like a slightly sweet cranberry with the texture of a ripe strawberry, but many people say like a slightly unripe cherry. The entire plant except for its red-colored fruit is poisonous. Only the fruit of this plant is edible and though it is called a plum it hardly tastes like one. The fruit is low in cholesterol, sodium-free, and vitamin C, B1, B2, A, calcium, protein, iron, magnesium, potassium, phosphorus, sodium, copper and is low in fat.

Plant

Carissa is a hardy, evergreen, spiny, and indigenous shrub that grows as high as 7 feet (about 2 meters) and as wide as 10 feet (about 3 meters). The plant thrives well throughout the tropical and subtropical climates and grows wild on the poorest and rockiest soils and is grown as a hedge plant in dry, sandy, or rocky soils. It is most fruitful on deep, fertile, well-drained soil but if the soil is too wet, there will be excessive vegetative growth and lower fruit production. It has many branches, spiny things; latex milky. Stems are generally thorny with forked spines.

Leaves

The plant has ovate leaves that are dark green with a glossy sheen. They are usually 1-3 inches long and are formed along the branch in an opposite arrangement.

Flower & Fruit

Flowers are star-shaped that emit a sweet jasmine-like scent. Sepals very narrowly ovate, 3-6 mm. Corolla white or pink, tube 1.1-1.8 cm, pubescent inside; lobes oblong, 0.9-2.4 cm, overlapping to left. Later the plant produces ovoid egg-shaped red fruit, 1-3 in. (2.5-7.6 cm), and is 16-seeded.  The fruit is green when unripe and turns into bright red to violet when ripe. The fruit has tough skin which is slightly bitter in taste. The flesh is somewhat-grainy, deep red or crimson with white mottling.  The fruit has a mild, slightly pungent flavor and a juicy, tart, sourish-sweet taste. As mentioned before the entire plant is poisonous except the red-colored fruit.

History

As its name recommends, Natal plum is native to Natal, South Africa. According to the book, “Lost Crops of Africa,” Carissa species of Africa stretch from Senegal to Sudan, and Ethiopia to South Africa. The fruit was transported to the Philippines in the early 1900s, though it is not common to see the plum in south Asia. Its close cousin, the Karanda (Carissa carandas), originated in India and thus appears in the country with greater frequency.

Today, the fruit continues to grow throughout parts of Africa and in warm regions of the US, like California, Hawaii, and Florida. Attempts were made to introduce the shrub to Israel, but it didn’t fruit.

Traditional uses and benefits of Carissa

• It is enriched with iron components and is beneficial for anemic patients.
• It is also used to cure the effects of Scurvy.
• It prevents excessive secretion of bile by the liver and prevents biliousness.
• It provides comfort during diarrhea.
• It effectively reduces fever.
• It regulates and optimizes heart functions to avoid heart disease.
• Being depressant in nature diminishes excitability to cure Anxiety.
• It is recommended during constipation to get relief.
• It strengthens and tones the stomach and keeps stomach-related problems away.
• It is beneficial to stop internal bleeding.
• It mitigates cough.
• It removes impurities from the blood.
• It is favorable in reducing the blood sugar level and aids in curing Diabetes.
• Ripe fruit is taken as an antiscorbutic and remedy for biliousness.
• Leaf decoction is valued in cases of intermittent fever, diarrhea, oral inflammation and earache.
• Root is used as a bitter stomachic and vermifuge and it is an ingredient in a remedy for itches.
• Roots contain salycylic acid and cardiac glycosides causing a slight decrease in blood pressure.

Ayurvedic Benefits of Carissa

• Ascaris: Consume 10 ml of root decoction of Carissa twice a day.
• Biliousness: Consume 4g unripe fruit of Carissa once a day.
• Fever: Make Leave decoction of Carissa. Drink a cup of it twice a day.
• Internal bleeding: Eat 10 g ripe fruit of Carissa once a day. It helps to cure internal bleeding.
• Appetite: Fresh fruit juice of Carissa is consumed in a dose of 10-15 ml to improve the appetite and digestion.
• Micturition: The decoction of the root is given in a dose of 30-40 ml to treat difficulty in micturition.
• Cardiac muscles: Fresh juice of the fruit of Carissa is consumed daily in doses of 15-20 ml to strengthen the cardiac muscles.
• Wounds: Paste prepared from the leaf or bark is applied over wounds for its treatment.
• Diabetic ulcer: Paste of the root is applied over the diabetic ulcer

Culinary Uses

• Fruit can be eaten out of hand or made into pies, jams, jellies, and sauces.
• It can also be used in desserts, yogurt, ice cream, etc.
• Fold in chopped natal plums into sweet bread recipes.
• Make a pie filling by adding 1 cup of sugar and 1 cup of water with 2 pints of sliced natal plums. Place pie pastry on top and bake.
• Add diced Natal plum to salads with apple, raisin, vegan cheese, and dark green like spinach.
• Make a preserve by steaming natal plums. Alongside this process, mix sugar and water at high heat. Transfer the steamed, softened plums to the concoction and cook until the thick consistency resembles the texture of apple butter. Note: slightly unripe fruits are best for preserving.
• Make pickled plums by boiling the fruit, removing them, and then adding flavors like zesty masala, lemon juice, and oil.
• The dark juice makes for a nice coloring to beverages and soups, and adds a pinch of sweetness, too.
• Overripe fruits may be processed into vinegar.

Storing Natal plum

Being a thin-skinned fruit, fully ripe natal plums bruise easily and must be handled with care. Do not store too many in a bag on top of the other; rather, place them on a paper towel-lined tray with no more than two layers, and put in the refrigerator. These fruits have a short shelf life on account of the sap congealing: Expect a lifespan of no more than a week.

Other Facts

• The fruit of the Natal plum shrub is the only edible part of the plant.
• Fruit gives a pink dye.
• The shrub does have sharp spines, so it can work well as a barrier or hedge.
• Fruits have been used as agents in tanning and dyeing.
• Karanda leaves have furnished fodder for the tussah silkworm.
• The paste of the pounded roots serves as a fly repellent.
• White or yellow wood is hard, smooth, and useful for fashioning spoons, combs, household utensils, and miscellaneous products of turnery. It is sometimes burned as fuel.

Recipe

Carissa Pie

• 1 pint Carissa (sliced crosswise)
• 1 tablespoon flour
• 1 tablespoon margarine
• ½ cup sugar
• ½ cup water
• pastry

Slice well-ripened Carissa into a deep, buttered, baking dish. Mix flour with sugar and sprinkle over the fruit. Dot lightly with margarine. Pour water over the mixture. Top with pastry, slit to allow steam to escape, and bake at 450° for ten minutes, then at 425° for 20 minutes until fruit is cooked and pastry is brown. Serve hot with Carissa Sauce flavored with lemon juice or with vanilla.

Carissa Sauce

Rinse fruit, cut in quarters. Take out seeds retaining pulp. Measure ½ cup sugar or sugar substitute to each cup cut Carissas. Over low heat, cook the Carissa and sugar (no water added) until the fruit is soft. Use as a sauce similar to cranberry sauce. For the jellied sauce, add 2 tablespoons of water for each cup of Carissa. Cook until the fruit is tender. Strain juice through a jelly bag or a double layer of cheesecloth. Add ½ cup sugar for each ¾ cup juice. Cook until thickened.

 Carissa Bread

• 2 cups flour
• 1½ teaspoon baking powder
• 1 cup sugar
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• 1 egg, well beaten
• ½ cup orange juice
• 2 tablespoons shortening, melted
• 2 tablespoons hot water
• 1½ cups Carissa, seeded and chopped
• 1 orange rind, grated
• ½ cup chopped nuts

Sift together flour, baking powder, sugar, salt, and soda. Add egg, orange juice, shortening, and hot water. Stir only until flour is moistened. Fold in Carissa, orange rind, and nuts. Bake at 350° in the greased and floured loaf pan for 45 minutes. Yield: 20 servings.

Carissa Salad

• 1 pound Carissa
• 1 cup water
• 1 cup sugar
• 4 teaspoons gelatin
• ½ cup cold water
• ½ cup chopped celery
• ½ cup diced apples
• ½ cup pecans

Cook Carissa in one of cup water until tender, strain and add sugar. Moisten gelatin in cold water. Add to sugar and Carissa. Stir until dissolved, and then add celery, apples and nuts. Chill in the refrigerator and serve on lettuce.

References

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