I was ecstatic when I saw fruits hanging for the first time from the branches of my Pouteria campechiana tree, otherwise known as canistel or eggfruit. It is called lamut khamen in Thai but actually few Thais know it, and even fewer have tasted it. I suspect that the first tree grown in Thailand came from the seed of a fruit taken from across the border in Cambodia, and the grower named it “lamut khamen” after the country or its people (khamen is the Thai word for Cambodian), as he did not know its proper name.
Under the yolk: The nutritious ripe fruit has the texture of a hard-boiled egg yolk.
Pouteria campechiana
is cultivated in the Philippines, where it is called tiessa or chesa. Most Filipinos have eaten it, but although it is sweet, not everyone likes it. This is because its flesh, which has the texture of a hard-boiled egg yolk (hence its common name, eggfruit), tends to stick to the gum and teeth. Gargling, however, easily washes it off.
Space saver: ‘Pouteria campechiana’, or ‘lamut khamen’, can grow in small yards.
When I was a child, my mother would buy the fruit and exhort us children to eat it for its nutritional value. By the time we had our own tree, which bore large, heart-shaped fruit, she did not have to tell me to eat tiessa as it had become one of my favourite fruits. The tree was right in front of our house; unfortunately, after I had left for Thailand, it was felled when the house was renovated.
It took nearly 30 years before I could taste my favourite fruit again. Even during visits to the Philippines I could not find it in the market. One reason is that trees are grown only in backyards and the fruits are harvested for family consumption and seldom for sale.
When I had a chance to eat tiessa again, it was right here in Thailand when lo and behold, I chanced upon some fruit for sale at Klong Toey market. Several more years had passed before I could find the fruit again, and that’s when I decided to germinate the seeds and plant my own tree. I chose only the seeds from the biggest fruit. Seeds lose viability quickly so right after I had eaten the fruit, I washed the seeds and sowed them in moist sand.
Because they had a hard shell, the seeds took more than a month to germinate but the seedlings grew fast. I waited until the strongest seedling was 40cm tall before I planted it in the ground in front of my house. It began to bloom when it was four years old, yet two years later I still have yet to see it bear fruit.
There are trees which have only female or male flowers. As a single tree cannot have fruit, one has to plant several for cross-pollination to occur. I thought I would never taste the fruit of my tiessa tree, when out of the blue last week I glanced upon a fruit as big as a newborn baby’s fist hanging from one of its branches. Looking harder I found four more. Fruit trees in general yield only a few fruit during the first year, and bear more prolifically as they grow older.
Hard to bear: The tree begins to bloom when it is four years old.
At long last, I can have a steady supply of one of my favourite fruits. Tiessa has an exceptionally high vitamin A content, and is rich in niacin and minerals including calcium, phosphorus and iron. However, the fruit’s nutritional value is just one reason why every yard should have a tree.
Native to southern Mexico and Central America, Pouteria campechiana is a small to medium-sized tree and therefore can be grown in small yards. It has spreading branches, which can be used to hang ornamental plants in pots, with evergreen leaves that provide shade from the sun, especially during the hot summer months. It is an attractive ornamental tree, especially when the fruits start to ripen and turn from green to yellow. The fruits are either heart-shaped or elongated; the former usually has two or three seeds per fruit while the latter is one-seeded.
Pouteria campechiana can be grown in any type of soil, but thrives best in deep, well-drained, sandy or clay loam soil mixed with organic matter. It can produce fruit even in poor soils, but for better growth and yield, apply fertiliser. Feed it with 100-200g of ammonium sulphate (NPK 21-0-0) twice a year at the start and at the end of the rainy season during the first three or four years. Change to complete fertiliser (NPK 15-15-15 or its equivalent) when it is four or five years old, and increase the amount to 500g when the tree starts to bear fruit.
As my own tree has shown, Pouteria campechiana begins to bear flowers when it is four years old but fruit does not develop until a year or two later. Fruits take five months to mature; they are ready to be harvested when they have attained a full yellow colour, after which they ripen in three to four days.
It remains to be seen if I will be able to get a taste of my tiessa. Three days after I discovered them, the five fruits were down to four as a squirrel could not wait for them to mature and ate one.
Fruits of patience: It begins to bear fruit when it is five or six years old.
This source first appeared on Bangkok Post Lifestyle.