Limonia acidissima

Limonia acidissima is the only species within the monotypic genus Limonia. Common names for the species in English include wood-apple and elephant-apple.^[3] It is sometimes also called monkey fruit.

Limonia acidissima
In Trincomalee, Sri Lanka
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Eudicots
Clade:	Rosids
Order:	Sapindales
Family:	Rutaceae
Subfamily:	Aurantioideae
Genus:	Limonia L.
Species:	L. acidissima
Binomial name
Limonia acidissima L.
Synonyms
Genus:[1] Anisifolium Rumph. ex Kuntze Feronia Corrêa Hesperethusa M.Roem. Winterlia Dennst. Species:[2] Schinus limonia L. Crateva balangas K.D.Koenig Crateva vallanga J.Koenig ex Wight & Arn. Anisifolium curvispina (Miq.) Kuntze Anisifolium limonia Kuntze Anisifolium spectabile (Miq.) Kuntze Feronia balanghas (K.D.Koenig) Steud. Feronia elephantum Corrêa Feronia limonia (L.) Swingle Hesperethusa acidissima (L.) M.Roem. Hesperethusa ambigua M.Roem. Limonia ambigua DC. Limonia curvispina Miq. Limonia dulcis J.F.Gmel. Limonia elephantum (Corrêa) Panigrahi Limonia engleriana Perkins Limonia pinnatifolia Houtt. Limonia spectabilis Miq. Murraya odorata Blanco

Description

Limonia acidissima is a large tree growing to 9 metres (30 ft) tall, with rough, spiny bark. The leaves are pinnate, with 5-7 leaflets, each leaflet 25–35 mm long and 10–20 mm broad, with a citrus-scent when crushed. The flowers are white and have five petals. The large fruit is a berry 5–9 cm diameter, and may be sweet or sour. It has a very hard rind similar to a rock which can be cracked open, it appears greenish-brown in colour from outside and contains sticky brown pulp and small white seeds. The fruit looks similar in appearance to the Bael fruit (Aegle marmelos). It contains considerable amount of protein, carbohydrate, iron, fat, calcium, Vit-B & C etc. 100 g of ripe fruit pulp contains up to 210 kilojoules (49 kilocalories) of food energy.

Taxonomy

A number of other species formerly included in the genus are now treated in the related genera Atalantia, Citropsis, Citrus, Glycosmis, Luvunga, Murraya, Micromelum, Naringi, Pamburus, Pleiospermium, Severinia, Skimmia, Swinglea, and Triphasia.^[4]

Distribution

Limonia acidissima is native to India (including the Andaman Islands), Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka.^[5][6] The species has also been introduced to Indochina and Malesia.^[6][5]

Uses

The fruit is used to make a fruit juice with astringent properties and jams. Ripe fruit can be used as pickle (mashed with green chili pepper, sugar and salt only).^[7]

In some parts of India, mainly Gujarat, the fruit pulp is used to make chutney which is then used as a main condiment in and on top of meals, especially in winter.^{[citation needed]}

In Tamil Nadu, the wood apple is ubiquitous, the ripe fruit is eaten mixed with sugar or other sweetener. The name of the wood apple (vilam) is used as the canonical example of a two-syllable prosodic foot in traditional Tamil song.^[8]

In Myanmar, the wood is used to make the distinctive local face cream thanaka.^[9]

Nutrition

Woodapple, raw (Daily Value)

Nutritional value per 100 g (3.5 oz)
Energy	518.816 kJ (124.000 kcal)
Carbohydrates	18.1 g
Sugars	0 g
Dietary fiber	5 g
Fat	3.7 g
Protein	7.1 g
Vitamins and minerals Vitamins Quantity %DV† Vitamin A equiv. beta-Carotene 1% 61 μg Thiamine (B1) 3% 0.04 mg Riboflavin (B2) 1308% 17 mg Niacin (B3) 50% 8 mg Vitamin C 3% 3 mg Minerals Quantity %DV† Calcium 10% 130 mg Iron 33% 6 mg Magnesium 10% 41 mg Manganese 783% 18 mg Phosphorus 9% 110 mg Zinc 91% 10 mg
Other constituents	Quantity
Water	64.2 g
in Fruit Wood Apple values are for edible portion
†Percentages estimated using US recommendations for adults,[10] except for potassium, which is estimated based on expert recommendation from the National Academies[11] Source: 1

Gallery

• 
  Woodapple fruit
• 
  Opened woodapple fruit
• 
  A glass of woodapple juice