Wen Hainan Daily reporter Bin Chen
Longgong Fruit, Jiabao Fruit, Purple Yellow Peel, Golden Papaya, Mameguo Fruit, Ice Cream Fruit, Rock Sugar Red Pineapple … In recent years, Hainan has actively introduced all kinds of new exotic fruits, and at the same time, through scientific research, a number of "new faces" of conventional fruits have been selected, from small-scale trial planting to gradual promotion, so that these "top students" have successfully integrated into the local area and successfully obtained Hainan "hukou".
Rock sugar red pineapple, ice cream fruit, mamei fruit, milk fruit, Longgong fruit, topaz fruit. Photo courtesy of respondents
Longgong fruit has both grape and mangosteen flavors.
Longgong fruit, also called coconut fruit, is a tropical fruit originating in Thailand and Malaysia. Hainan Shengda Modern Agricultural Development Co., Ltd. introduced Longgongguo from Thailand around 2013, and planted it in the World Tropical Fruit Window Base in dalu town, qionghai city. After the first sporadic fruit bearing in 2019, the trial fruit trees began to bear fruit steadily this year after various technical explorations and summaries.
"You can find the characteristics of three kinds of fruits in Longgong fruit!" Zhao Dezhen, the sales manager of the company, introduced that the skin of Longgong is thin and soft, with a small spherical shape and a yellowish skin, which is a bit like longan. Its pulp is divided into petals, similar to that of mangosteen; It is strung like a grape, and the fruit grows in a string next to the trunk, so it is more convenient to manage and pick.
Longgongguo is a valuable fruit in Thailand and is very popular in the local area. It is nutritious, peeled and ready-to-eat. Its flesh is crystal white, fragrant, soft and sweet, and it has the taste of grapes and mangosteen. It is known as the "fruit princess" in the fruit industry.
Longgong fruit seedlings grow slowly and have a long non-production period. Grafted seedlings are usually used for commercial planting. Longgong fruit can grow in Hainan, but it is more suitable for planting in humid and semi-humid areas of our province. At present, it is planted in Qionghai and Wanning. Planting for 4 to 5 years will bear fruit, and you can harvest two seasons a year, namely May and around the Spring Festival. The world tropical fruit window base is now trying to plant 33 trees per mu, and the yield of a single tree per mu in high yield period can reach more than 100 kilograms; There are 18 germplasm resources preserved in the base, with an annual seedling breeding capacity of about 10,000 plants.
It is understood that the fresh fruits of Longgong fruit on the market are mainly from Thailand and Viet Nam, and the market price is about 30 yuan per catty, and the quantity is very limited. There are two reasons: on the one hand, Longgong fruit is not resistant to storage, its preservation period is short, and it is easy to deteriorate during transportation; On the other hand, Thailand and other places themselves have great demand for Longgong fruit. The successful high-yield cultivation of Longgong fruit in Hainan is expected to let more people eat this rare fruit.
Fruit platter. Special correspondent Meng Zhongde photo
The taste of ice cream fruit is very similar to "vanilla ice cream"
It looks like a green apple and tastes sweet and soft. Do you know what kind of fruit this is? At the window base of tropical fruits in the world, there is a kind of fruit called "ice cream fruit", which often arouses the curiosity of visitors.
Green skin and fist-sized fruit make it difficult to associate it with ice cream at first glance, so why did it get its name? The reporter learned that the freshly picked ice cream fruit can’t be eaten immediately. It should be kept at room temperature for a few days until it is soft and ripe. Its pulp is white or beige, and it melts at the entrance. There is also a special way to eat ice cream fruit. After it is washed and peeled, it is frozen in the refrigerator. After it is taken out, it will be found to be very similar to the ice cream ball on the ice cream, and it has a rich fruity aroma and a vanilla flavor. It tastes very similar to ice cream, so it is called "ice cream fruit". "We also found through experiments that ice cream fruits are particularly resistant to storage, and the taste will not be affected if they are frozen in the refrigerator for one year." Zhao Dezhen said.
Ice cream fruit, also known as white persimmon, is a tropical fruit originating in South America, which is rich in potassium, vitamin C and various trace elements. Its maturity is from May to August every year. During this period, the weather in Hainan is hot, and ice cream fruit is a good summer product.
"Like ice cream, ice cream fruit has many different flavors!" Zhao Dezhen introduced that the World Tropical Fruit Window Base has introduced nearly 70 kinds of ice cream fruits. According to the taste, besides vanilla, there are honey flavor, caramel flavor, milk flavor, fragrant honey flavor, pear flavor, watermelon flavor and other categories. At present, the market price is about 100 yuan per catty.
It is understood that ice cream fruit likes heat and drought resistance, strong wind resistance and storage resistance, and the yield per mu can reach 4000 kg to 6000 kg, which is more suitable for popularization and planting. At present, the commercial cultivation area in Qionghai and Haikou is about 500 mu, and the annual seedling production capacity is about 10 thousand.
Mameguo "noble fruit" sells for thousands of yuan each.
Mameguo is a kind of fruit that looks very "low-key". It has a brown appearance like kiwi fruit and looks a bit like American football. But don’t be fooled by its "appearance". Peeling off its peel will make your eyes shine. The pulp inside is bright red and the color is very attractive. Its meat is soft and tastes like a ripe persimmon. When chewed, it can taste like papaya or sweet potato.
Mameguo, also known as "Cuban immortal fruit", is a famous tropical and subtropical fruit category in Central America, and the yield of a single tree in Cuba can reach 5000 Jin. Although it looks low-key, its market price is not low-key. The output of mamma mume fruit in China is very small. At present, the price of mamma mume fruit in the market is about 300 yuan per catty, the weight of single fruit is generally 3 kg to 4 kg, and the weight of large fruit of individual varieties can reach 10 kg. In other words, a medium-sized Mameguo costs thousands of dollars.
The biggest feature of Mameguo is its ever-changing taste. Different people can taste different flavors, which is called "fruit blind box"! The reporter learned that mamei fruit has rich taste levels, and different people can taste different flavors such as coconut flavor, almond flavor, pumpkin flavor, cantaloupe flavor and peach flavor when eating it. In addition, this kind of fruit also has a characteristic-slow ripening, which generally takes 18 months from flowering to fruiting, and the fruit matures from May to August every year.
In addition to fresh food, Mameguo can also be used to make ice cream, milkshake, juice, jelly and so on. It is rich in vitamins and minerals, with high nutritional value and good commercial planting prospects. It is understood that Hainan is one of the provinces that introduced all kinds of excellent varieties of mume fruit earlier in China.
Fruits displayed in the window of tropical fruits in the world. Special correspondent Meng Zhongde photo
A "cow" whose milk grows on a tree.
Cow milk is a tropical fruit originating in the Caribbean, and the main producing areas in China are Guangdong, Hainan, Yunnan and other provinces.
The milk fruit is spherical. After ripening, the skins of different varieties are purple, light purple, green, etc., and the pulp is milky white, orange, light purple, etc., which is sweet, smooth and tender, emitting a faint milky fragrance. No matter cutting leaves, branches or fruits, white milk will overflow. It is called "milk fruit" because its pulp oozes milk-like juice.
This kind of fruit is nutritious and can be eaten directly, or mixed with different fruits to make juice or dried fruit. The way to eat fresh fruit is also very particular. You have to put it in your hand first, then knead it, give it a "massage to relax", soften the part between the peel and the pulp, and extract the juice, which will make it more refreshing.
Huang Haijie, an associate researcher at the Institute of Quality and Resources of China Academy of Thermal Sciences, said that as early as the 1960s, buttermilk was introduced to Hainan from Southeast Asia. At that time, people didn’t understand its growth habits, and the fruit trees only bear fruit sporadically in a few years, which led many people to think that it was not suitable for promotion in Hainan. Until 2010, Chinese researchers introduced different dairy resources from Thailand, Viet Nam and Taiwan Province, China, and tried to plant them in some areas of Hainan and Guangxi, with successful results. After several rounds of breeding, a variety that can self-pollinate was selected around 2017.
At present, some enterprises in Hainan have introduced some varieties of dairy fruits, such as Green Peel, Zi Long 860, 3Q and Lvba.
Rock sugar red pineapple looks like a "red crown" from a distance.
Located in Nada Town, Danzhou, in the pineapple planting base of the Institute of Tropical Crop Variety Resources of Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences (hereinafter referred to as China Institute of Thermal Sciences), an orange-red pineapple is particularly conspicuous and looks like a "red crown" from a distance.
People living in Hainan will be familiar with golden pineapple, but many people have never seen this new orange-red pineapple variety. Because its green peel is orange-red, bright in color, good in taste and high in sweetness when it matures, it is deeply loved by people, so it is named "rock sugar red pineapple".
Rock sugar red pineapple is a new variety introduced and bred from Taiwan Province by Institute of Quality and Resources of China Institute of Thermal Science in 2005. "When we first planted rock sugar red pineapple, we found that its leaves had irregular thorns, and the crown buds of the fruit were too large, which affected the appearance." Dr Luan Aiping from the Institute of Quality and Information of China Academy of Thermal Sciences told the reporter that in order to further optimize the variety, on the one hand, researchers carried out cross breeding, on the other hand, they screened out excellent offspring with short and dignified crown buds, a small amount of thorns at the tip of leaves or basically no thorns for further reproduction.
After 15 years of continuous selection, domestication and research on supporting cultivation techniques, the characteristics of rock sugar red pineapple have been stable, the crown buds have become smaller, the leaf thorns have disappeared, the fruit shape is bigger and better, and the sugar content has increased from about 14 to 22. This variety is not only edible, but also a good potted plant in tourist attractions, shared farms and families. At present, it has been popularized in Hainan, Guangdong and other provinces.
"After the fruit of rock sugar red pineapple matures, the peel turns pale yellow, and the original red color completely fades, which will affect its commercial value to some extent." Luan Aiping said that in the next step, the pineapple research team will continue to carry out technical breakthroughs and constantly screen excellent varieties, so that the rock sugar red pineapple is also a "red makeup" when it matures.
"Golden Jelly" in the Fruit Industry of Topaz Fruit
In the planting base of Haikou Golden Palm Ecological Technology Development Co., Ltd., the fruits wrapped in white paper bags are particularly conspicuous on the trees. Fruits with smooth skin, golden color and small grapefruit shape are hidden in them.
Topaz, native to the upper reaches of Amazon River in South America, was first introduced from Taiwan Province, China. Since 2013, Hainan has introduced topaz seedlings from Taiwan Province and successfully planted them. The young fruit of Vitex negundo is dark green and turns bright yellow when it matures. It is round or oval in shape and has a smooth surface.
Vitex negundo is rich in protein, carbohydrates, fiber, calcium, phosphorus, iron and vitamins, and it is nutritious. Mature fruit weighs 200 grams to 500 grams. Its flesh is milky white, sweet and fragrant after maturity, with slightly sticky milk, translucent and gelatinous, with a Q-elastic taste like jelly and a faint milk coconut fragrance.
What many people don’t know is that many new fruit varieties, including Vitex negundo, will be "acclimatized" when they are just introduced to Hainan, and the fruit type, taste and yield are not ideal. It will take three to five years or even longer to form excellent varieties by doing a good job in breeding and constantly screening excellent varieties for propagation.
Zhou Kun, deputy general manager of Haikou Golden Palm Ecological Technology Development Co., Ltd. told the reporter that the company introduced the seedlings of yellow fruit from Thailand, and the fruit at first was not sweet, and the pulp was easy to turn black. In order to improve the quality, they keep trying to plant. Every fruit tree should be tasted and marked when it matures, from which excellent varieties are selected, and then bud grafting is carried out, and then propagation is continued. It took three years to finally select more than 10 excellent varieties, among which "Palme d ‘Or No.1" and "Palme d ‘Or No.3" have a sugar content of about 25, and the pulp is not easy to change color and is more resistant to storage.
It is understood that the yield of topaz fruit per mu can reach 4000 kg to 5000 kg, and it can bear fruit four times a year. Due to considerable economic benefits, in recent years, our province has promoted the seedlings of Vitex negundo in Ledong, Chengmai, Danzhou and Haikou. "We are carrying out large-scale seedling grafting, and we plan to promote planting in large areas in conjunction with farmers in surrounding villages. At the end of this year or early next year, everyone can see topaz fruit in Hainan market." Zhou Wei said.
