Wampee fruit trees
Scientific name – Clausena lansium
Indigenous to Southeast Asia, Clausena lansium having its roots in the family Rutaceae is also known as Wampee. Clausena wampi is a species of powerfully fragranced evergreen tree that grows up to 3-8 m tall. Tolerant to various external elements, the tree thrives in a wide range of soil, however, they are said to grow their best in rich loam. The leaves of the tree are dark green in color and are very smooth. The tree can reach a maximum height of 20 meters and takes up tropical or subtropical conditions to grow well, but they are vulnerable to cold. With four or five petals that are just about 3–4 mm in diameter, white flowers in late march are white.
The fruits, on 1/4 to 1/2 in (0.6-1.25 cm) stalks, sling in ostentatious, loose clusters of more than a few strands. With five imperceptible, light ridges widening a short distance down from the apex, the Wampee may be conical- oblong, or round, up to 1 in (2.5 cm) long. Although the rind of the fruit gives the impression of skinny and pliable, they are tough, however easily peeled. Too resinous to be eaten, they are haired slightly and spotted with tiny, raised brown oil glands. The flesh of the fruit is succulent, pleasantly sweet, sub acid or sour and is yellowish-white in color; sometimes they are colorless as well. Basically, they are divided into 5 segments i.e. the flesh.
Coming to the seeds,
Cal 55k
Moisture 84%
Protein .9g
Fat .1g
Carb 14.1g
Fiber .8g
Ash .9g
Phosphorous 19mg
Potassium 281mg
Calcium 15mg
Thiamin .02mg
Riboflavin .11mg
Niacin 3.3mg
Vitamin C 148mg
Use of the fruit differs from place to place, they are had with seeds and sometimes they are discarded as well. Bottled, carbonated beverage akin to champagne is made in Southeast Asia by fermenting the fruit with sugar and straining off the juice. In china, the fruit is served with meat dishes. Fully ripe and peeled Wampee that are of the sweet or sub acid types can be consumed after throwing away the seeds. The seeded pulp of the fruit can be mixed with desserts, fruit cups or gelatins. In addition, they can also be made into pie or jam. Having said that, jelly can only be made from the acid types when under-ripe!
Health Benefits of Wampee fruit
There are countless health benefits of the Wampee fruit, following are some of them:
The fruit extract helps to lower inflammation and tumefaction, i.e. swelling
A research study states that it treats Parkinson disease
Decoction of the leaves helps to eliminate dandruff
Helps in decreasing cancer cell expansion
It is said to cure bronchitis and hepatitis
Wampee ripeness:
Prefer wampees that are light brown in color with speckles on it and avoid dark fruits that shows obvious bruise and cracks.
What it takes for the Wampee to grow well?
Wampee can’t survive intense frosts and it needs a tropical to subtropical climate to grow well. It best thrives in rich loam and can also be planted on other well drained soils as well. As a matter fact, it needs the same conditions as needed by any other major citrus fruit.
It can be easily propagated by seed or by cuttings. Air layers or grafts on Wampee seedlings are also successful methods. It takes a few days for the seed to germinate. Mist propagation of softwood is also considered as a successful method. However, grafting on citrus rootstocks is not the method of propagation as far as Wampee is concerned.
In order to avoid congestion of the branches, pruning is highly recommended. Seeing that, it has the tendency to take roots of chlorosis on limestone soils, it is good to take measures to correct it and it can be done with applications of mg, Zn, manure and mulch. Mature trees of Wampee trees can produce up to 45 kg fruits per season.
Propagation
Wampee can be grown from softwood cuttings and air-layers and it grows readily from seeds which germinate in a few days.
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