What is Mammee Apple and what are the health benefits? Mammee Apple, scientifically known as “Mammea Americana”, is native to the West Indies, including the Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, Haiti, and the lesser Antilles. Mammee Apple belongs to the Clusiaceae / Guttiferae family, has medium stems, and is an evergreen plant in the genus Mammea L. This plant has many names like other plants in general. Among the names attached to the Mammea Americana plant are Mammey-Apple, Mamey Tree, Mammee Apple, South American Apricot, Mammee, Tropical Apricot, Marmalade Tree, and some call it Domingo Apricot and Santo Domingo Apricot. Brazilians call it Abricó. The origin of the word Mammi is from German. The fruit is irregular in shape and it is a storehouse of nutrients that are essential for a healthy body.
Plant
Mammee Apple is an avergreen tree and is medium in size, ranging from 18 m – 21 m (59 ft-69 ft.). Taller plants are usually found in tropical and humid areas close to the tropics. Mammee Apple likes full sun or bright shade. It prefers well-draining, deep, rich soil and it grows naturally in limestone areas. Stems are short and range from 1.9 m – 1.2 m (6 ft. 3 in-3 ft. 11 in) in diameter. Leaf marks are simple, coriaceous, glabrous, opposite, broadly elliptic, glossy dark-green, with a leaf length of 20 cm and a width of 10 cm. Flowers have four white petals and stamens, have a fragrant aroma, they are hermaphrodite plants which have two types of male and female flowers in one tree. The time of bloom is usually from May to October.
Fruit
Mammee Apple has a round, and sometimes irregular, fruit shape. The fruit is short, thick and about 10-20 cm wide. In fact, it is a berry not a drupe. It is green in color and changes with the process towards maturity. Green color changes to brownish yellow or reddish brown.
The fruit is warty, scaly, rough, about 3 mm thick and has a bitter skin taste. The fruit takes a very long time to reach maturity, it usually takes a year for it to ripen completely. Usually ripens from July to February. It tastes similar to apricots, or like red raspberries. Usually, there are two tastes, sweet and sour, depending on the ripeness. Its unique and evocative taste, Mammee Apple fruit is often used as an ingredient in a variety of foods around the world.
History
As we have mentioned that Mammee Apple is native to western Indies such as Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Jamaica, and the lesser Antilles. This fruit is considered an exotic fruit in several countries such as Barbados, Brazil, Bahamas, El Salvador, Colombia, Venezuela, Guyana, Bermuda, Ecuador, Surinam, Guatemala, United States of America (Hawaii and Florida), Costa Rica, French Guiana, Panama, Virgin Islands (US), and Mexico. Including countries that grow this plant but are limited to certain areas are West Africa (particularly Sierra Leone), and Zanzibar, and Southeast Asia such as Java in Indonesia, Sabah in Malaysia, and the Philippines, and the Queensland in Australia and Hawaii.
Nutritional Value
The sweet and sour taste of Mammee apple contains many nutrients that are beneficial to health. In 100 grams of Mammee apple contains 14 mg of Vitamin C (Ascorbic acid), 0.086 mg of Copper, 0.7 mg of Iron, 12.5 g of Carbohydrate, 3 g of Total dietary Fiber and contains about 0.1 mg of Vitamin B6 (Pyridoxine). Not only that, but also contains a lot of amino acids, amino acids as much as 0.005 g of Tryptophan, 0.006 g of Methionine and 0.037 g of Lysine. This is the amount of nutrients found in 100 grams of the mammee apple.
Based on these nutritional facts, this fruit has many health benefits, including the following:
Health Benefits of Mammee Apple
1. Mammee Apple is useful for weight loss
Mammee juice and fruit are known for their vitamin C content, this is good news for those of you who are losing weight. Vitamin C is known to play an important role in burning fat and thus supports your diet. In fact, nutritionists recommend that you consume foods rich in vitamin C and other vegetables to keep your body fresh and healthy. There is some evidence to suggest that consuming mammee apples can help you lose weight.
2. Prevent premature wear and tear
Copper is an essential mineral for human survival, it is a powerful antioxidant present in the mammee apple fruit. The presence of the antioxidant enzyme superoxide dismutase is said to be useful for protecting body cells from free radicals. Superoxide dismutase is a type of antioxidant that works hard in the body to ward off and fight free radicals. We know that free radicals are a type of hazardous chemical if they enter the body and they can damage organs and cells. But in this case, free radicals more specifically affect the body’s aging. With these antioxidants, any free radicals that enter the body can be resisted so they don’t damage cells.
Aging that occurs due to free radicals can include the appearance of black spots on the skin, wrinkles, macular degeneration, susceptibility to various types of cancer, and the risk of kidney damage. In one cup of mammee apple already contains 100 grams of copper. This amount is 9.56% of the recommended daily intake. So, we are advised to consume mammee apple fruit to meet the body’s need for copper. If our daily diet is fulfilled by copper, we will continue to stay young.
3. Increase immunity
Mammee apple is rich in essential nutrients for health. Among the important minerals is iron and this is in the Apple mammee fruit, this fruit is useful for absorbing iron and increasing body immunity. When the immune system is good, it is very active and strong in fighting various external attacks from the body in the form of bacteria, viruses and germs.
4. Prevent constipation
Mammee Apple is a fruit that is rich in dietary fiber, it is very good for digestive health and can increase the movement of waste so that bowel movements become smooth. It not only prevents constipation but can also prevent various other intestinal problems. Fiber is an essential mineral for keeping the intestines healthy and away from digestive system disorders. There are many foods that are rich in fiber, including mammee apple, palmyra fruit, black plum, jacote fruit and others.
5. Relieve Premenstrual Syndrome
Ammee apple health benefits are also important in relieving premenstrual syndrome. It is related to vitamin 6 and vitamin B. There are many studies showing that vitamin B6 helps fight health problems such as nausea, cramps, breast tenderness, fatigue and avoiding acne that commonly occurs before menstruation. consuming mammee apple regularly can meet the body’s need for vitamin B6 supply.
Also see: What is Papaturro Tree
So, the benefit of Mammee Apple is to relieve PMS symptoms because this nutrient has an effect on the neotransmitter that is responsible for controlling pain via the brain. So, it is very good to consume vitamin B complex before entering the menstrual period, and mammee apple fruit contains lots of vitamin B6.
How to Eat Mammee Apple
- Salads: Pulp from ripe fruit can be eaten directly, you can add a little lemon juice and sugar. Can also be served with cream and wine in a fruit salad.
- Frozen sherbet: Take fresh mammee flesh, mix it with sugar, and then make it into frozen sherbet – Dominican Republic.
- Ade: Juice or syrup from boiled pulp, added sugar, and lime, to produce a food called “Ade”.
- Jam: Before cooking, the pulp is soaked in salted water, then cooked in sugar, to make jam – Bahamas.
- Jelly: Underripe fruit contains large amounts of pectin, which is usually made as jelly.
- Kolashanpan: This is a mamey flavored carbonated drink. It is made from the mammee apple and is considered the national soda in El Salvador.
- Aromatic liqueur: This fruit is also the raw material for making flavored liquors. Method: The flowers of this plant are distilled and go through several other processes so that they become aromatic liqueur, Crème de Créole or become an Eau de Créole – French West Indies drink
- Pies or tarts: This is a food made from sliced mammee apple, the pulp is cooked in pies or tarts, and can be seasoned with ginger and cinnamon.
- Toddy: Mammee apple is also used as an ingredient in wine. Grapes are processed from mammee fruit and fermented (toddy) from the sap of the Brazilian tree
Other Facts
– The mammee apple plant has a wide root distribution, which is great for preventing soil erosion.
– This is a beautiful ornamental tree and is good for the shade around the house. It is also good as a decoration and ornament planted along the road.
– The wood is strong, so many use it as a material for making cabinets, poles, rafters, decorative, and others.
– The tannins in mammee skin are used as an ingredient in leather care.
– The seed extract is toxic to fish, pork and chicken
– The tree is on the ground along the fence as a garden barrier