Tropical Fruits in Malaysia

Duku (Lansium domesticum)

Duku is round in shape and slightly bigger than a golf ball. It grows in clusters with a thick leathery skin which is in golden brown colour and can be peeled into segments when gently pressed on the top of the fruit. Each fruit composed of a few segments of juicy and refreshing flesh that is tangy sour to sweet taste. Some segments may contain small and bitter seeds. The flesh is usually white but some are pink.

Duku is originated from West Malaysia but it is cultivated through out the whole region nowadays. It takes about fifteen years for a duku tree to reach maturity; but the wait is worthwhile as they bear clusters of fruit twice a year thereafter. There are farmers blend both duku and langsat and produce a new innovation species, that is the Duku-Langsat which bears the characteristic of both duku and langsat.

In Terengganu, duku is cultivated in Manir area in Kuala Terengganu. During the harvest season, there are lorries lining up outside the orchards as to collect and weight the fruits then distribute to other areas later. 

Salak (Snake fruit)

The salak, or snake fruit which grows in clusters at the base of the plant has dark-brown shiny skin which is tough. It is originated from Indonesia but is now also grown in Thailand and Malaysia. Surprisingly the rough skin is thin and easy to peel. Inside you'll find a light-tan firm, dry and crunchy fruit divided into three or more lobes, usually with a single seed in the largest section. The fruit has a tannin content and if it is not properly ripe, the taste can be unpleasantly astringent. A ripe salak is always creamy yellow colour and has a sweet acid taste rather like a pineapple. Salak is not juicy which makes them especially convenient to peel and eat. The fruit has the firmness of a carrot and a distinctively agreeable flavour quite unlike any other fruit. Beside eaten in fresh, people in Terengganu also make this fruit into pickled or hot packed into syrup. These reproduced salak can be found in stalls by the road or in Center Market of Kuala Terengganu.

Salak fruit is cultivated in for commercial purpose in Ketengah in Terengganu. Recently there is another newly innovated clone, the salak pondos which can be cultivated in hydroponics method and harvest all year round in 2 years time. It is sweeter and allows higher yield.

Langsat

Langsat comes from the same species as duku but langsat grows not as wide as duku does and is cultivated on a lesser scale. Langsat fruits are always smaller and oval in the shape as compared with duku. The skin is pale and fawn colour. Langsat usually grow in 6 to 12 fruits in a single cluster and each fruits composed of a few segments each each with green and bitter seed and sourer in the taste. The skin exudes latex or sap even when it is mature, this makes it less welcome than duku.

Banana

There are various type of banana can be found in Malaysia all with different name and appearance. For example Pisang mas is the short and little banana, Pisang rastali and Pisang Tanduk are often made into fried banana and other dining banana such as Pisang Susu, Pisang Raja etc. Some bananas are even made into dishes together with its stem and flowers.

Banana is available year round and it is always not expensive in price. Banana tree has a large expanded leaves, about 2.0 m long and 50 cm wide. It has entire leaf margin and the leaf stalk elongated to form the leaf sheath. Because of the unique fragrance produced and the size, banana leaf is often used as wrapper to certain local food such as Nasi Lemak andKuih Tepung Pelita.

When buying a banana select that is slightly green, firm, and without bruises. If the bananas have a gray tint and a dull appearance, these have been refrigerated, preventing them from ripening properly.

Jack fruit (Artocarpus heterophyllus)

There is proverbs in Malay : Siapa makan nangka, dia kena getah” ---- who eats the nangka (jack fruit), will be touched by the sap, meaning that you are responsible for your own action. Name of this fruit always gives space for imagination as it always sounds like ‘Jack’s fruit’. Jack fruit hang on a stalk from the tree trunk, large and oblong in shape. A mature Jack fruit can reach to 30-90cm long, 30-50cm wide and 5-8kg in weight. Therefore it can be easily recognized among the fruit. Jack fruit has thick skin with thorns which are not shape. The flesh is firm and yellowish with seed encases in the fruit. It is eaten raw and the seeds can be eaten when it is boiled. However, the flesh is also used as dish when the fruit is unripe. There is sap produced when you cut the fruit and it is sometimes used to capture birds by the villagers. It is normally grown in yard in the village area.