Bilimbi

A LESSER KNOWN UNDER-UTILIZED FRUIT
Bilimbi, Irumban Puli, Chemmeen Puli, Bimbul, Orkkaapuli

Following the encouraging readership and feedback on my earlier article on Passion Fruit, I am tempted to post about another locally available, lesser known, under-exploited fruit namely Bilimbi.

According to Wikipedia, bilimbi (Averrhoa bilimbi) or cucumber tree or tree sorrel is a fruit-bearing tree of the genus Averrhoa, family Oxalidaceae. It is a close relative of carambola tree widely cultivated in the tropical regions of Philippines, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Myanmar (Burma) and Malaysia.
In India it is known as Bilimbi, Irumban Puli, Chemmeen Puli, Bimbul, Orkkaapuli etc. The fruit is produced in clusters and look fairly cylindrical with five broad rounded longitudinal lobes. They taste very sour and used in production of vinegar, wine, jams, jellies, pickle and in Indian culinary.

Medicinal use includes crushing Bilimbi leaves into a paste and applying on itches, swelling, rheumatism, mumps or skin eruptions. Mixture is used against cough, mumps, rheumatism, pimples and scurvy. Also useful in treatment of poisonous insect bites.

One of my friends from Kerala told, in Thiruvananthapuram Bilimbi was traditionally used to fight cholesterol and obesity. The fruits anti-hyper-lipidemic properties are currently being studied in detail.

Owing to high levels of oxalic acid, Bilimbi could be used as a cleansing agent to remove iron-rust stains from clothes, sanitary wares etc and to impart shine to brassware. In Indonesia, red dye for traditional textiles is sourced from red Bilimbi flowers.

Since the fruit has a sour and tangy taste, it is processed into jam, jelly or pickle. It could also be used in soups, sauces and in curry as a souring agent. Round the year availability makes Bilimbi well suited for consumption as squash.

To make Bilimbi squash, take 1Kg of ripe Bilimbi, wash them under running tap, cut them into convenient size and squeeze under the common household lemon juice extractor. Add a cup of water to the extract and set aside, preferably in a glass bowl or Jar.

Now take  500ml water, sugar (to taste), 2tsp citric acid, mix them well and bring the mixture to boil in an open pan. Occasionally stir and remove floating matter if any. After the content has boiled for about 15min, remove  from flame and add the Bilimbi juice extract. Allow it to cool for some time and transfer it to a clean, dried glass bottle (500ml). Bilimbi squash is ready and could be consumed by diluting it in the ratio 1 part squash and 3 parts water.

Alternately take 8 to 10 ripe fruits, wash them and squeeze under household lemon juice extractor. Take four glass of water in a Jar, add  the juice extract, salt and or sugar to taste and stir well. Your instant refreshing Bilimbi squash is ready.

It is however necessary to keep in mind that studies have found lowest levels of Oxalic Acid and highest levels of Total Soluble Solids and Vitamin C in ripe Bilimbi during dry season. Therefore the completely ripe Bilimbi alone are recommended for consumption.
Written with  inputs from
Dr TVRS Sharma, Emeritus Scientist, CARI, Port Blair


References :
1) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Averrhoa_bilimbi
2) http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?pid=S0100-29452001000200045&script=sci_arttext
3) http://www.fruitsinfo.com/bilimbi-tropical-fruit.php

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