AKEE
SCIENTIFIC NAME: Blighia sapida
FAMILY: Sapindaceae
At the botanical gardens, last meeting, the Akee fruit attracted a lot of attention.
The fruit is a leathery pear-shaped, 3-lobed capsule 2¾" to 4" long. Bright scarlet when mature, it splits open to reveal 3 cream-coloured fleshy arils attached to large, black, nearly round, smooth, shiny seeds. There are generally 3, but one or two may be aborted. The base of each aril is attached to the inside of the stem end of the 'jacket' by pink or orange-red membranes.
The akee must be allowed to open naturally, fully or at least partly, before being picked from the tree. Both under-ripe and over-ripe akees are highly poisonous. Never use fruit that has fallen to the ground. Akee seeds are poisonous all the time and must never be eaten. The pink membranes attaching the aril to the jacket must be discarded, as they also are said to be poisonous.
Julia Morton in her book Fruit of Warm Climates, says that intensive clinical and chemical studies of the Akee shows "that the unripe arils contain hypoglycin, an amino B (2-methylenecyclopropyl) propionic acid, fomerly called hypoglycin A". This toxic property is diffused by light as the jacket opens. Even when fully ripe, the arils still possess 1/12 of the amount as in the unripe fruit.
Adult poisoning is characterized by acute vomiting followed by drowsiness, convulsions, coma and too often, death. Sugar solutions have been proven to be helpful to counteract the hypoglycaemic effects. Apparently most deaths occur in winter in Jamaica as the arils develop small underdeveloped seeds which cannot be seen externally. This makes eating these arils extremely risky.
If you still want to eat the arils, you may eat them raw, discarding the seeds and the pink membrane. They are best parboiled in water or milk and then lightly fried in butter. Akee may be parboiled and used in a stew of beef, pork or in soup.
The arils resemble eggs in both texture and appearance, and to some people, taste. There is, however, a slightly nutty taste as well.
See akee recipes in Recipe Section.
The trees fruit twice a year. In Africa, green fruit produces a lather in water and so are used in washing. Crushed fruits are used as a fish poison. The seeds are high in oil and the jacket high in potash. Together these are burned and the ashes used in making soap.
In Cuba, the flowers make a cologne extract. The bark is pulverized and mixed with ground hot peppers and is then rubbed on the body as a stimulant on the Gold Coast of Africa.
The timber is immune to termites, the heartwood is reddish brown, hard and coarse-grained. It is used for construction and pilings, oars and paddles. The timber is called in the trade, 'Achin'.
Crushed new foliage can be applied to the forehead, as it relieves severe headaches. The leaves crushed with salt are poulticed on ulcers.
DATE: July 1993
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