CARAMBOLA FACT SHEET

SCIENTIFIC NAME: Averrhoa carambola
FAMILY: Oxalidaceae

ORIGIN: Malaysia and Indonesia

TREE DESCRIPTION
A quick growing attractive evergreen tree, symmetrical in form, up to 12m in height. The leaves are alternate and compound with 2 to 11 ovate leaflets, 20 to 90 mm long.

FRUIT DESCRIPTION AND FLAVOUR
Fruits are ovoid to ellipsoid 80 to 200 mm in length, and 60 to 100 mm in diameter, acutely angled giving a star shape in cross-section.

Mature fruits can be green, yellowish white, yellow or orange, depending on the cultivar. The waxy cuticle covers the juicy flesh, which has texture ranging from soft to crunchy. Sweetness depends upon the oxalic acid/sugar ratio of the variety. There are up to 2 seeds partly enclosed in an aril, at the base of each rib. Seeds are ovoid, compressed, and up to 12 mm in length with a thin brown shiny testa.

First page of Fact Sheet No. 7

DATE: September 1984

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