Sandoricum koetjape

Sandoricum koetjape, the santol, sentul, setun or cotton fruit, is a tropical fruit native to maritime Southeast Asia.

Description

A medium sized tree. It loses its leaves. It grows up to about 25-50 m high. It is 80 cm across the trunk. It can have buttresses 3 m tall. Branches normally develop after 7-10 m. The crown is dense and dark green. The leaves are alternate and have 3 leaflets. The leaves are 18-40 cm long. The leaflets are hairy. They are pointed at the tip and more rounded at the base. They are 10 to 25 cm long. The end leaflet is the largest. The flowering cluster is 2.5-24 cm long. The flowers are greenish yellow and about 1 cm long. They occur in considerable numbers in compound flower clusters. The fruit are rounded and 4 to 6 cm across. They cluster like grapes. The fruit have one stone. They are yellowish or red with a thick outer covering. The flesh of the fruit is white, juicy and allows light through. The seeds are large. The pulp of the fruit is edible.

Edible Uses

The ripe fruits are harvested by climbing the tree and plucking by hand, alternatively a long stick with a forked end may be used to twist the fruits off. The pulp is eaten raw and plain or with spices added. It is also cooked and candied or made into marmalade. In Filipino cuisine, grated rind is cooked in coconut milk (with bits of pork and hot pepper) and served as sinantolan in Southern Luzon. The partly ripe sour fruits are also used as a souring agent in sour broth dishes like sinigang. In Thai cuisine this fruit is used to make som tam when still not fully ripe. It is also one of the main ingredients in the santol and pork (แกงหมูกระท้อน) and santol and prawn Thai curries (แกงคั่วกระท้อนกุ้ง). The wood of the tree is useful for construction, being plentiful and usually easy to work and polish. It makes a good shade tree. The leaves and bark have been used medicinally as a poultice. Several parts of the plant may have anti-inflammatory effects, and some chemical extracts from santol stems have shown anti-cancer properties in vitro. Extracts from santol seeds have insecticidal properties.

Traditional Uses

The fruit are eaten raw or made into preserves. The skin can be eaten. Fruit are made into alcoholic beverages. This is done by fermenting them with rice. Caution: Alcohol is a cause of cancer. The leaves are eaten. The fruit are eaten. The seeds are removed and the skin taken off. They are then boiled and later candied with sugar. They can be made into jams, jellies, and marmalades.

Medicinal Uses

The pounded leaves are sudorific when applied to the skin and are used to make a decoction against diarrhoea and fever. The powdered bark is an effective treatment for ringworms, and contains triterpenes with anti-cancer activity. Both the seeds and the stems are being studied for the anti-carcinogenic substances that they contain. The aromatic roots are employed as an anti-diarrhoeic, anti-spasmodic, carminative, antiseptic, astringent, stomachic and are prescribed as a general tonic after childbirth. The root can be bruised then soaked in vinegar and water to be used as an effective remedy for diarrhoea and dysentery.

Distribution

A tropical plant. It suits the hot, wet tropical lowlands. It is native to SE Asia. It can withstand light frosts. It needs light. They occur from northern Luzon to southern Mindanao in the Philippines and are very common both wild and cultivated. It grows in forests up to 600 m above sea level. It grows in sandy and clay soils.

Where It Grows

Andamans, Asia, Australia, Bangladesh, Brazil, Brunei, Cambodia*, Central America, China, Costa Rica, Cuba, Guam, Hawaii, India, Indochina, Indonesia, Laos*, Malaysia*, Myanmar, Pacific, Papua New Guinea, PNG, Philippines, Pohnpei, SE Asia, Singapore, South America, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand, USA, Vietnam, West Indies,

Cultivation

Plants can be grown from seed, air-layering or budding. They can also be grafted.

Propagation

Seed - best sown as soon as it is ripe since they have a short viability. Freshly sown, they have a germination rate of 90-95% in 16-31 days. Seeds grow away quickly. Budding. Air layering.

Other Uses

The fragrant wood is used in perfumery. The bark is used for tanning fishing nets. The heartwood is pale red, yellowish-red or yellow-brown with a pink tinge; it can be indistinct or distinguishable from the pale white or pinkish sapwood. The grain is straight or slightly wavy; texture moderately fine to slightly coarse and even. The wood is light to moderate weight; moderately soft to moderately hard; fairly weak to moderately strong. The wood is durable under cover, but non-durable when exposed to the weather or in contact with the ground; it is susceptible to marine borer attack and moderately resistant to insect attack. It is easy to saw; can be planed and finished with good results, though occasionally a little furry; it takes a high polish. The wood is used for making furniture, cabinet work, joinery, interior construction, shop fitting, panelling, planking and decking of boats, scantlings, carving, butlers chopping blocks, packing cases, household and agricultural implements, for production of veneer, plywood, blockboard, pulp and paper. It is used in the construction of traditional houses and boats. Poles from the tree are used for fencing. A good fuel, the wood gives forth an aromatic aroma as it burns. It is used to make a good quality charcoal. The tree is important in its native area in soil conservation. The tree is known to form vesicular arbiscular mycorrhizae, which is useful in soil improvement.

Production

It is fast growing. Fruit mature in about 120 days. In NE Thailand fruit are available March to April.

Other Information

It is cultivated.

Notes

There are 5 Sandoricum species.

Nutrition

Synonyms

Also Known As

Bampenh riech, Bua apo, Buh tul, Donka, Katawn, Katon, Kecapi, Kelampu, Kalempu bukit, Kentuat, Kompinhreach, Kra-thon, Lalalam, Ma tong, Mak tong, Pohon kecapi, Red santol, Santol, Santul, Satawn, Saton, Sau tia, Sayai, Sentol, Sentul, Setui, Seva-manu, Sevai, Sinlol, Sintol, Terapu, Thitto, Visa yan

References (62)

• Ambasta, S.P. (Ed.), 2000, The Useful Plants of India. CSIR India. p 545
• Argent, G et al, nd, Manual of the Larger and More important non Dipterocarp Trees of Central Kalimantan Indonesia. Volume 2 Forest Research Institute, Samarinda, Indonesia. p 424
• Arora, R. K., 2014, Diversity in Underutilized Plant Species - An Asia-Pacific Perspective. Bioversity International. p 86, 109
• Barwick, M., 2004, Tropical and Subtropical Trees. A Worldwide Encyclopedic Guide. Thames and Hudson p 361
• Blench, R., 2004, Fruits and Arboriculture in the Indo-Pacific Region. Indo-Pacific Prehistory Association Bulletin 24. (Taipei Papers Volume 2) p 40

More from Meliaceae

Entandrophragma angolense - (Welw.) C.DC.

Tiama Mahogany

Entandrophragma caudatum

Mountain mahogany

Entandrophragma utile

Sipo mahogany

Guarea fistulosa

Fistular muskwood

Guarea glabra

Glabrous muskwood

Guarea grandifolia

Nicaragua muskwood