Spondias mombin is a tree, a
species of
flowering plant in the family
Anacardiaceae. It is native to the tropical
Americas, including the
West Indies. The tree has been
naturalized in parts of
Africa,
India and
Indonesia. It is rarely cultivated.
The great fruit has a leathery skin and a thin layer of pulp. The pulp is either eaten fresh, or made into juice, concentrate,
jellies , and
sherbets. In
Suriname's
traditional medicine, the infusion of the leaves is used as a treatment of eye
inflammation,
diarrhea and
venereal diseases. The seed has an oil content of 31.5%.
It has several common names. Throughout the Spanish-speaking Caribbean and Mexico it is called
jobo (derived from the
Carib language ). Among the English-speaking Caribbean islands it is known as
yellow mombin or
hog plum, while in
Jamaica it is called
Spanish plum or
gully plum. In
Ghana, it is hog plum or
Ashanti plum. In
Nigeria, the fruit is called
iyeye in the
Yoruba language,
ngulungwu in
Igbo and
isada in
Hausa. Other common names include
true yellow mombin,
golden apple or
Java plum,
cajá in
Brazil. In
Assamese it is called
Omora. In Thai it is called
makawk (
มะกอก).
See also
