BILIMBI

Bilimbi, although not so well known, is a very interesting fruit botanically, as well as how unusual its chemistry and fruiting habits are.

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Bilimbis native range is in Malaysia, particularly Maluku and Sulawesi, although it has been spread throughout tropical Asia as well as other tropical regions.

The fruit, botanically, is a fleshy berry produced from a single ovary. It’s closest relative – the star fruit, is likewise a berry. It’s a small-to-medium tropical tree, usually around 5-10 meters tall. One of its most interesting characteristics is its cauliflory. That means the flowers and fruits can arise directly from older branches and even the trunk rather than only from the newest shoots. So flowers will often emerge in clusters directly on the trunk or branches, and it can produce a lot of fruit.

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The fruit is elongated and green or greenish, extremely sour and is either seedless or contains small, flattened, elliptical seeds.

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Although its acidity and sourness decrease as the fruit matures, it is usually a fruit you use for its sourness in cooking and as a souring ingredient.

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One of the most interesting things about bilimbi is that it contains a lot of oxalic acid/oxalate. This is responsible for the intense sourness. Reports of kidney issues have been documented as the result of extreme juice consumption, or even extreme consumption of dried fruit. So, this isn’t a fruit you want to consume as concentrated juice or in large quantities.

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Another interesting thing is that bilimbi doesn’t follow a particular fruiting cycle, so although this can lead to erratic fruiting, under ideal conditions it can also lead to multiple crops on the same tree in the same year.

The extremely sour fruit also has non-food uses. It’s been used to remove stains, cleaning or brightening certain metals, and other traditional household preparations.