Golden apple

Overview

The species is indigenous to South and South-East Asia. It is extensively distributed throughout Indo-Malesia and from Melanesia to Polynesia and has been widely cultivated in these areas. There are various utilization of the plant in traditional medicine in different parts of the world so that its edible fruit and as ornamental.

Vernacular Names

Kedondong (Indonesia), Que coc (Vietnamese), Makok (Thailand), Balolong (Tagalog-Philippines), Ambarella (Sri Lanka, Italian, Spanish), Tamagonoki (Japanese).

Agroecology

The golden apple is found from sea level up to 700 meters. It grows on all types of soil, prefers a pH in the range of 5.5 to 6.5. The tree is intolerant of strong winds and is moderately drought tolerant. Annual daytime temperatures are within the scale of 22 to 27 °C but can tolerate 12 to 35 °C. It suits the mean annual rainfall in the range of 900 to 1,800 mm but tolerates 600 to 2,200 mm.

Morphology

• Trunk, straight, greyish to light brown bark, bole usually 45 cm and sparse, irregular crown, branchlets thick, grey with fallen leaf scars.
• Leaves are pinnate, 20 to 60 cm in length, with 9 to 25 glossy, elliptic, or obovate-oblong leaflets 9 to 10 cm long, finely toothed toward the ape.
• Flowers - white or creamy-white, calyx glabrous, 5-partite, segments deltoid,  petals 5–6, reflexed, glabrous, ovate-oblong with 3 longitudinal nerves, stamens 10 longer than petals, glabrous, with oblong anthers.
• Fruit - an indehiscent drupe, ellipsoid or oblong, glabrous, yellow or golden yellow when ripe, with thick, yellow, subacid to acid.
• The endocarp contains several flat seeds.

Cultivation

• Generative propagation is by seed.
• Quite large cuttings, large stumps are stuck in the ground to obtain live fence posts.
• Grafting or shield budding on Spondias rootstocks is also possible.

Chemical Constituents

Hydroxyproline (main AA), aspartic acid, glutamic acid, serine, proline, threonine, alanine, phenolic acids, and several flavonol O-glycosides of quercetin, kaempferol, kaempferide, and rhamnetin.

Traditional Medicinal Uses

• The antioxidant activity of the fruit was determined, which was much higher than that reported for Citrus sinensis.
• Hydroalcoholic extract of the leaves showed good antimicrobial activity against Pseudomonas aeruginosa.
• The study showed the use of Spondias dulcis leaf and vaseline can speed up the healing process of burns.
• The extracts are known to possess anticancer activity. 
• The inner bark is used to treat coughs, fever, and stomach aches.
• In Bangladesh, fruits are used to improve eyesight and prevent eye infections.
• In Suriname, juice of fresh fruits or infusion of fresh peels is used for the treatment of hypertension.
• In Sri Lanka, the fruit is eaten by women who are pregnant or plan to get pregnant.
• In Cambodia, astringent bark is used with various species of Terminalia sp. as a remedy for diarrhea.