jambu air / wax apples

Botanically identified as syzygium malaccense , the Malay apple is also called the Malay rose apple, mountain apple or wax apple. The French call it pomme de malaysie and the Spanish have named it pomarrosa malaysia.


Native to Malaysia, it has been spread by human through much of Southeast Asia and the Pacific islands. Its spread throughout the Pacific Islands very early on for it featured in Fijian mythology and the word from the tree was used by the ancient Hawaiians to make idols.


It has earned a few alternate names in Malaysia; jambu merah , jambu bar, jambu bol, jambu kling, jambu melaka, and jambu kapal.


The Malay apple is a delight to the eye and is admired for the beauty of the tree , its flowers and its colourful glistening fruits.It is a very beautiful fruit, usually a deep red colour (some varieties have white or pink skin) pear shaped with a waxy skin about the size of an apple.The flesh is crunchy , often juicy , with a mild sweet flavour. It is rich in nutrition and contains 34 calories per 100g.


Around the tropical world, children mostly eat them out-of-hand. They are seldom marketed. They are sometimes stewed with some sugar and served as dessert. Culinary experimenters have devised other modes of using the cup-like halved fruits : Stuffing them with rice and meat mixture , covering with a tomato sauce seasoned with minced garlic, and baking them for about 20 minutes. Possible variations are limitless. The fruit is made into jam or jelly with lemon juice added, or more frequently preserved in combination with other fruits of more pronounced flavour. It is also made into syrup for use as a sauce or to flavour cold drinks.




In Jamaica, the halved or sliced fruits are candied by stewing them in very heavy sugar syrup with cinnamon. The fruit can also be used to make wines.


According to Akana's translation of Hawaiian Herbs of Medicinal Value the astringent bark has been much used in local remedies. It is pounded together with salt. The crushed materials strained through coconut husk fiber and the juice poured into deep cuts - "the patient must exercise absolute self control as the liquid bums its way into the flesh and nerves".


It is also said that in the golden days, Malaysians applied a powder of the dried leaves on a cracked tongue. A preparation of the root of the tree is a remedy for itchiness. The root acts as a diuretic while the root bark is useful against dysentery.