JENTIK JENTIK_Baccaurea polyneura

JENTIK JENTIK
(Baccaurea polyneura)

A portion of jentik jentik tree

Family: Phyllantaceae

Synonyms: Baccaurea cordata, Baccaurea hookeri, Baccaurea kunstleri

Other names: Chum rai, kapul burung.

Jentik jentik is a fruit from South East Asian region. It grows in Thailand, Peninsular Malaysia and Sumatra. It mostly grows as a mid-canopy tree of of primary, secondary and swamp rain forests at elevations from 20-600 m asl.

It is called a tree larvae due to the nature of the fruits (fruit wiggler) which will split open the pericarp when flicked with the second or third finger.

Description:

Evergreen dioecious tree 11-32 m high, buttresses small; bark brown to white-brown to red-brown when fresh, brown when dry, 3-5 mm thick, smooth; inner bark red to brown, 2-5 mm thick.

Jentik jentik fruits and foliage

Leaves: petiole 7-78 mm long, velutinous, raised glands usually absent; stipules elliptic to ovate, 2.2-10 by 0.5-2 mm, caducous (to late caducous), velutinous outside, subgla-brous to velutinous inside, margin ciliate, not hyaline; lamina ovate to elliptic, 5.5-21.5 by 3.1-12.5 cm, l/w ratio 1.4-2.7, papery to slightly leathery; base rounded to cordate (to attenuate); apex (retuse to) acute, up to 11 mm long; upper surface glabrous to densely hairy, midrib and veins sparsely hairy to velutinous, sometimes granulate; lower surface sparsely hairy to velutinous, raised glands absent to present, discoid glands absent; dark green when fresh, green to brown when dry, black when young when dry; secondary veins 7-14 per side, closed at margin or almost so; nervation scalariform, brown to white-brown when dry.

Staminate inflorescences axillary to just below the leaves (to ramiflorous), solitary to 5 clustered together, 1-7 cm long, c. 1 mm thick, velutinous, many-flowered, flowers clustered at the tip of inflorescence, rarely somewhat scattered; bracts 0 or 3 per branchlet, 0.2-1.3 mm long, persistent, velutinous outside, glabrous to rarely velutinous inside, margin ciliate, not hyaline; branchlets cylindrical to spatulate, 1-4 mm long, velutinous, 3-flowered; staminate flowers 1.1-3.3 mm diam., green to yellow to greenish-white; pedicel 0-0.5 mm long, velutinous; sepals 4-6, ovate, 0.7-1.5 by 0.5-1.5 mm, apex straight, outside and inside velutinous; stamens 4-8, 0.3-0.7 mm long, glabrous, cream to brown; ?laments 0.2-0.6 mm long, geniculate to straight; anthers c. 0.1 by 0.2-0.3 by 0.1 mm; pistillode absent to present, globose, 0-0.3 mm high, velutinous, solid. Pistillate inflorescences axillary to ramiflorous, solitary to 3 clustered together, 1-34.5 cm long, 0.5-4 mm thick, velutinous, 5-50-flowered, yellow; pedicel 2-5.8 mm long, upper part 0.5-2 mm long, geniculate or not, velutinous to sparsely hairy; bracts 0-3 per branchlet, persistent to caducous, velutinous outside, glabrous to velutinous inside, margin ciliate; pistillate flowers 2.5-6.5 mm diam.; sepals 4 or 5, ovate, 0.5-5.9 by 0.3-3.5 mm, outside and inside velutinous, persistent (or caducous), ochre; ovary subglobose to pyriform, 2.5-4.5 by 2.2-4 mm, 3-locular, velutinous; style 0.1-0.2 mm by 0.5-0.8 mm, velutinous; stigmas 0.6-0.9 mm long, cleft for upper 60-90%, persistent or caducous; lobes 0.5-0.9 by c. 0.2 mm, glabrous above, glabrous to sparsely hairy below.

Fruits globose to subglobose, 1-3-seeded, fleshy capsules, 10-26 by 12-26 by 12-26 mm, loculicidally dehiscent, raised glands often present, sparsely hairy to velutinous outside and inside, yellow to orange; pericarp 0.1-4 mm thick; column 9.5-19 mm long, almost straight, persistent; pedicel 5-11(-35) mm long, upper part 1-7 mm long, 80% bent present at abscission zone.

Seeds ellipsoid, laterally flattened, 7.8-11 by 5-9.8 by 2-5 mm; arillode red; testa orange; cotyledons 5-9 by 5-7.5 by c. 0.1 mm; radicle 0.5-2 mm long; endosperm c. 0.5 mm thick.

Utilization:

Gentil gentik fruits are edible. These are gathered from the wild. Each fruit usually contains three seeds. The head of the seed is surrounded by a juicy layer of pulp which tastes sweet sour. This pulp is eaten alongwith the seeds.